Jazz Guitar Blues

Basic Progressions
in Common Keys
Here's just what you need to play jazzy blues : a set of 5 distinct, progressively more difficult, chord
progressions in the key of C, F and Bb.

This article also includes explanation as to why certain chords are being used / substituted for one another.
All the theory on this page is given in the key of C with added roman numeral for analysis.

Get the three pdfs for reference here. Print + use, but please save the trees if you can... and memorize the
blues form quickly!

-1-
Most Basic
Rock / Pop / Traditional
12-bar Blues
(using I7 - IV7 - V7 chords)

This is the foundation, the simplest jazz guitar blues there is!

Commonly used in traditional blues, blues-rock, pop, rock & roll, funk ... and seldom used in jazz since the
bebop era (late 1940's).

-2-
Simple 12-bar blues
with II-V-I cadence
Not quite the jazziest blues yet, but has many element of it (especially the IIm7-V7-I cadence at the end).
This is a great preparation step for the "real" jazz blues with many more chords (see below)

Please Note :

 bars 9-10-11 are a II-V-I cadence

 first two bars have I - IV (instead of plain old I for 4 bars)

-3-
Most Common "Jazz Guitar Blues"
(with secondary dominants
and I-VI-II-V turnaround)

Previous elements are kept here but the "VI" chord is added in bar 8.

Remember this : VI is the dominant of II. Here's why :

In C : A7(b9) in bar 8 is the dominant of Dm in the next bar! We call this a secondary dominant.

Same applies to bar 4 going to bar 5 : We have the "flat 9" on the C7 (the I) to raise the tension level and
then resolve back to F7 (the IV).
A C7(b9) chord is refered to as an altered dominant. (see also the altered dominant chords chart...)

-4-
Jazz Guitar Blues with more "meat"
Added Passing Diminished
and II-V interpolation

Business as usual here except for :

 Passing diminished chord in bar 6 (very common bass line)

 The II-V interpolation in bars 4 and 8 (see article)

These elements are often used by seasoned improvisers and accompanists. It creates nice textures, especially
at slower tempos. Note that is possible to using passing diminished in other spots, like bar 2 for instance.

-5-
The most "bebop"
Jazz Guitar Blues
(aka Bird Blues or Parker Blues)
This is a great blues form to improvise over. I like it in the keys F and Ab the most. Listen to the tunes :
"Blues for Alice", "Chi Chi" and "Freight Trane".

The last 4 bars are pretty straight forward as the "juice" is really happening in bars 1 through 8 :

 Right away, harmony goes to VIm (the relative minor key) in bar 3
 We have back cycling in bars 2-3-4 (towards IV in bar 5.)
 Then a series of II-V cells that do not resolve in some sort of side-slipping fashion in bars 6-7-8.
 The end is a good old II-V-I (+ turnaround) to settle back the harmony and go back to the top again.