Scott A. Smith's Serious Blues: Essential Phrasing: Guitar Book & DVD

Smith breaks blues phrasing into learnable, immediately applicable concepts without oversimplifying the art. The DVD demonstrations make abstract techniques concrete; you watch how a bend actually happens, not just read about it. This is the kind of resource that helps intermediate guitarists stop playing licks at guitarists and start playing music as musicians.

The phrasing concepts here unlock the difference between playing the right notes and playing them with intention. You'll find yourself thinking about space, target notes, and the small articulation choices that separate a competent blues solo from one that actually sings.

This book serves intermediate guitarists ready to move beyond basic pentatonic shapes and tackle the nuance of real blues soloing. It works equally well for self-taught players filling gaps in their technique and for ensemble guitarists who need stronger blues vocabulary for jazz or rock contexts.

• Build your bends deliberately by identifying your target note first, then work backward to find where your initial note and pre-bend placement need to be for the bend to land cleanly.
• Practice the 12-bar blues changes slowly with a backing track, focusing on phrasing one or two ideas per chorus rather than filling every bar; silence is as important as notes.
• Combine your pentatonic box patterns with the extended blues scale passages Smith demonstrates; this gives you more color options without abandoning the solid foundation the boxes provide.
• Use rakes and trills as connective tissue between your main melodic ideas, not as standalone effects; they work best when they resolve to a target note or chord tone.

Assign this as supplemental material for guitarists in jazz ensemble, rock band, or private study who need focused blues technique work. The DVD's visual approach makes it ideal for self-directed learning during the school year or as summer skill-building work for students planning fall ensemble auditions.

• 12-bar blues form and harmonic phrasing
• Blues scale and pentatonic box pattern application
• Bending technique including target notes, pre-bends, and combined patterns
• Solo construction and space management
• Articulation techniques (trills, slides, rakes) as expressive tools
• Playing multiple scales over single chord changes