Big Bill Broonzy Illustration by Jake Bialos
The great blues master Big Bill Broonzy’s “Key to the Highway” is one of the most famous eight bar blues. Besides the evocative lyrics and simple but catchy melody, the chord progression itself helps to make the song compelling. Eight bar blues are far less common than twelve bar blues, and there seem to be numerous quirky variations. “Key to the Highway” falls into the quirky category.
The most common form of the eight bar follows a similar chord pattern to the twelve bar. In the key of A: A – A – D – D – A – E – (A – D – A – E). An example would be “It Hurts Me Too” by Elmore James. In the second measure of “Key,” Broonzy replaced the I chord A, with the V chord E, creating this pattern: A – E – D – D – A – E – (A – D – A – E). Now that I think of it, it’s not that different! But it supports a nice melody line, with the note G# (Broonzy) or B (Walter, Clapton) coming in the middle of the first phrase. Plus, the chord movement from A to E creates a hook at the beginning of the pattern and at the beginning of the second half of the pattern – an ingenious and efficient compositional move.
About the Video and Tab
The performance of the song that’s shown in the video is typical of a certain blues style, meaning that it was improvised to a degree. Various licks, chords patterns and turnarounds were inserted into the basic structure and only the beginning and end verses are played pretty much the same. The tab shows the structure of the song and is playable by a relative beginner who knows basic chords well. Note that I didn’t provide them in the chord diagrams – if you don’t have the open A, A7, D7, Dm7 and E7 down, you’ll need to learn and memorize them to play this tune.
Another important concept for any beginning blues player is the pattern that starts off the tune. This is known as a “boogie pattern,” and it combines a melodic and harmonic (chordal) function into one figure. The bass note is an A, and the upper voice, the part that you finger with your fretting hand, has the notes E and F# and can be extended with a G. This comprises three of the four notes of an A7 chord (A – C# – E – G) . Patterns like these, whether they have multiple notes struck at the same time or are strictly a melodic figure, stand for chords. Let’s take a look at the arrangements used in the video, verse by verse.
Verse one is the most like the tab. The turnaround uses open position chords. Measure seven, the first measure of the turnaround, features four chords, one to each beat: A – A7 – D7 – Dm7. This is a standard two bar turnaround chord pattern with passing seventh chords added. You don’t necessarily hear these chords all the time, but the melody that they support is in countless blues songs. This line is clearly stated in the “Robert Johnson” and “Crossroads” turnarounds below: A – G – F# – F – E.
Verse two arpeggiates the D7 in measures three and four and uses bar chords in the turnaround. When you add the open high E string note to the D7, you get a D9 chord that has a unique harmonic and melodic sound. The bar chord version of the turnaround is highly useful because it’s movable to many different keys. There’s a short lick that leads you to the final E7 chord, straight out of the Form I blues scale in A at the fifth fret.
Verse three uses what has become known as the “Robert Johnson turnaround” and it’s included in the tab above. People often play it starting on beat two, leaving out the first three notes as written here, but I kept those notes to fill in the rhythm of just one solo guitar and to make it easier to play. You can hear it in the cover on Eric Clapton’s Layla album, as well as on various Robert Johnson songs.
Verse four swaps the D7 chord for a boogie pattern with no open strings, ie it’s played at the fifth fret on the A and D strings. The turnaround that uses a low bass riff is taken from Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads.” There’s a tab for it below (second line).
Verse five uses an open D string boogie pattern. It’s not in the tab, but all you have to do is move the A7 chord boogie pattern up to the D and G strings. The final two (ending) chords are a favorite voicing of mine, G# and A dominant seventh chords with no root note. Interesting how you can end the song on a tonic chord that doesn’t contain the tonic, right?
Conclusion
Although you have a video of my performance of the tune, I can’t emphasize enough the benefit of listening to classic recordings of a song. The original acoustic version by Big Bill Broonzy has an infectious bounce to it, and his voice and guitar playing are something to behold. Another great rendition of the song is by harmonica legend Little Walter. The amazing Muddy Waters Band backs Walter up and the interplay among the band is astonishing. Another must hear reading of the tune is on the aforementioned Layla album. At over nine minutes, it’s also a perfect track to play along to.
Take your time listening, playing through the tab and looking at the video. You need to know the chords and the patterns before attempting to put the whole idea together. Just to get the main eight bar form working is a perfectly good goal. Then, you can add things in from there. Most importantly, have fun with it! –Christian Botta
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