There are other blues chord progressions besides the ever popular 12 bar blues using the I,IV and V chords ( one, four and five) Today we are going to look at one with a softer, more chromatic feel.
This is written in G for a 3 stringed Cigar Box Guitar in G D G tuning but you could use the same chord shapes to play in E on a Cigar Box Guitar tuned E B E or in A for one tuned A E A
A Simplified Version Of The Fingerpicking Blues Chord Progression In Fret Number Form
This table shows the frets you need to use if you want to use 1-finger power chords:
| 0 | 4 | 9 | 9 |
| 2 | 0 | 5 | 7 |
| 0 | 4 | 9 | 9 |
| 2 | 0 | 5,7 | 0 |
Each box represents a bar with 2 slow downward strums.
If you need help with 1-finger power chords read this article how-to-play-a-cigar-box-guitar-with-one-finger which gives tips on how to play them and how to get a better sound.
Chords Needed For This Progression
If you have progressed a bit in your playing and want to use chord shapes, these are the shapes we will be using.
G, C ( either C power or C Major- I have included both because C Major is quite a stretch) , Bm7, C7, D7, Em and Am:
How These Chords Are Related
These chords are related chords:
| Chord | Relative position to G Major | Other relatives |
| G Major | I | |
| C power | IV | |
| C Major | IV | |
| Bm7 | III | B minor is the relative minor to D Major |
| C7 | IV | |
| D7 | V | |
| Em | VI | E minor is the relative minor to G Major |
| A minor | II | A minor is the relative minor of C Major |
I’d like to encourage you to try playing your own chord progression using these chords in a different order. Start and end with G Major and try different progressions in between. Or start and end with E minor and try different progressions in between.
It’s easy to get stuck playing the same 12 bar blues using G power C power and D power on the open strings, 5th fret and 7th fret, but it’s good to try new things once you’ve learned it and are confident. However if you don’t feel confident read this article: step-by-step-easy-blues-chord-progressions-number-1 which will help you to play a simpler blues chord progression.
Either try new chords or spice up the chords you know with runs between them. See my article on adding interest to the 12 bar blues which will be published soon.
The Fingerpicking Blues Chord Progression In Table Form For G D G Tuning
| G | Bm7 | Em | Em |
| Am | G | C | D7 |
| G | Bm7 | Em | Em |
| Am | G | C7, D7 | G |
The Fingerpicking Blues Chord Progression In Number Form
If you want to play this in another tuning or want to use power chords instead of the majors, minors and 7th chords, here is the same table in number form ( This is not the same as fret number- see the table at the top of the page for this):
| I | III | VI | VI |
| II | I | IV | V |
| I | III | VI | VI |
| II | I | IV, V | I |
As you can see, we still have the I, IV and V chords- the one, four and five- that are common in blues progressions, but other chords are included that give more interest. Using A minor instead of C in songs is fairly common since A minor is the relative minor of C Major . E minor is the relative minor of G major and Bm7 is the relative of D7
How Can You Play The Same Fingering For 7th Chords And Minor 7th Chords On A 3-String Guitar?
You may notice that the 7th chords and the minor 7th chords have the same shape. With 3 strings on a guitar we will always have to omit one note if we are trying to play a chord that has 4 notes.
Theory warning:
You don’t need to understand this, but if, like me you always want an answer to why? then read on….
The shape I like to use for the 7th chords, technically the dominant 7th, omits the 3rd note of the scale.
- For the chord shape I have shown for Bm7, we are playing B F# and A
- The chord of B7 has the notes B D# F# and A
- The chord of Bm7 has the notes B D F# and A
- Since we are omitting the D or D#, the one shape can be either B7 or Bm7
- I know that in this piece I want the Bm7 because Bm is the relative minor of D.
- If you play this piece replacing the Bm7 with B Major it sounds terrible.
- Replace it with Bm though and it sounds OK
That was just a little aside and provided for those of you who noticed that the Bm7 and C7 shapes were the same shape just on different frets.
Playing The Fingerpicking Blues Melody
I really love the sound of slow finger-picked blues but I wanted something to play that wasn’t too difficult. I’m pretty sure this is based on music I’ve heard before but it’s my own interpretation and may not technically follow the rules of 8 or 16 bar blues.
The melody of this piece is not aimed at beginners. It is something you can progress towards. Below the PDF I have suggested a learning schedule to help you. I have recorded a video of me playing this so you can hear it:
I will teach the piece at various levels of difficulty:
- Absolute beginner power chords
- More advanced beginner shaped chords
- I will provide the melody so that you can play the chords along with me
- I will teach the melody so that you can play it along with the chords I play as a backing track
TAB For The Fingerpicking Blues Chord Progression
It’s very difficult to write the rhythm out properly for blues songs that are played with a lot of swing, so I have divided each bar up into beats which gives you a rough idea of how it sounds, although even those beats are not rigid.
Learning To Play The Fingerpicking Blues
Here is how I suggest you use the PDF to start to learn to play this piece along with my video
Absolute Beginner 1-Finger Bar Chords
- Play the 1-finger chords from the bottom table with 2 slow down strums per bar ( shown as a box)
- In bar 15 make sure that you use 1 down strum on fret 5 and 1 down strum on fret 7
Moving On To Shaped Chords
- Learn the chord shapes at the top of the page- you’ll probably find Am the most difficult to move to quickly and can substitute A power if you need to
- You can use C power rather than C Major if you find the stretch difficult
- The three seventh chords (Bm7, C7 and D7) are all based on the same shape moved to a different neck position
- Practice the same 2 slow down strums for each bar but now use the shaped chords rather than the 1-finger power chords
Starting To Pick The actual Notes As Shown On The TAB
- You will find it easier to hold your hand in the correct position if you make the corresponding chord shape
- Go slow and steady- there’s no need to rush this
- See which parts of the music are the same or very nearly the same e.g. bars 4 and 12
- This will help you to see the music as a whole rather than disconnected bits
Playing The Music You Love On Cigar Box Guitar
I hope that this has shown you the versatility of the 3-stringed Cigar Box Guitar. We can play rock, metal, slide, blues. We can concentrate purely on chords or melody or a bit of both. There is always something new to learn and that’s why I love playing it so much.