These are (in blues) pretty much all dominant seventh chords, i.e., a major triad with a minor seventh on top. (There are a few minor seventh chords in there as well; those with the lower case roman numerals; minor 7th chords are a minor triad with a minor seventh on top).
The important thing here is: you can play the mixolydian scale over all the dominant 7th chords.
also dont understand mixolydian, im only a beginner
i do seem to remember tho that someone once described Josh’s ‘blues box’ pattern as just a normal pattern but with a ‘flattened 7th’ is that what you mean? is that what a minor 7th is?
and youd need 3 strings for this pattern so you can only go the high I IV V from the E string and youd need the low I IV V pattern if your root was on A string. and the pattern wont work with a root on D or G. have i got that right?
If it is strictly that pattern… but you can always adopt other patterns for the same notes as in the “box shape”.
If the root is D, start on the 5th fret of the A string
If the root is G, start on the 3rd fret of the E string
(I am probably not familiar with what you call high and low pattern; but, blues can be played very well on a 4-string )
Jörg actually gave the slightly longer version of this - it’s a dominant seventh chord.
The best thing to take away right now without getting deep in to theory is to understand that the seventh scale interval is a little weird in that chords built on it can sound bad - or more accurately dissonant - and in some situations the minor seventh sounds “better”, even though it is technically not in that major scale.
The minor/dominant 7 is easy and something I grab constantly. Instead of jumping up two strings, it’s just 2 frets below the root. So pinky or ring on the root, and index on the 7.
For blues and country, the 5th can also be grabbed one string directly below the root.
That 1 - 5 - 7 turnaround is ALL over the place and the pattern that I use possibly too much.
sorry, im a newbie so knowledge is lacking, im a little confused still.
out of the 12 bars, im thinking the turnaround is the last 4 bars. as in…
I I I I
IV IV I I
V IV I I or V IV I V say.
so the turnaround is that last line. which has 4 bars on it, whereas you say your turnaround is 1-5-7?
or do you mean you change your ‘pattern’ for the last 4 bars and whatever you were playing in the previous 8 bars, you change to just these (1-5-7) three notes for bars 9, 10, 11 and 12?
sorry if thats confusing, it makes sense in my head
I have been using “turnaround” improperly. I mean as a leading pattern to propel things into the next bar or section… which may well be the turnaround in the last half of the last measure of the progression.
I’m going to hammer that root on the 1. So my turnaround at the end of the bar - especially if it’s leading into a chord change - will be that 5 - 7 on the “4 &” at the end of the bar.
Or more likely, I’ll make them 16th notes and hit the 5 on the “&” and my 7’s on the “a”
…a 3… 4 e & a 1
…7 1… … … 5 7 1
In blues, this pattern is identical for the 1, 4, and 5. So if I’m moving up to the 4, I’ll go 1 - 3 - 4, which is the exact same pattern as 5 - 7 - 1, but up one string.
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