Blues Guitar in Minor Keys - Playing Blues in Minor Keys

I would now like to take a little time to discuss the minor blues. We will still be using the same basic 12 bar structure. The only difference between the major and minor blues is the quality of the chords. In the major blues the 1, 4 and 5 chords are all dominant 7th chords with a major third in the chord.

In the minor blues the 1 and 4 chord become minor 7th chords. The 5 chord typically stays a dominant 7th but it can be minor as well. Check out the following example in the key of A minor.

Blues Shuffle In A Minor

Download .mp3 file for audio example 14 ( Right-click Save Target as... )

Now let’s make things a little more interesting by using barre chords. As I said earlier, I think the barre chords sound better to my ear. You can have more control over what you hear. We will also use minor 7th chords this time instead of just plain minor triads. Just a bit hipper.

Blues Shuffle In A Minor

Download .mp3 file for audio example 15 ( Right-click Save Target as... )

Again notice the pattern is the same that we had in the major blues. The 1 and 4 chords are in the same fret and the 5 chord is two frets higher. You should easily be able to move the minor blues to any key by starting in the correct fret.

Here is a different fingering you can use on the 1 chord.

If you find this chord difficult to play you can always use the one on the previous page. You should try to learn as many variations on these chords as you can. There are many ways to spice up these chords by adding extra tones like the 9th or the 13th.

If you don’t know what this means don’t worry about it. This is in the realm of music theory and after you master these basics you can move on to some of these other chords and sounds.

If you want to learn about this in more detail I recommend that you click here and check out this resource.

On the next page we will take a look at the minor blues with the 1 chord starting on the 5th string.

Download .mp3 file for audio example 16 ( Right-click Save Target as... )

These are the chords used in audio example 16.

If you have been working through all of this material you have learned quite a bit by now. You can play the 12 bar blues in all keys using barre chords with the 1 chord starting on the 6th string or the 5th string.

You can also play a shuffle rhythm with a couple of variations and in all 12 keys. In the last
section of this report we will discuss how to solo over the blues.

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