Blues in E — chord change
This sheet keeps just one thing from the blues progression: the chord changes themselves, E7 to A7 to B7 and back. No tricky rhythm, no solo, just the fretting-hand move that has to reassemble somewhere else on the neck, on time, with no gap. It's the step people skip most often: you know each chord on its own, but going from one to the next stays shaky. Drilling it with no rhythm, very slowly, saves hours on every blues tune that follows.
Tips
Count out loud and change chord right on beat 1 of the next bar, even at a ridiculously slow tempo at first.
Look for the finger that barely moves between two chords: it acts as a pivot and makes the change twice as fast.
Strum once per chord at first: the goal is the fretting hand, not the picking hand.
Understanding this type of exercise
A 12-bar grid, three chords
The 12-bar blues is a fixed form: four bars of I (E7), two of IV (A7), two of I, then a V-IV-I-V turnaround. Here we isolate only the transition between E7, A7 and B7, with no complex rhythm.
Practical tips and common mistakes
- Anticipate: lift the fingers a beat before the change, not on the change itself.
- Keep any fingers common to two neighbouring chords down instead of lifting everything.
- Count the bars out loud — on this form, a change should never catch you out.
Chord progression — E
Chords
The same exercise in other keys
Related sheets
- Three-note rolling lick riff — G# minor (Level 3)
- C minor pentatonic scale — working the descent (Level 3)
- Blues turnaround riff — E minor (Level 3)