Blues

E7
E7
E7
E7
A7
A7
E7
E7
B7
A7
E7
B7
E7Play E
EADGBe12340

Hold: keeps ringing · push across: bend · glide along: slide · rock back and forth: vibrato

Frets 1–4

Play the root note four times in every bar – that’s the note the chord is named after. The gold dot on the neck shows where it is.

Bend ↑: you can bend the note with the arrow (G) up a little – push the string sideways across the fretboard with your fretting finger until it sounds a bit higher. That is the “blue note” between minor and major. The arrow only appears while the E chord is playing – that is where bending fits. The note Bb is a passing note: touch it briefly, then move on.

Level

Key

★ In E the root notes E and A are on open strings – the easiest. Other keys fit songs or friends you play with.

Tempo

Helpers

The 12-bar blues: 4 bars E, 2 bars A, 2 bars E, then B, A, E, B – and back to the start. The band plays a “shuffle”: long-short, long-short.

12-bar blues to play along on guitar

Blues with a band in any key: first root notes, then riffs, then free playing – on guitar, with tab.