How to play SLIDE GUITAR - for acoustic Guitarists

Name: How to play SLIDE GUITAR - for acoustic Guitarists
Rating: 5.0 (4 reviews)

Everything you need to know to get started - Fundamental slide techniques. Open G tuning. Your first songs and licks.

Created byIain MacLeod

Last updated 9/2023

English

What you'll learn

Learn the fundamental techniques required for playing Slide Guitar.
Learn your first Slide Guitar tunes - classic Blues 'You Gotta Move', a '12 Bar Blues' and an arrangement of 'When the Saints'
Understand the main differences between playing slide and regular playing.
Learn licks and tricks to use in 'open G' and learn how to jam with them.
Learn how to play in 'open G' tuning - start by playing scales on one string, end by playing all the strings and all the whole fret board.
EXTRA section - Open D tuning. Add a second open tuning to your repertoire!

Course content

2 sections • 14 lectures • 1h 56m total length

Introduction4:08
Welcome to the course - here is a brief over view of what you can expect to be doing. Let's get going!
Fundamental techniques for playing Slide Guitar19:35
Hey!
Today's lesson is quite long, about 20 minutes, and it in we'll be covering the main techniques you'll need to play slide guitar.

Things like
Which finger to put the slide on
Some key differences between getting a good note on slide and normal playing
Finding the right amount of pressure
Muting the strings with your fingers behind the slide
Using vibrato
Playing single notes and mastering the Blues scale on one string
Playing a classic blues riff with slide
You may want to stop and practice techniques or try things out as we go. Please don't feel like you have to master all this before moving on to the next lesson. These are the basic ideas and concepts that you will be using and building upon as you go through the course.

So grab a coffee or a beer and let's get going!
You Gotta Move - learn this classic Blues melody8:09
In this lesson we're going to learn a version of 'Gotta Move' which has been done by everyone from Mississippi John Hurt to the Rolling Stones and Aerosmith. The last lesson was a lot of theory so today is all about playing. And what better place to start than an actual slide Blues classic.
'Gotta Move' is one of the first tunes I learnt on slide and I think it's a good one to start with for a few reasons:
It sounds great played slowly so there's no need to rush and try to go too fast.
It follows the notes of the Blues scale up and down in sequence for a lot if it.
It doesn't require you to go all the way up the fretboard just yet.
A little caveat though. This is my version of the riff, not the exact way the afore mentioned artists may have done it. I always think it's good to do things your own way and this is the way I've come up with after coming back to this tune time and again.

Enjoy!
Sliding Scales - time to practice the Blues scale up and down the fret board8:46
How's it going so far? Don't worry if you have completely mastered Gotta Move just yet. There is a lot to get right even in a "simple" tune when it comes to slide playing.

That's why today I wanted to do a lesson on just practising your Blues scale. We're going to go over 3 ways you can practice the same bunch of notes and spend some time improving all the techniques you learnt in the first lesson. This will help when you go back to practising and learning songs.
It can sometimes be a bit dry to practice scales but it is useful and will help you get more advanced sooner. And remember, these are ideas you can come back to whenever you feel like. You don't need to master them right away, they're just good things to have in mind when you are working on your slide playing, whether that's today or tomorrow or 5 years from now.
When The Saints - a simple melody that's going to challenge your slide technique8:45
Today we're going to break away from the classic blues scale and learn a traditional song from New Orleans - 'When The Saints'. I'm sure you've heard this tune plenty of times.
The reason I want to focus on it is because I think it's a great melody for practising your intonation with the slide. Basically getting used to being accurate with the pitches you're aiming for.
We're also going to work on the technique of plucking the string once but then getting several notes of the melody by just using out slide. This is pretty tricky to do (especially if you're playing acoustic) but is really useful when you get the hang of it.
Open G tuning - one of the great open tunings for playing slide13:01
So. Here we are. Now you're going to start playing slide guitar proper. It's very common for slide players to tune their Guitar to an open chord. We're going to use one of the most common tunings - Open G.

You're strings are going to be adjusted thus (going from lowest string):
E = D (lowered full tone/step)
A = G (lowered full tone/step)
D = D (no change)
G = G (no change)
B = B (no change)
E = D (lowered full tone/step)
...and then we're obviously going to work on some songs with the open tuning.
12 Bar Blues in 'open G' (part 1)14:59
12 Bar Blues in 'open G' (part 2)20:10
Now it's time to put it all together and then some. We're sticking to the frame work of the 12 Bar Blues but now we're adding lot's of lead licks and riffs and cool ideas to make it sound great.
I'm going to go through a couple of rounds of the 12 Bar Blues and show you note for note some of my favourite tricks when improvising in Open G tuning.
Please bare in mind, though, that these are just my favourite things to play. I want you to use them as a way of getting started with improvising on slide Guitar. These ideas are to help you get comfortable moving around the neck and applying different techniques. What is far more important is that you start to experiment and make your own cool riffs and licks and you take these ideas and expand on them and make them your own.
Have fun!

The Major scale in open G (part 1)3:49
We're going to move away from the Blues for a bit and learn the major scale in Open G. This video simply shows you which frets you need to play in order to do the major scale (as opposed to the pentatonic/blues scale we learned in the first part of the course).
The Major scale in G (part 2)4:04
Now that we know the notes/frets we need for the major scale we're going to spend some time exploring. This video is just ideas and examples of things you can do to start improvising or writing your own melodies using this tonality. Try and take these ideas as a starting point and then start coming up with your own.
How to tune to Open D1:05
How to tune your Guitar to a D major chord
E - D (top string)
B - A
G - F sharp
D - D
A - A
E - D (bottom string)
Major scale in 'open D' (part 1)4:03
Open D tuning is similar to Open G but there are some differences. In the next couple of videos we're going to explore some ideas for using this tuning to it's full richness and practice a simple, but hugely effective, picking pattern.
Major Scale in 'open D' (part 2)1:54
Slide version of 'Amazing Grace' in D4:03
Time for a tune in Open D. We're going to learn the melody for the well know tune 'Amazing Grace' and play it with the slide. This is just my interpretation so feel free to learn it this way and then take it any direction you like.

Requirements

For intermediate or more advanced Guitarists who want to push their playing further by adding a new style to their repertoire.
To progress successfully you need to be patient and take things at your own pace

Description

You will start by learning how to play on just one string but by the end you will be moving around all the strings and up and down the neck.

You’ll find out how to play in ‘G open tuning’, learn some great sounding Blues licks as well as learning a classic Delta Blues tune.

You’ll be getting to grips with fundamental finger picking technique so you can play bass and melody together.

And most importantly, you’ll develop crucial techniques like vibrato and ‘double muting’ which are the things that will set you up to sound like a pro.

Never played slide before? Don’t worry. This course will take you from the absolute basics (like which finger to put the slide on) to playing and improvising across the whole fretboard and all the strings. You'll be able to take the ideas and then make them your own and really have fun playing.

A lot more than meets the eye goes into playing slide Guitar - but a little knowledge and some tips and tricks will go a long way in helping you on your journey.

The lessons are set out in a logical progression route. You will master one idea before moving on to the next and you can go through the lessons as slowly or as quickly as you like. You will develop the skills you need to sound great and avoid the most common mistakes people make when they first try slide Guitar.

Who this course is for:

Acoustic Guitarists who are fans of Folk Blues styles.
Solo players who want new repertoire and ideas to their set list.

How to play SLIDE GUITAR - for acoustic Guitarists

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

How to play Slide Guitar8 lectures • 1hr 38min

FURTHER LEARNING- more 'open tunings' ideas, tips and tricks6 lectures • 19min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: