How To Play Slide Guitar

If you're a guitarist interested in playing the blues and even some rock styles, then you have probably heard of slide guitar.  Playing with a slide takes some getting used to, but I guarantee it's a skill that every guitar player should know.  Whether you're interested in playing like slide guitar greats Sonny Landreth and Derek Trucks, or want to create ethereal sounds for your next solo track, a slide is a great tool to have.  As a blues player myself, I'm partial to slide guitar but learning to play with one will benefit your guitar playing immensely.  I've found a few different slide guitar lessons, different guitar tunings for slide guitar, and even some tips from a few slide guitar masters. 

Horizontal electric slide
guitar

So let's start out with the basics of slide guitar.  Here's a great introduction to slide guitar, different types of slides, and even a video at http://www.learn-acoustic-guitar.com/beginner-blues-slide-guitar-lesson.

Blues Slide Guitar Lesson For Beginners

Slide Guitar (Also Know As Bottleneck Guitar) is a unique sounding style of guitar that is often associated with The Blues, but is also used in other Genres of music like Hawaiian, Jazz and Rock to name a few.  No one knows for sure who invented it, but when you mention slide guitar, you will almost always think of The Blues.

Slide guitar is named as such because of the sliding motion across the strings which produces its distinctive sound.  You can only produce this distinctive sound by using what is known as a “Slide”,  which is just tubular piece of metal, glass or other material that you wear on  your sliding finger. Originally, in Blues Slide Guitar, a guitarist used a bottleneck as the slide, hence the name “Bottleneck” guitar.

Below are a few different examples of Slides you can buy for the guitar.  You can click the picture and it will take you over to Musicians Friend where you learn more about that particular slide and purchase one if needed.

Brass Guitar Slide

Glass Guitar Slide

Ceramic Guitar Slide

Beginner Blues Slide Guitar Video Lesson

A big thanks to the folks over at GuitarJamz for sharing this video lesson.  If you are serious about learning to play the guitar, you should definitely check out the GuitarJamz website and sign up to receive the free beginner ebook or make a small investment for the Members Only Club and get access to over 640 online video lessons. I can’t recommend this Website enough!

In the following video, Tony Brucco from GuitarJamz.com demonstrates some really cool Slide Guitar Licks in Open D Tuning.  Not familiar with Open D Tuning?  Check out this great lesson on Drop D Tuning Here.

That last video showed you some slide guitar tricks in an open tuning.  For a little more information about some different tuning options for slide guitar, check out this article here at http://www.guitarnoise.com/lesson/slide-guitar-in-standard-tuning/.

Playing Slide Guitar in Standard Tuning

Vic Lewis looks at the basics of playing slide guitar in standard tuning, which is a great thing to know if you’d prefer to not keep changing your tuning every other song!

Over the years, I’ve had a lot of different guitars, and I’ve used a lot of different tunings to play slide. Open D, open G, DADGAD – I’ve tried them all (and others) at various times.

Kept one guitar in standard tuning, had others in different tunings.

These days, I use two guitars 99% of the time – a Telecaster and an SPT acoustic. But if you’re out somewhere jamming with friends and someone shouts out “Stuck In The Middle” or “Happy” or even “let’s do a 12-bar blues in A,” it’s not really practical to re-tune between songs, especially if you’re tuning by ear. It’s not very practical, either, to take numerous guitars everywhere. So I decided, as an experiment, to try playing slide in standard tuning.

To begin with, let’s look at a map of the fretboard:

Then let’s look at one of the most popular open tunings, Open G, and compare it, from low to high strings, to standard tuning:

Standard Tuning:      E A D G B E
Open G Tuning:          D G D G B D

Notice the D, G and B strings are exactly the same in both tunings. How convenient. What’s even more convenient is that these three strings are a G major triad – the notes G (root) B (third) and D (fifth) make up a G major chord.

