Slide Guitar

Genre and Style Guitar Course from Stuart Ziff

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This series by Stuart Ziff is one of the most comprehensive looks at all of the ins and outs of Slide Guitar playing you'll find anywhere.

37 Lessons

Complete course with step-by-step lessons and practice examples.

Multi-Camera

Course filmed with 6 cameras for the perfect angles.

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Tabs & Info

Download tabs, helpers, JamTracks and docs included with lessons.

Included

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Full Course Breakdown

Once Stuart gets your tools and gear whipped into shape, he'll dive into the styles of some of the most influential Slide players in history and inspire you to start or improve your Slide skills with all of the great included examples and backing tracks.

Begin the Course
1

Slide Guitar Series Introduction

This series by Stuart Ziff is one of the most comprehensive looks at all of the ins and outs of Slide Guitar playing you'll find anywhere. Once Stuart gets your tools and gear whipped into shape, he'll dive into the styles of some of the most influential Slide players in history and inspire you to start or improve your Slide skills with all of the great included examples and backing tracks.

7:09 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

View this Lesson
2

Tools of the Trade - Guitar

Should you use your trusty multi-purpose axe for slide or should you dedicate a specific guitar in your collection for the task? How should it be set up? What about string gauge? Stuart covers all this and more in this must watch lesson!

7:59 Runtime

1.5 Difficulty

3

Tools of the Trade - Slides

Stuart will go through many different types of slides and discuss why there is such a great variety. You'll learn what each slide in the arsenal is best at, and what to watch out for when selecting your slide.

12:04 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

4

Fingers & Picks

Slide players are all of the map when it comes to using their fingers or picks to get certain sounds or play certain lines. You'll get a great look at the basics of playing with a pick as well as fingers when it comes to dialing in the slide sound for a particular situation.

10:24 Runtime

0.0 Difficulty

5

Pitch & Intonation

Getting just the right 'in tune' or 'slightly out of tune' sound is an art when it comes to playing Slide Guitar. Stuart goes in deep in demonstrating what proper pitch control looks like and sounds like!

9:15 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

6

Damping & Muting

One of the most important aspects of slide playing (and any playing for that matter) is how you mute the strings you don't want to hear. Slide guitar presents some interesting challenges in this area and Stuart is all over it!

10:01 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

7

Playing Simple Chords

Playing chords is such an art with slide guitar. This lesson is one of many that will shed light on this challenging aspect of this style. There are many great ways to play chords, and some nice little touches that Stuart will introduce throughout this series.

11:54 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

8

Simple Slide Riff

This lesson kicks off a mini series on learning what might be your first slide phrase. You'll learn the basic riff in this lesson and then in lessons to follow, you'll build upon it little by little.

6:10 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

9

Simple Slide Riff Expansion 1

You'll continue to build on the simple slide riff introduced in the last lesson. Over the next several lessons, you'll be able to continually add and experiment with this catchy motif.

4:25 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

10

Simple Slide Riff Expansion 2

Add just two more notes to this already familiar and catchy riff. The notes you'll be adding will add an aspect of bringing the phrase "home". There's another direction you can take it as well!

6:03 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

11

Simple Slide Riff Expansion 3

Add the chords of the 'turnaround' to this riff and you'll really be able to bring it on home. In last lesson we added the 1 chord in the form of the double stop, and now you'll get to complete the form.

7:13 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

12

Vibrato

Vibrato is a signature for any player in any style, but in slide guitar, the quality of the vibrato in every line is even more front and center. There are so many possibilities and a great deal of flexibility with this technique and slide guitar.

12:36 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

13

Open Tunings

Open tunings are so fun with slide guitar and open up a whole world of sonic possibilities. Stuart will discuss many considerations including positioning and chord forms.

15:51 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

14

The Style of Elmore James

If you want to learn how to play electric slide guitar, you have to walk through the door that's labeled Elmore James. James was the first slide guitar player to have a hit record and his style is so influential to everything 'slide' that you hear today.

10:48 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

15

Elmore James Rhythm

Now that you have a basic foundation for Elmore's style, we'll look and listen to a track in the style of a song that he is quite well-known for and we'll specifically hone in on the rhythm.

11:23 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

16

Elmore James Soloing

He's rhythmic, catchy, classic and melodic. Get immersed in how Elmore James approaches soloing!

11:42 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

17

Elmore James Rhythm - A Different Taste

Look at a different song in the style of a song called Blues At Sunrise. Eric Clapton covered this song on an album in the 90s and payed tribute to the fantastic slide playing of Elmore James. You'll learn look at the rhythm first in this lesson.

9:28 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

18

Additional Elmore James Solo Styles

Work on the solo and lead component to the song covered in the last lesson that sheds some light on a slightly different way of playing that Elmore James is known for.

10:09 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

19

Elmore James - A Slow Blues

Learn to play a solo in the style of "The Sky is Crying" which is a slow blues that showcases that attention to every detail that Elmore had for every note he held out!

11:59 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

20

The Acoustic Style of Son House

Son House didn't play a whole lot when he played, but what he did play... Said a lot! Utilizing open G tuning, you'll learn how to play in the style of one of the true masters of Delta Blues.

