12 Bar Blues Shuffles in Open C (Video Tutorial + Tab)



In previous posts I have been looking at Open C tuning and I now want to look at some 12 Bar Blues Shuffles in this tuning. Open C is not a commonly used tuning but because it tunes down the lower strings of the guitar, it gives these wonderful bass notes that are great for blues music. I have written 4 short 12 bar blues shuffles that demonstrate this. The video shows me playing these shuffles along with the tab, which can be downloaded below. In this post I will also give some playing advice to help you play them.



Here is the downloadable tab for the music

12 Bar Blues Shuffle 1 Tab - Power Tab - PDF - TXT
12 Bar Blues Shuffle 2 Tab - Power Tab - PDF - TXT
12 Bar Blues Shuffle 3 Tab - Power Tab - PDF - TXT
12 Bar Blues Shuffle 4 Tab - Power Tab - PDF - TXT

 

Playing Advice 

  • Using a Plectrum - Apart from Shuffle 2, all these blues shuffles can be played with either your fingers or with a plectrum. Shuffle 2 will require you to use your fingers to pick the strings due to the separate bass notes which are played at regular intervals.
  • Structure - Each piece is a standard 12 bar blues piece played the Key of C and in 4/4 time. The structure of the diatonic functions is I - I - I - I - IV - IV - I - I - V - IV - I - V7. An explanation of that can be found here. In all four of these blues shuffles bars 1-10 are the main shuffle pattern, bars 11 and 12 are a turnaround, bars 13-22 area repeat of the main shuffle pattern, and bars 23 and 24 are the ending.
  • Interchangeable Sections - As these shuffles are played in the same tuning and use the same structure you can swap the sections around. E.g. Play the turnaround from shuffle 4 with the main body of shuffle 2 etc. You can even mix and match bars from the main shuffle sections with those in the other shuffles.
  • Tempo - The four shuffle patterns are all played at a similar tempo. However, you can play them at whatever tempo you think is best.
  • Electrifying - Although I have used an acoustic guitar in the tutorial video, these sequences also sound good on an electric guitar, especially with a bit of distortion added.
These four blues shuffles are all easy to play, except for shuffle 2 as this requires you to pick a regular bass pattern with your fingers. Once you get the hang of them you will find it fairly straightforward to start altering these with your own shuffle patterns, turnarounds and licks, or even writing your own shuffles from scratch.

Thanks for Reading,
Neil

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