In fact, just looking at the open strings, you’ll see there are plenty of combinations of notes. And it only takes three notes to make a chord, or even two (the root and the fifth) to make up a power chord. Let’s group the strings together in sets and look at the chords we can form. We’ll stick to the most basic chords because you’ll see in the very first example we can name all sorts of chords with four notes, so imagine how many possibilities there are with three or two notes! Here we go:

Four String Sets:

Using the first four strings (again, from low to high),D G B E, gives you G6 OR Em7

Three String Sets:

The three highest strings are G, B and E  - that can be Em or part of G6, Cmaj7 and even A9 (or Am9) or Fmaj9 if you’d like.

The second through fourth strings are D G B which is an inversion of the G chord or could be part of Em7 and numerous other chord.

Other groupings would include:

E A D Asus4 (inv) OR Dsus2 (inv)
A D G Dsus4 (inv) OR Gsus2 (inv)
A B E Esus4 (inv) OR Asus2

Two String Sets:

E A A5 powerchord (inv)
A D D5 powerchord (inv)
D G G5 powerchord (inv)

Electric slide guitar - glass slide

All well and good so far, but how does this fit in with playing slide? Well, those chords give us plenty of scope for rhythm guitar, and of course we can slide them up and down the fretboard – they’re all movable shapes.

Before we actually move on to the mechanics of playing slide guitar, I’d like to introduce a couple more very useful chord shapes, again just using the D G and B strings. Think of those strings as the HOME position, or 0 0 0. Now add one finger to the B string, one fret higher than the home position, and another finger to the D string two frets higher than the home position. You’re now playing E G and C, which is a C major triad. Slide that shape up two frets and it becomes a D major triad – F#, A and D.

D G B
0 0 0 – G triad
2 0 1 – C triad
4 2 3 – D triad

(NOTE – the fingers you use here will depend on which finger you wear a slide on. Some people prefer the ring finger, others like the pinky. If the slide’s on your ring finger (like me) you’ll use your middle finger on the B string and your pinky on the D string; if the slide’s on your pinky you’ll use the middle finger on the B string and the ring finger on the D string. It’ll take a bit of practise to get used to, but believe me, it’s well worth the effort.)

That’s a quick and easy way to play a I – IV – V progression, and you can do it in any key – just think of the D G and B strings as “HOME,” and you can play those shapes anywhere. E, A and B? The “HOME” position would be the 9th fret, meaning 9 9 9 would be an E major triad, 11 9 10 would be A, and 13 11 12 would be B. To add the vi (or the relative minor of I, which some would call “VIm”) to your I – IV – V progression, you’d simply drop back down to the home position and play 0 0 0 on the G B and E strings. You can use the I – IV – V and vi chords in literally hundreds of songs. Think G, C, D and Em…..

Another very useful chord is shaped very similarly to this last one you learned, but instead of using your ring or pinky on the D string, add it to G string in the same position, ie 0 2 1. Instead of, say, D G and B, we’ve now got D A and C. I usually think of this shape as a 6/9 shape – with C as the root, A would be the 6th and D the 9th in that scale. Here’s a little experiment – try playing 0 0 0 (on the D G and B strings, of course) then 0 2 1 then 2 0 1 then 0 0 0 again. Ring any musical bells? It’s actually the chorus progression for “Happy” by the Rolling Stones, a song which is played in open G tuning by Keith.

Although Keef uses a capo on the fourth fret for this particular song, so the song’s in the key of B, and the chorus chords are played around the 9th fret making them variations on an E chord.

One last point before moving on – don’t forget your E- and A-shaped powerchords. The A-shaped powerchords are especially useful, if you play the root with your index finger and the fifth with your ring finger or pinky, you’ll find your slide is ready to use near the “HOME” position for that key.

So, onto the dynamics of soloing with your slide. Remember to think of the D G and B strings as “HOME.”

Quite simply, this diagram shows the relationship between the notes played to the root note of whatever key you’re playing in. Obviously, it won’t work if you’re playing in G or Ab, unless you’re up at the 12th or 13th frets – but for any other key, it’ll work fine. You can see that the whole scale is available to you within a three-fret stretch of the home strings. Once you’ve learned the relationships of the various notes, you’ll find it fairly easy to put a solo together. As with any other genre or method of guitar playing, the main thing is to experiment – try various combinations of strings, remember what sounds good, remember what doesn’t sound so good. For instance, there’s a nice double stop on the B and E strings three frets up from the home position, where the fifth and root are repeated, but an octave higher than on the D and G strings.

