Blues Slide Guitar

Genre and Style Guitar Course from Eric Madis

Slide guitar and Blues go way back, and have a rich heritage of complimenting each other. The slide is a wonderful way to add that "vocal" quality to your guitar playing as well. This technique can be used with all genres of music, but Eric will cover it within the world of Blues.

26 Lessons

Complete course with step-by-step lessons and practice examples.

Multi-Camera

Course filmed with 6 cameras for the perfect angles.

96% Appoval

177 of 181 of our members have given this their approval.

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Full Course Breakdown

Eric will introduce the slide guitar and proper technique, as well as several useful tunings for slide guitar.

1

Introduction to Blues Slide

Eric Madis delves into the world of slide guitar and discusses how it can be used within the blues universe.

26:36 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

2

Common Slide Licks

Eric Madis teaches two crucial slide guitar licks.

17:12 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

3

Slide Lick Ideas

Eric shows how the basic closed lick can be played over a twelve bar blues. He also introduces a lick by Kokomo Arnold.

12:19 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

4

Kokomo Arnold Lick

Eric Madis talks more about the Kokomo Arnold lick and explains some variations developed by Elmore James and Tampa Red.

11:14 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

5

Fred McDowell Licks

Eric teaches a few licks from Fred McDowell and demonstrates how they can be used in a blues progression.

10:00 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

6

Connecting Licks

Eric Madis explains how Duane Allman put his own unique spin on a classic lick played by Fred McDowell.

9:28 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

7

Duane Allman Licks

Eric Madis demonstrates licks in the style of Duane Allman.

5:29 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

8

Harmonica Imitation Lick

Eric Madis demonstrates how the Duane Allman style "Harmonica Imitation Lick" can be used over different chords and changes.

7:52 Runtime

0.5 Difficulty

9

Duane Allman Ideas

Eric Madis talks more about the Duane Allman style of playing and introduces the idea of playing in a box.

8:01 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

10

Traditional Blues Slide Licks

Eric Madis teaches two classic licks in this lesson. First he covers a lick called "Son House's Train Lick." He also covers the "Electric Chair Lick."

7:47 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

11

Elmore James Melodic Lick

Eric Madis teaches a classic blues slide lick called the "Elmore James Melodic Lick."

8:51 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

12

Four Blues Slide Licks

Eric Madis introduces four new blues licks that can be played with a slide. He teaches a Charlie Patton lick, an ascending one-string turnaround, a descending turnaround lick, and also talks about sliding chords.

10:22 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

13

Filling the Spaces

Eric Madis teaches how to fill empty spaces in an arrangement with common licks. This lesson is particularly useful for solo guitarists.

4:48 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

14

Building a Solo

Eric demonstrates how the licks and techniques from previous lessons can be combined to play a smokin' blues solo.

5:56 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

15

A Tuning and Slide Guitar

Eric introduces open A tuning and shows how some of the licks you have already learned can be transposed to the key of A.

11:26 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

View this Lesson
16

General Slide Tips and Tricks

Eric offers up some amazing slide guitar tips. He talks about guitar setup, how to hold the slide, which finger to use and more.

13:30 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

17

Delta Blues Slide

Learn how to play the timeless Delta Blues using a slide. This lesson uses A tuning.

15:35 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

18

The Walking Blues

Eric teaches how to play the classic "Walking Blues" progression using a slide.

14:25 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

19

Rollin' and Tumblin'

Eric teaches a rendition of "Rollin' and Tumblin'" that can be played with a slide.

15:09 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

20

Improvisational Techniques

Eric explains how to take a blues song or progression and make it your own.

9:54 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

21

Blues Shuffle Improvisation

Eric Madis demonstrates how blues licks, movable chords and other ideas can be combined to create an improvised blues shuffle.

16:24 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

22

A Tuning Lick Review

Eric Madis gives an in depth review of core blues licks in open A tuning.

18:21 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

23

Dust My Broom Theme

Eric explains how the classic "Dust My Broom" lick can be used to develop a theme that spans an entire twelve bar blues.

