The Blues Is All About Expression With The Blues Guitar Method You Ll

Emily Johnson

-Mar 12, 2026, 12:18 PM

the blues is all about expression with the blues guitar method you ll

Welcome to the ninth lesson of the Blues Guitar Quick-Start Series. In the last couple lessons about blues guitar, we learned a blues scale shape, where all the root notes were located, and how to start choosing notes in the scale to fit over the... In this lesson, we’re going to be focusing more on adding feeling and style to your blues lead guitar playing. To do this, we’ll be looking at techniques like bending, vibrato, and sliding. These elements can add a lot of emotion to your playing and help you to create your own unique sound as well. The first thing we’ll talk about is phrasing.

When you’re playing the blues you don’t want to just sound like you’re playing through a scale shape. Like we talked about earlier, blues is all about expression. A good way to think about phrasing is to think like a singer. In this case, think about a blues singer. String notes together that make a statement. Sometimes you’ll want to rest for a few beats or measures.

Sometimes you’ll want to repeat the last “statement” you made. Sometimes you’ll play a bunch of notes quickly, and other times you’ll just play one or two notes. It’s all about expressing yourself just like a singer would. The next technique we’ll look at is bending. Bending is one of the most unique and iconic elements of playing the guitar. Bending is used a lot in blues music because it seems to evoke a lot of emotion.

Bending can be half-step bends, whole-step bends, or even larger intervals. One thing to remember, is when you bend you can use multiple fingers together on one string to make bending a little easier. Next, we’ll talk about vibrato. This is where you can really start to develop your own voice on the guitar. Basically, vibrato is just bending a note up a little bit, then back down, then back up, over and over again. Different players have very different sounding vibratos and this is especially noticeable in blues music.

Blues guitar soloing isn’t just about playing the right notes, it’s about how you play them. That’s what makes blues one of the most expressive and enduring styles in guitar music. If you’ve ever been drawn to the raw emotion of B.B. King’s vibrato, the biting attack of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s bends, or the smooth phrasing of Eric Clapton’s licks, you’re already on the right track. But where do you start? If you’re a beginner, learning to solo in the blues can feel overwhelming at first.

There are scales to memorize, techniques to master, and a long tradition of legendary players who make it all sound effortless. But the good news? Blues soloing has a clear structure, and once you get familiar with it, you’ll start to find your own sound. Blues didn’t start with shredding solos or fancy effects, it began in the early 20th century with acoustic Delta Blues players, using nothing but their fingers, slide techniques, and raw emotion. Without amplification, the early blues pioneers relied on phrasing and dynamics to create expression. It wasn’t until the 1950s Chicago Blues era, with players like Buddy Guy and the Kings (B.B., Freddy, and Albert), that the electric guitar became a true solo instrument.

By the time the British blues explosion of the 1960s hit, players like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page took these American blues foundations and injected more power, distortion, and aggression. This, in turn, inspired Texas blues giants like Stevie Ray Vaughan, and later, modern blues-rock revivalists like Joe Bonamassa and Marcus King. So why does this history matter? Because when you’re soloing in the blues, you’re stepping into a tradition. You’re speaking a musical language that has evolved over decades. The good news is that every great blues player started with the same vocabulary, the pentatonic scale and a handful of key techniques.

The blues is more than just a genre of music; it's a deep, emotional language that has shaped modern music in countless ways. Rooted in the African American experience, the blues captures the essence of human emotion—pain, joy, sorrow, and hope—expressed through a few simple chords and raw, heartfelt melodies. It’s a style that has not only influenced genres like rock, jazz, and R&B, but has also become a cornerstone for any guitarist seeking to truly connect with their instrument and audience. As a private guitar instructor, I’ve had the privilege of guiding students through the intricate world of blues guitar, witnessing firsthand the transformative power this genre holds. There's something truly special about the way the blues can speak to a person’s soul, allowing them to convey their deepest emotions through each note and bend. Whether you're a beginner just starting out or an experienced player looking to deepen your skills, the journey into blues guitar can be one of the most rewarding musical experiences.

It's more than just learning to play—it's about understanding the stories behind the music, feeling the rhythm in your bones, and finding your own voice within this timeless tradition. Before diving into the technical aspects, it's essential to understand where the blues comes from. Originating in the African American communities of the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the blues evolved from spirituals, work songs, and field hollers. This music was a way for people to express their pain, joy, and everything in between. The early blues was characterized by its simplicity—often just a single performer with a guitar or a piano, singing about life's hardships. Despite—or perhaps because of—this simplicity, the blues carried an incredible emotional weight that resonated with audiences far and wide.

(Note from Antony: Chris King Robinson is my favorite up-and-coming blues guitarist. His guitar phrasing is at the level of the best blues guitar players. After interviewing him on how he practices guitar, I asked him to write a piece on the topic of blues guitar phrasing.) How To Knock Your Audience Cold With One Note “The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away from you.” - BB King. It's often said that the most valued blues guitarists in the world have the ability to knock an audience cold with just one note.

This is what I have always focused on as a blues guitar player. The way a note or sequence of notes is constructed shows everything about your personality as a guitar player, phrasing is everything when trying to move someone emotionally. I used to try and play a million notes a second, as many guitar players often do. There is nothing wrong with this, however for my individual taste; I like to hear phrases that are full of juicy tone, groovy intervals and groany string bends. I heard Jimmie Vaughan once say to a young guitarist, "play what you want to hear" and I have always lived by this motto ever since. Blues Guitar Quick-Start Series - Lesson 9/12

Welcome to the ninth video of the Blues Guitar Quick-Start Series. For your blues lead guitar so far, we’ve been talking about the blues scale, where root notes are located, and how to choose your notes in the blues scale to fit over the chords... In this lesson, we’re going talk about feeling and style. We’ll look at techniques like phrasing, bending, vibrato, and sliding. These elements can add a new level of self-expression and emotion in your playing. We’ll look at them one by one and show you how to apply them to your blues solos.

The first element we’ll look at is phrasing, which always makes me think about blues singers and call and answer themes. When playing a blues solo, you don’t want to sound like you’re playing through a scale shape. Instead, I like to think about blues singers. If you haven’t listened to much blues music, I would recommend listening to some blues singers and taking note of their phrasing. When they sing, you can generally tell they have something to say and want to make a statement. Sometimes this is how you want to think about your blues solos.

This can go hand in hand with repeated themes. If I start a blues solo by stating a theme, I’ll take a break for a few beats and then restate the theme. This breaks my phrasing up and makes it seem more natural, and it makes the solo more cohesive.

The Blues Is All About Expression With The Blues Guitar Method You Ll

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