Welcome to our beginners section. We aim at getting more people actively involved in music, and particularly at
playing the blues with HBS. We attempt to answer some basic questions. If you have any others, please email us.

Q/. I am afraid to play with others !
A/. The most common barriers to playing are either skill or confidence. Practice will improve you skill. Confidence will come by getting to know other musicians, and playing with others every chance you can. Come to one of our jam nights, get involved with other musicians, to get to know a few people who play regularly. Very few people are born musicians,
and most of us have to work at it. Chances are whoever you play with will remember when they were learning, and will help you by supporting you when you play. The Hamilton Blues Society hosts a "Have-a-Go" hour every second jam, so as
to provide a safe and supportive environment for you to make your first stage performance.
Email us here, if you are interested in "Having-a-Go".

BLUES KEYS
BLUES STRUCTURES
BLUES STANDARDS ~ Easy songs to get you going
BLUES GREATS ~ Suggested blues legends to listen to
BLUES BANDS ~ Working in New Zealand
BLUES FOUNDATION ~ What is the Blues? and Background of Blues Music (Chicago Blues, Delta Blues...)

BLUES KEYS ~

BLUES KEYS use the 1st, 4th & 5th Notes in a Key

Key of C Example

C 	D 	E	F	 G	 A	B	 C 	
1st	2	3	4th	5th	 6  	7 	 8 

• An accompanying Blues Harmonica is commonly the 4th Note of the Key, but there are exceptions to that - take a
  look at the BLUES HARMONICA page for more about this

• A TONE is made up of two semitones

• A SEMITONE is half a tone

• Between the 3rd & 4th notes and 7th & 8th notes are semitones. All other notes have whole tones between them

• An OCTAVE has 8 notes - the Octave is the 8th Note in a Key

• The RELATIVE MINOR CHORD for any key is always a third lower than the key, so if writing a song in the Key of C,
  you can also use the Am chord; or if writing in Am key, you can use the C Chord

Key of A		A 	D	E		Harp	D	Relative Minor Fm

Key of B		B	E	F		Harp	E	Relative Minor Gm

Key of C		C	F	G		Harp	F	Relative Minor Am

Key of D		D	G	A		Harp	G 	Relative Minor Bm

Key of E		E	A	B		Harp	A	Relative Minor Cm

Key of F		F	B	C		Harp	B	Relative Minor Dm

Key of G		G	C	D		Harp	C	Relative Minor Em

BLUES STRUCTURES ~

12-Bar Blues Standard
Example in the Key of A ~ A D E

Note No.	1	1 or 4		1	1
Note Name	A	A or D		A	A
		

		4	4		1	1
		D	D		A	A

		5	4 or 5		1	5
		E	D or E		A	E

Last 2 Notes (1 & 5) are the “TURNAROUND”

NB: Sometimes the 2nd & 10th Note in the 12-Bar Structure can be changed to the “or” alternative mentioned above

12-Bar Blues Jazz Version 
Note No.	1	1 or 4		1	1
Note Name	A	A or D		A	A
		

		4	4		1	6 (Jazz)
		D	D		A	F

		2 (Jazz)	5 (Jazz)		1	5
		B	E		A	E

16-Bar Blues Standard (basically the 12-Bar Blues structure, with the 1st four chords repeated)
Note No.	1	1 or 4		1	1
Note Name	A	A or D		A	A

		1	1 or 4		1	1
		A	A or D		A	A
		

		4	4		1	1
		D	D		A	A

		5	4 or 5		1	5
		E	D or E		A	E

8-Bar Blues Standard (3 different variations, but the last line is always the same, and used more for slow blues)

8-Bar No.1 	1	5		1	4
		A	E		A	D

		1	5		1	5
		A	E		A	E

8-Bar No.2	1	5		4	4
		A	E		D	D	

		1	5		1	5
		A	E		A	E

8-Bar No.3	1	1		4	4
		A	A		D	D

		1	5		1	5
		A	E		A	E

BLUES STANDARDS ~ Easy songs to get you going

• 12-Bar Blues Standard

	Sweet Home Chicago (Robert Johnson) 

	Dust My Broom (Robert Johnson)

• 12-Bar Blues Jazz (includes "cycle of 5ths")

	See See Rider

• 8-Bar Blues

	Trouble In Mind

	Key To The Highway (Big Bill Broonzy)

	It Hurts Me Too 

• 16-Bar Blues

	Hoochie Coochie Man (Muddy Waters)

BLUES GREATS ~ Great blues legends to listen to - by Mike Garner, founder of the Hamilton Blues Society 1995

There are so many to choose. This list is not meant to be "the best", "definitive" - even the classification is arbitrary, since
many were active both pre- and post-war. Some were most known as singers or bandleaders, yet in their early days played
an instrument. It doesn't include any white artists - not because they're no good, but because they're more readily available
on CD - so you are likely to already have some of those - and I've ignored almost everyone who started recording since 1980 
onwards, for the same reason. It's just meant to be a starting point if you want to begin a CD collection.  So don't ignore a 
blues CD just because the artist isn't in this list! Just enjoy getting to know and appreciate the enormously rich heritage that
is the blues. The one thing certain is that EVERY name on this list is a classic - a 'must have'. So, have fun!

Electric Guitar
pre-war: T Bone Walker
post-war: Albert King, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, Freddie King, B B King, Albert Collins, J B Lenoir, Magic Sam, John Lee Hooker,
Jimmy Reed, Eddie Taylor, Muddy Waters
slide: Elmore James, Homesick James, J B Hutto, Hound Dog Taylor

Female Vocals
pre-war: Bessie Smith, Alberta Hunter, Victoria Spivey
post-war: Big Mama Thornton, Etta James, Koko Taylor

Male Vocals Big Joe Turner, Bobby Bland, Howling Wolf, Louis Jordan, Jimmy Witherspoon

Piano
pre-war: Big Maceo, Meade Lux Lewis, Roosevelt Sykes
post-war: Otis Spann, Champion Jack Dupree, Charles Brown, Johnnie Johnson, Memphis Slim, Pinetop Perkins, 
Sunnyland Slim

Harmonica
pre-war: Sonny Boy Williamson, Noah Lewis and Sonny Terry
post-war: Walter Horton, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Carey Bell, James Cotton, Billy Boy Arnold, Junior Wells,
George Harmonica Smith

Acoustic Guitar
pre-war: Robert Johnson, Blind Blake, Big Bill Broonzy, Gus Cannon, Bo Carter, Rev Gary Davis, Sleepy John Estes,
Blind Willie Johnson and Kokomo Arnold, Son House, Charley Patton, Mississippi John Hurt, Leadbelly, Memphis Minnie,
Slim Harpo, Skip James, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Blind Willie McTell, Bukka White
post-war: Brownie McGhee, Lightning Hopkins

BLUES BANDS ~ Working in New Zealand

This is just a small list of some of the working Blues Bands and Musicians currently in this country, click here to get 
a full directory of NZ Blues musicians: Midge Marsden, Hammond Gamble, Kokomo, Darcy Perry Band, Mike Garner,
Marg Layton, Billy TK Junior, Shayn (Hurricane) Wills and the Swamp Diggers, Bull Frog Rata, Darren Watson, 
Rick Bryant and the Jive Bombers, and the Windy City Strugglers.