6:01 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

24

Linear Playing Ideas

Eric Madis demonstrates some slide licks that use a more linear approach instead of a vertical, box-based approach.

8:44 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

25

Harmonica Imitation Lick Theme

Eric Madis shows how the "Harmonica Imitation Lick" can be used to create a theme that spans an entire twelve bar blues.

6:11 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

26

Two Lick Theme

Eric Madis combines two classic licks to create a smokin' 12 bar blues theme.

7:10 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

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  • Seattle, Washington
  • Playing since 1965
  • 140 lessons at JamPlay
Eric Madis is a guitarist, singer and composer, a versatile artist whose playing and compositions reflect his diverse and thorough background in American music. Whether performing in an ensemble or as a soloist, he exudes a love and a mastery of the blues that have been refined by years of experience in jazz, country, rock, and even Hawaiian music. What results are performances that include authentic renderings of old rural blues, personal interpretations of modern urban blues and jazz standards, and original music that defies strict categorization, but that draws heavily from these traditions.

Eric lives in Seattle where he leads his own ensemble, performs as a solo act and performs in the Seattle Swing Trio. He has released four CDs on Luna Records, and is currently working on a fifth. He is on the faculty of the National Guitar Workshop and Dusty Strings Music and teaches guitar privately.

Eric lived his formative years in Colorado with a family that was musical (his mother was an accomplished opera singer), and began his music study on the piano at the age of nine. He began performing shortly after picking up a guitar at ten years of age. By the age of sixteen, he was performing in Chicago-area coffeehouses. He has accompanied artists as diverse as bluesmen Big Walter Horton, Sunnyland Slim, Deacon Jones, Hawaiian luminaries Irmgaard Aluli, Kekua Fernandez, Emma Sharpe and author/poet Nikki Grimes.

He has led bands in Illinois, Texas, Colorado and Washington. He has opened shows for Robben Ford, James Cotton, Little Charlie and the Nightcats, Mem Shannon, Hawkeye Herman and author Sherman Alexie. Eric's four albums have received critical acclaim, including regional airplay and nominations from NAMA and Washington Blues Society (WBS). He has received 16 Best Blues nominations from WBS, was a finalist in the New Folk Awards at the 1981 Kerrville National Folk Festival, a finalist in the 1991 Seattle Guitar Starz competition, and has music featured on five film soundtracks. Eric has taught guitar classes at Denver Free University, University of Washington's Experimental College, Northwest Folklife Festival, National Guitar Workshop, and Canada's Guitar Workshop Plus.

Whether performing in a group or as a soloist, at a concert or a small club, teaching privately or a large workshop, Eric is a dedicated professional, with commitment to the quality of his art and to his audience.
Reviews & Feedback 96/100 with 181 ratings
cool1oJP

Eric is such a great teacher!

gixerman

Thanks Eric , have been enjoying your lessons & some of my good Australian music friends are commenting on some of the licks i have been playing & in a good way , so thanks again you are truly a good guitarist

kendallhart

very understandable, been wanting to learn slide for years...great start

toddmcc

Great Job!

maggiekaj

great stuff

simmy58

I like the teacher, easy to understand and it's just what I needed. Wanted to learn slide.

karenblues

I like the way this teacher presents the material. The lessons are fun and relaxing.

prjohnson

I like your approach. Clear, while giving a good sense of why you do certain things. Anyway, I'm enjoying the series.

VincentW

I'm new to guitar only a couple years of playing so far. Eric gives clear instruction and keeps it interesting. Eric makes no assumption of your current knowledge and really breaks the lessons down to the basics. I'm looking forward to the rest

JakeRhodes

I'm totally new to Blues playing, but something I'd like to learn.

Casino12

Love slide in open tunings & Eric's explanations are easy to follow.

msanderson66

Straight forward, no bs, very cool

lyndon1610

superb

Tincan65

Teacher is excellent, very easy to understand and interesting lesson

gepence

This guy can teach

troytuttle

This is great and glad you have started doing this series! Really needed for my learning needs.