Lesson 2

The key phrase for this lesson is one step at a time. You're learning new skills but they are dependant on getting those from the previous lesson under your belt first. They'll also start the process of building new skills one on top of the other.

For your right hand you're learning a less familiar movement, playing a note with your fingers. You're still playing in time though so everything that you learned from the previous lesson about keeping a beat constant and using the timing exercise and the Timing Workshop will be used here. The difference is that you're applying that skill to a different movement.

Now that you can play a note accurately with your slide you'll develop a more musical way to grab that note when you need it. Moving the slide fast and stopping it in a hurry is an elementary skill for a slide player. Take your time, trust your ear and stay relaxed.

Before you start

Make sure that you are comfortable with the timing exercise, you don't have to be perfect but close is good. You should also be able to hear when you play a note in tune with your slide.

Resources

Here are the lesson notes and the audio for the timing exercise is below the video.

Outcomes

By the end of this lesson you'll be

  • playing in time with your fingers
  • using your slide to play a note accurately

This one continues to refine your right hand position by showing you how to pick with your fingers.

Download the video here.

By far the biggest issue with most slide cbg players is their inability to effectively use their slide. Most will approach a note entirely the wrong way, with a big scoop that may be fun to do as a beginner but sounds terrible and stops you developing any fluency on the neck. There is a technique that good slide players use to ensure that every note they play sounds musical and that's what you'll learn here.

Download the video here.

This version of Spoonful is the same as the first but now your playing it on the top string with your fingers

You can download a pdf with notation and TAB. The midi file is here.

Download the video here.

 

Practice

Again focus to start with on learning these new skills, one at a time. If picking with your fingers is not yet feeling natural you won't be able to fully foucus on getting your pitch right with your slide so you may want to pick this one with your thumb on the bass string at first. Take some time to get both hands used to the new skills before combining them.

When these skills feel more comfortable you're ready progress on to the song. Try to structure your practice sessions to give all the technical exercises, the song and the free form playing (we'll call it improvising from now on) equal time.

From the ebooks

Again from Exercises for Left and Right Hand. 

  • Studies no 2 and 3 for slide guitar from page 27
  • Studies no 2 and 3 for fingerstyle guitar from page 44
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