Week 20 of 27
Goal: You know the blues pattern with E, A and B7 and play with the band.
Review
Last week: time and note values. Play E in quarters, then in eighths (down-up).
Step by step
- New chord B7: middle finger A string 2, index D string 1, ring G string 2, B string open, little finger e string 2. Don’t play the low E string.
- In the blues in E, E, A and B7 are degrees I, IV and V: the first, fourth and fifth notes of the E major scale.
- The basic pattern: bars 1–4 E, bars 5–6 A, bars 7–8 E, bar 9 B7, bar 10 A, bar 11 E, bar 12 B7 – it leads back to the start. The band plays all three as seventh chords. More in 12-bar blues.
- In the blues choose the key of E. The app shows you which chord is up. On level 3 you play the boogie riff on the two lowest strings.
Time to make music: your piece
Blues in E with the band: first strum E, A and B7 through the pattern, then the boogie riff on level 3. Twelve bars – and again!
Play the blues Level 3 · Boogie riff, key E
Homework for next time
Five days, about ten minutes each:
- Tune first every day.
- Day 1: play B7, check the strings one by one.
- Days 2–3: write out the pattern E, A, B7 and play it.
- Days 4–5: blues with the band, first chords, then the boogie riff.
- Fun: make up blues lyrics about your breakfast!
Done when …
- B7 rings clearly on five strings
- you play the twelve bars with the band without stopping
If you get stuck
- B7 is hard? Four fingers at once – place them from bottom to top: middle, index, ring, little. It gets faster with time.
- Lost in the pattern? Count the bars out loud or watch the “Bar n of 12” display in the app.
For teachers: lesson plan
- ≈ 10 min Warm-up: write the pattern on the board as 3 × 4 boxes; the group reads the chords out loud.
- ≈ 15 min Practice: group 1 plays chords, group 2 the boogie riff, then swap. The app plays bass and drums.
- ≈ 20 min Together: a class blues – each child takes a turn singing a line they made up.
Differentiation: those who are confident play the piece with down-up or help a partner; those who need more time strum only on beat one of each bar.
For the board: openstring.de/gitarre/en/lesson/20/