Guitar Tricks Online Guitar Lessons

Breaking It Down

 

In this lesson, I'll break down the basic chords and the chord structure of the 12 bar form. Once we've practiced it a couple of times, we're going to play through the 12 bar form with a rockin' backing track!

Anders Mouridsen
Instructor Anders Mouridsen
Tutorial:
Intro to the 12 Bar Form In Blues
Styles:
Blues
Difficulty:
print notation download lesson open guitar tuner
Breaking It Down song notation
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Breaking It Down By Anders Mouridsen

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Questions & Answers

6 months ago
For A major, I put my middle finger on the 2nd fret of the D string, my ring finger on the 2nd fret of the B string and tuck my index finder behind them on the G string. This makes for an easy transition from A to D since the index finger can stay where it is at. For transition to E, the index finger can stay on the G string and just slide back to the 1st fret. Are there any reasons not to do it this way other than it wouldn't work for using the A shape for barre chords?
Mike Olekshy 5 months ago

Hello Alan - thanks so much for the question. There is no problem fretting the A chord this way. Down the road, depending on what the musical context is around the A chord, you might find it advantageous to finger the chord a different way. But for right now, if it's working for you, then go for it!