The Guitar Resource

Now that you have an understanding of the basic 12-bar blues, let’s talk a little bit about the 8-bar blues format. Unlike the 12-bar blues format, the 8-bar blues is much less defined. And that’s part of the fun of playing an 8 bar blues-you can experiment with the chord changes.

Typically in 8 bar blues changes the IV chord come in the 3rd bar (it comes in the 5th in 12 bar blues). Here is probably one of the more typical 8 bar blues changes:

Note that in bars 7 and 8 there are 2 chords per bar. So each chord in those bars is only played for 2 beats.

But by no means is that format the one you need to stick to. You can mix and match the chords in any way that suits you. You can even play one 8-bar blues format for the verse and then play a different one for the verse. Here are some examples of some other eight bar blues changes to get you started:

"Key to the Highway" (variation with the V at bar 2):
I V IV IV
I V I V

"Walking By Myself" (somewhat unorthodox example of the form):
I I I I
V IV I V

Now start experimenting with your own eight bar blues compositions.
Next blues lesson will begin to talk about the “shuffle”, which is the key to playing blues rhythm. Then we will go on to soloing over the blues. Stay tuned!