This Backing track is from the Jamzone.

With 12 bar blues we use the I - IV - V notes from any 8 note scale, as the basis for our chords. So with an E major or E minor scale we will get E, A and B:

Position: I II III IV V VI VII I
E major: E F# G# A B C# D# E

We will get the same 3 chords from the E natural minor scale, because the I - IV - V notes are the same:

Position: I II III IV V VI VII I
E minor: E F# G A B C D E

As we can see here, for the E scales, this gives us the root notes for the E A and B chords. The I - IV - V chords are very strongly related and are the foundation of many basic chord progressions in western music and popular songs, not just the blues. However, here we shall focus on how we use them in the 12 bar blues.

Chords following I - I - I - I - IV - IV - I - I - V - IV - I - I give the traditional 12 Bar Blues format. So for E minor (the key of this piece) we get:

E - E - E - E - A - A - E - E - B - A - E - E

Often musicians use Dominant Seventh Chords for this 12 bar blues progression. That would give us E7, A7, and B7 chords. However, here we make things easier on your fingers by just playing straightforward powerchords - E5 A5 and B5. This still sounds great, and allows a little more freedom for soloing over. The best scale to use for your own melodies over this music is the E natural minor scale, or the E pentatonic minor / blues scales.

In the ActionTab we play through the 12 bars twice (24 bars in all). We've also taken out the count-in drums from the normal speed audio so you can loop it and jam along / solo over to your heart's content.

Go to the Jamzone and read up more on this ActionTab and how the 12 Bar Blues are constructed!