The next step in our study of the Blues is to add two more notes to our triad. I've added the 6th (a scale tone above the 5th of the chord) and the b7th (a half step above that). The LH fingering would be 2-1-4-1-2 for Root-3-5-6-b7. I've written out two choruses of Twelve Bar Blues over the Major/Dominant 7th Chord progression from Column four. You can use the play-along track from that lesson and experiment with these two choruses. I've included an example of how these would sound so you can check yourself against my playing.

• Root-3-5-6-b7 Example (MP3, 157k)

Notice that the first chorus uses R-3-5-6-7-6 in a straight up and down pattern similar to a Boogie Woogie piano part. The second chorus uses the same notes with a slightly different order to change the feel.

Notice that I've included a walkup of R-2-b3-3 in the 4th measures of each progression. In the second walkup, I played those notes in Octaves. Although that may look intimidating, just play 2 strings higher and 2 frets up and that's where your Octave intervals are.

Have fun!

Peace and Low Notes,
Roy C. Vogt
Nashville Bassist
Bass Instructor, Belmont University, Nashville, TN

Print This Lesson | Return to Lesson Index

Roy's Bio | An Interview with Roy | Visit Belmont U. | Visit Roy's Website