This is by no means an exhaustive guide to playing slide in standard tuning; these are just a few tips and pointers to get you started. I haven’t delved into the actual mechanics of playing slide guitar because, for the most part, the techniques are pretty much the same as for playing slide in any tuning. I’ve found that, more and more these days, playing slide in standard is my default setting, especially for playing the blues. I’ve also found that writing this article has helped me immensely – instead of playing by feel, I’ve actually had to sit down and THINK about what I’ve been doing for the last few years. I’ve actually learned something, and hopefully you might gain something too. Perhaps you may be tempted to explore the further possibilities of playing slide in standard – in which case there’s a gentleman called Kirk Lorange who’s well known to us all at Guitarnoise as an excellent slide guitarist, especially in Standard and Drop-D tunings, who comes highly recommended. You can read a review of his teaching methods here.

And finally, a couple of examples of my own playing. The first one, “Mother Carey’s Chickens,” is slide guitar played in standard tuning over a pre-recorded backing track in the key of E.

The second one’s a Guitar Noise collaboration – five of us jamming over another pre-recorded backing track. My part’s the last section – from 4:10 to the end.
I don’t consider myself much of a lead guitarist – I think I’m a lot happier on rhythm.

Sometimes, though, it’s nice to spread your wings and fly a little. Playing slide gives me a little more freedom in my playing – and playing slide in standard means I don’t have to retune every time I pick up a guitar!

The traditional blues slide guitar is heard all over the blues charts.  Here's a great example of the "old timey" sound here at http://www.learningtheblues.com/2010/08/nothing-quite-as-sweet-as-the-slide. 

I love the sound of slide blues guitar, and the video I’ve got for you today is nothing short of AWESOME.

Like the past two videos I’ve posted for you today is another of Jack Pearson from the Legacy Days get together last year held for Learn & Master Guitar product owners.

This is only a short clip but he plays some nice sounding stuff quickly in the clip. Note how he mixes the slide in with playing the frets with his finger tips as well. A great blues guitarist in action.

You can watch a full interview on his gear, playing techniques and more as part of the full blues guitar dvd course from Legacy learning systems.

There have been some stellar slide guitar players in blues music history.  I'd like to take a moment to recognize three outstanding slide guitar players: Sonny Landreth, Warren Haynes, and Derek Trucks.  I found lessons and insight from all three players on slide guitar.  Check out this video lesson from Sonny Landreth at http://guitar.about.com/b/2011/03/08/sonny-landreth-slide-guitar-lesson.htm.

Warren Haynes, slide guitarist for the Allman Brothers and guitarist/singer for Gov't Mule, has taken the slide guitar and pumped it up with overdrive.  Check out his approach here at http://www.guitarworld.com/jam-session-warren-haynes-getting-started-slide-guitar.

This column comes from Warren Haynes' classic Guitar World column, "Jam Session."

When I first started to play slide guitar, I would play in standard tuning. I soon discovered that many slide guitarists tune their strings to form a chord, such as D (low to high: D A D F# A D), E (E B E G# B E), G (D G D G B D) or A (E A E A C# E). These are the most widely used tunings for slide playing. Each one enables you to form a major chord anywhere on the neck by simply positioning the slide directly over any particular fret. Of course, you could also form a major chord by barring your index finger across the strings behind any given fret.

FIGURES 1a and 1b illustrate how to get from standard tuning to open E and open A tunings, respectively.

Let’s start by familiarizing ourselves with some standard chord forms in open E tuning. Standard 12-bar blues is often referred to as a “I-IV-V” (one-four-five), because the progression uses the one chord, the four chord and the five chord of whatever key you’re in. In the key of E, E (major) is the I (one) chord, A is the IV (four) chord and B is the V (five) chord.

