12-bar blues: I - I - IV - I - V - IV - I - V progression in A major
12-bar blues (I - I - IV - I - V - IV - I - V), a gritty progression played in A major: listen to it, transpose it into any key, and see it on the circle of fifths.
Key
Chord
Diatonic chords
Fretboard
Instrument
Frets15
1224
E
B
G
D
A
E
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No chord to show
Tempo
90 BPM
Strumming
1
&
2
&
3
&
4
&
Progression library
Path on the circle
I - I - IV - I - V - IV - I - V
12-bar blues is a gritty progression, shown here in A major (tonic A) with the degree sequence I - I - IV - I - V - IV - I - V.
The 12-bar blues builds its entire form on just three degrees -- I, IV, and V -- but turns all of them into dominant sevenths, even the tonic: a choice that breaks the rules of diatonic harmony to give every chord that raw, unresolved push the genre is known for. The I-I-IV-I-V-IV-I-V structure, looped over and over, is the backbone of most blues, rock'n'roll, and boogie.