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Blues forms

Basic 12-Bar Blues in F

The foundation of jazz blues. Every jazz musician must know this.

Key
F
Level
beginner
Tempo
Medium swing (120-160 BPM)

The form

  1. bar 1F7
  2. bar 2F7
  3. bar 3F7
  4. bar 4F7
  5. bar 5Bb7
  6. bar 6Bb7
  7. bar 7F7
  8. bar 8F7
  9. bar 9C7
  10. bar 10Bb7
  11. bar 11F7
  12. bar 12C7

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.

F7

bar 1 · bar 2 · bar 3 · bar 4 · bar 7 · bar 8 · bar 11

LH F2 C3RH A3 Eb4 G4

Bb7

bar 5 · bar 6 · bar 10

LH Bb2 F3RH D4 Ab4 C5

C7

bar 9 · bar 12

LH C3 G3RH E4 Bb4 D5

Associated players

  • Traditional
  • Count Basie