Unit 3: 8 Bar Blues

12 Bar Vs 8 Bar

Let's kick off with the basics and ask the question, "how do we lose 4 bars and still sound like a blues?". The structure of an 8 bar vs a 12 bar generally looks like this:

So, before we get into anything else, let's learn to play and feel the 8 bar blues by simply playing along with a basic beat and a standard shuffle style groove (check out the video). Once you have this together, you are ready for the next lesson!

The Chords

Now we have the basic 8 bar concept in place, let's take a look at the actual chords we are playing, and how the diminished chord sits within the progression. The tab gives us the exact way we are playing the chords, but the fundamental outline of the chord progression is as shown here:

Diminished 7th?

Let's talk about that "dim7" chord on the chord chart, which is short for diminished 7th, otherwise known as whole diminished. First up, the construction and look of our dim7 chord is as follows (giving you two ways to fret it):

The beauty of a whole diminished chord is that it is entirely made up of minor 3rds. The interval between the first and second note is a minor 3rd, the interval between the 2nd and 3rd note is a minor 3rd, and the interval between the 3rd and 4th note is a minor 3rd. Even the one between the 4th back to the root is a minor third. For this magical reason, the chord is completely symmetrical and therefore repeats every minor third interval on the fretboard. This diagram helps to explain this further:

cool... but, why can I use it here?

The answer is actually pretty simple, and it's all about tension and release. The Edim7 chord is almost exactly the same as the Eb7 chord, bar the root note. Take a look:

So, using the diminished chord is not actually straying too far from the dominant chord, but it adds a new layer of tension and pull taking us back to the root chord of Bb7. This is a perfect example of tension and release in the blues, and it's very common from the IV chord to the I chord, although you could experiment using other chord movements. Pretty cool, right?! 🎸🎸

The Solo

It's time to tuck into the solo for the track, and in the words of Jurassic Park, "we've spared no expense"! This is a perfect blues solo, based around the Bb pentatonic scales in minor and major as well as diving into the whole diminished scale. I bet you didn't expect to be using that in your blues improvisation, but you really can! Let's start by getting ourselves familiar with the tab, then breaking down each lick as we go.

For the first 4 bars (including the pickup bar at the beginning) we are using the Bb major and minor pentatonic scales. More specifically, we are using the Bb minor pentatonic box 1 and the Bb major pentatonic box 2. Nothing more complicated than that. It's simply phrased well, and played with some serious grit!

Diminished Run

For the 5th bar, we focus our attention on the diminished scale and two specific shapes that we can work through. We are using this specifically over the E dim7th chord that we are playing, so it fits perfectly.

note: you don't have to play a diminished run over the diminished chord in this context... the minor pentatonic would also work a treat!

As with the m7b5 arpeggios, it is highly worth learning the shapes before smashing through the specifics in the tab. Remember that just like the chords, these shapes will move symmetrically across the fretboard in minor 3rds (every 4 frets). You can have some real fun with these!

Once you have these tricky shapes together, the tab will make a lot more sense. My favourite part of this whole lick is how we move from the diminished to the major pentatonic at the end, to beautifully resolve to the root chord. For that final part of the lick, we are using the major pentatonic box 4 in Bb, so do your best to visualise that when you play!

Solo Complete

For the final part of the solo, we are aiming to end on a high (literally!) by working our way quickly up the neck. This is returning to our pentatonic minor shapes starting from box 1 and rapidly sliding up 2, 3 and 4 to get to the final lick. In terms of how to play this, it's all about the aggression here. Try to really attack those notes, add some very wide vibrato and make sure that final bend really sings! As always, make sure you can visualise which pentatonic boxes you are in as you slide up the neck.