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Any standard eight bar pattern can be viewed as a sixteen bar pattern played at twice the speed with the measures repeated.
Any standard eight bar pattern can be viewed as a sixteen bar pattern played at twice the speed with the measures repeated.


More commonly, a sixteen bar blues is an extension of a twelve bar progression. In order to form a sixteen bar blues progression, the 9th and 10 chords are repeated:
More commonly, a sixteen bar blues is an extension of a twelve bar progression, as illustrated by the following examples arranged in order of increasing complexity:



{{Col-begin|width=50%}}
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{{Col-begin}}
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{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:110px;"
{|class="wikitable" style=text-align:center; width:110px;"
|+twelve bar progression
|+Twelve-bar progression
| T ||T ||T ||T
| T || T ||T ||T
|-
|-
| S ||S ||T ||T
| S || S ||T ||T
|-
|-
| D ||S ||T ||T
| D || S ||T ||T
|-
|-
|colspan=4|{{Audio|Twelve bar boogie-woogie blues in C.mid|Play in C}}
|colspan=4|{{Audio|Twelve bar boogie-woogie blues in C.mid|Play in C}}
|}
|}
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{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:110px;"
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:110px;"
|+sixteen bar progression
|+Sixteen-bar progression (1)
| T ||T ||T ||T
| T || T || T || T
|-
|-
| S ||S ||T ||T
| S || S || T || T
|-bgcolor="gainsboro"
|-bgcolor="gainsboro"
| D ||S ||D ||S
| D || D || S || S
|-
|-
| D ||S ||T ||T
| T || T || T || T
|-
|}
{{Col-4}}
⚫
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:110px;"
|+Sixteen-bar progression (2)
| T || T || T || T
|-
| S || S || T || T
|-bgcolor="gainsboro"
| D || S || D || S
|-
| T || T || T || T
|-
|}
{{Col-4}}
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:110px;"
|+Sixteen-bar progression (3)
| T || T || T || T
|-
| S || S || T || T
|-bgcolor="gainsboro"
| D || S || D || S
|-
| D || S || T || T
|-
|-
|colspan=4|{{Audio|Sixteen bar boogie-woogie blues in C.mid|Play in C}}
|colspan=4|{{Audio|Sixteen bar boogie-woogie blues in C.mid|Play in C}}
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{{Col-end}}


::'''Guide:'''
:'''Note''' (one chord per measure)
::*Each table field represents one measure
⚫
:*'''T''' – [[tonic chord]],
:*'''S''' – [[subdominant chord]]
::*'''T''' = [[tonic chord]]
:*'''D''' for the [[dominant chord]],
::*'''S''' = [[subdominant chord]]
⚫
::*'''D''' = [[dominant chord]]


(1) 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_(Weird_Al_Yankovic_song)|Trigger Happy]]" by [[Weird Al|"Weird" Al Yankovic]] (verse, with additional ornamentation and "[[Turnaround (music)|turnaround]]" applied to tonic chord in bars 13-16)

(2) Dominant-subdominant transition as a whole, rather than individual dominant and subdominant chords, is repeated; last tonic chord bars are repeated/doubled in length
:*Example: "Let's Dance," written and made famous by [[Chris Montez]] and made famous by the [[Ramones]]


(3) Transition from ninth (dominant) to tenth (subdominant) twelve-bar chord is repeated twice; last tonic chord bars are not repeated
A famous example of this blues progression is "[[Watermelon Man (composition)|Watermelon Man]]" by [[Herbie Hancock]]. "Let's Dance," written and made famous by [[Chris Montez]] and made famous by the [[Ramones]], employs a variation in which the dominant-subdominant transition is repeated only once, with two additional bars of the tonic substituted for the second repetition (for an overall progression of I-I-I-I / IV-IV-I-I / V-IV-V-IV / I-I-I-I).
:*Example: "[[Watermelon Man (composition)|Watermelon Man]]" by [[Herbie Hancock]]


==See also==
==See also==
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*[[Blues ballad]]
*[[Blues ballad]]
*[[Talking blues]]
*[[Talking blues]]
*[[50s progression]] another popular chord progression in Western popular music.
*[[50s progression|'50s progression]], another chord progression widespread in Western popular music


{{Chord progressions}}
{{Chord progressions}}

Revision as of 19:24, 15 January 2010

The sixteen bar blues can be a variation on an eight bar blues or the more standard twelve bar blues.

Any standard eight bar pattern can be viewed as a sixteen bar pattern played at twice the speed with the measures repeated.

More commonly, a sixteen bar blues is an extension of a twelve bar progression, as illustrated by the following examples arranged in order of increasing complexity:


Guide:


(1) 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

(2) Dominant-subdominant transition as a whole, rather than individual dominant and subdominant chords, is repeated; last tonic chord bars are repeated/doubled in length

(3) Transition from ninth (dominant) to tenth (subdominant) twelve-bar chord is repeated twice; last tonic chord bars are not repeated

See also

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