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Twelve bar blues is a typical blues chord progression, taking twelve 4/4 bars to
the verse.
A basic example of the progression would look like this, using T to indicate the tonic, S for the subdominant, and D for the dominant, and representing one chord per measure:
T T T T
S S T T
D S T T
Many variations are possible. For instance, seventh chords are often
used just before a change, and more changes can be added. A more complicated example might look like this, where "7" indicates a
seventh chord:
T S T T7
S S7 T T7
D S T D7
When the last bar contains the dominant, that bar can be called a
turnaround.
Finally, here is an example showing the pattern in the key of D, and how it fits with the lyrics of a given verse. One chord
symbol is used per beat, with "-" representing the continuation of the previous chord:
D - - -
Woke up this morning with the
G - - - D - - - D7 - - -
blues down in my soul
G - - -
Woke up this morning with the
G7 - - - D - - - D7 - - -
blues down in my soul Saying "My
A - - A7
baby gone and left me, got a
G - - G7 D - - - D - A A7
heart as black as coal"
While the blues is most often considered to be in sectional strophic
form with a verse-refrain pattern, it may
also be considered as an extension of the variational chaconne procedure.
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