Blues forms

Modern Blues in Bb

A reharmonised Bb blues built on several rootless grips.

Key
Bb
Level
advanced
Tempo
Medium ballad (90-120 BPM)

The form

  1. bar 1Bbmaj7
  2. bar 2Fm7
  3. bar 3Bb7
  4. bar 4Ebmaj7
  5. bar 5Eb7
  6. bar 6Edim7
  7. bar 7Bbmaj7
  8. bar 8Cm7-F7
  9. bar 9Dm7
  10. bar 10G7
  11. bar 11Cm7
  12. bar 12F7

One bar carries two chords. The transcription writes both chords' notes together without saying which note belongs to which, so that bar is printed and not drawn — a keyboard guessed from an ambiguous line would show a chord nobody plays.

The hands

Left hand then right, as the source writes them. A pianist's voicing routinely carries a colour the chord symbol does not spell — a flat ninth over a dominant, a ninth on top of a seventh chord — so the notes printed under each keyboard are what is actually played, rather than what the symbol alone would predict.

Bbmaj7

bar 1

LH D3 A3RH F4 C5 E5

Rootless A voicing

Fm7

bar 2

LH Ab3 Eb4RH C5 F5 Ab5

Bb7

bar 3

LH D3 Ab3RH F4 Bb4 Db5

Ebmaj7

bar 4

LH G3 D4RH Bb4 F5 A5

Eb7

bar 5

LH G3 Db4RH Bb4 Eb5 Gb5

Edim7

bar 6

LH G3 Db4RH Bb4 E5 G5

Bbmaj7

bar 7

LH D3 A3RH F4 C5 E5

Dm7

bar 9

LH F3 C4RH A4 E5 G5

G7

bar 10

LH B3 F4RH D5 A5 C6

Cm7

bar 11

LH Eb3 Bb3RH G4 D5 F5

F7

bar 12

LH A3 Eb4RH C5 G5 Bb5

Associated players