How to play slide guitar
Starting out on slide guitar is easy - If you already play guitar it's a simple matter of learning a few tricks with the slide.
Before you start, tune your guitar to an open major chord - any open major chord. I like DADF#AD.
How to start playing slide:
1. Put the slide on your ring finger or little finger on the left hand (assuming you're right handed).
2. Find your I, IV, and V chords. I is open strings plus the 12th fret (leave your bass strings open and play riffs on the upper strings 12th fret), IV is on over the 5th fret, V is over the 7th fret.
3. Move the slide down (in pitch) two frets to create passing notes for riffs - so if you're on the 5th fret, move to the 3rd fret for the in-between notes in the riff. Note: if moving 1 fret sounds better than 2 in a particular instance, do that instead.
4. You can (almost) always play at the 3rd fret for a bluesy sound regardless of the current chord.
5. Most of the time you want to drag your index finger (and other fingers on that side of the slide) on the strings to keep the back side of the strings from vibrating. It's always safe not to do this on the 12th fret and the 5th fret, but failure to do it on any other fret is a special effect that could have undesirable artifacts.
6. Like anything else in music the key is listen, really listen, to what you're doing. When it sounds right, it is right.
There's a lot more to playing slide, but this will get you started.
Next time - how to play minor chords and 7ths.
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Reader Responses:
Response from: matt
i have not been able to find any tab for slide. could you write some down?
Post #: 35 |
Response from: Collin Nunis
Hi, I am really, really interested in learning slide for minor chords and 7ths... I enjoy blues/southern rock stuff and I'm hoping that you would be able to give me a tip or two in my playing
Post #: 36 |
Response from: GuiTaR_rOcKs!!!
Please show me how to play minor chords...very difficult to find the website...
Post #: 38 |
Response from: Phil Reschly
I'm really looking froward to having a little help learning how to play slide guitar; lookin' forward to playing some slide Zepellin and (of course) some classic Skynyrd (I really want to learn Free Bird better than I can play it now, it's my favorite song).
Post #: 45 |
Response from: Connor
Matt- look for the tab for Bon Jovi's One Wild Night. Richie Sambora uses a slide for the intro and solo in that song
Post #: 123 |
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