28
Jul
2010
MES Grunge rock jam sesion (not rehersed)
This is our band Mind Expanding Substances playing a drunken jam. Its not really serious at all as you can tell by the lyrics but was pretty fun to play. It was filmed with a Samsung mx-20 with an opteka fisheye lens and edited on wmm.
5
Apr
2010
20
Sep
2009
Another Mini Guitar Lesson – How To Play The Most Popular Jammed To Chord Sequence EVER!!!
This weeks article is probably the most popular Jammed to chord sequence ever!!! And it is an absolute must know for ALL guitarists. Its called the 12 bar blues and is the foundation of all blues music.
Take a look at it in its basic form in the key of A.
OK, here it is 
Counting 4 beats to the bar as in 1,2,3,4/1,2,3,4/1,2,3,4 etc etc Play 4 bars of the chord A, then 2 bars of D, back to A for 2 bars then one bar of E, one bar of D a bar of A and finally a bar of E to finish off the sequence making 12 bars in total.
Here’s the great part. Have a jam with your friends by playing this sequence over and over in the key of A. You’ll sound great! Practice listening to the popular blues songs and see if you can pick out the 12 bar blues sequence.
I really hope you are benefiting and enjoying these free mini guitar lessons. Please try not to worry if things seem not to make too much sense at the moment because my full audio video program has everything in chronological order and will become crystal clear very quickly indeed. It follows a secret structured program that will transform students into a great player in no time at all.
Now moving on from the 12 bar blues we will stick with the same theme and have a look at one of the many variations of this classic sequence.
To start off we’ll use the key of A (major) as an example. It uses the 7th chords which sound really cool in this context.
This next sequence goes like this: I A I D I A I A7 I D I D I A I A I E7 I D7 I A7 I E7 I
I A I = 1 bar of A (major) – I D I = 1 bar of D (major) etc
The A7 chord is constructed and played like so: the 6th string is not played, the 5th string is played open, the 4th string is played on the 2nd fret, the 3rd string played open, the 2nd string played on the 2nd fret and finally the 1st string is played open.
D7 is played – 6th & 5th string not used, 4th string open, 3rd string 2nd fret, 2nd string 1st fret, 1st string 2nd fret.
E7 is played – 6th string open, 5th string 2nd fret, 4th string open, 3rd string 1st fret, 2nd & 1st string open.
You’ll really enjoy this… It’s a great chord sequence to jam to and allows you to endlessly practise your soloing over.
Next is a cool little tip that will make your 12 bar blues even more bluesy…
So again we will take the key of A and substitute the D chord and E chord for a D9 (D9th) and E9 (E9th). The D9th chord shape is played like this:
The 6th string is not used, the 5th string played on the 5th fret (second finger). Play the 4th string on the 4th fret with your first finger and then play strings 3,2 and 1 at the 5th fret using your 3rd finger.
To play an E9 chord slide the shape up two frets so the 12 bar blues sequence is now played like this:-
lAlAlAlAlD9lD9lAlAlE9lD9lAlE9l
Use the 9th chord shape to create a real bluesy sequence.
Have fun.
About The Author Mike Jones: Mike has been teaching and playing guitar as a pro for over two decades over this time he has created a unique guitar tutoring program bringing the beginner through to accomplished guitar player in the shortest possible time. To find out more about these amazing techniques why not go to his website: Learn Guitar Fast