12:49 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

21

Acoustic Style of Robert Johnson

Dig a little more in to the sound of the Delta Blues by looking at the style of Robert Johnson. The story goes that Johnson sold his soul to the devil in order to play the guitar. He went from town to town playing for change early in his career and continues to be an inspiration to many!

10:39 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

22

The Great Muddy Waters

Learn the style of "The Godfather of the Blues". He had a great vocal style. His band was always made up of exceptionally great musicians, and they knew the Blues! When Muddy decided to play guitar in his songs, he would usually elect to play slide. His vibrato is unmistakable!

11:53 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

23

Michael Bloomfield, Part One

Learn from one of the masters! He's got an uncompromisingly unique style. He was especially good at addressing the changes in a musical way. He had a very good understanding of what he was playing and why he was playing it!

16:14 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

24

Michael Bloomfield, Part Two

Continue to dive in to the style of Michael Bloomfield, one of the most meticulous and strategic guitar players to set the standard for great slide playing!

13:47 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

25

Michael Bloomfield, Part Three

Take another look at a track based on the style of "Shake Your Money Maker" in the style of Michael Bloomfield. Dive deeper into his quirks and intentional nature as a slide guitar player.

11:07 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

26

Duane Allman, Part One

Duane Allman invented his own way to play slide guitar that was unlike any other in his time, and really of all time. He had this way of avoiding open strings when most people used open strings to create their sound of slide guitar. Learn this technique and more!

20:31 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

27

Duane Allman, Part Two

Continue diving into the unique and sought after slide style of one of the greatest players of all time! Work in the upper register with several nice riffs.

11:55 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

28

Duane Allman, Part Three

Look at a tune in the style of Statesboro Blues in open E, but playing in the key of D. It's another classic Allman sound!

12:15 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

29

George Harrison

Harrison had a tremendous nose for a good guitar melody. His solos reflected taste, restraint and flare all at the same time and his slide guitar playing was no exception!

11:42 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

30

Mike Campbell

Hardly just a sideman for Tom Petty, Mike Campbell has contributed some of the greatest guitar melodies of all time. Dig into his slide playing here!

11:01 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

31

Ry Cooder

Ry Cooder was one of the most unique guitar players in the world. He has no boundaries musically. A great Blues musician but he's also a 'world' musician. He's been all over the world, and worked with many different types of players across many genres!

14:42 Runtime

0.0 Difficulty

32

Duane Allman's Big Ears

Duane Allman had an otherworldly way of using his ear to instantly come up with tasteful ideas over music he'd never heard before. Get an even closer look at Allman's ability to do this in this lesson!

12:43 Runtime

2.5 Difficulty

33

Open Tuning Improv

Now you'll get a chance to take all the styles you've worked with in this series and add your own bit of creativity. We're going to do an improvisation exercise and if you've been tracking with this series, you'll be surprised what comes out when you sit down with your slide and start to improvise!

16:01 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

34

Not A Blues Improv

We're going to step outside the Blues greats for a bit here and talk about some non-Blues sounds using open tuning. This approach will further broaden your approach to slide playing!

11:11 Runtime

0.0 Difficulty

35

Rhythmic Soloing

If you can't groove, you can't really make music. Even the best melodic intentions have nothing if there isn't solid rhythm. Stuart hones in on the importance of rhythm and practices lead playing that is especially rhythm-centric!

12:51 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

36

Chords & Slide Guitar

Chords are of course part of great rhythm playing, and they can be part of great slide playing as well! You've heard and seen it done in this series already, but here, Stuart goes deep into chord creation and implementation.

10:26 Runtime

2.0 Difficulty

37

Advanced Techniques in Standard Tuning

Much of what we've done in this series has been with beautiful and convenient open tunings. Here, Stuart will face the challenges of playing slide guitar in standard tuning head on! He'll share valuable perspectives and techniques for getting the most out of standard tuning and slide.

8:44 Runtime

3.0 Difficulty

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Stuart Ziff

88
  • Playing since 1985
  • 139 lessons at JamPlay
Begin Course
A veteran guitarist fluent in, Blues, R&B, Funk, Rock, Reggae and everything in between. As a Studio Musician playing guitar on numerous commercials, demos for singer-songwriters and records.

A career as a songwriter that began with Warner Bros recording artist David Ball’s first Nashville CD in 1994 “ Thinking Problem .“ Stuart was co writer on the hit song “ Thinking Problem.” Also playing on the record supplying acoustic and electric guitar. Since 2000, He’s been living in Los Angles.

Presently the Guitarist for the band WAR, touring and recording with them. As a songwriter for Film & TV: “ National Lampoons Cattle Call ,“ Americas Funniest Home Videos and Bad Girls. Songs on recordings by Eric Burden, Johnny Adams, Gary Hoey and Theresa James. Since 2005, a member of the faculty at Musician’s Institute in Hollywood.
Reviews & Feedback 98/100 with 89 ratings
NinoMateo

Nice sounding easy intro lick.

Casino12

Great series on slide guitar.

will22460

I want the series.

Hutchyhoundog

I was looking forward to listening to the lyrics dropped in on the coolin board

playing_the_blues

awesome

Darbuka123

He is the best. his lessons are clear, easy to follow, love the way he plays slide guitar.

mann1960

Great job his way teaches and the split screens are a big help

guywithaguitar

Stuart is a great step by step teacher. Easy to follow and well thought out, catchy content.