The Secret of The Sliding Technique
by Acousphere Toshi
Hi! I am Acousphere Toshi.
Here I will show you how to play sliding and the secert of sliding technique!
What is "sliding"? Any instruments have their own special way of playing.
And "sliding" is the guitar specific.
It makes wonderful unique tones like vocalist' singing.
Let us master this technique and broaden your guitar world!
The variations of sliding We have many types of sliding from the view point of playing.
(a) the direction : up or down
(b) the width : small(ex. 1 fret), middle(ex. 5 frets), wide(ex. 12 frets)
(c) the speed : slow, fast or super fast
We should choose and play the best type of sliding for the music!
Here I will explain the basics of the sliding technique.
The example is the one from the 3rd fret to the 6th fret, on the third string with the middle finger.
The first picture shows the starting point.
Push the 3rd fret with your middle finger strongly, at the edge of the fret.
Do not extend your fingers.
Make them close to each other just like the picture shows.
And the next picture shows the goal after moving to the 6th fret.
But this is the bad example.
Compare to the first picture, the left hand form is different.
It means the power of the finger is lost and the sound is gone.
And now let us compare the next two pictures.
The left hand forms keep the same.
It means the power of the finger is kept and the sound is great!
This is the good example.
Until now we discoverd some points we should keep to slide well.
1: Keep the strong power of the middle finger during sliding.
Never loose it, or the sound will be gone.
2: Keep the same angle of the finger and the hand.
And we have one more very important point.
During sliding, look at the starting point to the goal without moving your head.
At first, look at the 3rd fret.
Next, move only your eyes to the goal(6th fret).
(If you move your head too, your sight become unstable and sliding become much harder.)
At last, slide the finger to the 6th fret.
This makes you clear how much you should slide.
And you can easily play without less or over sliding.
Sliding is the great technique to play the guitar like singing! Melodies are not just notes.
You should put your emotions to them and make them lively.
To do that, sliding is one of the most powerful techniques!
I know you are the guitarists.
But why don't you forget the limitation of the instrument and play like vocalists!
I hope you will experiment many kinds of sliding, and find your own way of expressing yourself by the guitar!
The Secret of The Sliding Technique
