12/8 Feel For Slow Blues
In this lesson we will learn to feel a 12/8 pulse for a tune written in 4/4. This is useful when improvising in a slow blues style. Generally speaking, when we play slow blues, we play with a 12/8 pulse.
When we have a tune written in 4/4, that means we have 4 quarter notes in each bar. We can count 1-2-3-4 or we can subdivide each quarter note into 8th notes and count 1-&-2-&-3-&-4-& – 1-&-2-&-3-&-4-&
Counting a 12/8 Pulse
Now to feel a 12/8 pulse we can play the each of the 4 beats with a triplet feel. To do this I count 1-&-a-2-&-a-3-&-a-4-&-a or alternatively as 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12.
Why do we use a 12/8 pulse?
Well when playing in the slow blues style, our fills and our improvisations are often very triplet-heavy and so it makes sense to feel that underlying 12/8 pulse.
In this lesson we explore some simple fills in bars 2, 4, 6, and 8 when the melody rests. Notice how the fills are often outlining the triplet pulse.
Lesson Downloads
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Jingle Bells Reharmonised File Type: pdf
Related Lessons
In this lesson we explore further chord substitutions and reharmonisation for the second half of the 8 bar blues form.
In this lesson Jon expands on the basics of the 8 bar blues and shows a range of chord substitutions for the first 4 bars of the form.
In this lesson Jon gives us an introduction to the 8 bar blues, including the form, left and right hand patterns, and the feel.
Practice Tips
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Even though we are counting in 12/8, we still have 1-2-3-4 as the underlying time but the pulse is felt in triplets.
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As we will see in the next lessons on improvisation, feeling the 12/8 triplet pulse can help to achieve an authentic slow blues sound.
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Play along with the demonstrations in this lesson first by counting out loud and then try to feel and internalise the 12/8 pulse.
Hi Frank,
Yes I can create this notation.
I recently recorded some blues lesson using the same voicings and melodic movement. In the following lesson we cover it in the keys of C and F:
pianogroove.com/blues-piano-lessons/soulful-blues-chord-voicings/
This is the slow blues course I mentioned to you which I thought you would like.
I can transpose those voicings to the key of G for a PDF file. In fact the movement and hand position is exactly the same in the keys of C, F, and G, which is why these keys are popular for playing the blues in this style.
Check out the lesson above and the PDF downloads on that page, and I will ask our transcriber to notate this for Jingle Bells too.
Any further questions just let me know.
Talk soon,
Hayden