Blues Progressions--Options
Consider all the basic formulas and substitutions:
- ways to activate a static I chord (mm. 1-4)
- ways to get from I to IV (mm. 1-5)
- ways to proceed from IV back to I (mm. 5-8) or all the way to ii (mm. 5-9)
- ways to get from I to ii (mm. 7-9)
- substitutions for ii V (m. 4, mm. 3-4, mm. 9-10)
- ways to intensify a V chord (m. 4, m. 8, m. 10)
- turnarounds (mm. 11-12)
A sampling of four-bar segments (or two-bar segments) to mix-and-match:
mm. 1-4:
|| F6 | F6 | F6 | F7 |
--
|| F6 | G- C7 | F6 | F7 |
--
|| F7 | F7 | F7 | F7 |
--
|| F7 | Bb7 | F7 | F7 |
--
|| F7 | Bb7 | F7 | C- F7 |
--
|| F7 | Bb7 Bo7 | C- | F7 |
--
F#- B7 Tritone sub
|| F7 | Bb7 | F7 | B7 |
--
|| F7 | Eb7 | Db7 | B7 |
--
mm. 5-8
Bo7
| Bb7 | Bb7 | F7 | F7 |
--
| Bb7 | Bb7 | Fmaj7 | A- D7b9 |
--
| Bb7 | Bb7 | F7 | D7b9 |
--
| Bb7 | Bb7 | F7 | Aø D7b9 |
--
| Bb7 | Bb7 | F7 E7 | Eb7 D7 |
--
| Bb7 | Bb7 | Fmaj7 G- | A- Ab- |
--
| Bbmaj7 | Bb- (Eb7) | A- (D7) | Ab- (Db7) |
--
mm. 9-12
| G- | C7 | F | G- C7 ||
--
| G- | C7 | F7 D7b9 | G- C7 ||
-- Half-Nelson Turnaround
| G- | C7 | F Ab7 | Db F#7 ||
-- Tritone sub
| G- | C#- F#7 | F7 D7b9 | G- C7 ||