SLIPPERY LICKS

WHETHER YOU LOVE the sound of slide but don’t know where to begin, or you want to take your playing to the next level, this lesson is for you, as we’re analyzing the playing styles of eight celebrated exponents of the art, from the Sixties onward: George Harrison, Ry Cooder, Bonnie Raitt, Sonny Landreth, Rory Gallagher, Jeff Beck and Derek Trucks. Mind you, this is a look at modern blues-rock slide, so it doesn’t feature early, legendary pioneers like Robert Johnson or Elmore James, who obviously influenced them all.

One thing all of the eight players whose styles will be covered in this lesson have in common is their preference for using a glass slide, which is for playing electric slide guitar, whereas a metal slide generally sounds best on acoustic. There are, of course, exceptions: George Thorogood uses a roughly textured copper slide, fashioned from a piece of plumber’s pipe, which gives him his