Using Slides for Position Shifts

One underlooked reason to take advantage of guitar slides is so that you can shift positions quickly, easily and effectively.

The slide is a technique that automatically results in a change of position. So it’s a great idea to use slides to shift around on the guitar.

For instance, if you’re playing some notes in the open position, and want to create a dramatic shift to higher-register notes on position X, then you can use a slide with your 1^st finger, landing on Fret X.

To practice this technique, we'll do large position shifts between fret I and fret X, sliding up and then sliding back down, using the first finger both times.

In this example, use the 1^st finger to slide up to position X and back down to I.

Key Tasks

• Practice using the above example until you can land accurately on the notes used in the slide and continue. (As if nothing happened...)
• Try repeating the exercise, but this time using free improvisation. You can also change the target slide notes, or slide on different strings. The key is to use the slide as a method of quickly shifting position on the guitar.