Lesson 33 · Part 6, Jazz blues and the capstone

The jazz-blues form

The jazz blues is the same twelve bars with the gaps filled in: chords that lead into the ones you already know, and more of them.

Nothing about the twelve-bar blues stops being true here. The I is still the I, the IV still arrives in bar five and the V still arrives in bar nine. What changes is the space in between — bars that used to sit on one chord now walk toward the next one.

The jazz blues, against the twelve bars you know

1A7I72D7IV73A7I74Em7v7A7I75D7IV76D♯°7♯iv°77A7I78F♯7VI79Bm7ii710E7V711A7I7F♯7VI712Bm7ii7E7V7AAB

The jazz blues in A: A7, D7, A7, Em7 then A7, D7, D♯°7, A7, F♯7, Bm7, E7, A7 then F♯7, Bm7 then E7.

Passing chords fill the gaps: a ii–V into bar five, a diminished chord, and a VI7 leading home. The heavier outlines are the eight bars that differ from the twelve-bar blues. Where the twelve-bar blues uses three chords, this uses seven. Three of its bars hold two chords.

The heavier outlines are where the two forms part company. Read them as arrivals rather than as new material: the Em7 and A7 in bar four are walking into the D7 in bar five, and the Bm7 and E7 at the end are walking back to the top.

Where the extra chords come from

Most of them come in pairs, and the blues already knew half of the idea. A V chord pulls to its I — that is bar nine to bar eleven in every blues you have played. Put a minor chord a fifth above the V in front of it and you have a pair that pulls twice. Bar four is Em7 then A7, and bar five is D7. Bars nine and ten are Bm7 and E7, and bar eleven is A7. Once you hear one pair you have heard the other.

The F♯7 in bar eight is doing the same job one step earlier — it is the chord a fifth above the Bm7 that follows it. The real odd one out is bar six, a diminished seventh whose root is a semitone above the IV’s. It does not lead by a fifth. It is built entirely of minor thirds, which is what lets it slide into several places at once, and it has a lesson of its own next.

