The 12 Bar Blues
The 12 Bar Blues are a popular choice when it comes to teaching form, chord structure, chord progressions and songwriting to students.
I’ve recently been working on my GarageBand, Soundtrap and Bandlab Lesson Plans and Teacher Tips Course (yep, the title is a mouthful!) and in module 3 we learn how to record a 12 bar blues backing using a virtual keyboard instrument, bass guitar and a drum track.
In the course (which is available to all members of the Midnight Music Community), students learn to create a blues progression “with a twist”: their blues backing can be in any musical style they like! After listening to examples of songs that use the 12 bar blues progression, they use the virtual instruments in GarageBand, Soundtrap or Bandlab to create their own unique style.
Here’s a Spotify playlist I put together with examples of songs that use the 12 bar blues progression in all, or part of the song. There are traditional blues examples as well as contemporary/popular style songs.
In the GarageBand, Soundtrap and Bandlab Lesson Plans & Teacher Tips course once students have created their blues backing track, they look at the standard lyrics structure used by many blues songs – the traditional AAB pattern – and write their own lyrics.
Today I wanted to share this small part of the Restyling The Blues project from the GarageBand, Soundtrap and Bandlab Lesson Plans & Teacher Tips course: the lesson on how to write blues lyrics.
Below you will find:
- written instructions
- tutorial video for students
- downloadable How To Write Blues Lyrics student worksheet
- blues backing track in A (Youtube video) which students can use to accompany themselves singing/speaking their blues lyrics
How to write blues lyrics
Songs in a Blues style often talk about things that are sad or troublesome so this is your chance to tell us about something that’s annoying you or that you’re struggling with. The lyrics don’t have to be super-serious – you can make them tongue-in-cheek if you like.
The lyrics will follow the traditional 12 bar blues lyric pattern:
- There will be 3 lines and they will follow an A A B format.
- This means the first line (A) is sung twice and the next line (B) is sung once
- It’s best if the word that’s at the end of line A rhymes with the word at the end of line B
- Each line needs to fit into 4 measures (bars)
example 1
- A I woke up this morning and I found myself alone
- A I woke up this morning and I found myself alone
- B I got nothin’ to do so I’ll go call my friends on the phone
You might have noticed that, the lyrics follow a “problem-solution” pattern:
In my example. line A is the problem:
- PROBLEM: I woke up this morning and I found myself alone
And line B is the solution:
- SOLUTION: I got nothing’ to do so I’ll go call some friends on the phone
example 2
Here’s another example. This one doesn’t quite follow the problem-solution pattern but it still works!
- A I’m late for school ‘cos the bus never came
- A I’m late for school ‘cos the bus never came
- B I’ll probably get detention and that’s really lame
Your lyrics can be about any topic you like. Here are a few suggested topics or problems if you’re stuck for ideas:
- The wifi is down
- I forgot my password
- There’s no milk left
- I’m stuck at home with my sibling
- I can’t get a haircut
- My phone battery died
Here’s a walkthrough of the process:
What’s next? Sing or speak your lyrics over a backing track!
Once students have written their lyrics, they can perform them by singing or speaking in time to the beat. If they choose to sing, they can make up a simple blues melody using just 2 or 3 notes.
Here’s a blues backing track in A they can use:
If you’re a member of the Midnight Music Community, you will have access to step-by-step student tutorials showing how to blues backing tracks using GarageBand, Soundtrap or Bandlab (from mid-July 2022). There is also a follow-up tutorial showing how they can record their lyrics (sung or spoken) over the top of the backing they created.
Related
If you’re looking for more Blues resources, here are
Free Student Worksheet!
Would you like a copy of the student worksheet that I show in the tutorial video? Download a copy here, along with all the other information in this blog post.
Looking for More Resources for Music Teachers?
Hello! I’m Katie Argyle – an Australian music technology trainer and consultant with a passion for helping music teachers through my business Midnight Music.
I’m a qualified teacher but no, I don’t currently teach in a school. I help teachers through my online professional development space – the Midnight Music Community – where there are tutorial videos, courses, links and downloadable resources.
I like to focus on easy ways to incorporate technology into what you are already doing in your music curriculum through a range of creative projects. I also run live workshops and have presented at countless conferences and other music education events.
If you want simple, effective ideas for using technology in music education, I would LOVE to help you inside the Midnight Music Community.
One Comment
Thank you very much for the great ideas!