One thing that did catch me off guard was when he began to sing. At first, I thought he was just being funny, and imitating an “old African-American” sound and style of singing; like a parody. I was not correct in this; apparently, this was not meant to be humorous.

Most everything from Homespun is gold. They seem to choose talented artists who are also gifted teachers. I am not sure that this DVD fits that bill. Bob is an incredible guitarist, but for an instructional DVD, a talent for communicating that skill, like so many others on Homespun, is essential.

I purchased a Mel Bay slide basics book that goes through open tunings in D, G and a couple of others. For a beginner or early intermediate, I suggest starting here, then move to BB’s DVDs.

If you have never touched a guitar before this DVD may not be the best place to start. Even though Bob starts from the very beginning and leads the viewer through all aspects of slide playing in detail, the early sections progress quickly and it is helpful to already be comfortable with first position chords and basic finger picking. If you have been playing for a while but have not learned finger picking you can learn the basics here if you can resist the temptation to skip ahead to the embellishments Bob demonstrates as the lesson progresses.

Tone is what differentiates a rudimentary slide player from an excellent player. Bob explains, demonstrates, and leads the viewer through progressive exercises that will help you produce the clean and accurate tones that sets one slide player apart from another. Even if you are already a slide player the DVD is worth the price for Bob’s instruction on harmonics. I can say from experience that adding a few tasteful harmonics into your slide playing now and then will set you apart at a jam!

DVD 1 in this series starts with the basics and rapidly progresses into repertoire tunes such as “Walking Blues,” “I Can’t Be Satisfied,” “Crossroads Blues,” and “Come On In My Kitchen.” Along the way Bob teaches tricks and embellishments used by players like Robert Johnson, Bukka White, Muddy Waters, and Tampa Red. Most of the instruction uses the popular Open G (“Spanish”) tuning though there is a section on Open E (“Vastapol”) tuning. (More in Volumes 2 & 3.)

You simply will not find anyone that knows the history of the music, the instruments, and how to play it and demonstrate basic and advanced playing techniques better than Bob Brozman. There are other tutorials on blues slide guitar but why not start with the best? Highly recommended if you are at all serious about slide guitar playing in the Delta Blues style.