Watch Yourself: Guitar Tab

This tune gives students a chance to work directly with one of blues music's most iconic voices and instrumental approaches. The tab format makes the King method of phrasing accessible without requiring years of ear training to decipher his signature bending and vibrato.

Confident and soulful, with just enough grit to cut through. The piece carries King's trademark emotional weight, where every note feels intentional and the silences speak as loudly as the music.

Intermediate to advanced guitarists ready to step into blues soloing and phrasing that demands sensitivity and taste. This works for students studying blues history, electric guitar technique, or the intersection of rhythm and lead playing.

• Listen closely to how King bends notes before hitting them dead-on; the anticipation is part of the phrasing. Rushing into the bend diminishes the effect.
• The rhythm section groove matters enormously here. Lock into a steady shuffle or swing feel rather than playing metronomically; blues breathes.
• Study the space between phrases as carefully as the phrases themselves. King never fills every moment, and restraint makes his statements hit harder.
• Experiment with your amp settings to find warmth and sustain. King's tone is inseparable from his playing; a brighter or thinner rig changes the whole character.

Pair this with a blues history unit or use it as a solo feature in a concert celebrating blues traditions. It also serves well as a masterclass example when teaching phrasing, tone production, and how to build a solo over a twelve-bar form.

• Expressive bending and vibrato control
• Phrasing over a twelve-bar blues progression
• Call-and-response soloing with rhythm section
• Tone shaping through dynamics and sustain
• Reading and interpreting tab notation with articulation marks