Ready to unleash your inner Blues guitar player? Let's put all these beginner Blues elements into practice!
View the full lesson at Module 13 Practice | JustinGuitar
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Loved this module! Really starting to feel the muscles in my hands developing. Looking forward to jamming with friends!
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Hi Stuart - check out this lesson
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Thanks for that. Must have missed that one!
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I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would! I know blues is so important as the foundation of modern rock and roll but I could never really got into it until finding more modern dirty blues rock. It’s fun to see so many different pieces coming together.
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Well I’ve had another look at this and still can’t see where the chords for keys A, E, and G are shown. It’s all very well saying practice blues in G (or whatever) but it would be helpful if the actual chords required for this are listed. All I see is I, IV or V which is not helpful. At this point I don’t have a clue what the chords for any given key!
Stuart
Do you know the notes on the 6th and 5th strings ? You have made reference to barre chords up the neck in different post so I assume you do. The I IV V are easy to find and you can then play the respective n7 chord for the 12BB.
The IV is always below the I and the V is 2 frets up from the IV (a tone apart). This is true for 6th, 5th and 4th 2nd string roots (I).
So Key of A so that’s the I
A 5th fret 6th string ie I or Root
The IV is 5th fret 5th string ie D (below the I)
The V is 2 frets up ie 7th fret 5th string ie E.
So that gives you a I IV V of A D E, so your 12 BB would A7 D7 E7
Now and try and work out the IV and V of the Keys of E and G. 
I’ll give you a starter the E is an open string and the G is on the same string 3rd fret.
See how you get on.
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@TheMadman_tobyjenner
I was just about to spell it out but I prefer your response as it’s more of a learning response and can check the answer with the tables shown on the video (the small print)
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Always read the small print. 
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Not sure I understand that bit but will take you word for it!
Now and try and work out the IV and V of the Keys of E and G.
Having drawn these out (and not watched the video) again I reckon that they are:
Key of E - E A B
Key of G - G C D
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Well you have as your answers are correct. It is always good to work these things out for yourself and not be spoon fed all the answers. That way it sticks with you.
But to clarify using the Key of E.
The Open E string is the root or I.
The A string is below the E string and the A note is root of the IV, ergo the IV is below the I ie same fret one string down.
Fret 2 of the A string is B. So if the A is the root of the IV the B is root of the V, ergo the V is 2 frets up from the IV.
Just to be clear, do you understand the use of Roman numerals for scale intervals when referring to diatonic chords ? I ask to avoid giving a patronising example but a lot of folks struggle with the conversion of scale intervals
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
to the relative chord references
I ii iii IV V vi viio
Uppercase being Major chords, lower case being minor and the 7th vii being diminished o.
Hope all that helps if not I or someone will clarify but I need my zeds !
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I understand roman numerals but the use of them here. Had to Google diatonic chords and found…
“Diatonic chords are the chords that are derived from the notes of a key.
You should think of diatonic chords as a family of chords all tied to one another by the notes of a key. They all sort of share the same gene pool.”
…and still don’t understand it! How vital is it that I know about this?
Do you have examples of these?
What does that even mean?
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Lets take the key of E You mentioned in your post
Key of E notes E F# G# A B C# D# E these notes make up all the chords in the Key of E. Like a family of notes
Chords E(I), F#m(ii), G#m(iii), A(IV), B(V) C#m(vi) D#diminished(vii)
All the chords with Capital Roman Numerals are Major all the chords with small Roman Numerals are minor. I’m not going to get into how all the chords in this key are made with just these 7 notes
You want to play a 1 4 5 or I IV V in E all the chords will be Major
A diminished chord has a minor 3rd and a diminished 5th but you don’t really need to know that.
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Hey Stuart,
A suggestion if I may.
Go into Google and search for “Chords in a Key” chart. Find one you like the look of, print it out, and stick it up in your workspace. When you come across a I- IV-V in E, or a I-V-vi -IV in C etc, just look at your chart. Over time, it’ll build up familiarity with which chords go to together. You can even noodle around with it, and you’ll discover familiar sounding chord progressions that form the basis of most music.
And keep reaching out here. We’re all just here enjoying guitar, and helping each other out.
Cheers, Shane
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@stitch Thanks for this. To be honest this is getting way too confusing at this point.
I do have one last question though. Why do you have to play certain chords in a key? Why can’t you play E A C for the key of E? Who makes the rules for this?
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Have done that thanks, but as noted above why do you have to play certain chords for a particular key. Surely if it sound good it is good?
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Hey Stuart,
You’re right in that if it sounds good, it is good. Some of the best music made manipulates and even breaks these frameworks.
The thing is though, chords in a particular key are built from the scales of that key; its the whole foundation of their existence. They form the harmony of that key. They are part of the family, and “belong” together.
Cheers, Shane
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The chords for the key of A are shown starting at 1:40 in the video (the standard progression), the chords for the key of E are shown starting at 5:02 in the video (quick change), and the chords for the key of G are shown starting at 7:40 in the video (slow change). Justin doesn’t call particular attention to the fact that he’s going through the I-IV-V chords for each key, one key per progression (standard, quick-change, slow-change), but that’s what he’s doing!
The idea of chords in a key shows up in Grade 2 Module 10 “Major Scale Improvisations” and idea of numbering the chords shows up a little later in “5 Common Chord Progressions”. If you explore Justin’s Music Theory course it shows up much more explicitly.
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That’s the bit I’m not getting. At the moment I don’t see chords in a scale, they are just notes played one after the other.
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