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INTERMEDIO_BAJO

12-Bar Blues (Quick Change)

Why does Jimi Hendrix's blues sound different from standard blues?

12-Bar Blues Quick Change: goes to IV in bar 2, adding extra movement at the start. More active than standard blues, avoids 'stagnation' on the I. Red House, Sweet Home Chicago (Robert Johnson).

I7IV7I7I7IV7IV7I7I7V7IV7I7V7
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Complete guide

Level: Intermediate Styles: Blues

🎵 What Changes?

In standard blues, the first 4 bars are all tonic (I7). Sometimes that can sound a bit static.

The Quick Change fixes this by going to the subdominant (IV7) in bar 2 and immediately returning to I7 in bar 3.

Structure:

  1. I7
  2. IV7 (The quick change!)
  3. I7
  4. I7

🎹 In C

  • Bar 1: C7
  • Bar 2: F7 (Quick change)
  • Bar 3: C7
  • Bar 4: C7

This creates an immediate "dialog" between tonic and subdominant right from the start of the song.