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Blues Bottleneck Slide

Bottleneck slide guitar is a method of playing the guitar using a slide to mimic the sound of the human voice. The term slide is describes the sliding motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides, which were originally chopped off necks of glass bottles. Using a slide can expand the aural diversity of the guitar and give another avenue for expressiveness.

View Free Lesson View Orville's Bio

Orville Johnson, an acoustic blues master, will delve into the world of slide guitar head first. He will discuss the slide, it's history and move on to teaching slide technique and related compositions.

Lessons in this Series:

Lesson 1

Bottleneck Slide Basics

Orville Johnson covers the basics of the bottleneck slide. He talks about the history of slide guitar, choosing a slide, and proper technique.

Length: 26:49 Difficulty: 1.0 Free Sample Lesson

Lesson 2

You've Got to Move

Orville Johnson uses his version of the traditional blues song, "You've Got to Move," to demonstrate proper slide guitar technique.

Length: 18:23 Difficulty: 2.0 Member Only

Lesson 3

Trouble In Mind

Orville Johnson teaches the classic blues song "Trouble In Mind" using a slide.

Length: 21:37 Difficulty: 2.5 Member Only

Lesson 4

Soul of a Man

Orville teaches a beautiful slide guitar arrangement of "Soul of a Man."

Length: 8:52 Difficulty: 2.5 Member Only

Lesson 5

Country Blues

Orville Johnson teaches the catchy tune "Country Blues" in a slide guitar style.

Length: 22:13 Difficulty: 3.0 Member Only

Lesson 6

John Henry

Orville teaches the song "John Henry" using a slide.

Length: 22:53 Difficulty: 2.5 Member Only

Lesson 7

Sitting on Top of the World

Orville Johnson teaches a slide guitar version of the classic blues tune "Sitting on Top of the World."

Length: 23:32 Difficulty: 2.5 Member Only

Lesson 8

Guitar Rag

"Guitar Rag" was one of the first blues songs ever recorded. Orville Johnson teaches a slide guitar version of this masterpiece.

Length: 15:36 Difficulty: 2.5 Member Only

Lesson 9

Tampa Red Style

Orville Johnson explores the slide guitar style of Tampa Red.

Length: 18:11 Difficulty: 2.5 Member Only

Lesson 10

Mississippi Hill Country Style Part 1

Orville Johnson takes a look at Mississippi Hill Country style in open G tuning.

Length: 18:37 Difficulty: 2.5 Member Only

Lesson 11

Mississippi Hill Country Style Part 2

Orville Johnson takes another look at Mississippi Hill Country style, this time in open F tuning.

Length: 19:38 Difficulty: 2.5 Member Only

Lesson 12

Bottleneck Slide Techniques

Orville breaks down some of the more advanced bottleneck slide techniques such as string dampening and playing fretted notes behind the slide.

Length: 37:33 Difficulty: 2.5 Member Only