Hound Dog

Play it fast or play it slow - you can have a lot of fun with the 12 bar blues. Here's a tune familiar to most that uses that age old chord progression. We've tried making up our own blues tunes at work - a perfect place for singin' the blues!

Although there are variations, the basic 12 bar blues is the following progression (I'll use this "|" between bars/measures). The Roman numerals indicate with chord of the key you're playing without designating the exact name of the chord. That way it can be used for any key.

I I I I | I I I I | I I I I | I I I I
I I I I | IV IV IV IV| IV IV IV IV | I I I I
I I I I | V7 V7 V7 V7 | IV IV IV IV | I I I I

So in the key of C, you'd be playing:

C | C | C | C |
C | F | F | C |
C | G7 | F | C |

And in the key of G:

G | G | G | G |
G | C | C| G |
G | D7 | C | G |