What are the most common chords used in blues music?
It is possibly more to the point to ask, what is the most common chord structure, as blues is more about structure (chord relationships to each other) than about which key the blues is in. Simply put I’d say the most common chord structure is as follows Major chord – progressing to Sub-dominant chord Sub dominant – progressing back to Major. Major ‘resolving’ to the seventh chord then back thru sub dominant to an ending back on the major (and sometimes using the 7th again as a ‘turnaround’ see the ‘option B7 shown below) There are many variations and minor chords and weird and wonderful modes come into play – but here is a typical sample. For blues in E (arguably the most commonly used): the major chord is E, the sub-dominant is A and the 7th is B E Good morning blues, blues how do you do A E I said, Good morning blues, blues how do you do B7 A E (option B7) You said I’m doin’ alright how the hell are you? hope this is of interest or help – Oh additional info – I’d say E then A are the
