Creating Memorable Solos With Slides

In today’s lesson, we examine the use of slides in creating memorable solos. Slides can create a vocal quality to your guitar licks, and also allow you to connect multiple positions of a scale very simply. Shown below is the C#m pentatonic scale across all 5 CAGED shapes. We will be using this shape to create all three of today’s examples. The background chords are the same as the two previous lessons, C#m, A, B and E, so make sure you record them into your looper or audio software to jam along to.

Shown above is the C#m pentatonic scale up to the 15th fret. The root notes are indicated by the squares with R’s inside them, make sure you use these as your reference points when soloing with this diagram.

Melodic Guitar Soloing Example 1 – C#m Slides Melody

Example 1 is a simple pattern that combines different positions of the C#m pentatonic scale together to create a melodic theme. Be careful not to push into the strings too hard when you are sliding bigger distances as this can alter both the tone of the note and impair your slide.

Melodic Guitar Soloing Example 2 – C#m Slides One Shape

By examining the C#m pentatonic diagram, we can create patterns that repeat across multiple octaves on the guitar. Example 2 uses this technique to great effect, covering a wide distance on the guitar easily. This lick repeats with the exception of the final note of B, targeting the root note of the final chord in the progression. When you are sliding big distances make sure to focus your eyes on the fret you are sliding to, this simple trick connects the eyes to the fingers allowing for more accurate slides.

Melodic Guitar Soloing Example 1 – C#m Slides Adjacent Strings

Example 3 demonstrates how you can move between multiple scale shapes by sliding between them. This idea is easy to apply, and you can try out anywhere within the C#m pentatonic diagram shown above.

Recommended listening

For classic slide style guitar licks, I recommend buying the album “Erotic Cakes – Guthrie Govan.” My favourite track on that album being “Waves.”

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Guitar Lesson Video Transcription

Hey YouTube, Simon here once again for the amazing Fundamental Changes. Today we’re looking at our next part of our Memorable Guitar Solos and How to Create Them, and it’s all about slides. Let’s go and have a look at some examples, just after this.

[guitar playing]

Slides are fantastic for 2 things: For creating a melodic-type lines within a shape, or connecting your shapes on the guitar. These examples, hopefully, are going to use a mixture of those.

They’re all around C sharp minor pentatonic. That whole fret diagram will be available in the article, just underneath in the comments section there. Make sure you go and have a look at that.

Example 1 is using a mixture of position 1 and 4, and a little bit of position 2 as you’re sliding here. Once again, we’ve got the same little mini backing track that we’ve been looking at for the last few weeks.

So if you don’t know the chords for that, go and have a look at parts 2 and 1, where I explain that in more detail.

Example 1 here today we’re picking 9 and 11 on the 3^rd, sliding up to the 13^th, then bringing it back down to 6^th and 4 in our position 4 shape, so we’re using a bit of position 1, sliding in position 4, doing a very similar idea on the D string, and then finishing it off with a little melodic thing, very similar to in part 1 where we created using some simple techniques.

This one is just about using multiple positions and sliding between then to create a little melodic fluid line. Let’s go and have a look at Example 2.

[guitar playing]

There was our Example 2. This one, I wanted to show you how within this big shape once again on the article, you can create the same pattern in multiple positions. In this case, sliding up on a string 2 frets, then having your index or 1^st finger 2 frets below.

You can see all the different variations that I did of that throughout the guitar there, 2^nd to 4^th on the 5^th, to grabbing the 2^nd on the D string, and then following that pattern through multiple shapes over this C sharp minor backing track.

Quite a fun little idea using a lot of the neck, it’s still melodic, it’s definitely memorable, because you can sing it back. Let’s go and have a look at Example 3, our final example.

[guitar playing]

One thing I do a lot in my playing is I connect up my pentatonic shapes using slides on 2 adjacent strings. This example here is using multiple positions of your minor pentatonic scale, sliding up a note on the B, grabbing a note of the pentatonic on the high E string, then sliding up to the next shape. Grabbing another note, sliding, and then the reverse is true as well.Coming back down all the way through your different shapes and a little melodic twist at the end.

What I want you to take away from today’s lesson is that slides can be used within your normal licks to create bluesy rocky textures, jazzy slides within your shape, or it can be used to span out the fret board. This lesson today is more about how you can get from here to here using little slide techniques.

A few different ideas: You can do adjacent strings, you can jump strings. Use the diagram that I’ve included – the neck diagram shape in the article. Pop on a backing track in C sharp minor, or just record in the chords from the previous listening tolooper. Put them in, and then look and analyze different ways that you can get through all your pentatonic shapes using slides.

It’s such an underused idea to maximize your slide playing. We’re trying to do so many techniques as once. Today I just want you to focus down and get down some really smooth melodic phrase slides into your own playing.

I really hope you’ve got something from this. I really love hearing from you all. I respond to each one of those personally. I love getting those, so if you’ve got any comments, anything you want to add to this, please just pop it down below and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

Take care, I’ll see you soon.

Hi everyone, thanks for watching these examples on slides to create your memorable guitar solos. I hope you got something from it. Please subscribe, check out Joseph’s website Fundamental Changes, and his books on Amazon Fundamental Changes, on Amazon as well. Have a look at my YouTube channel SDPguitar where I bring you more free guitar videos. Take care, see you soon.