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David's Tip of the Day: Stormy Monday (Bars 7 and 8) - Blues Standards

David Barrett Admin's picture

The three most common versions of this song (T-Bone Walker, Bobby "Blue" Band and The Allman Brothers) all have different chord progressions. The T-Bone Walker version is pretty straight forward and most players can play this by ear without study. The Bobby "Blue" Band and Allman Brothers versions have more defined alterations to the 12 Bar Blues progression and study is needed to play them well.

Bars 7 and 8 are the same in both the Bobby "Blue" Band and Allman Brothers versions, so let's focus on those bars first.

Here's the chord progression, each chord lasting two beats...

I7 ii iii biii

Playing the song in the key of G this gives you...

G7 Am Bm Bbm

And the notes of each chord are...

G7 = G B D F
Am = A C E
Bm = B D F#
Bbm = Bb Db F

Your goal now is to figure out on your C harmonica where these notes are available. Do this and we'll compare notes tomorrow.