by John Tuggle on August 25, 2010
With the rise in popularity of Slide Guitar, partially due to Derek Trucks, many people are now wanting to play the most expressive way of playing the guitar. Playing slide guitar is as close to the human voice as you can get. If you want to play a soulful melodic sound, then there’s no better way to do it than with a slide. If you go to a blues jam and play slide, you will definitely be a standout. There’s just not a lot of people who are playing it compared to standard blues guitar. 
So how do you get started? Well, many people who start out with high hopes of learning Duane Allman and Derek Trucks style slide, never realize their potential and often give up. I’ve talked to many people whot said, “It’s just too hard!”
I’ve put together this list of 7 reasons people quit playing slide guitar. If you don’t do each one of these things, then I can pretty much guarantee that you will not stick with it, and you’ll become just another statistic on the slide guitar hit list.
Here are the 7 reasons
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by John Tuggle on August 24, 2010
Eric Clapton has always been one of my favorite guitarists. His laid back, melodic, and easy to listen to style has been something I’ve tried to achieve with my guitar playing. He always seems to hit the perfect note!
If you didn’t know, Eric is releasing a new album in September entitled, Clapton. The new album features guest contributions from Steve Winwood, Wynton Marsalis, Sheryl Crow, Allen Toussaint, Derek Trucks and others. It is co-produced by the guitar legend’s long-standing collaborator Doyle Bramhall II. He is also releasing the Crossroads 2010 DVD in November.
You can win both of these by leaving a comment below. The CD will be shipped approximately on September 28th and the Crossroads DVD approximately on November 9th.
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by John Tuggle on August 12, 2010
If you have listened to BB King and tried to reproduce his playing, then you already know that his vibrato is one of the most difficult things to reproduce.
Simply put, if you can’t vibrato like BB, then your licks won’t have the same punch. Yes they may still sound good, but without a strong vibrato, they won’t capture the listener’s attention the same way.
BB actually developed his vibrato by trying to emulate the sound of the bottleneck. In the interview below you can listen to him explain why he did this.
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