This movable riff has a classic blues sound. You’ve probably heard it before in various songs.
The idea behind this lesson is to teach you the 12 bar blues chord structure. In the key of A that is…
| A | D | A | A |
| D | D | A | A |
| E | D | A | E |
Learn this progression off by heart. You’ll need it every time you want to jam in an A blues session.
Keep those fingers stretched when you’re playing this riff. If you need to lift up from the strings that’s ok, but one day you will have the muscles to stretch over 4 frets.
Don’t forget to practice this 12 bar progression round in a circle. Aim to do it at least twice without stopping your thumb.
If you like this open string riff you can find other variations at this TAB page