In 1903, W.C. Handy, the "Father of the Blues," came across a man playing a guitar by sliding a knife blade up and down the neck, and he later recalled it as "the weirdest sound I ever heard." In the century-plus since, generations of players have developed slide guitar technique to a high level, but slide is still one of the most intuitive ways to begin playing blues guitar. With some basic skills and vocabulary, you can make blues slide part of your own guitar repertoire, and that's the reason for the latest addition to the Electric Blues Guitar program: "Introduction to Electric Slide."

The lessons start with basic slide technique, including choosing a slide and a finger to wear it on, learning to play precisely in tune, and developing reliable picking and damping skills. Beginning with the down-home 'diddley bow' approach of playing melodies on one string, you'll learn how to find your way around in standard tuning and how to play solos over standard blues chord progressions. Next, you'll learn the two most common traditional slide open tunings - open D and open G - and standard phrases in each one, both up the neck and in open position (most examples are based on the electric slide tradition, but you can also learn and play them on acoustic guitar).

Each lesson includes complete solos with detailed demonstrations of slide phrases and techniques based on the styles of major slide influences ranging from Robert Nighthawk and Earl Hooker to Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Duane Allman and Ry Cooder. Rhythm tracks, tab and recommendations for listening are included to help you practice and learn more about the tradition.

By the end of the lessons, you'll have enough knowledge of basic slide style and technique to be able to jam along with tracks or other players, understand the styles that you hear on classic recordings, and continue developing your skills on your own.

Like regular blues guitar, you can start playing slide almost right away, but there's no limit to how deep or far you can take it. Whether you're just starting out or want to sharpen up your slide skills and expand your range, this new series of lessons is designed to take you to the next level.

You can can find 15 new lesson topics in the "Introduction to Electric Slide" tab in the LESSONS area, to go straight to the first lesson in the series now click here. Enjoy!