Sixteen-bar blues

The sixteen-bar blues can be a variation on the standard twelve-bar blues or on the less common eight-bar blues. Sixteen-bar blues is also used commonly in ragtime music.

Adaptation from twelve-bar progression

Most sixteen bar blues are adapted from a standard twelve-bar progression, i.e.,

T T T T S S T T D D or S T T  Play in C

by applying one of several formulae including the following:

Sixteen-bar progression - extending variety: first section extended (1a) T T T T T T T T S S T T D D / S T T

Sixteen-bar progression - extending variety: third section extended (1b) T T T T S S T T D D D / S D / S T T T T

Sixteen-bar progression - repeating variety: second section repeated (2a) T T T T S S T T S S T T D D / S T T

Sixteen-bar progression - repeating variety: third section's first half repeated twice (2b) T T T T S S T T D D / S D D / S D D / S T T  Play in C

Sixteen-bar progression - blend of extending and repeating varieties (3) T T T T S S T T D S D S T T T T

Guide:

• Each table field represents one measure
• T = tonic chord
• S = subdominant chord
• D = dominant chord

(1a) Twelve-bar progression's first tonic chords (bars 1-4) are doubled in length or repeated, becoming the first half (bars 1-8) of the sixteen-bar progression

• Examples: "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man"^[1] and "Close to You", written by Willie Dixon, first performed by Muddy Waters; and "Oh, Pretty Woman", written by A.C. Williams, first recorded by Albert King (instrumental sections are 12-bars)

(1b) Twelve-bar progression's last dominant, subdominant, and tonic chords (bars 9, 10, and 11-12, respectively) are doubled in length, becoming the sixteen-bar progression's 9th-10th, 11th-12th, and 13th-16th bars

• Example: "Trigger Happy" by "Weird" Al Yankovic (verse, with additional ornamentation and "turnaround" applied to tonic chord in bars 13-16)

(2a) Twelve-bar middle section (subdominant on bars 5-6, tonic on 7-8) is repeated, often along with its lyrical-melodic material

• Examples: "rural" (as opposed to "urban") versions of "See See Rider"^[2] (as interpreted by, among others, Mississippi John Hurt, Lead Belly and Big Bill Broonzy); most renditions of "Going Down The Road Feelin' Bad" AKA "Lonesome Road Blues", e.g. by Henry Whitter (first recording of this tune, 1924), the Blue Ridge Duo (George Reneau and Gene Austin, also co-author of The Lonesome Road, a different song) and Woody Guthrie; "Sleepy Time Time" by Cream

(2b) Transition from ninth (dominant) to tenth (subdominant) twelve-bar chord is repeated twice

• Example: "Watermelon Man" by Herbie Hancock

(3) Transition from ninth (dominant) to tenth (subdominant) twelve-bar chord is repeated once; last tonic chord bars are doubled in length

• Example: "Let's Dance," written by Jim Lee, first performed by Chris Montez, and covered by bands including the Ramones

Adaptation from eight-bar progression

Alternatively, a sixteen bar blues can be adapted from a standard eight bar blues by repeating each measure of the eight-bar progression and playing the result at double speed (doppio movimento).

See also

• Eight-bar blues
• Thirty-two-bar form
• Blues ballad
• Talking blues
• '50s progression, another chord progression widespread in Western popular music

References

1. The Blues. Hal Leonard Corporation. 1995. pp. 112–113. ISBN 0-7935-5259-1.
2. a review of Elijah Wald (2005). Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues, Amistad. ISBN 0-06-052423-5 on Google group rec.music.country.old-time