Bottleneck and Slide Guitar Playing

Bottleneck and slide guitar playing. This is a form of guitar playing which has been around for nearly one hundred years or more. Its roots are embedded in the African-American negro blues music. It is easily recognized when played by the wailing sound it makes on the fretboard of the guitar.

Bottleneck and slide are terms often used interchangeably for a style of guitar playing in which the strings are "stopped" by a small metal or glass tube held in the hand or slipped over one of the left hand fingers.

Strictly speaking, " bottleneck" refers to glass, whereas slide refers to metal, but the technique for playing is the same in both cases.

Slide guitar originated in America, around the Mississippi Delta

It was predominately negro blues music. It is thought that it's roots originated in the tradition of black slavery and therefore linked strongly and forever to the evolution of the blues.

It is also believed to be an expression of feelings through music and song. The term bottleneck is derived from the fact that the earliest slides were made from broken - off necks of beer bottles. This technique for slide playing was the precursor to all the modern slides we now have available in the music market place.
Using a slide is quite easy, and it is also easy to make your own slide from the neck of a bottle, or you can improvise a metal one from a piece of tubing. But why go through all this bother when they are readily available in all musical instrument retail shops, and very inexpensive.

Metal and glass produce very distinctive different sounds, that is why most guitarist will have both types in their guitar bag. But if you just want one, then experiment around with both types until you are satisfied with the one that gives you the sound you are looking for.

Wearing the slide on the finger is also a very personal choice. It takes time to get used to wearing the slide so you must use the finger you feel more comfortable with when playing. Usually the third or fourth finger is the choice, but like I said it is purely a personal decision. Just to give you a tip on which finger might suit best, I would recommend you try the fourth finger as this frees up the other three fingers for playing chords or individual notes.

Learn how to use the slide technique of guitar playing and play the sounds you hear the professionals play. Click below now.

Guitar slide playing

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Guitar Playing - The Fret Tapping Technique

The basic technique for fret tapping is relatively easy to develop. Fret tapping is based on the hammering - on and the pulling - off of notes - both techniques have been at the heart of rock and roll guitar music for many years.

Once the basics have been mastered, fret tapping equips a guitarist to play impressively and sound like a professional.

He can use this method of playing in almost any song or instrumental piece and it will sound awesome. He should play it with a very fast tempo which will make the sound crisp and clear.

Hammering on a note means you impact with your left hand finger striking or "hammering" the string and then pushing it down to make contact with the fret. This causes the note to sound.

To execute a pull - off, instead of lifting the finger directly off the string, the finger is moved slightly across the string in a downward direction just before being lifted off the string.

The right hand hammer - on, also causes a note to sound exactly the same way as a right hand hammer - on. Although there are many different approaches, most guitarists using this technique prefer to rest their right hand thumb on the edge of the fretboard to provide a steady anchor for the hand.

As the right hand moves up and down the fretboard to reach different frets, the thumb simply slides along the fretboard.

The right hand pull off technique differs from the left hand version only in that the slight movement of the finger across the string as it is lifted off is in an upwards rather than in a downwards direction.

For other approaches to fret tapping, it is also possible to use the technique in chord playing. This is done by playing two notes on the same string.

First hold down any chord, preferably near the top of the guitar where the nut is when you first try this technique.

The basic idea behind this is to play a right hand hammer - on and pull - off with the right hand finger on each string in turn.

By executing the hammer - on and pull- off twelve frets above the fret for each note of the chord, you will be playing the same notes that are present in the chord, also the notes one octave higher.

If you are playing a G chord and fingering the first string at the third fret and hammering - on and pulling - off at the fifteenth fret the hammer on sound will sound the higher G note and the pull - off will sound the G one octave lower.

Right hand tapping opens a whole new world of playing for the guitarist in that it increases the melodic possibilities of the guitar.

There is fantastic information about these techniques further down if you wish to get serious about your guitar playing, then read on.

Click below now for more great tapping techniques.

guitar fret tapping

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Guitar Lessons For Beginners and What You Should Know

So you got yourself a guitar and you are ready to learn how to play it. Where do you start? What kind of lessons should you take? These are probably some of the questions you are asking yourself. Finding the right guitar lessons for beginners can be confusing because there is just so much material available nowadays. Of course one of the biggest factors will be what kind of money are you willing to spend on guitar lessons. As you have probably already discovered, there are a lot of free lessons on the internet. There are literally thousands of videos on YouTube that cover all different aspects of playing guitar. A lot of them are very good. The problem with the free lessons that are available is that if you are a complete beginner you really do not know what you should be learning first. As a beginner it is highly recommended that you use some sort of structured guitar lessons. Here is an overview of some of the different options for you.

Private instruction- Taking private lessons from a qualified guitar instructor is one of the most beneficial ways to learn guitar. However, this is a costly method. Private guitar lessons can cost anywhere from 20 to 40 dollars an hour. One lesson per week is the recommended frequency, so you can see that this can be expensive, but if money is not an issue this is a great way to go.

Another option that a lot of beginners will use is guitar instruction books. Before the advent of the internet this was one of the most common ways to learn guitar. Guitar books are very affordable but there are drawbacks to this method of learning. It is possible to pick up bad habits or techniques by working out of a book and some of these can be very hard to break later on. Guitar books that are targeted to certain aspects of guitar playing can be very useful once you have learned the basics of guitar.

A very popular method of taking guitar lessons for beginners is online guitar lesson membership websites. These sites usually charge a monthly fee to become a member, but the good ones are well worth it. They have numerous instructors covering all aspects of guitar playing and have lessons appropriate for beginners all the way to advanced players. Most of them have thousands of video lessons. A nice feature of of these sites is the community aspect of them. They have chat rooms and forums so you are able to talk to the instructors and other guitar students. This is a great way to keep you motivated and you do not have to worry if you do not understand a certain lesson. You will be able to get all your questions answered. These sites are very reasonably priced, but it is worth shopping around as they are all set up a little differently.

I hope this has helped in giving you a little direction on finding guitar lessons for beginners.

Please feel free to visit my website with a lot of information on the best ways to learn guitar. I have free lessons for beginners and reviews of the best guitar courses

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