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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

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Chords sound as

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Progression

The 12-bar blues in E major

12-bar blues in E major plays E7, A7 and B7 — 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 1E7I
Bar 2A7IV
Bar 3E7I
Bar 4E7I
Bar 5A7IV
Bar 6A7IV
Bar 7E7I
Bar 8E7I
Bar 9B7V
Bar 10A7IV
Bar 11E7I
Bar 12B7V

The shapes

IE7
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.
020100IVA7
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.
x02020VB7
B dominant seventh, open position, capo 0. Strings from lowest to highest: muted, fret 2, fret 1, fret 2, open, fret 2. Frets are relative to the capo.
x21202

The same progression in a nearby key

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