I thought I’d share another quick Lockdown Lesson today on Blues Chords, specifically cool ways of playing I-IV.
So much time is spent during a blues playing either the I or the IV chord (10 of the 12 bars in a traditional 12 bar blues) that having cool voicings to use is a must.
I’ve laid these voicings out in pairs so that the I chord is on the left and IV chord that goes with it is on the right.
There are 5 different pairings. Each pairing voice-leads well which means that there is as little movement as possible between chords. That having been said you can try mix & matching the voicings that you like.
Sometimes these chords don’t have the root notes in them (usually in favour of 9ths) which can be confusing for some players. When this is the case try to orientate yourself around the nearest root note to the voicing in question. 9ths add more colour to these chords and the roots are implied in the harmony so it’s often a good idea to make this substitution if you can get away with it.
I’ve written these voicings out in A so that you can twin this lesson with the last one about a cool sounding Turnaround: Turnaround Lesson
Hopefully you’ll find this lesson interesting & useful. If you do, please share it around a bit.
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Thanks so much, James.