This superb electric slide book teaches how to play open tuning slide guitar with a blues band and singer. It is the only slide (or bottleneck) guitar instruction book devoted to learning how to play slide behind a blues vocalist.
The term slide guitar refers to a style of playing in which the guitar strings are fretted with a piece of metal, glass or ceramic. Usually, the fretting device is a finger sized cylinder (the slide) that is worn on either the third or fourth finger of the fretting hand. Bottleneck blues guitar players have been known to play bottleneck blues guitar with makeshift items such as knife blades, bones, and spoon handles.
Slide guitar is also known as bottleneck guitar or knife guitar. Slide guitar setup: A guitar used for slide playing is usually tuned to an open chord; the strings are raised at the nut to accommodate the pressure of the slide.
A fill-in is a lead guitar lick played behind a singer. This slide guitar guide teaches 101 authentic slide guitar fill-ins in open E tuning. Songs are presented in a way that makes learning efficient, enjoyable, and pertinent to real music.
For your convenience, all of the songs are performed in open E tuning, allowing you to jam with the entire CD without having to retune. After absorbing the licks, apply them to songs of your own choice.
Songs include standards such as Joe Turner Blues, St. Louis Blues, Sporting Life Blues, House of the Rising Sun, Midnight Special, and several new songs based on standard blues changes.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars back in print
This author had a similar book out with another publisher, but it is out of print, and quite expensive used. I understand that the author owns this publishing company, so I doubt if it will disappear. Good thing too. I have gone through three copies of the old book. They keep “disappearing”.
I teach people how to play slide, although I’m not at all scary doing it. This book is my secret weapon. It’s simple and all in one tuning, but not too simple. They (the licks) are what musicians call “solid”. By the time you work your way through the book, you hopefully have an ear, and trust me, that’s what slide requires. Then you play with the licks and make them your own. Most people have figured out where to go by the time they finish. I always recommend stealing solos from harmonica players when they get through this book. I’m glad it’s back.
5 Stars Like Sitting in With a Chicago Blues Band
I have been wanting to learn slide guitar for a long time. My teacher suggested this book and it is as helpful as he said it would be. The material is well-organized and includes everything a beginning slide player needs, including diagrams that serve as valuable road maps for open E tuning.
The slide licks sound just like the ones played by Elmore James, Hound Dog Taylor, Robert Nighthawk, and others on the classic blues records of the 1950s to mid 1960s. Some of the licks sound like Taj Mahal. The great thing is that a good blues band with a singer is playing model blues songs on the CD, so you are learning licks that you will actually be able to use in the blues songs you play. The singer on this CD is amazing-he sounds like Ray Charles.
I love that the entire book is arranged in the key of E. And the licks are smooth, tasteful, and accessible. The book gave me immediate confidence and familiarity with open E tuning. It is a lot of fun to play along with the CD – I feel like I’m sitting in with a blues band in a smoky bar on the Southside of Chicago. Very highly recommended.
5 Stars Good licks for real songs
I am a guitarist who has played in blues and rock bands and I have been working on slide guitar technique. I am very pleased with this book. Everything is here for anyone who wants to learn how to play blues slide guitar licks in the context of a blues band.
The licks are played in actual blues songs that follow standard chord progressions. I have already found ways to work the licks into songs by Muddy Waters, Elmore James, etc. Great book and I recommend it to others.