16 bar blues progression
Thu, 09/15/2016 - 06:16
I was looking at some jam tracks and came across a 16 bar blues progression.
(Iam only familier with the 12 bar blues pattern)
The pattern is:
I Chord / I Chord / I Chord / I Chord
I Chord/ I Chord / I Chord / I Chord
IV Chord / IV Chord / I Chord / I Chord
V Chord / IV Chord / I Chord / V Chord
Is this a pretty good example to a typical
' 16 bar blues pattern ' ?
Thank you for your time
Steven Barta
What you're describing is a variant of the 12-bar pattern. Take away the first four bars of the 16, and you're left with a standard 12-bar pattern.
The extra 4 bars of the I chord on the front end allows for a longer set of lyrics before going to the IV chord. Songs like that often treat the last 8 bars (starting with the IV chord) as a chorus with lyrics that repeat in the last haf of the verse. The new lyrics in each successive verse happen over that extended section of I chord at the beginning of the verse.
But if you're not singing lyrics, how do you deal with this as an instrumentalist playing a solo?
Treat the first 8 bars as a build-up to the major event that happens when the IV chord comes along to change thiings up. For isntance, play four 2-bar phrases that follow on each other and build tension, then do something to set off the bomb when the IV chord comes.