Slow Blues (Tutorial + Tab)

This is a short blues tune I learned many years ago. I can't remember the title of it or exactly how it was written, but this is how I have always played it. I have given it the title 'Slow Blues' to reflect it's slow tempo and laid back feel.

It is a 12 bar blues played in the Key of E, and it is mostly in 4/4 time although there is one bar which is 2/4. It is a fingerstyle piece played on a guitar in standard tuning. Above is a video of me playing the tune along with the tab. In this post I will give some advice on playing the tune.


Here is the tab for the music

Slow Blues Tab - Power Tab - PDF - TXT

Playing Advice

• A 12 Bar that isn't quite a 12 Bar - The tune is technically a 12 bar blues and follows the standard 12 bar blues structure and chord progression. However, not every bar of music is in 4/4 time. Bar 9 is shorter at 2/4 time and then reverts back to 4/4 time in bar 10. This shortened bar may confuse your timing when you first start to play it. However, once you get the feel for the tune it should not be problematic. The change of time signature does not alter the tempo of the music. 

• Picking the Triplets - The tune contains a short run in bar 6. The notes within this run are triplets and as such will have to be played quite quickly. It is preferred if you use a picado technique utilising your index and middle fingers to play these notes individually. If you have trouble with this you could try and pick them with a single finger, or alternatively play them as a pull-off. 

• Picking Pattern - The tune employs a standard fingerpicking pattern with the thumb playing the bass notes at regular intervals of a quarter note. Unlike most of the fingerstyle tunes played in E, the bass picking pattern does alternate between different strings throughout the tune. As such, you will have to fret parts of the underlying chords to ensure that you can easily access these bass notes. Watch the video above to see the fingerings for this.

That is probably about all I need to say on this piece. It is quite an easy piece and the slower tempo makes it easier to learn. Just keep an eye on the changing bass notes and make sure you get the correct timing for the time signature change and it shouldn't be too problematic. 

Thanks for Reading,
Neil