What it does to your notes

The same five notes, over the new changes

1A72D73A74Em7A75D76D♯°77A78F♯79Bm710E711A7F♯712Bm7E7A1A rests over A7A rests over D7A rests over A7A passes through over Em7A rests over A7A rests over D7A rests over D♯°7A rests over A7A bends up over F♯7A rests over Bm7A leans onto G♯ over E7A rests over A7A bends up over F♯7A rests over Bm7A leans onto G♯ over E7A♯in F♯7A♯ sits outside over A7A♯ sits outside over D7A♯ sits outside over A7A♯ sits outside over Em7A♯ sits outside over A7A♯ sits outside over D7A♯ sits outside over D♯°7A♯ sits outside over A7A♯ is the chord’s own note over F♯7A♯ sits outside over Bm7A♯ sits outside over E7A♯ sits outside over A7A♯ is the chord’s own note over F♯7A♯ sits outside over Bm7A♯ sits outside over E7Bin Em7, Bm7, E7B sits outside over A7B sits outside over D7B sits outside over A7B is the chord’s own note over Em7B sits outside over A7B sits outside over D7B sits outside over D♯°7B sits outside over A7B sits outside over F♯7B is the chord’s own note over Bm7B is the chord’s own note over E7B sits outside over A7B sits outside over F♯7B is the chord’s own note over Bm7B is the chord’s own note over E7C♭3C bends up over A7C rests over D7C bends up over A7C leans onto B over Em7C bends up over A7C rests over D7C rests over D♯°7C bends up over A7C passes through over F♯7C leans onto B over Bm7C leans onto B over E7C bends up over A7C passes through over F♯7C leans onto B over Bm7C leans onto B over E7C♯in A7, F♯7C♯ is the chord’s own note over A7C♯ sits outside over D7C♯ is the chord’s own note over A7C♯ sits outside over Em7C♯ is the chord’s own note over A7C♯ sits outside over D7C♯ sits outside over D♯°7C♯ is the chord’s own note over A7C♯ is the chord’s own note over F♯7C♯ sits outside over Bm7C♯ sits outside over E7C♯ is the chord’s own note over A7C♯ is the chord’s own note over F♯7C♯ sits outside over Bm7C♯ sits outside over E7D4D leans onto C♯ over A7D rests over D7D leans onto C♯ over A7D rests over Em7D leans onto C♯ over A7D rests over D7D passes through over D♯°7D leans onto C♯ over A7D leans onto C♯ over F♯7D rests over Bm7D rests over E7D leans onto C♯ over A7D leans onto C♯ over F♯7D rests over Bm7D rests over E7D♯in D♯°7D♯ sits outside over A7D♯ sits outside over D7D♯ sits outside over A7D♯ sits outside over Em7D♯ sits outside over A7D♯ sits outside over D7D♯ is the chord’s own note over D♯°7D♯ sits outside over A7D♯ sits outside over F♯7D♯ sits outside over Bm7D♯ sits outside over E7D♯ sits outside over A7D♯ sits outside over F♯7D♯ sits outside over Bm7D♯ sits outside over E7E5E rests over A7E passes through over D7E rests over A7E rests over Em7E rests over A7E passes through over D7E leans onto D♯ over D♯°7E rests over A7E rests over F♯7E passes through over Bm7E rests over E7E rests over A7E rests over F♯7E passes through over Bm7E rests over E7F♯in D7, D♯°7, F♯7, Bm7F♯ sits outside over A7F♯ is the chord’s own note over D7F♯ sits outside over A7F♯ sits outside over Em7F♯ sits outside over A7F♯ is the chord’s own note over D7F♯ is the chord’s own note over D♯°7F♯ sits outside over A7F♯ is the chord’s own note over F♯7F♯ is the chord’s own note over Bm7F♯ sits outside over E7F♯ sits outside over A7F♯ is the chord’s own note over F♯7F♯ is the chord’s own note over Bm7F♯ sits outside over E7G♭7G rests over A7G leans onto F♯ over D7G rests over A7G rests over Em7G rests over A7G leans onto F♯ over D7G leans onto F♯ over D♯°7G rests over A7G leans onto F♯ over F♯7G leans onto F♯ over Bm7G bends up over E7G rests over A7G leans onto F♯ over F♯7G leans onto F♯ over Bm7G bends up over E7G♯in E7G♯ sits outside over A7G♯ sits outside over D7G♯ sits outside over A7G♯ sits outside over Em7G♯ sits outside over A7G♯ sits outside over D7G♯ sits outside over D♯°7G♯ sits outside over A7G♯ sits outside over F♯7G♯ sits outside over Bm7G♯ is the chord’s own note over E7G♯ sits outside over A7G♯ sits outside over F♯7G♯ sits outside over Bm7G♯ is the chord’s own note over E7

C bends up over A7 C rests over D7 C bends up over A7 C leans onto B over Em7 C bends up over A7 C rests over D7 C rests over D♯°7 C bends up over A7 C passes through over F♯7 C leans onto B over Bm7 C leans onto B over E7 C bends up over A7 C passes through over F♯7 C leans onto B over Bm7 C leans onto B over E7

Read along the C row: it bends up over A7, rests over D7, leans onto B over Em7, rests over D♯°7, passes through over F♯7, leans onto B over Bm7 and leans onto B over E7. A filled disc is a note you can stop on, a smaller one passes through, a tick under it leans onto the note below, a tick over it bends up into the note above, a diamond is a note the chord has and the scale does not and a small dot is a note that belongs to neither.

This is the score from Part 3, drawn over the new form. The point of it is the part that has not changed: the five notes you have played all course still work, and the ♭3 still bends over the I. What is different is how often the answer changes — a note that had four bars to sit still now has one.

A band, round the new form

Band · jazz blues in A · shuffle · 84 beats a minute

1A7I72D7IV73A7I74Em7v7A7I75D7IV76D♯°7♯iv°77A7I78F♯7VI79Bm7ii710E7V711A7I7F♯7VI712Bm7ii7E7V7

A band plays the jazz blues in A, shuffled, at 84 beats a minute: A7, D7, A7, Em7 then A7, D7, D♯°7, A7, F♯7, Bm7, E7, A7 then F♯7, Bm7 then E7.

Drums, bass and the shuffle riff, round the jazz blues in A. The bass walks each chord's own notes, so a minor chord gets a minor third under it.

Play the box over this before you learn a single new shape. It will sound thinner than it did over the twelve-bar, and that thinness is the reason the rest of Part 6 exists: the faster the chords move, the more it matters which note you are on when each one arrives.

This lesson was drafted with the help of AI, so it may contain a mistake. Its diagrams are drawn by Everyfret’s own software. How Everyfret is made