// Blues guitar pack. Shapes verified by note-spelling against: guitarworld.com // (13th chords, Jimmy Reed rhythm), fundamental-changes.com (SRV/Freddie King 9ths, // turnarounds), truefire.com (Texas comping, chord-tone targeting), jazzguitar.be // (tritone shells), guitarplayer.com (B.B. box, turnarounds). // Big barre grips — full-band downbeat hits. const E_BARRE7 = { rootStr: 6, offsets: [0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0], fingers: [1, 3, 1, 2, 1, 1] } // R-5-♭7-3-5-R const A_BARRE7 = { rootStr: 5, offsets: ['x', 0, 2, 0, 2, 0], fingers: [0, 1, 3, 1, 4, 1] } // R-5-♭7-3-5 const MIN7_BARRE_6 = { rootStr: 6, offsets: [0, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0], fingers: [1, 3, 1, 1, 1, 1] } // Em-shape m7 const MIN7_BARRE_5 = { rootStr: 5, offsets: ['x', 0, 2, 0, 1, 0], fingers: [0, 1, 3, 1, 2, 1] } // Am-shape m7 // The blues colour chords — root on the A string. const NINTH = { rootStr: 5, offsets: ['x', 0, -1, 0, 0, 0], fingers: [0, 2, 1, 3, 3, 3] } // R-3-♭7-9-5 const THIRTEEN = { rootStr: 5, offsets: ['x', 0, -1, 0, 0, 2], fingers: [0, 2, 1, 3, 3, 4] } // R-3-♭7-9-13 const THIRTEEN_6 = { rootStr: 6, offsets: [0, 'x', 0, 1, 2, 'x'], fingers: [1, 0, 2, 3, 4, 0] } // R-♭7-3-13 (T-Bone register) const HENDRIX = { rootStr: 5, offsets: ['x', 0, -1, 0, 1, 'x'], fingers: [0, 2, 1, 3, 4, 0] } // 7#9 — ♭3 vs 3 in one grip // Two-note-tritone shells — the Chicago comping grips. const SHELL7_6 = { rootStr: 6, offsets: [0, 'x', 0, 1, 'x', 'x'], fingers: [1, 0, 2, 3, 0, 0] } // R-♭7-3 const SHELL7_5 = { rootStr: 5, offsets: ['x', 0, 'x', 0, 2, 'x'], fingers: [0, 1, 0, 2, 4, 0] } // R-♭7-3 const SHELL_M7_5 = { rootStr: 5, offsets: ['x', 0, -2, 0, 'x', 'x'], fingers: [0, 3, 1, 4, 0, 0] } // R-♭3-♭7 export default { styleIntro: 'Blues rhythm guitar is a drum kit with pitch: the shuffle is the job, the chord is the decoration. Pick a lane — low boogie locked with the bass, or high 9th-chord stabs answering the vocal — and never both at once.', comping: [ { label: 'Jimmy Reed boogie shuffle', rhythm: 'swung 8ths: R+5 / R+6 alternating', description: 'Two-note dyads on the bottom strings, alternating the 5th and 6th above the root in swung eighths; move the same cell to the IV and V strings. Low register, dense — doubles the bass. The "second guitar" role Reed pioneered.', }, { label: '9th-chord stabs (Texas / SRV)', rhythm: 'staccato hits, slide in from a half-step below', description: 'Short muted stabs of the 9th grip, approached from one fret under (B♭9→B9). Mid-high register, sparse — leaves the low end to the bass. The Freddie King "Hide Away" sound.', }, { label: 'Slow blues 12/8', rhythm: 'rolled chords on a triplet grid', description: 'At ~60 BPM everything subdivides into triplets: arpeggiated 9ths, the 6↔9 rock on the top strings, fills answering the vocal. Density drops; space is the instrument.', }, { label: 'Stormy Monday walk-up', rhythm: 'one chord per walking step, bars 7–8', description: 'Diatonic chord climb I7→ii7→iii7 then chromatic back down — a bassline played as chords. Canonical on the Allman Brothers\' At Fillmore East.', }, ], plays: { 'blues-12bar': [ { label: 'Barre-chord shuffle', level: 'intermediate', chords: [ { shape: E_BARRE7, note: 'I7 — root on the 6th string' }, { shape: E_BARRE7, note: '' }, { shape: E_BARRE7, note: '' }, { shape: E_BARRE7, note: '' }, { shape: A_BARRE7, note: 'IV7 — same fret, root string up' }, { shape: A_BARRE7, note: '' }, { shape: E_BARRE7, note: '' }, { shape: E_BARRE7, note: '' }, { shape: A_BARRE7, note: 'V7 — two frets above the IV grip' }, { shape: A_BARRE7, note: 'IV7' }, { shape: E_BARRE7, note: '' }, { shape: A_BARRE7, note: 'V7 — push into the next chorus' }, ], tips: 'I, IV and V all live