PREMIER CLINIC
BLUES
Dave Hamburger’s Slide Shop
Grease Rhythm
This rhythm backup part over a slow blues
is based on a sliding 9th chord sound.
Remember that the fourth, third, and second
string are the same in G tuning as they are in
standard tuning. So, grab the third fret on the
fourth string, second fret on the third string
and ring finger third fret on the second string.
There’s your 9th chord at rest. You slide it
up a whole step, and then slide it back (it
becomes a G6 chord temporarily, but that’ll
be our little secret).
Before we even get to the slide up and back,
we’re going to slide up and then make a bar
at the fifth fret, like we’re doing a C chord.
Grab just the fourth and second string with
your right thumb and middle finger, and
hammer-on to the seventh fret of the fourth
string and the sixth fret on the second string.
Then back to the 9th, and a slide lick that’s
pretty familiar by now: open fifth string, slide
third to fourth fret on the fifth string, then
open fourth, open third. That’s the little fill in
between each chord lick.
The key to phrasing on that chord lick is to
hit it once dead on, then hit it and slide up,
and then pull it back. Do the same thing at
the seventh and eighth fret for C; the tenth
fret gets the bar, same slide fill. Now grab a
bar with your first finger on the seventh fret
of the fourth, third, and second strings, and
your ring finger reaches all the way over to
the tenth fret on the fourth string. Grab those
three notes and hamer-on the middle finger
to the eighth fret on the second string, so
that we hit it and hamer-on twice, and then
hit it once without the middle finger.
Move it down a whole step for C, and do
the hammer-on from the C position at the
fifth fret. Next, play just the outer strings
at the third fret and the C shape at the first
fret on the second string and second fret on
the fourth string. Then play the open fourth
and second string. Slide the fourth and third
strings, fifth to seventh fret for the D chord
at the end as a little turnaround. That’s the
whole thing.
