Slide Guitar
This series by Stuart Ziff is one of the most comprehensive looks at all of the ins and outs of Slide Guitar playing you'll find anywhere. Once Stuart gets your tools and gear whipped into shape, he'll dive into the styles of some of the most influential Slide players in history and inspire you to start or improve your Slide skills with all of the great included examples and backing tracks.
View Stuart's Bio
This series by Stuart Ziff is one of the most comprehensive looks at all of the ins and outs of Slide Guitar playing you'll find anywhere. Once Stuart gets your tools and gear whipped into shape, he'll dive into the styles of some of the most influential Slide players in history and inspire you to start or improve your Slide skills with all of the great included examples and backing tracks.
Lessons in this Series:
Lesson 1
Slide Guitar Series Introduction
This series by Stuart Ziff is one of the most comprehensive looks at all of the ins and outs of Slide Guitar playing you'll find anywhere. Once Stuart gets your tools and gear whipped into shape, he'll dive into the styles of some of the most influential Slide players in history and inspire...
Length: 7:09 Difficulty: 3.0 Member Only
Tools of the Trade - Guitar
Should you use your trusty multi-purpose axe for slide or should you dedicate a specific guitar in your collection for the task? How should it be set up? What about string gauge? Stuart covers all this and more in this must watch lesson!
Length: 7:59 Difficulty: 1.5 Member Only
Tools of the Trade - Slides
Stuart will go through many different types of slides and discuss why there is such a great variety. You'll learn what each slide in the arsenal is best at, and what to watch out for when selecting your slide.
Length: 12:04 Difficulty: 2.0 Member Only
Fingers & Picks
Slide players are all of the map when it comes to using their fingers or picks to get certain sounds or play certain lines. You'll get a great look at the basics of playing with a pick as well as fingers when it comes to dialing in the slide sound for a particular situation.
Length: 10:24 Difficulty: 0.0 Member Only
Pitch & Intonation
Getting just the right 'in tune' or 'slightly out of tune' sound is an art when it comes to playing Slide Guitar. Stuart goes in deep in demonstrating what proper pitch control looks like and sounds like!
Length: 9:15 Difficulty: 2.5 Member Only
Damping & Muting
One of the most important aspects of slide playing (and any playing for that matter) is how you mute the strings you don't want to hear. Slide guitar presents some interesting challenges in this area and Stuart is all over it!
Length: 10:01 Difficulty: 2.5 Member Only
Playing Simple Chords
Playing chords is such an art with slide guitar. This lesson is one of many that will shed light on this challenging aspect of this style. There are many great ways to play chords, and some nice little touches that Stuart will introduce throughout this series.
Length: 11:54 Difficulty: 2.5 Member Only
Simple Slide Riff
This lesson kicks off a mini series on learning what might be your first slide phrase. You'll learn the basic riff in this lesson and then in lessons to follow, you'll build upon it little by little.
Length: 6:10 Difficulty: 2.5 Member Only
Simple Slide Riff Expansion 1
You'll continue to build on the simple slide riff introduced in the last lesson. Over the next several lessons, you'll be able to continually add and experiment with this catchy motif.
Length: 4:25 Difficulty: 2.0 Member Only
Simple Slide Riff Expansion 2
Add just two more notes to this already familiar and catchy riff. The notes you'll be adding will add an aspect of bringing the phrase "home". There's another direction you can take it as well!
Length: 6:03 Difficulty: 2.0 Member Only
Simple Slide Riff Expansion 3
Add the chords of the 'turnaround' to this riff and you'll really be able to bring it on home. In last lesson we added the 1 chord in the form of the double stop, and now you'll get to complete the form.
Length: 7:13 Difficulty: 2.0 Member Only
Vibrato
Vibrato is a signature for any player in any style, but in slide guitar, the quality of the vibrato in every line is even more front and center. There are so many possibilities and a great deal of flexibility with this technique and slide guitar.
Length: 12:36 Difficulty: 2.5 Member Only
Open Tunings
Open tunings are so fun with slide guitar and open up a whole world of sonic possibilities. Stuart will discuss many considerations including positioning and chord forms.
Length: 15:51 Difficulty: 2.0 Member Only
The Style of Elmore James
If you want to learn how to play electric slide guitar, you have to walk through the door that's labeled Elmore James. James was the first slide guitar player to have a hit record and his style is so influential to everything 'slide' that you hear today.
Length: 10:48 Difficulty: 2.0 Member Only
Elmore James Rhythm
Now that you have a basic foundation for Elmore's style, we'll look and listen to a track in the style of a song that he is quite well-known for and we'll specifically hone in on the rhythm.
Length: 11:23 Difficulty: 2.0 Member Only
Elmore James Soloing
He's rhythmic, catchy, classic and melodic. Get immersed in how Elmore James approaches soloing!
Length: 11:42 Difficulty: 2.5 Member Only
Elmore James Rhythm - A Different Taste
Look at a different song in the style of a song called Blues At Sunrise. Eric Clapton covered this song on an album in the 90s and payed tribute to the fantastic slide playing of Elmore James. You'll learn look at the rhythm first in this lesson.
