Thumb blues in open G
Note after Note · Level 3 (Late beginner) · study · Guitar, sheet music and tablature
An original 12-bar blues in open G, in the manner of the country blues Fahey and Rose learned from 1920s records: a steady alternating thumb, blue notes (B♭, E♭, F) against the chord’s B and E, barre chords at frets 5 and 7.
▶ Play this piece with the interactive score
How to practise it
- Listen first: the site plays it while the score scrolls.
- Wait mode: the score waits for you at every note, at your own pace.
- Tempo challenge: play in time, with a score and a map of the bars you got right.
- In open G the G chord is open, C is a barre at fret 5 and D a barre at fret 7. The B♭ (3rd string, fret 3) rising to B (open 2nd string) is the blue note: you can slide it. Play it with a shuffle if you like: slightly uneven, long-short eighths.