[wasted_dreams]

Hi,

I can understand tab but have started trying the 12 bar blues and something bothers me.

I'm used to tab like this:
D
e|-------2-----------2-----|
b|-----3---3-------3---3---|
g|---2-------2---2-------2-|
d|-0-----------0-----------|
a|-------------------------|
e|-------------------------|

And know that the numbers tell you which fingers to put where, like above you're playing a D:


But with the 12 bar blues the tab is stilll telling you where to put your fingers, and I can play it okay. But I am confused...


What is the D at the top for, as you're not putting your fingers where you should to make a D... so it confuses me. Or is that string an open D or something?

Any help appreciated, thanks.

[redrider37]

Originally Posted by wasted_dreams

Hi,

I can understand tab but have started trying the 12 bar blues and something bothers me.

I'm used to tab like this:
D
e|-------2-----------2-----|
b|-----3---3-------3---3---|
g|---2-------2---2-------2-|
d|-0-----------0-----------|
a|-------------------------|
e|-------------------------|

And know that the numbers tell you which fingers to put where, like above you're playing a D:


But with the 12 bar blues the tab is stilll telling you where to put your fingers, and I can play it okay. But I am confused...


What is the D at the top for, as you're not putting your fingers where you should to make a D... so it confuses me. Or is that string an open D or something?

Any help appreciated, thanks.

Hi,

Thanks for asking this, I wondered also, but the explanation above sounds good.

[wasted_dreams]

@redrider37 - No problem. Good to know i'm not the only one who gets a little confused at times. I've not progressed much in the last few days as I thought I may be doing something wrong because I wasn't playing a D (or whatever chord) and thought I should ask before going any further.

@WitchyWoman - Thanks. Good explanation. Does that mean that when playing alone, without anyone else, you just completely ignore the chords mentioned in the top line and use the tab below to play?

[wjp01908]

Originally Posted by WitchyWoman

Perhaps a more advanced guitarist than me would somehow incorporate the two together??? not sure on that though.

It`s fairly straightforward to combine the two and it is a good exercise in little (pinky) finger flexibility - just fret a d as normal and use the little finger on and off the fourth fret 3rd string.

You can then strum or pick the whole thing or hit the whole chord for emphasis only.

Will

[allthumbs]

That is a typical blues shuffle pattern. The first two bars are based on the D chord. Thinking in note numbers, the 0 fret is 1 or root of the D chord, The 2fret is the 5 number of the D chord. The 4fret is the 6st note in D. That is the note that gives the shuffle it's distinctive character. Going from the 5 to 6. It is the same with the A chord or any other chord in this blues shuffle pattern.

If your confused by my use of numbers, remember that the notes of the D scale are numbered 1 to 7. The basic chord is comprised of the 1,3,5 notes from that scale. The numbers in the tabs are just referring to the tabs and not the note numbers.

If you want to spice up the shuffle, you can add the b7, a strong blues note. Just move up one fret. In this case move from the 4th fret to the 5th fret and back. You can also vary the rhythm. You should be able to find rhythms that jump out at you as very recognizable. SRV did a lot of variations on the shuffle pattern using the b7.