Acoustic slide guitar - metal slide

FIGURE 2 illustrates these chords played in open E tuning. As you can see, the IV chord, A, is formed by barring a single finger across all of the strings at the fifth fret, and the V chord, B, is produced by barring at the seventh fret. Another E chord is formed by barring at the 12th fret.

Now let’s try the same thing using a slide. First, you’ll need to decide on which finger of your left hand you wish to “wear” the slide. Most slide players wear the slide on either their middle, ring or pinkie finger. Johnny Winter, Lowell George and Ry Cooder use their pinkies; Duane Allman wore the slide on his ring finger, which is the finger that Derek Trucks and I use; and Bonnie Raitt and Ronnie Wood use their middle fingers. Each finger has its own advantages and disadvantages, so you need to experiment with each one and decide which finger works best for you.

Once you’ve figured this out, you’ll need to find a slide that fits your finger comfortably. It shouldn’t be too tight or too loose—just snug enough so that it won’t move around too much. The other decision you’ll need to make is whether to use a glass slide or a metal slide. I’ve used both, and my preference is to use the original glass Coricidin bottles (Coricidin was a cold medication no longer available), which is the type of slide Duane used.

When placing the slide against the strings, it should be directly above and parallel with the given fret. Apply even pressure with the slide so that it lightly presses against all of the strings. The strings should not come in contact with the frets, so make sure you don’t press them down too far. Lightly lay any remaining fingers that are behind the slide—between the slide and your guitar’s nut—across the strings. Your ring, middle and index fingers should lay lightly across the strings. “Damping” the string like this will help eliminate unwanted overtones and will allow the notes and chords you play with the slide to sound clearer.

In open E tuning, an A chord can be sounded by laying the slide across all of the strings directly above the fifth fret. Likewise, a B chord is sounded by positioning the slide above the seventh fret and the high E chord is sounded by moving the slide up to the 12th fret. When playing slide, always keep in mind that, unlike conventional fretting, in which you push the string down behind the fret with one of your fingers, the slide should be positioned directly over the fret (that is, unless you intentionally want to go below or above the pitch of the intended note). If the slide is not directly above the fret, or is not parallel to it, at least some of the notes you’re playing will be improperly intonated, which means they’ll sound out of tune and sour. Again, sometimes experienced slide players intentionally do this for dramatic effect. My advice, though, is to strive for good intonation when starting out.

Now let’s try doing the same thing with the slide in open A tuning, as shown in FIGURE 3. In the key of A, A is the I chord, D is the IV chord and E is the V chord. In open A tuning, an A chord is sounded either by strumming all of the open strings or laying the slide against the strings at the 12th fret and strumming them; a D chord is sounded by positioning the slide at the fifth fret; and an E chord is sounded by moving it up to the seventh fret. One thing to keep in mind when using open A tuning is that, unlike open E tuning, in which the root note of each chord is on the sixth string, the root note is on the fifth string. Unless you intentionally want to have a fifth of the chord on the bottom of the voicing, you may want to strum the top five strings when playing chords in open A tuning.

Our last feature on slide guitar comes from Derek Trucks.  Trucks has been in several groups also including the Allman Brothers.  His most recent group is the Tedeschi Trucks Band, featuring the great vocalist Susan Tedeschi.  Check out this inspiring video interview here at http://www.jimdunlop.com/blog/?p=3465.

Bryan Kehoe and DunlopTV interview slide guitar phenom Derek Trucks backstage at the Sonoma Jazz Festival. Derek discusses the upcoming album, REVELATOR, by he and his wife’s new project, THE TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND. Derek also discusses his beginnings, his Signature Dunlop Slide, his simple but powerful rig, and his love of baseball.

The slide guitar has been a huge impact on the blues and many other styles of music.  The slide is a tool that every guitarist should have in his/her back pocket. 

I hope you enjoyed this feature in the slide guitar.  Check back in to Mike's Guitar Talk to have all your guitar questions answered.  Be sure to subscribe and get these articles e-mailed directly to your account.

Have fun and stay tuned!

Mike