Free practice tool
12-Bar Blues Creator
Build a 12-bar blues in any key, see the chord shapes for guitar and ukulele, and find the pentatonic scales to solo with. Play along with a shuffle groove or save it as a PDF.
12-Bar Blues in A
Music Academy
Chord shapes
The chords in this blues
Guitar
Ukulele
Scales to solo with
A minor pentatonic
Swipe the fretboard to see frets up to 12.
How it works
The 12-bar blues form
Three lines of four bars, built on three chords: I, IV and V. Learn it once and you can play it in any key, with any band.
| Form | Bars 1–4 | Bars 5–8 | Bars 9–12 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Major blues | I7 · I7 · I7 · I7 | IV7 · IV7 · I7 · I7 | V7 · IV7 · I7 · I7 |
| Quick change | I7 · IV7 · I7 · I7 | IV7 · IV7 · I7 · I7 | V7 · IV7 · I7 · I7 |
| V7 turnaround | I7 · I7 · I7 · I7 | IV7 · IV7 · I7 · I7 | V7 · IV7 · I7 · V7 |
| Minor blues | im7 · im7 · im7 · im7 | ivm7 · ivm7 · im7 · im7 | vm7 · ivm7 · im7 · im7 |
| Minor, ♭VI turnaround | im7 · im7 · im7 · im7 | ivm7 · ivm7 · im7 · im7 | ♭VImaj7 · V7 · im7 · V7 |
Minor pentatonic
The classic blues sound. Use the key's minor pentatonic over all 12 bars, in major or minor blues.
Major pentatonic
Sweeter and brighter. Great over the I chord in a major blues, in the style of B.B. King and country blues.
Dominant pentatonic
1, 2, 3, 5, ♭7. Fits each 7th chord. Switch it with the chords (I, IV, V) to outline the changes.
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