Length: 9:28 Difficulty: 2.0 Member Only
Additional Elmore James Solo Styles
Work on the solo and lead component to the song covered in the last lesson that sheds some light on a slightly different way of playing that Elmore James is known for.
Length: 10:09 Difficulty: 2.5 Member Only
Elmore James - A Slow Blues
Learn to play a solo in the style of "The Sky is Crying" which is a slow blues that showcases that attention to every detail that Elmore had for every note he held out!
Length: 11:59 Difficulty: 3.0 Member Only
The Acoustic Style of Son House
Son House didn't play a whole lot when he played, but what he did play... Said a lot! Utilizing open G tuning, you'll learn how to play in the style of one of the true masters of Delta Blues.
Length: 12:49 Difficulty: 2.0 Member Only
Acoustic Style of Robert Johnson
Dig a little more in to the sound of the Delta Blues by looking at the style of Robert Johnson. The story goes that Johnson sold his soul to the devil in order to play the guitar. He went from town to town playing for change early in his career and continues to be an inspiration to many!
Length: 10:39 Difficulty: 2.5 Member Only
The Great Muddy Waters
Learn the style of "The Godfather of the Blues". He had a great vocal style. His band was always made up of exceptionally great musicians, and they knew the Blues! When Muddy decided to play guitar in his songs, he would usually elect to play slide. His vibrato is unmistakable!
Length: 11:53 Difficulty: 3.0 Member Only
Michael Bloomfield, Part One
Learn from one of the masters! He's got an uncompromisingly unique style. He was especially good at addressing the changes in a musical way. He had a very good understanding of what he was playing and why he was playing it!
Length: 16:14 Difficulty: 2.5 Member Only
Michael Bloomfield, Part Two
Continue to dive in to the style of Michael Bloomfield, one of the most meticulous and strategic guitar players to set the standard for great slide playing!
Length: 13:47 Difficulty: 3.0 Member Only
Michael Bloomfield, Part Three
Take another look at a track based on the style of "Shake Your Money Maker" in the style of Michael Bloomfield. Dive deeper into his quirks and intentional nature as a slide guitar player.
Length: 11:07 Difficulty: 3.0 Member Only
Duane Allman, Part One
Duane Allman invented his own way to play slide guitar that was unlike any other in his time, and really of all time. He had this way of avoiding open strings when most people used open strings to create their sound of slide guitar. Learn this technique and more!
Length: 20:31 Difficulty: 3.0 Member Only
Duane Allman, Part Two
Continue diving into the unique and sought after slide style of one of the greatest players of all time! Work in the upper register with several nice riffs.
Length: 11:55 Difficulty: 2.5 Member Only
Duane Allman, Part Three
Look at a tune in the style of Statesboro Blues in open E, but playing in the key of D. It's another classic Allman sound!
Length: 12:15 Difficulty: 2.5 Member Only
George Harrison
Harrison had a tremendous nose for a good guitar melody. His solos reflected taste, restraint and flare all at the same time and his slide guitar playing was no exception!
Length: 11:42 Difficulty: 2.5 Member Only
Mike Campbell
Hardly just a sideman for Tom Petty, Mike Campbell has contributed some of the greatest guitar melodies of all time. Dig into his slide playing here!
Length: 11:01 Difficulty: 2.5 Member Only
Ry Cooder
Ry Cooder was one of the most unique guitar players in the world. He has no boundaries musically. A great Blues musician but he's also a 'world' musician. He's been all over the world, and worked with many different types of players across many genres!
Length: 14:42 Difficulty: 0.0 Member Only
Duane Allman's Big Ears
Duane Allman had an otherworldly way of using his ear to instantly come up with tasteful ideas over music he'd never heard before. Get an even closer look at Allman's ability to do this in this lesson!
Length: 12:43 Difficulty: 2.5 Member Only
Open Tuning Improv
Now you'll get a chance to take all the styles you've worked with in this series and add your own bit of creativity. We're going to do an improvisation exercise and if you've been tracking with this series, you'll be surprised what comes out when you sit down with your slide and start to improvise!
Length: 16:01 Difficulty: 2.0 Member Only
Not A Blues Improv
We're going to step outside the Blues greats for a bit here and talk about some non-Blues sounds using open tuning. This approach will further broaden your approach to slide playing!
Length: 11:11 Difficulty: 0.0 Member Only
Rhythmic Soloing
If you can't groove, you can't really make music. Even the best melodic intentions have nothing if there isn't solid rhythm. Stuart hones in on the importance of rhythm and practices lead playing that is especially rhythm-centric!
Length: 12:51 Difficulty: 2.0 Member Only
Chords & Slide Guitar
Chords are of course part of great rhythm playing, and they can be part of great slide playing as well! You've heard and seen it done in this series already, but here, Stuart goes deep into chord creation and implementation.
Length: 10:26 Difficulty: 2.0 Member Only
Advanced Techniques in Standard Tuning
Much of what we've done in this series has been with beautiful and convenient open tunings. Here, Stuart will face the challenges of playing slide guitar in standard tuning head on! He'll share valuable perspectives and techniques for getting the most out of standard tuning and slide.
Length: 8:44 Difficulty: 3.0 Member Only
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