I Got Those E Family Blues

Down Up Dick

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Well, I've been workin' on the blues for the past week 'er ten days, and I've noticed that blues music uses the (I, IV, V chords in A and E a lot). At least my blues music does. So, since I already knew the A family of chords, I'm brushing up on them, and, now, I'm whacking away at the E family.

The E7, A7, B7 chords aren't as bad as I thought they'd be. I've been skipping the E chord for three years now. E natural is a finger splitter, but the others I've already used lots. I'm learnin' E natural too in case I wanna use it.

The twelve bar blues is a piece of cake; I've been playin' it for years on my harps. The 16 bar is more difficult to learn because the chord positions change from tune to tune. The 8 bar changes even more than the 16 bar. One has to learn each song's chord position every time he/she works on a new song. But I guess that's how most songs are. Anyway, they're not as easy as 12 bars are.

I've been bending notes in some of my fingerpicking. It's really a gas! It sounds so cool.

The only downer with blues is the words. I really don't care for most of them. I usually whistle my blues or change the words to suit my taste.

Well, that's it! Now I'd like to hear what you're working on. I think it would be very interesting to know what others are doing.

Don't be bashful; I'm really interested . . . :eek:ld:
 
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I can't make E natural sound good. On any of my ukes. Unless I play it way up the neck. Then it's out of context unless my other chords are up there too. The blues are the blues. I know very good singers who won't sing the lyrics, because they are kinda negative if you think about it.
I seem not to "get" the blues, I make em sound too happy when I try them, and the pentatonic scales just sound weird.
I'll leave em to BB King and Stevie Ray Vaughn and Taj Mahal, and Bonnie Raitt, and people like that.
 
Nickie, the blues ain't sad all the time. It has emotion though and tons of feeling. Sometimes it just makes me get on down and feel soooo cool especially with somethin' nice in a glass. I like it slow and low down.

Hey, that's kinda like me--slow and low . . . :eek:ld:
 
Well, I've been workin' on the blues for the past week 'er ten days, and I've noticed that blues music uses the (I, IV, V chords in A and E a lot). At least my blues music does. So, since I already knew the A family of chords, I'm brushing up on them, and, now, I'm whacking away at the E family.

The E7, A7, G7 chords aren't as bad as I thought they'd be. I've been skipping the E chord for three years now. E natural is a finger splitter, but the others I've already used lots. I'm learnin' E natural too in case I wanna use it.

The twelve bar blues is a piece of cake; I've been playin' it for years on my harps. The 16 bar is more difficult to learn because the chord positions change from tune to tune. The 8 bar changes even more than the 16 bar. One has to learn each song's chord position every time he/she works on a new song. But I guess that's how most songs are. Anyway, they're not as easy as 12 bars are.

I've been bending notes in some of my fingerpicking. It's really a gas! It sounds so cool.

The only downer with blues is the words. I really don't care for most of them. I usually whistle my blues or change the words to suit my taste.

Well, that's it! Now I'd like to hear what you're working on. I think it would be very interesting to know what others are doing.

Don't be bashful; I'm really interested . . . :eek:ld:

Sounds like you are getting some good things accomplished! Good for you! I love E7, well all the seven chords - I like that sound I guess. I'm working on finger picking and learning the fretboard as I play a melody. It is getting easier. I am working slowly and taking my time. I am starting to feel more natural with music notation and can read quite a few things without any tab. Now on to moving up the fretboard and out of that first position.
 
First, in the blues in particular you can Usually play I, IV, and V as x7 chords (A7, D7, E7).

Second, have you noticed that C and E are really the same formation, with the exception of the 1st string?

On any fret, including zero (open) the chord is nnnx, where n is your fret. You can EITHER play it as (n, n, n, n-2), which is the 1st position D 2220 or textbook E (4442) voicing, OR you can play it as (n, n, n, n+3), which is your conventional C (0003) and Db (1114) voicing.

So for E, you can play 4447, which you may find easier. I tend to prefer it as the final chord of a song because the root of the chord is in octaves.
 
cdkrugjr is right about the E chord shapes etc. Of course, the blues can be played in any key you want, so C or G or F or anything goes. Coming from the piano, I play a lot of blues in Bb or Eb, which are great ukulele keys with a lot of barre options.
As for the 8-bar blues, you may change them to your preference; the chords to f ex 'Key To The Highway' might suit any other 8-bar song, if you choose to sing/play the melody just a little differently. The great jazz saxophonist and multi-reed player Rahsaan Roland Kirk said it: '...the blues is still the freest music you can play'. And he was right.
 
4442 is BEG#B. Since the B is repeated on the 1st and 4th strings, you could just mute the first string 444X and play a three string chord.
 
Some of these threads are mind rattling. I know that E is a difficult key, and I know how to play it or where to find out how. I was mainly asking what others were working on. Sometimes hearing about others' successes or problems is a help or, at least, interesting.

Whadaboutit? :eek:ld:
 
Sounds like you are getting some good things accomplished! Good for you! I love E7, well all the seven chords - I like that sound I guess. I'm working on finger picking and learning the fretboard as I play a melody. It is getting easier. I am working slowly and taking my time. I am starting to feel more natural with music notation and can read quite a few things without any tab. Now on to moving up the fretboard and out of that first position.

Jenny, just remember that the notes on all four strings are chromatic scales too, and the scale notes for the string's major scale are in the same position on all the strings. Therefore, when one learns a major scale on one string she knows the major scales on the other three strings too. Once one knows the position of the notes on the strings, reading music is a snap.

Have you tried fingerpicking by ear? That's a help too. I fingerpick Irish tunes because I know them well. :eek:ld:
 
Well, I guess the peeps on this forum like to comment, helping others, but they aren't interested in a conversation about what THEY are doing.

I understand . . . :eek:ld:
 
Jenny, just remember that the notes on all four strings are chromatic scales too, and the scale notes for the string's major scale are in the same position on all the strings. Therefore, when one learns a major scale on one string she knows the major scales on the other three strings too. Once one knows the position of the notes on the strings, reading music is a snap.

Have you tried fingerpicking by ear? That's a help too. I fingerpick Irish tunes because I know them well. :eek:ld:

I'm here, I'm here!!! I love playing by ear and have a pretty good ear for the little I've played around with it. We had some ear training in college, and though I am a horrid singer, I can figure out things by ear.

I think you are talking about playing a scale all on one string, am I right? I have been working on scales moving up the strings. Right now, I know the fretboard notes fairly well in what I consider first position. Now I am branching out and getting further away from the nut and trying things with the higher frets.
 
Ukejenny, do you remember the scale info that I gave you before? Well, one can use that all the way up the neck. It's the same thing over and over, but, if you know where the notes are on the strings, you can make up your own scales and play 'em the way you want to. When I first started learning, I wrote out all the scales that I wanted on a piece of lined paper--no biggy.

Well, keep it fun. It helps to sing the notes you're playing. Be a diva and go operatic! I do; it's fun. :eek:ld:
 
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Well, I guess the peeps on this forum like to comment, helping others, but they aren't interested in a conversation about what THEY are doing.

I understand . . . :eek:ld:

Dick,
Maybe it was the subject line of the thread that got everyone going on blues theory and chord positions, etc. Maybe start another thread titled something like, "Here's what I'm working on, how about you?" Just a thought.
 
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