within two frets: 6th-string root, then 5th-string root at the same fret (IV) and two up (V). Strum short — the shuffle lives in the damping hand.', }, { label: '9th-chord stabs (Texas)', level: 'intermediate', chords: [ { shape: NINTH, extensions: ['9'], note: 'slide in from one fret below' }, { shape: NINTH, extensions: ['9'], note: '' }, { shape: NINTH, extensions: ['9'], note: '' }, { shape: NINTH, extensions: ['9'], note: '' }, { shape: NINTH, extensions: ['9'], note: 'IV9' }, { shape: NINTH, extensions: ['9'], note: '' }, { shape: NINTH, extensions: ['9'], note: '' }, { shape: NINTH, extensions: ['9'], note: '' }, { shape: THIRTEEN, extensions: ['9', '13'], note: 'V13 — pinky reaches the 13' }, { shape: NINTH, extensions: ['9'], note: 'IV9' }, { shape: NINTH, extensions: ['9'], note: '' }, { shape: THIRTEEN, extensions: ['9', '13'], note: 'V13' }, ], tips: 'Stab, mute, wait. The 13↔9 drop on the top string is a free melodic hook — comping that sounds like a horn section.', }, ], 'blues-quickchange': [ { label: 'Tritone shells (Chicago)', level: 'intermediate', chords: [ { shape: SHELL7_6, note: 'I7' }, { shape: SHELL7_5, note: 'quick IV — only the inner pair moves' }, { shape: SHELL7_6, note: '' }, { shape: SHELL7_6, note: '' }, { shape: SHELL7_5, note: '' }, { shape: SHELL7_5, note: '' }, { shape: SHELL7_6, note: '' }, { shape: SHELL7_6, note: '' }, { shape: SHELL7_5, note: 'V7' }, { shape: SHELL7_5, note: 'IV7' }, { shape: SHELL7_6, note: '' }, { shape: SHELL7_5, note: 'V7' }, ], tips: 'Three strings, two of them the chord-defining tritone. Drop the I7\'s inner pair one fret and you\'re already playing the IV7\'s guide tones — the quick change costs one finger.', }, { label: 'Big barres, quick four', level: 'intermediate', chords: [ { shape: E_BARRE7, note: '' }, { shape: A_BARRE7, note: 'the quick change — bar 2' }, { shape: E_BARRE7, note: '' }, { shape: E_BARRE7, note: '' }, { shape: A_BARRE7, note: '' }, { shape: A_BARRE7, note: '' }, { shape: E_BARRE7, note: '' }, { shape: E_BARRE7, note: '' }, { shape: A_BARRE7, note: 'V7' }, { shape: A_BARRE7, note: 'IV7' }, { shape: E_BARRE7, note: '' }, { shape: A_BARRE7, note: 'V7' }, ], tips: 'Accent bar 2 slightly — telegraphing the quick change keeps the whole jam from splitting between the two 12-bar variants.', }, ], 'blues-8bar': [ { label: 'Barres through the 8-bar form', level: 'intermediate', chords: [ { shape: E_BARRE7, note: 'I7' }, { shape: A_BARRE7, note: 'V7 already — count!' }, { shape: A_BARRE7, note: 'IV7' }, { shape: A_BARRE7, note: '' }, { shape: E_BARRE7, note: '' }, { shape: A_BARRE7, note: 'V7' }, { shape: E_BARRE7, note: '' }, { shape: A_BARRE7, note: 'V7 — turnaround' }, ], tips: 'Half the length, twice the changes per chorus. Lock the form before decorating it.', }, { label: '9ths and 13ths, uptown', level: 'intermediate', chords: [ { shape: NINTH, extensions: ['9'], note: '' }, { shape: THIRTEEN, extensions: ['9', '13'], note: 'V13' }, { shape: NINTH, extensions: ['9'], note: 'IV9' }, { shape: NINTH, extensions: ['9'], note: '' }, { shape: NINTH, extensions: ['9'], note: '' }, { shape: THIRTEEN, extensions: ['9', '13'], note: '' }, { shape: NINTH, extensions: ['9'], note: '' }, { shape: THIRTEEN, extensions: ['9', '13'], note: '' }, ], tips: 'The Key-to-the-Highway feel is gentle — roll the chords instead of stabbing them, triplet feel even at medium tempo.', }, ], 'blues-minor': [ { label: 'm7 barres with the ♯9 climax', level: 'intermediate', chords: [ { shape: MIN7_BARRE_6, note: 'i7' }, { shape: MIN7_BARRE_6, note: '' }, { shape: MIN7_BARRE_6, note: '' }, { shape: MIN7_BARRE_6, note: '' }, { shape: MIN7_BARRE_5, note: 'iv7' }, { shape: MIN7_BARRE_5, note: '' }, { shape: MIN7_BARRE_6, note: '' }, { shape: MIN7_BARRE_6, note: '' }, { shape: A_BARRE7, note: '♭VI7 — the drama bar' }, { shape: HENDRIX, extensions: ['#9'], note: 'V7♯9 — the slow-blues scream' }, { shape: MIN7_BARRE_6, note: '' }, { shape: MIN7_BARRE_6, note: '' }, ], tips: 'Save your dynamics for bars 9–10: the ♭VI7→V7♯9 half-step drop is the whole emotional payload of the form. Everything before it is patience.', }, { label: 'Upper-register minor comping', level: 'intermediate', chords: [ { shape: MIN7_BARRE_5, note: 'i7 — A-string root, above the bass' }, { shape: MIN7_BARRE_5, note: '' }, { shape: MIN7_BARRE_5, note: '' }, { shape: MIN7_BARRE_5, note: '' }, { shape: SHELL_M7_5, note: 'iv7 — thin out, the singer is working' }, { shape: SHELL_M7_5, note: '' }, { shape: MIN7_BARRE_5, note: '' }, { shape: MIN7_BARRE_5, note: '' }, { shape: THIRTEEN_6, extensions: ['13'], note: '♭VI13' }, { shape: NINTH, extensions: ['9'], note: 'V9' }, { shape: MIN7_BARRE_5, note: '' }, { shape: SHELL_M7_5, note: 'fade to the turnaround' }, ], tips: 'Minor blues is usually slow — 12/8 triplet grid, rolled chords, and at least one full bar per chorus where you play nothing at all.', }, ], 'blues-turnaround': [ { label: 'Shell cycle', level: 'intermediate', chords: [ { shape: SHELL7_6, note: 'I7' }, { shape: SHELL7_5, note: 'VI7' }, { shape: SHELL_M7_5, note: 'ii7' }, { shape: SHELL7_6, note: 'V7' }, ], tips: 'Often two beats per chord, not a bar — practise it at both speeds. The roots fall in fifths from the VI on, so the grips alternate strings on their own.', }, { label: 'Uptown 9ths (T-Bone)', level: 'intermediate', chords: [ { shape: NINTH, extensions: ['9'], note: 'I9' }, { shape: NINTH, extensions: ['9'], note: 'VI9' }, { shape: MIN7_BARRE_5, note: 'ii7' }, { shape: THIRTEEN, extensions: ['9', '13'], note: 'V13 — hold, then slide down a fret into the next chorus' }, ], tips: 'This is the Stormy Monday sound: every dominant becomes a 9th or 13th, approached chromatically. Roll them lazily on the triplet grid.', }, ], }, improv: { scales: [ { over: 'I7', scale: 'mixolydian', why: 'Major pentatonic and Mixolydian shine over the I — the sweet B.B. King side of the coin.' }, { over: 'IV7', scale: 'mixolydian', why: 'Switch to minor pentatonic (or think the IV\'s own Mixolydian) when the IV arrives — the key\'s major 3rd clashes with its ♭7.' }, { over: 'V7', scale: 'mixolydian', why: 'Each chord gets its own Mixolydian; adjacent ones differ by one note, so really it\'s "follow the chord tones."' }, { over: 'i7 (minor blues)', scale: 'minor', why: 'Minor pentatonic + the natural 6 over the iv; harmonic minor colour over the V7.' }, ], targetNotes: 'The 3rd of the current chord at every change is the whole game; hit the ♭7 of the I in bar 4 to announce the IV. The blues curl — a quarter-step bend of the ♭3 toward the major 3 — is the signature ornament.', licks: [ { over: 'blues-12bar', description: 'Classic descending turnaround in E (Robert Johnson "Kind Hearted Woman" lineage): ♭7–6–♭6–5 under a high-E pedal, swung triplets, resolving to B7.', tab: 'e|--0---0---0---0--------2--\nB|--3---2---1---0--------0--\nG|-----------------------2--\nD|-----------------------1--\nA|-----------------------2--\nE|--------------------------\n D C# C B → B7', source: 'GuitarPlayer "Blues Turnarounds Pt 1"; Fundamental Changes "Blues Turnarounds for Guitar"', }, { over: 'blues-12bar', description: 'B.B. King box lick in C: major-pentatonic box around frets 8–10 with the signature 2→3 whole-step bend (D bent to E, the 3rd of C7).', tab: 'e|--8--10b12--10--8---------------\nB|------------------10--8---------\nG|------------------------9-------\n C D→E D C A G E', source: 'GuitarPlayer "12 Killer Blues Licks"; Guitar World (B.B. box, R-2-4-5-6)', }, ], }, }