In this lesson we will gain some fundamental skills with the slide. The purpose of the slide is to be able to glissando from note to note, effectively making the guitar into a fretless instrument. If you position the slide behind the fret, the note will be flat. For fretted notes, vibrato can be applied by moving the string up and down, but when you play slide guitar … To play with your slide, place your fretting/sliding hand over the fingerboard as you would normally. A lot of slide guitar is played in open tuning to overcome this, but it is a useful skill to play in standard tuning (like Jeff Beck or Brett Garsed), so you won’t need to retune. Tilt the slide slightly outward so it contacts the first string only, and try playing the major scale in Ex. Place the slide on your second, third or fourth finger and use your remaining fingers to mute the strings on the nut side of the hand. We have a great network of teachers around your local PMT stores including the ones in Liverpool, Cardiff and Manchester. By Place the slide on your second, third or fourth finger and use your remaining fingers to mute the strings on the nut side of the hand. Start by finding a slide that fits your finger comfortably; not too tight that it restricts movement, but not too loose either as this will be difficult to control. Start by finding a slide that fits your finger comfortably; not too tight that it restricts movement, but not too loose either as this will be difficult to control. The amount you move either side of the note is down to taste, but about a semitone is typical. Play through each example carefully, focusing on playing in tune, then have a go at playing the licks over the backing tracks. Use the fingers of your picking hand to pluck the strings as you go, while using your remaining fingers to keep the other five strings muted. Promotions, Competitions, Events & Offers, How to Play Slide Guitar - 6 Tips For Beginners. Avoid pointing your other fingers away from the guitar and keep your thumb behind the neck. Example 4 uses double-stop major 3rds on the second and third strings. Now we’re going to turn that into a riff. Bath Use your ear to guide how much angle is needed. Players like Sonny Landreth and Derek Trucks use this technique to great effect. For example, the middle finger can help you to generate a big slide. This is a G chord. Two quick slide guitar lessons to get you started. 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From the Fender Stratocaster to the Gibson ES-335. This is a natural result of the straight frets on the guitar being a compromise of perfect intonation. Slide tones are so often heard in this context – on a film or TV soundtrack during a desert scene with a rattlesnake slithering past, for example. The most common types you’ll see in your local stores are metal, ceramic and glass. The speed of the guitar slide is not a factor when playing, as the slide will be limiting in the speed that you play, regardless. We can of course use the frets as a guide and when playing a note, you should position the slide directly over the fret-wire to ensure good intonation. With the slide we can compensate for this as essentially we are playing a fretless instrument. Target notes by placing the slide directly over the fret wire, not in the spaces between the frets. (Guitar Techniques) 27 August 2019, Slide into position and try some intonation and vibrato exercises in standard tuning. When you have all of the basics down for using a guitar slide, you will need to move onto the tuning aspect of guitar-slide playing. When you play guitar, you learn to fret the notes behind the fretwire, however, the note you hear is actually produced from the point the string contacts the fret itself.VIBRATO. Position the slide perpendicular to the strings, in the same direction as the frets. Copyright © 2020 www.pmtonline.co.uk All rights reserved. Step 6: Tuning. RJ RONQUILLO: 6 SLIDE GUITAR LICKS. by This is a triplet feel lick, you’re playing three notes across each of the first two beats of the bar. This is a useful shape for standard tuned slide as there are so many 4th double- stops throughout the shape. Different lengths, thicknesses, materials… the list goes on. All fingers have their advantages and disadvantages. This will prevent any unwanted string resonance, particularly on acoustic guitar. For this tip, we’re going to learn three chords on a slide. The strings that were tuned D, G and B remain unchanged. This means we are tuning the open strings to match the three notes found in a G Major chord, G, B and D. We feel the best tuning for slide guitar is Open G. Low to high you are tuning your guitar D, G, D, G, B, D Your Low E, A and high E strings are all being tuned down a full tone. Make sure that when your 3rd finger is moving around the neck with the slide on, your 1st and 2nd fingers are sitting directly behind it, parallel, damping the strings as a basis from which the sliding finger can play. Our first example is based in the Minor Pentatonic scale along one string. Some companies even make slides from wood, brass, copper and more. The next skill is using the slide to play melodies across multiple strings while only letting one note ring out at a time. The main problem is that the slide is straight, so playing chords can be limited. The always excellent RJ shows how to play 6 side licks plus talks a bit about the guitar setup. The first is just the D, G and B strings played open. Here is a fun lick to round off the introduction to slide guitar. © Get FREE online guitar lessons and FREE online drum lessons from PMT College - no sign-ups required! You will receive a verification email shortly. This will prevent any unwanted string resonance, particularly on acoustic guitar. The most common open tunings for slide are open E, D, G and A. Duane Allman and Derek Trucks are two examples of guitarists that prefer to play slide in open E tuning. How to play slide guitar like the world's greatest players. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. And you can see why players like Jeff Beck like this approach. The index finger is not recommended because you need at least one finger to mute the strings on the other side. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Try positioning the slide at a slight angle so the notes on the second string are slightly behind the fret. When aiming for a note with a slide you must get the centre of the slide directly above the fretwire. The end of each bar is a simple slide from the 11th to the 12th fret on the B before landing on the 12th fret of the G. Don’t forget to apply generous amounts of vibrato to that final note to really make it sing. To play slide guitar, you can choose between the middle, ring, and little fingers. For most, the initial stages of trying to figure out how it works can be challenging and even scary. Please refresh the page and try again. This lesson is in the key of C and is similar to something you would find him playing over Joyful Noise. This is a typical blues style riff that is a lot of fun to play with a slide. BA1 1UA. When aiming for a note with a slide you must get the centre of the slide directly above the fretwire. Try this with a tuner switched on and see it … Charlie Griffiths Next, place the slide on your second, third or fourth finger (each has its advantages and different players opt for different fingers), and play the notes keeping the slide directly over the fret-wire. Receive mail from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors? Vital is an eye-catching spectral warping wavetable synth plugin that you can have for free. Receive news and offers from our other brands? Welcome to your complete beginners guide on how to play slide guitar courtesy of Leigh Fuge over at MGR Music. Now you’re officially playing slide guitar! When playing slide, intonation is very important. If you want to play much slide guitar, prepare a guitar just for this job. Example 2 is based in the same scale, but this time we will add some character using the vibrato technique. Slide guitarists use both open tunings and standard tunings. 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