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Lesson 1 of 4

Shift slides

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A slide moves one finger along the string from one fret to another while the note keeps sounding. Shift slides use that movement to change hand position, so you can link two boxes of a scale. Here you connect box 1 and box 2 of A minor pentatonic, around the 5th and 8th frets.

Pick the first note, keep the same pressure and move the whole hand, not just the finger. Your thumb travels with you behind the neck. Release just a little pressure while moving so the finger glides, but not so much that the note dies. Stop exactly on the target fret: the arrival is a note and belongs on its beat.

In the run, the slide on the D string (A to C) takes you into box 2. On the way down, the slide from the 10th fret down to the 7th on the D string brings you home to A.

It should sound smooth and connected, like the note was sung. The most common mistake is overshooting the target and correcting, which sounds sloppy. Another is sliding too early, before the first note has had its full length.

The last exercise climbs A minor pentatonic on the B string alone and comes back down, sliding from note to note with one finger.

How to practice

  • Look at the target fret before you move.
  • Slow the first exercise right down and check that the arrival note is in tune.

Exercises

Slide up and back on G and B

60 → 90 bpm
  1. Bar 1
    1. G string, fret 7, slide up to fret 9, hold, hold
    2. G string, fret 9, slide down to fret 7, hold, hold
  2. Bar 2
    1. B string, fret 8, slide up to fret 10, hold, hold
    2. B string, fret 10, slide down to fret 8, hold, hold

Clean 3 times in a row? Raise the tempo by 5 bpm.

Shift into box 2 and back

60 → 100 bpm
  1. Bar 1
    1. A string, fret 7
    2. D string, fret 5
    3. D string, fret 7, slide up to fret 10
    4. G string, fret 7
    5. G string, fret 9
    6. B string, fret 8
    7. B string, fret 10
  2. Bar 2
    1. high E string, fret 8
    2. high E string, fret 10
    3. B string, fret 10
    4. B string, fret 8
    5. G string, fret 9
    6. G string, fret 7
    7. D string, fret 10, slide down to fret 7

Clean 3 times in a row? Raise the tempo by 5 bpm.

Slide along the B string

60 → 90 bpm
  1. Bar 1
    1. B string, fret 3, slide up to fret 5
    2. B string, fret 5, slide up to fret 8
    3. B string, fret 8, slide up to fret 10
    4. B string, fret 10, slide up to fret 13
  2. Bar 2
    1. B string, fret 13, slide down to fret 10
    2. B string, fret 10, slide down to fret 8
    3. B string, fret 8, slide down to fret 5
    4. B string, fret 5, slide down to fret 3

Clean 3 times in a row? Raise the tempo by 5 bpm.

Checkpoint

Move on when you can do all of these.

  • Every slide arrives exactly on its target fret, with no extra squeak or overshoot
  • The box 1 to box 2 run loops four times at 100 bpm
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