Now that’s a long stretch, over 4 frets. I can just about do this if I really stretch and put my pinky down first, which kind of doesn’t work as I’m guessing that my first finger on fret 2 should be the anchor. Mind you takes about 10secs to get my fingers anywhere close to right so not much use for this tune at the moment.
1 Like
You can play the same thing for both A and B on the 6th and 5th strings.
A → frets 5 & 7 reaching out to frets 5 & 9
B → frets 7 & 9 reaching out to frets 7 & 11
1 Like
A lot of the songs I am having trouble with identifying the blues-shuffle strumming pattern (‘one trip-let, two trip-let’ as taught in 2nd video in module 13). In the app, most songs show the Old Faithful Strumming Pattern.
Are a lot of the 12BB songs recommended in the app for module 13 meant to be played without the shuffle strum?
Sweet Home Chicago I can play along to the shuffle strumming pattern. But I can’t pick up that rhythm in Cream’s Crossroads or Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry.
I think I hear it in Dream Baby by Roy Orbison but the rhythm is too fast and each chord progression has the two note interchanging back and forth that makes it harder.
Hello and welcome to the Community @newsletter
There is an elasticity to a triplet-shuffle rhythm that means, at its extreme, there is negligible difference in feel and groove between a shuffle blues 12 bar and a straight eights rock n roll 12 bar.
Break down a bar of quarters into four triplets.
1-trip-let 2-trip-let 3-trip-let 3-trip-let
The 1, the trip and the let are of equal duration. Each quarter is split into thirds.
The shuffle rhythm is achieved by not playing the ‘trip’ part.
1 — let 2 — let 3 — let 4 — let
With a pure mathematical split, the first portion of each quarter would be 2/3 of 1/4 and the second portion would be 1/3 of 1/4.
The elasticity in the shuffle can be thought of as playing around with the relative duration of those portions.
Think what would happen if the ‘1 —’ was increased in duration (beyond its 2/3) then the ‘let’ would need to be decreased in duration by an equal amount (to maintain the beat as one quarter of the bar).
The 2/3 : 1/3 split would change with the former being larger and the latter being smaller.
In an opposite way, think what would happen if the ‘1 —’ was reduced in duration then the ‘let’ would need to be increased in duration by an equal amount (to maintain the beat as one quarter of the bar).
The 2/3 : 1/3 split would change with the former being smaller and the latter being larger.
If you take the second of these two rhythm scenarios and reduce the ‘1 —’ until it is just a little more than 1/2 of 1/4 then the ‘let’ will in turn be almost equal to 1/2 of 1/4 too. In other words, the shuffle begins to move closer and closer to straight 1/8ths rhythm counted as 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &.
As a rule of thumb, that is to say barely a rule at all but simply an approximate guide, blues tends to be played with shuffle rhythm and rock n roll tends to be played with straight 1/8ths.
If you listen to a lot of blues songs you may begin to notice that there is no one shuffle groove that they all use. Each musician will bring their own feel of how the shuffle splits the triplet it is derived from.
Crossroads by Cream is played right in the grey area. Is it straight 1/8ths? Is it a shuffle? I looked at sheet music for it and all I saw indicate straight 1/8ths.
Similar for Johnny B Goode.
2 Likes
Thanks very much for the detailed reply Richard. Your explanation makes a lot of sense!
1 Like
Walking by Myself by Freddie King is a great blues song based on a shuffle.
1 Like
What about giving Rolling stone blues a try? It is the last track on the Hackney Diamonds album that the Rolling Stones released today.
1 Like
Hello. What is Bm and Eb? How would u play 12 bar progression in these keys? What would be the 1 4 5 chords?
Hello @sachivtahil and welcome to the community.
For both major and minor key 12-bar progression you use the 1, 4 and 5.
Major → 1, 4 and 5 are either major or 7 chords
Minor → 1, 4 and 5 are either minor or minor 7 chords
B minor 1, 4, 5 = Bm, Em, F#m
Eb major 1, 4, 5 = Eb, Ab, Bb
My greetings!
I think that “sweet home Chicago” is in the key of E and not in the key of A. I am sorry if I made a mistake and hearing it wrong! Please inform us 
I am writing this for helping Justin Guitar to be even better and help fellow musicians!
1 Like
Wow. This song really shown me the way and gave me serious motivation… Thank you 
2 Likes
My opinion, this module is a challenge because many blues songs that are popular, don’t really have much in the way of a rhythm guitar part. The shuffle that we learned is just not a part of these songs, where the only guitar is mainly firing off riffs and doing solos.
Don’t get me wrong, I get it. We need to learn the shuffle as a basic, and as an intro to the blues. But I think the shuffle wouldn’t work if we needed to play back up to one of the Three Kings!
What would Justin play as a rhythm guitar part on these songs?
1 Like
I think this may be due to what you are listening to. I find rhythm parts in most things I am interested in. Also, listen in the background. I think it is really easy to pay attention to the lead and forget about the rest of the band. just looking thru the songs, in the 12-bar section, I think only Hey, Hey is missing a clear rhythm in the back, and The Thrill is Gone I think it is the job of the bass. Others all have a rhythm guitar. For a good example, take a look at the two lessons Justin has for Tore Down.
https://www.justinguitar.com/songs/eric-clapton-i-m-tore-down-rhythm-chords-tabs-guitar-lesson-st-808
https://www.justinguitar.com/songs/eric-clapton-i-m-tore-down-lead-chords-tabs-guitar-lesson-st-809
As for shuffles - I like shuffles a lot. In hind-sight, it would have been funny to use that as my forum name 
They exist in a very large portion of blues and rock. Tore Down has a shuffle rhythm for instance. I think you will find them used a great deal and then see why Justin is teaching them and making them a strong part of the learning.
I agree that it’s sometimes hard to pick out the the rhythm guitar from the rest of the band, but you can definitely hear the shuffle groove on many of these songs. “I’m Tore Down”, for example. (Btw, there is definitely a rhythm guitar playing here, as can be seen in this live performance: https://youtu.be/QJvpWZeg_NM?si=nvKVdJc9gBh-SA5T). You could easily play the basic shuffle riff over this and it’d sound great.
I would say that this is the case for most of the songs on Justin’s list. The basic shuffle riff fits, even if you don’t hear it prominently in the original recordings.
Some don’t lend themselves well to the basic shuffle, like Mannish Boy and I’m a Man (which are very similar and based on a strong riff that repeats throughout). Johnny B. Goode famously has the basic shuffle riff played with straight eighth notes, instead of the more bluesy swung eighth notes.
1 Like
I am reviewing this module for grade 2 consolidation and will admit that this will take more time than I gave it the first time around. The recommended songs lists are challenging. I can slow Pride and Joy down to use, but I think that Before You Accuse Me is the best fit for practicing, using the chapter link for the 12 bar blues to start.