Mahalo MR1LBU Soprano Ukulele - Light Blue

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While not exclusive to blues music, just by turning a regular chord progression into a set of 7th chords, you can give a song a bluesy feel and soulful sound that will distinguish it from similar songs. Because the ukulele and guitar have so much in common, uke players like me, who started on guitar, are inclined to adapt their guitar skills to the uke. The result can be pleasing to the ear, and can even push the envelope for ukers, creating new styles and sounds in the process. Feel free to watch this video first, but you may want to keep reading first to understand how the 12-bar blues is structured. 12-Bar Blues Form & Structure At GAK, we supply a variety of ukulele types, including Soprano, concert, tenor, and baritone ukuleles, so you’re bound to find the one that’s perfect for you. Whether you’re just starting out or are looking for something more professional, our range will have you covered.

As you can see, the structure is pretty simple. We can create a little bit more interest in this progression by using some variations. 12-Bar Blues Variations We offer a wide selection of ukuleles across a range of popular brands, including Fender and Epiphone, who incorporate their classic guitar designs into stylish takes on the compact folk instrument. Other brands like Cordoba specialise in building high-quality ukes, while some series like the Yellow Submarine Ukuleles have a bright, quirky appearance and are ideal for beginners wanting a groovy-looking uke.Ukuleles are really great instruments to have and compared to many other instruments they are incredibly easy to learn. Once you master the basics you may want to learn different styles of music, and we always recommend the blues. Once you learn the basic ukulele blues chords you’ll be able to play a number of popular hits, too! It’s easy to see that 12 bar blues forms and structures are built around 12 bars in total. Now, each bar is often broken down into quarter notes where the strumming pattern we mentioned above. As you probably guessed, the 12-bar blues is made up of twelve bars or measures. Each measure gets four beats. Once you complete these twelve bars, you repeat the entire form.

If the previous version of “Stagolee” sounds a little stiff, that’s because there’s no syncopation; all the melody notes coincide with the thumb notes. When you start placing occasional melody notes between the thumb notes, things get rhythmically interesting. This version of the same tune adds syncopation and some slides, hammer-ons, and other touches that make it swing. Example 5: ‘Careless Love’ Travis-style guitarists play alternating bass notes with their thumb, on all four downbeats of every measure, while playing melodies on the higher strings with their fingers. Those thumb beats provide a steady accompaniment, taking the place of a bass player and rhythm guitarist. Even though the uke doesn’t have “bass strings” like the guitar’s sixth and fifth strings, you can get the rhythmic feel of raggy blues by playing the downbeats with your thumb, alternating on the fourth and third, or fourth and second, strings. Example 1: Basic Accompaniment Pattern The blues is like a language: you learn to speak it by listening and imitating what you hear. Chords and scales are your alphabet, and musical phrases built on those chords and scales are the words you use to express yourself. You can play the blues with a stranger you’ve just met, from anywhere on the planet, and if you both speak the language of the blues, you’ll sound like old friends who have rehearsed and played together for years.By learning all these blues variations you can accelerate your playing from total amateur to crowd-pleaser. The Ukelele is a terrific instrument and by learning all the ukulele blues chords you add a great range of chords and sounds to your arsenal. The chords above are expressed in roman numerals. The “7” next to the roman numerals represent that the chord is a dominant 7th chord. The first four measures of the 12-bar blues are played over the tonic chord I7. This means, if we were playing in the key of A, our I7 chord would be A7, if we were playing in key of D, our I7 chord would be D7, and so on.

For example, a normal C chord is made by simply holding down the A string at the third fret. The g, C, and E strings are simply strummed. That are four common varieties: soprano, concert, tenor and baritone. These vary in terms of size, scale length and tuning. Nowadays, some manufacturers even produce guitar-ukulele and bass-ukulele hybrids, designed to more accessible to contemporary players. Thousands of blues songs in the key of A can be played with three chords: A, D, and E, or the sevenths of those three: A7, D7, and E7. But there’s more than one way to play a chord. Example 2 shows several A7 chords. The thumb plays some of the melody notes, but it still plays every downbeat, four beats per measure. Most commonly, the way to transform ordinary chords into blues chords is to add a 7 note. The 7th’s give the chord a slightly different sound that has been widely used and associated with the blues genre.The standard variation of the 12 bar blues scale in C follows the sequence has the ukulele blues chords of C7, F, and G7 normally Incorporated. A good progression to start with is to play the C7 chord for 4 bars, 2 bars of the F chord, 2 bars of the C7 chord, one bar of the G7, a bar of F, and 2 bars of C7. The ukulele as we know it took shape in Hawaii, derived from an instrument called a machete that was passed on by Portuguese immigrants. It’s commonly found with four nylon strings and smaller body than the acoustic guitar. An instrument to inspire beginners of all ages. The Gear4music Ukulele is fun, portable and easy to play. With a quality build to stand the test of time, it will hold your interest throughout hours of play and practice.