Minor Blues Jam – Mini Lesson: 016

Helpful Tips

Learn to play a minor 12 bar blues! Traditionally, the blues is played using dominant-voiced chords. But if we alter the quality of the chords, we can change the tonality. And that’s exactly what we’re doing in this piece.

The structure of the progression remains unchanged from a standard 12 bar blues. By substituting dominant chords for minor, we keep the bluesy feel intact but add in a somber overtone.

Here is the traditional 12 bar blues in E using dominant-voiced chords:

Here is an altered 12 bar blues in E minor using minor-voiced chords:

This lesson features a guitar solo by AJ. The solo happens the second time through the form. We’ve included a backing track with the solo so you can practice performing in a jam setting.