Ultimate Blues Jam

FROM CHORD PROGRESSIONS TO SHUFFLE RHYTHM AND SCALES: LEARN ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW TO BECOME A BLUES JAM SESSION MASTER WITH TG’S INSPIRING LESSONS.

- Chris Bird, Jon Bishop

We love a good blues jam here at TG towers, and, if you’ve played in bands before, you’ll surely relish the occasional 12-bar widdle-fest. But, whether you’re a band veteran or a guitar newbie, there’s always room for improvement. This month we’re taking a look at some key elements of blues and giving all the rhythm and lead tricks you need to get through any jam session. Make sure you’ve got your Guitar Skills CD in your player too – we’re wrapping up the feature with five jam tracks for you to play along to. Turn the page and let’s get started!

01 THE 10 BEST BLUES CHORDS

Every blues jam needs a chord progression and these 10 shapes are guaranteed to give you a bonafide blues sound

To get you started we’re looking at some chords in the friendly key of A. You’ve probably heard of a I-IV-V (one-four-five) progression – it’s a common blues chord sequence and its name tells you that the chords are built on the first, fourth and fifth notes of the major scale. So, in the key of A (A B C# D E F# G#), the chords are A, D and E. Either jam on these three major chords or use 6ths, 9ths and dominant 7ths for an authentic blues vibe. We’ve used open-string root notes, but if you shift the root notes to fretted versions (at the 5th fret of the fifth and sixth strings) these can be moved to any key you like. John Mayer uses these types of chords in songs like I’ve Got A Woman and Eric Clapton uses them in Ten Long Years.

02 THE BLUES SHUFFLE GROOVE EXPLAINED