Learn how to play the timeless Delta Blues using a slide. This lesson uses A tuning.
Taught by Eric Madis in Blues Slide Guitar seriesLength: 15:35Difficulty: 2.5 of 5
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.
Lesson 1
Eric Madis delves into the world of slide guitar and discusses how it can be used within the blues universe.
Length: 26:36 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 2
Eric Madis teaches two crucial slide guitar licks.
Length: 17:12 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 3
Eric shows how the basic closed lick can be played over a twelve bar blues. He also introduces a lick by Kokomo Arnold.
Length: 12:19 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 4
Eric Madis talks more about the Kokomo Arnold lick and explains some variations developed by Elmore James and Tampa Red.
Length: 11:14 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 5
Eric teaches a few licks from Fred McDowell and demonstrates how they can be used in a blues progression.
Length: 10:00 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 6
Eric Madis explains how Duane Allman put his own unique spin on a classic lick played by Fred McDowell.
Length: 9:28 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 7
Eric Madis demonstrates licks in the style of Duane Allman.
Length: 5:29 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 8
Eric Madis demonstrates how the Duane Allman style "Harmonica Imitation Lick" can be used over different chords and changes.
Length: 7:52 Difficulty: 0.5 Members OnlyLesson 9
Eric Madis talks more about the Duane Allman style of playing and introduces the idea of playing in a box.
Length: 8:01 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 10
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."
Length: 7:47 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 11
Eric Madis teaches a classic blues slide lick called the "Elmore James Melodic Lick."
Length: 8:51 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 12
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...
Length: 10:22 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 13
Eric Madis teaches how to fill empty spaces in an arrangement with common licks. This lesson is particularly useful for solo guitarists.
Length: 4:48 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 14
Eric demonstrates how the licks and techniques from previous lessons can be combined to play a smokin' blues solo.
Length: 5:56 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 15
Eric introduces open A tuning and shows how some of the licks you have already learned can be transposed to the key of A.
Length: 11:26 Difficulty: 2.5 FREELesson 16
Eric offers up some amazing slide guitar tips. He talks about guitar setup, how to hold the slide, which finger to use and more.
Length: 13:30 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 17
Learn how to play the timeless Delta Blues using a slide. This lesson uses A tuning.
Length: 15:35 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 18
Eric teaches how to play the classic "Walking Blues" progression using a slide.
Length: 14:25 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 19
Eric teaches a rendition of "Rollin' and Tumblin'" that can be played with a slide.
Length: 15:09 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 20
Eric explains how to take a blues song or progression and make it your own.
Length: 9:54 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 21
Eric Madis demonstrates how blues licks, movable chords and other ideas can be combined to create an improvised blues shuffle.
Length: 16:24 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 22
Eric Madis gives an in depth review of core blues licks in open A tuning.
Length: 18:21 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 23
Eric explains how the classic "Dust My Broom" lick can be used to develop a theme that spans an entire twelve bar blues.
Length: 6:01 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 24
Eric Madis demonstrates some slide licks that use a more linear approach instead of a vertical, box-based approach.
Length: 8:44 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 25
Eric Madis shows how the "Harmonica Imitation Lick" can be used to create a theme that spans an entire twelve bar blues.
Length: 6:11 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 26
Eric Madis combines two classic licks to create a smokin' 12 bar blues theme.
Length: 7:10 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
About Eric Madis
View Full Biography
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.
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Member Comments about this Lesson
Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.Yes, but any idea played in E tuning must be played on the next string up in A.
Can the same patterns be used on different tunings. E patterns on A, etc.?