Play Twelve Bar Blues on Acoustic Guitar

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Video: Play Twelve Bar Blues on Acoustic Guitar

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Hello and welcome to VisiHow. In this series of videos, we are showing you how to play the guitar for the absolute beginner. In this video, we're going to focus on the twelve bar blues. The twelve bar blues is one of the foundations of modern guitar music. It's a system of rhythm that is played over and over again, while someone plays solos or other styles on top of it. It's called twelve bar blues because it has twelve bars. Each of the twelve bars is 4 seconds long. We're going to show you a very simple one, but there are several variations and different types of twelve bar blues that can be added along with different styles.

1. 1
   Start by playing a B note, starting on the second fret of the A string

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   This note is a B.

   

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2. 2
   After B, the rule for twelve bar blues is after the note that you count on, count to four

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   Start with the B and count to four in the scale. That's B, C, D, E. Therefore, count four is going to be E. After B, go to E. You need to know every note on the fret board, so you can go to the root, which is E. B is here, and E is directly below it. It's the second fret on the third string.

   

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3. 3
   Next in the passing, go to note five

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   So after E, there is an F-sharp and G. It's a bit of a strange one, but it can be found on the fourth fret on the third string. Always find out what follows. The sequence is one, four and five. Therefore, tart on the first note, then go to the fourth note, and follow it with the fifth note. In this case, that's B, E, then to F and G.

   

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4. 4
   Place your index finger on the second fret of the A string and strum it twice

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   Now, strum the fourth fret on the A string with your ring finger twice. Don't take off the index finger.

   

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5. 5
   Now, try to mute these strings

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   They shouldn't be totally open, but only slightly muted to give it a more bluesy sound.

   

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6. 6
   Remember to strum the top two strings one open string on the top, and the other string which is being held down

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   Do this for a beat of four. For one beat, strum it four times.

   

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7. 7
   After this, there are another eight to go

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   Go down to the second fret on the fourth string and do two bars. Do this the same way as before. Start with two strums in the original position, and place the ring finger on the fourth fret of the fourth string and play two bars for each. Try and play these two strings. That's eight bars in total. Four at the top on the A string, two down here on the D string, and then two more back up. That leaves four more bars.

   

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8. 8
   For the final four bars, while keeping the index finger on the second fret of the A string, move your ring finger down to the fourth fret of the D string

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   Now, use your pinky on the sixth fret of the D string. Play two bars by alternating between lifting the pinky for one and pressing it down for one. That's two bars.

   

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9. 9
   For the final two bars, just go back to putting the index finger on the second fret of the D string

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   Then repeat the previous steps for another two bars. Play the open string above with the D string. That's two bars. Now, put it all together very simply. Play four bars at the top, two bars down below, two bars back up, two bars with the pinky, then two bars in this last step. That's it! Repeat this pattern over and over again.

   

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10. 10
    That's how to play this version of twelve bar blues

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    Feel free to watch this video again and write down the information, so you can look at it easily. Then try to play that. Play it slow, get your fingers going, and do some research if you need to. If you have any questions or suggestions about this video, please leave them in the section below. There are also links to the other videos in this acoustic guitar for absolute beginners. This has been a video on how to play this version of twelve bar blues. I hope it's been useful. You've been watching VisiHow. Goodbye.

    

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If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

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