Slide Technique 101

Let's start at the very beginning - exactly how do we make a good sound with the slide?

There’s more to it than you might imagine :-)

Playing slide guitar can be like ice skating for the first time.

You thought you knew how to play guitar, but suddenly you're not in control anymore and it's easy to fall flat on your backside!

Once we can "play a note", our next challenge is to be able to play it in tune! Except when bending strings, this is something we don’t normally have to worry about in conventional guitar playing.

The slide hand - to mute or not to mute?

This is one of those areas that people like to dispute over - let's find out the arguments for and against.

Slide vibrato will make your playing lyrical and expressive :-)

Work through the advice in the video, and be prepared for it to take some time to master - it's absolutely worth the effort!

Let's dive into basic right hand finger technique.

You can use pick, fingers or a combination when playing slide. Here, we’ll focus on using fingers.

Right hand muting can be a big challenge to overcome, but it’s essential to master - take it slowly and you'll get it.

Learning to use right hand thumb, index and middle fingers to navigate 3 string groups.

Playing scales on one string is a great way to work on your intonation and slide technique.

This is a little more advanced... Using an E major scale to put together all the techniques you've learnt so far.

Take your time with this, and work through the examples over time - they will pay huge dividends in the long run.

Here’s a brief overview of some more advanced techniques that we will return to in future courses.

For now, we’ll deal with the fundamental techniques, to get you started.

In our final section, let's wrap things up and look at some practising approaches.