The Essence of the Blues: Clarinet in B-flat: Clarinet Book & CD

Snidero writes from the inside of the tradition. Rather than presenting blues as a checklist of scales and chord changes, he anchors each etude in the actual playing styles of Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, B.B. King, and Stanley Turrentine, showing students how theory becomes music in the hands of masters. The included play-along CD, recorded with New York pros like Eric Alexander and Jeremy Pelt, gives your students the irreplaceable experience of playing alongside legitimate musicians instead of drum machines or synthetic accompaniments.

Playing through these etudes feels like an apprenticeship. Each piece builds logically, introducing new blues territory while the recorded accompaniment creates the feeling of sitting in a real session. There's a sense of discovery as you unlock the musical DNA of how the blues actually breathes and swings.

Clarinet students who are ready to move beyond classical technique books and explore the blues tradition with depth and sophistication. The intermediate to advanced level suits players with solid fundamentals who want to understand how great jazz musicians construct solos and navigate blues harmony.

• Study the historical listening suggestions before tackling each etude. Hearing how B.B. King or Parker approached a particular blues form reshapes how you interpret the written material on the page.
• Work through the scale exercises methodically before moving to the full etude. Snidero sequences these deliberately so that your fingers internalize the vocabulary you'll need.
• Set the play-along CD to a slower tempo on your first pass through a new etude. Lock into the rhythm section's pocket before increasing speed to the recorded tempo.
• Record yourself solo over the accompaniment tracks and listen back critically. You'll hear phrasing choices and articulation details that become obvious only when your playing has to sit alongside working musicians.

Use this as a bridge for jazz ensemble members who need stronger blues vocabulary before tackling full big band charts. It also works well as independent study material for a student preparing for jazz auditions or looking to develop solo credibility in a combo setting. Consider assigning one etude per month throughout a semester, pairing the listening recommendations with concert programs that feature blues-inflected repertoire.

• Blues scale application across different blues forms (12-bar, minor blues, rhythm changes derived from blues)
• Phrasing and articulation techniques specific to jazz clarinet
• Improvisation strategies built on listening to canonical performers
• Harmonic navigation of blues chord progressions with attention to approach notes and target tones
• Time feel and rhythmic placement in relation to a real rhythm section
• Transcription-informed practice methods