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Setup

Instrument

E A D G B E
Capo

Diagrams

Chords shown as
Chord numbers
Shape difficulty
Fret numbers counted
Strings on the neck
Playing hand

Playback

Chords sound as

Accessibility

Larger type and controls, stronger contrast, reduced motion, and thumb-reachable show controls on this device.

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Progression

The 12-bar blues in A major

12-bar blues in A major plays A7, D7 and E7 — I, IV and V — across 12 chords. The foundation of blues, rock and roll, and a huge share of popular music since the 1950s: three dominant seventh chords, one per scale degree, played in a fixed twelve-bar form.

The chords, in order

Bar 1A7I
Bar 2D7IV
Bar 3A7I
Bar 4A7I
Bar 5D7IV
Bar 6D7IV
Bar 7A7I
Bar 8A7I
Bar 9E7V
Bar 10D7IV
Bar 11A7I
Bar 12E7V

The shapes

IA7
A dominant seventh, open position, capo 0. Strings from lowest to highest: muted, open, fret 2, open, fret 2, open. Frets are relative to the capo.
x02020IVD7
D dominant seventh, open position, capo 0. Strings from lowest to highest: muted, muted, open, fret 2, fret 1, fret 2. Frets are relative to the capo.
xx0212VE7
E dominant seventh, open position, capo 0. Strings from lowest to highest: open, fret 2, open, fret 1, open, open. Frets are relative to the capo.
020100

The same progression in a nearby key

Open 12-bar blues in A major in the explorer →All seven chords in A major →