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LESSONS > BEYOND BLUES
Slide Without the Slide
BY CARL VERHEYEN
Carl Verheyen has been one of the most in-
demand session musicians on the L.A. scene
for the past 25 years. Since 1985, he has been
a member of British rock group Supertramp.
As an educator, Verheyen has released two
instructional books and regularly teaches
clinics on the road. For more information,
visit carlverheyen.com
IMPROVE YOUR:
• Ability to bend in tune
• First-finger bends
• Ability to combine major and
minor pentatonics
heavy lifting. Start in the 9th position using
your second and third fingers for the A and
F#, respectively. Then use your first finger to
bend up to A% and release down to G. In the
next measure, pre-bend up to D using your
second finger, release down to C and play
A with your third. Use your already overworked first finger to pre-bend up a half step
to A%, release to G, and play F and D in the
12th position on the 4th string. Once you
get it under your hands, you’ll be phrasing
like a slide player, but the real benefit is the
new world of alternative bending licks.
Fig. 2 is a great blues lick in the tradition
of Duane Allman, which I learned off a Derek
Trucks recording. Combining major and
minor pentatonics in a single line is a favorite
sound of mine. Over an E blues progression,
play this over the I chord using your first finger to bend the A up to B on beat 2. Notice
the use of both major and minor 3rds.
Unlike Duane who played mostly in
open-E tuning, Little Feat’s Lowell George
played in open-G tuning. (A helpful hint:
When playing slide using both tunings,
relate to the two in terms of where the minor
third sits. In open E, it’s between the 2nd
and 3rd strings; in open G, it’s between the
1st and 2nd. This will help when switching
between tunings.) Fig. 3 combines a few
different bends in order to make the typical
pentatonic stuff sound different and interesting. This easy lick is all about phrasing. You
need to practice making it sound like a slide
player—fluid and graceful.
Remember, the slide rarely leaves the
neck during the execution of these lines,
so our fingers should mimic that kind of
continuous expression. Incorporating your
fourth finger into bending gives you the
ability to work all four digits into the mix.
And that makes you a stronger player!
I’ve always been inspired by the great electric slide players. Guitarists like
Elmore James, Ry Cooder, Duane Allman,
Lowell George, and Bonnie Raitt tear me
up with the emotional power in their lines.
As I learned to play, the command of the
blues and level of expression these players
possessed far surpassed anything I could do
with an ordinary fretted guitar using left-hand fingers. The fluidity of my own bending could never match the aching emotion
of sliding into a note. I still feel jealous
when I trade solos with a good slide player!
I set out relearning the classic Duane
Allman’s Live at the Fillmore intro to
“Statesboro Blues,” note for note, without
a slide. One way I’ve always practiced is
to learn a solo and then play it along with
the CD until my phrasing matched perfectly. I’ve done this with everyone from
Eric Clapton’s “Crossroads” to Miles Davis’
“Freddy the Freeloader.” Try it! Learn a solo
like Albert King’s “Crosscut Saw” and try to
nail his phrasing. It’s impossible—because
nobody else plays like that—but the exercise and application of his technique makes
you a better player. In the last few years I’ve
started applying this practice method to slide
guitar solos. The first thing I noticed was
that my standard fingering had to change.
The first lick shown in Fig. 1 is in the
style of Duane Allman. To get the phrasing
right, your first finger will need to do all the
Fig. 1
44 & fioej oeoe# oeboeoe fioej oen oe oe oeboeoe oe oeoeoe oeboeoe˙
1/2
1/2
1
1/2
8 10
11
8
11
8 10
11
8
11
13
12
13
14
˙
12
15 12
Fig. 3
Fig. 2
44 & ‰
fioej oeoe oeoeoe n oeoe oe oe
1
1
10 10
13
10
12 9
11
˙
Fig. 4 Fig. 3
44 &
≈
fioej oe oeoeoe oeoeoeoe
oeoeoe
fioej oe#oeoe oeoe˙#
OE
1
1
3
1
15 10 12
1
grad. bend ¿ 1
12 9
10
10 12
12
12 12 12 12
˙
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