Chords for Building A Blues From The Ground Up - Pat Donohue

_ _ _ _ [B] _ _ [C] _ _
[Db] _ _ [G] _ _ [B] _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ _ [F] _ _ _ _ [E] _
_ _ _ [Am] _ _ _ [Db] _ _
[Am] _ _ _ _ [F] _ _ [D] _ _
[G] _ _ [Bb] _ _ [A] _ _ [E] _ _
[G] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ [A] _
_ _ _ [C] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ [F] _ _ [E] _ _ [C] _ _
_ _ [Am] _ _ [G] Hi, [Ab] _ _
[Am] _ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _ _
[F] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Db] _ _ [C] _ _ _ _ [Db] _ _
_ [A] _ _ _ [Bbm] _ _ _ _
[Am] _ _ _ [Gb] _ _ _ _ _
_ [F] _ _ [G] I'm Pat Donohue, and that was a tune of mine that I just made up called Satisfied.
_ It was made up by taking very basic three chord blues and adding movement to the chords
until it became something much more sophisticated.
And so I was improvising that, but there are certain devices that can be used, so that's what I'd like to get into today.
_ Well, when I build a blues from the ground up, in this case in the key of G, _ _
_ I like to start with just the three primary chords of the 12-bar blues.
You may already know G or G7, _ [C] C or C7, _ [D] and D or D7.
_ _ [G] _
_ So these are [E] chords that everybody can relate to, but we're going to add a lot of things on to them.
[G] The first thing I'm going to do is show you some alternate ways of playing those three chords,
so that they don't sound quite so much in the folk department, but more in the blues, even _ slipping towards jazz a little bit.
The G, I would never really play like this, but I would often play a G7 like this. _
That's just the E shape on the third fret, sometimes with the pinky.
The D, _ I'll probably be using that one most of all, but it also is often played like this, _ _ _ using just the 6-4-3-2 string group.
And this G is the root, so it's [Ab] totally movable to G sharp or [G] A or any place else that any of these shapes are. _
Another reason to do these without open strings involved is because then you can move them anywhere.
_ Okay, so there's the [C] G7.
The C or C7 is often played [C] as a C9 in this style of music.
A C9 chord is played like this.
_ _ _ Take the ring [Gm] finger, _ you can lop [C] them over the last three_
I [D] call that a flop chord, because you take one finger and you flop it over about three strings [C] there.
But these two have to sound out separately, [Ab] so make sure this one doesn't flop too.
[C] _
_ _ That's a C9.
It's interchangeable with C7.
So _ [G] now what we have is G7, [C] C9, and [D] the D chord.
Let's [Eb] play a hipper thing by just playing that C9 up two [D] frets. _
[Am] _ Now we have a D9 chord. _ _ _
Now, [G] I'm going to go through this progression using just those three chord shapes.
Alright, 2-3-4_
I've got the blues, [C] _ I can't be [G] satisfied. _ _ _
_ _ _ [C] You know I've got the blues, _ _ C7, and I can't be [G] satisfied. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [Am] Blues don't quit me going.
_ Catch that [G] freight and ride. _ _
_ _ _ Okay, [A] already it's starting [Eb] to take on [G] a little bit of a shape.
Now we have those chord _ shapes down, I want to show you some nice movement between them.
The first thing I'd like to show you is this, _ [Am] _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ _ _ [C] followed by this. _
[B] _ _ [C] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [G] This is a device that I didn't make up by any means, but I call them Bill and Bob.
Because you [Ab] can use them in all kinds of places.
And to tell you the truth, [G] the chords are G7, D7, Bb diminished, and G major over B. _ _
But who wants to think about all that stuff?
So I just named it [C] Bob, and it's [G] this _ move here.
_ [C] And when you put the root on the fifth string, and play your major chord like this,
_ _ I do it this way because it's movable, your Bill goes like this. _ _
It's the same move, only with the root on the fifth string, which gives you a lot more range on the guitar.
So let me play those two together and I'll show you slowly how they're done.
Here's [G] G7, _ _ _ I'm playing by the way on the string set of 6-3-2 mostly. _
_ _ 6-4-3, my fault, my 6-4-3. _
However, you can also just chunk them along like this, but the real meat of [A] it is that there,
the second chord, is you take your middle finger, this one here, and put it over on the sixth string fifth fret.
And I'll just tell you that because [C] that makes these other two fingers fall in line to where they're supposed to be there.
[E] Fourth and fifth frets.
[Gb] But the thing to do is to [A] get this finger [Gb] over here right away.
[G] That's the [Am] trick. _
Then you take that chord [G] up one fret each.
_ Now it's a B flat diminished.
The last thing is you leave your index finger where it [B] is and you stretch these two up to the eighth fret.
[G] _ _ And what you have is [B] a G major again, only with a third of the chord in the bass, [G] as opposed to the root of the chord.
[C] So we have this [G] movement. _
[Gb] _ _ [Bbm] _ _ [G] _ _ _ _
And this is just broad cloth movement.
_ You might play [Bbm] it backwards, _ [G] _ _ forwards, [Bbm] _
_ _ [Em] or [Am] skip some steps, [G] _ _
[Gb] _ [Em] _ backwards.
[Bbm] _ And they start [E] to take on a life of their own.
That's Bob. _
_ So I'm going to insert Bob into this progression now.
Two, [G] three, four.
I got the blues, _ [Gm] and I can't be [G] satisfied.
_ [Am] _ _ _ _
[Bbm] _ _ [Am] Yes, [Gm] I've got the blues. _ _
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