Are There Standard Blues Guitar Chords?

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By: Mike Hammil

When you talk about jazz guitar you are often asked to reference jazz chords. In the quest to find out more about classical guitar you are always pointed to classical guitar chords. In reality there is no such thing as any particular set of guitar chords being exclusive to any one form of guitar playing however a style of music is usually identified by its sound and the chords you use in playing certain types of music can very much help define the sound of that music. So there are chords, or chord types, that classical and jazz guitar players prefer and there are also blue guitar chords that are used a lot in different types of blues. However sometimes blue guitar chords can be borrowed from those other lists to add flavor to the sound and that may be the one thing that separates blue guitar chords from other types of chords. In jazz it is important to maintain that jazz sound while in the blues it is just important to get the message across regardless of what chords you use to do it. There are some very basic blue guitar chords that many players use and there are some very basic formations of the blue guitar chords that are used by players that are trying to add a certain feel to a song. For example, the A-chord is made by simply placing your finger across the middle three strings while in the second fret. Many blues players will use this form of the chord as a root or base to whatever they are doing. However if you put your pointer finger on the low E string in the 5th fret and then put your other two fingers on the next strings down in the 7th fret then you have also made an A-chord but with a much different sound. This second A-chord is much heavier and darker and can be used to add intensity to a song. It is changes like this that can make blue guitar chords fun to work with. On the 7th and Minor There are many forms to one single chord but blue guitar chords prefer to stick with three main forms of any chord when you play blues guitar. There is the major form of the chord which kind of goes without saying. One of the most famous chord progressions ever created is a blue guitar chords progression that goes from A to D to E. That is the basis for a whole catalog of songs. But if you add some minor chords in there then all of sudden the whole thing changes to a very solemn and sad tone. Just a few notes changed here and there can add so much to a song. If you want to add maybe a feeling of freedom to a chord progression then you would add the 7th of that chord. Minors and 7ths are the other two forms of chords primarily used in the blues but, as was mentioned before, if you need an augmented 9th to get your point across then by all means go right ahead.