5/15/08: Killer Slide Guitar for Rock and Blues

[Guest Gibson Lifestyle]

Lesson of the Day: Killer Slide Guitar for Rock and Blues

 

05.15.2008

 

 

This week has seen three fantastic lessons from some of the music world's greatest blues legends—Lightnin' Hopkins, Mance Lipscomb, and Hubert Sumlin. Today's lesson steps away from traditional finger-style blues and instead focuses on how to incorporate slide guitar playing into your blues style.

 

Roy Rogers (not to be confused with the banjo-picking country music legend from the 1960s and 1970s) honed his unique style of blues playing as a featured guitarist and vocallist for John Lee Hooker. He's also produced two of Hooker's albums, both of which have won Grammy awards. His own band, the Delta Rhythm Kings, have recorded several albums and have toured the world extensively. He's also worked with Keith Richards, Bonnie Raitt, Van Morrison, and Carlos Santana, among others. Needless to say, Rogers is one of the foremost authorities on slide guitar blues, and his DVD Slide Guitar for Rock and Blues, produced by Homespun, is one of the most popular guitar tutorials on the market.

 

In this lesson taken from the DVD, Rogers covers how to get into open tunings, how to hold the slide and which finger to put it on, and how to concentrate on playing rhythm while playing lead riffs. On the DVD itself, Rogers touches on many more slide elements, including how to play with vibrato and proper intonation, classic endings and turnarounds, and the use of dynamics, hammers, and pulls. His lessons are certain to get you going on improving your slide guitar skills in no time.

 

Click here for today's slide lesson from Roy Rogers >>

 

And don't forget to check tomorrow for yet another killer lesson from Gibson Lifestyle!