50+ Legendary 12 Bar Blues Songs – The Essential List

12 bar blues songs

Written by: Cody

Updated: Jan 14, 2023

Blues music paved the way for many other genres of music we know and love. Although blues music has evolved over time, a fundamental chord progression called the 12 bar blues still lives on. 12 bar blues songs are comprised of 3 blues chords: the I, the IV, and the V and are played using a pattern that ultimately ends up being 12 bars long.

Now, although it’s called the 12 bar blues and theoretically the pattern should be 12 bars long, there is room for variation. Like anything in music, you can use the principles of a certain concept and then alter it to your liking. You’ll see that in a few of the 12 bar blues songs below, they all more or less follow the standard 12 bar blues pattern although certain songs have variations that you might not expect.

If you’d like to learn these songs faster I’d highly recommend checking out Guitar Pro. It is a great software that allows you to actually hear the tabs being played in real time, thus giving you a better sense of rhythm.

I tried to incorporate songs from various artists into this list to give readers a little more selection. However, certain artists such as B.B King, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard were a few of the leaders in the creation of 12 bar blues songs.

If you’re looking for more 12 bar blues songs be sure to check them out. Furthermore, if you’d rather have an officially tabbed book of blues songs, I’d recommend checking out these popular Amazon options:

Otherwise, check out the list of 50+ legendary 12 bar blues songs below and happy blues playing!

What Are The Best 12 Bar Blues Songs?

1. “Pride and Joy” By Stevie Ray Vaughan

2. “Rock and Roll” By Led Zeppelin

https://youtu.be/RCN6eRVav5k

3. “Tush” By ZZ Top

https://youtu.be/P7iPkiyG2jQ

4. “Johnny B. Goode” By Chuck Berry

5. “Going Up The Country” By Canned Heat

6. “Hound Dog” By Elvis Presley

7. “Tutti Frutti” By Little Richard

8. “The Thrill is Gone” By B.B. King

9. “Crossroads” By Eric Clapton

10. “Ball and Biscuit” By The White Stripes

https://youtu.be/B6j97ZvyuSc

11. “I Got You (I Feel Good)” By James Brown

12. “Rock Around the Clock” By Bill Haley & His Comets

13. “Something Like Olivia” By John Mayer

14. “Bring It On Home (Intro)” By Led Zeppelin

15. “Give Me One Reason” By Tracy Chapman

16. “Red House” By Jimi Hendrix

17. “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man” By Muddy Waters

18. “Crosscut Saw” By Albert King

19. “T-Bone Shuffle” By T-Bone Walker

20. “Rock and Roll Music” By The Beatles

21. “Move It On Over” By George Thorogood

22. “Ice Cream Man” By John Lee Hooker

https://youtu.be/-FXzfXBHXW8

23. “Sweet Home Chicago” By Robert Johnson

https://youtu.be/O8hqGu-leFc

24. “Viola Lee Blues” By The Grateful Dead

25. “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Lookin’ For” By U2

26. “Call Me The Breeze” By Lynyrd Skynyrd

27. “The Jack” By AC/DC

https://youtu.be/kq_GSIw0X0w

28. “Rave On” By Buddy Holly

https://youtu.be/0IUV-QxwlRM

29. “Blues With a Feeling” By Little Walter

30. “Dust My Broom” By Elmore James

https://youtu.be/5jcGY7NbaQw

31. “Folsom Prison Blues” By Johnny Cash

32. “Stuck In The Middle With You” By Stealers Wheel

33. “Maybellene” By Chuck Berry

34. “Kansas City” By Wilbert Harrison

35. “Good Golly Miss Molly” By Little Richard

36. “Boom Boom” By John Lee Hooker

37. “Mustang Sally” By Buddy Guy

https://youtu.be/eAyFynJXe4g

38. “Going Down” By Freddie King

39. “Blue and Lonesome” By The Rolling Stones

https://youtu.be/iDCKiJkHAQ4

40. “Have You Ever Loved a Woman?” By Derek & The Dominos

41. “Mary Had a Little Lamb” By Stevie Ray Vaughan

https://youtu.be/5aP2RzLNlbw

42. “Strange Brew” By Cream

https://youtu.be/r0FFTd3bS_8

43. “Boogie Shoes” By KC & The Sunshine Band

44. “I Can’t Quit You, Baby” By Led Zeppelin

45. “Baby What You Want Me To Do” By Jimmy Reed

46. “Born Under A Bad Sign” By Albert King

47. “Iceman” By Albert Collins

https://youtu.be/OUNF03UaxpY

48. “Rock Me Baby” By Johnny Winter

49. “All Your Love” By John Mayall

50. “Killing Floor” By Howlin’ Wolf

51. “Ten Long Years” By B.B. King

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, this list has given you a few ideas of 12 bar blues songs you can start learning. Once you play this progression a few times and get the hang of it, you’ll be able to very easily distinguish a 12 bar blues progression in a song.

It’s a great chord progression that’s easy to play and has a ton of versatility options.

About Cody
Cody is the founder of Musician Tuts, a free tutorial hub for musicians. He has over 15 years of experience playing a variety of instruments and dabbling in audio engineering. He spends his days blogging, listening to Spotify, and playing music.

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4 Comments

  1. What a great list! Thanks for putting this together.

    Reply
  2. The Wanderer … Dion. 12-bar blues with 8-bar bridge…

    Reply
  3. Move It on Over (Hank Williams), Long Gone Lonesome Blues (also Hank)

    Reply
  4. Herman’s Hermits “Something Tells me I’m into something good”

    Reply

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