Have you always wanted to play slide guitar? This video will get you started with the basics! I’ll talk about different types of slides and the basic physicality of playing slide. I’ll show you how play slide using pieces of barre chords as well as some beginning blues riffs with which to get started. But then, we’ll also go deeper by learning how to tune your guitar to an open A chord. This will give sounds and textures you can’t get in standard tuning which are particularly conducive to playing slide, ESPECIALLY blues! In fact, after you’ve watched this video, check out my other video on “Can’t Be Satisfied”, a classic Muddy Waters song played with slide in open A tuning.

But first, learn the basics. Enjoy!

00:00 – Intro
00:12 – Different types of slides
00:41 – Which finger should I put my slide on?
01:36 – How hard should you press?
02:07 – Place your slide on the front bar of the fret
02:38 – Using pieces of barre chords
03:12 – Try it with a simple chords like A, D & E
04:13 – A simple, classic blues riff!
05:16 – Add a fill on the 12th fret
06:22 – Try playing slide with the pentatonic scale
06:52 – Open A Tuning
07:53 – Make sure you check the tuning of ALL your strings
09:16 – Slide in open tuning is way cooler!
09:38 – Some cool riffs on the 12th fret!
10:09 – Closing thoughts