How to play Everyday I Have The Blues on Guitar

What if you could rock out at a blues jam with confidence? 

Or be able to play with other musicians and demonstrate some serious blues guitar skills? 

Well, if either of those sounds good to you, keep reading because, in this post, I'll share with you how to play "Everyday I Have The Blues" as recorded by B.B. King on guitar.

Who wrote Everyday I Have The Blues?

"Everyday I Have the Blues"  was written by the Sparks brothers, Pinetop and Milton. They used to perform the song in pubs and bars in St. Louis, Missouri. The tune follows a standard 12-bar blues chord progression and the original recording features Pinetop on piano and singing with a falsetto style tone. This first recording was done on July 28th, 1935. 

Throughout the decades it’s become a blues standard and has been recorded by countless famous blues musicians. 

This song became a staple in B.B. King’s repertoire. So much so that throughout his career, he made numerous recordings of it both live and in the studio.

In this post, I'll focus on the version King recorded live in 1965 from his incredible album Live at the Regal. 

Everyday I Have The Blues Guitar Chords

The chord progression to “Everyday I Have The Blues” follows a typical 12-bar blues pattern. However, in this version, we are going to jazz up the chords a bit in the last 4 bars. These last 4 bars are sometimes called the turnaround progression. In total, we will need 4 chord shapes Bb7, Eb9, Cm7, and F9. Here’s how I would play each shape.

For Bb7 I would use a bar chord at the 6th fret and play this:

For Eb9 I would shift to a chord that has a root on the 5th string and play from strings 5 to 1 like this: 

Cm7 is next and this looks like the Bb7 chord, however, we are going to move it up 2 frets to the 8th fret, and remove the middle finger like this:

And finally, we’ll play the F9 chord which is the same as the Eb9 shape but here we are going to move it up two frets like this:

When you zoom out and look there are really only 3 shapes to know as the Eb9 and the F9 are essentially the same shapes they are just on different frets. 

On guitar when you don’t have open strings in a chord this means it is a moveable shape. For these types of chords, you can play them up and down the entire guitar neck just by shifting frets. This is a great trait of playing guitar as opposed to say piano.

B.B. King’s version from Live at the Regal is in the key of Bb, so these chords in the key of Bb could be grouped together using Roman numerals like this:

Bb7 = I chord

Eb9 - IV chord

Cm7 = ii chord

F9 = V chord

Now that you have the shapes under your fingers, next you’ll want to drop them into the chord progression of the song. Let’s break it down into 4 bar sections. For the first 4 bars, we’ll play this:

Bb7 (1 bar)

Eb9 (1 bar)

Bb7 (2 bars)

Notice that in the second bar, the chords change from the Bb7 (I chord) to the Eb9 (IV chord). This is called a quick IV change. It is used in many blues songs and is a nice way to break up a typical 12-bar blues that may just stay on the I chord for 4 bars.

Bb7 (1 bar)

Eb9 (1 bar) QUICK IV

Bb7 (2 bars) 

From there the next 4 bars would go like this:

Eb9 (2 bar) 

Bb7 (2 bars)

Then in the final 4 bars is where we bring in the Cm7 and jazz up the progression a bit. Here we’ll play:

Cm7 (1 bar) 

F9 (1 bar)

Bb7 (1 bar)

Bb7, F9 (1 bar)

Tip: The last 4 bars here are sometimes referred to as a ii-V turnaround. 

So all together the chord progression would look like this:

Bb7 (1 bar)

Eb9 (1 bar) QUICK IV

Bb7 (2 bars)

Eb9 (2 bar) 

Bb7 (2 bars)

Cm7 (1 bar) 

F9 (1 bar)

Bb7 (1 bar)

Bb7, F9 (1 bar)

Everyday I Have The Blues Strumming

Here are two ways that I would recommend practicing the rhythm and groove for “Everyday I Have The Blues”.

1. Whole Note Rhythm
2. Charleston Rhythm

For whole notes, all you need to do is strum once on each chord and count to 4. Try to strictly follow the chord progression above and make sure each chord starts right on the downbeat. The only exception would be in the very last bar, and here you can just strum half notes, so that would be 2 beats on each chord, and then repeat back to the top. 

The second rhythm is called the Charleston rhythm and this is where you play on the downbeat of each bar and then on the “and” of 2 like this:

This is a great rhythm to use for accompanying and playing rhythm guitar. Use this rhythm in every bar and when you get to the last bar play the Bb7 on the downbeat and then the F9 on the “and” of 2 and let it ring out like this:

Soloing and Scales

King was a master at playing beautiful blues guitar solos. If you are looking to start soloing over this chord progression you’ll want to familiarize yourself with the most-important scale King used. For this song, he used the Bb minor blues scale and this can be played in the 6th position like this:

Those same frets could also be thought of as this:

6th string = 6, 9

5th string = 6, 8

4th string = 6, 8

3rd string = 6, 8, 9

2nd string = 6, 9

1st string = 6, 9

Every Day I Have The Blues Guitar Lesson (Eric Clapton)

Eric Clapton has an excellent version of this song from his album Live At Fillmore. He does it in the key of C major. Here is how to play it:

Conclusion

Learning "Everyday I Have the Blues" as a guitarist will benefit your playing on so many levels. Whether you're creating your own cover or getting up to play at a blues jam, this song is great to know.

Following the tips and techniques I discussed above, as well as in the video at the top of this page, will help you hone your blues guitar skills and develop a greater appreciation for the beauty and complexity of this genre. 

B.B. King's influence on the history of blues guitar cannot be overstated. He was a true pioneer who helped shape the sound of modern blues music. His use of vibrato, bending, and sliding techniques, as well as his expressive and dynamic playing style, inspired countless other guitarists and helped to establish the blues as one of the most important genres in modern music.

So keep playing and for another great blues lesson check out “Boom Boom” next!