Swing Blues Chord Progressions
Swing Style Walking Blues Blues is is the foundation of most popular musical styles. It is the common language that can bring rockers and Jazzers together. I made a post about this on the old site’s forum, and thought I would expand on it here.
Swing Jazz chords on the guitar are formed from 3 note shapes. These were popularized by the master Freddie Green. Here’s an Example of them in a basic blues progression:
G / / / C7 / / / G7 / / / C7 / / /
E |--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
B |--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
G |--4--4--4--4--|--3--3--3--3--|--4--4--4--4--|--4--4--4--4--|
D |--3--3--3--3--|--2--2--2--2--|--3--3--3--3--|--3--3--3--3--|
A |--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
E |--3--3--3--3--|--3--3--3--3--|--3--3--3--3--|--3--3--3--3--|
C7 / / / C7 / / / G7 / / / G7 / / /
E |--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
B |--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
G |--3--3--3--3--|--3--3--3--3--|--4--4--4--4--|--4--4--4--4--|
D |--2--2--2--2--|--2--2--2--2--|--3--3--3--3--|--3--3--3--3--|
A |--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
E |--3--3--3--3--|--3--3--3--3--|--3--3--3--3--|--3--3--3--3--|
D7 / / / C7 / / / G7 / / / D7 / / /
E |--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
B |--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
G |--5--5--5--5--|--3--3--3--3--|--4--4--4--4--|--5--5--5--5--|
D |--4--4--4--4--|--2--2--2--2--|--3--3--3--3--|--4--4--4--4--|
A |--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
E |--5--5--5--5--|--3--3--3--3--|--3--3--3--3--|--5--5--5--5--|
As you can see these chords can be linked together very simply with minimal finger movement.You can play these chords with a downward staccato strumming motion with straight quarter notes. Also try to use your fingers if you want--although this is less desirable. here we’ll introduce a more complex chord progression.
G7 / / / C7 / / / G7 / / / Dm7 / G7 /
E |--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
B |--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
G |--4--4--4--4--|--3--3--3--3--|--4--4--4--4--|--5--5--4--4--|
D |--3--3--3--3--|--2--2--2--2--|--3--3--3--3--|--3--3--3--3--|
A |--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
E |--3--3--3--3--|--3--3--3--3--|--3--3--3--3--|--5--5--3--3--|
C7 / / / C#°7 / / / G7 / / / Bm7 / E7 /
E |--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
B |--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
G |--3--3--3--3--|--6--6--6--6--|--4--4--4--4--|--7--7--7--7--|
D |--2--2--2--2--|--5--5--5--5--|--3--3--3--3--|--7--7--6--6--|
A |--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
E |--3--3--3--3--|--6--6--6--6--|--3--3--3--3--|--7--7--7--7--|
Am7 / / / D7 / / / Bm7 / E7 / Am7 / D7 /
E |--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
B |--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
G |--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--5--|--7--7--7--7--|--5--5--5--5--|
D |--5--5--5--5--|--4--4--4--4--|--7--7--6--6--|--5--5--4--4--|
A |--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
E |--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--5--|--7--7--7--7--|--5--5--5--5--|
As you can see this gives you a lot more to play with but you are still using the same chord shapes. With a couple of new ones thrown in. Now here’s the good one. This uses a few new shapes plus there’s a 4 note shape thrown in there for spice.I put the basic chord analysis above the progression because most of it is just passing chords and could be analyzed in various ways. This is a good template for you to learn how to play passing chord forms between chords - kind of like chord licks.
G7 / / / C7 / / / G7 / / / C7 / / /
E |--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
B |--------------|--------------|--------------|--------8-----|
G |--4--5--7--8--|--9--7--5--3--|--4--5--7--9--|-10-11-10-10--|
D |--3--3--5--7--|--8--8--5--2--|--3--3--5--8--|--9-10--9--9--|
A |--------------|-----7--------|--------------|--------------|
E |--3--5--7--7--|--8-----6--3--|--3--5--7--9--|-10-11-10--9--|
C7 / / / C7 / / / G7 / A7 / G7 / E7 Bb
E |--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
B |--------------|--------------|--------------|--------5-----|
G |--9-10-12-10--|--9--7--5--3--|--4--7--5--9--|--7--8--7--7--|
D |--8--8-10--8--|--8--8--5--2--|--3--5--5--7--|--5--7--6--6--|
A |--------------|-----7--------|--------------|--------------|
E |--8-10-12-10--|--8-----6--3--|--3--7--5--8--|--7--8--7--6--|
A7 / / / D7 / / / G7 / E7 / A7 / D7 /
E |--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
B |-----------8--|--7--5--3-----|--------5-----|-----4--3-----|
G |--6--7--9--6--|--5--5--2--5--|--4--4--7--7--|--6--6--5--5--|
D |--5--5--7-----|-----4-----4--|--3--2--6--6--|--5--5--4--4--|
A |-----------6--|--5-----3-----|--------------|--------------|
E |--5--7--9-----|-----------5--|--3--3--7--6--|--5--6--5--4--|
I hope that you have enjoyed this lesson you can see that there is a lot that you can do with just a few interchangeable voiceings
Tish
Written by Alex on Friday 11th August 2006 at 1:27pm and posted in Learn To Play
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