The mental health benefits of learning an instrument are well documented but could slide guitar be the Ultimate Stress Buster?
Well I like to think so and here is why:
Something that gets talked about with activities that benefit our wellbeing is a “flow state”. This is where the stresses, thoughts and anxieties of everyday life slip away while you are fully immersed in a certain task.
Now slide is particularly good for achieving this state as the fretless nature of it means you need to be present and in the moment in order to keep tuning every note.
This differs from the day-dreamy state that is easy to fall into where you are playing your instrument and realize you have also been writing the shopping list or replaying an annoying situation.
I also play a lot of standard guitar and I do find that I am more inclined to daydream with that. Maybe because the tuning takes care of itself for the most part by just landing the fingers between the frets you are more inclined to drift into daydreaming.
As slide is not so forgiving on the tuning front I like to start my slide practice by whacking a drone on and using to help me become more present.
Then I will spend some time getting the guitar nicely in tune by ear using the drone.
Then move on to some simple ear training exercises, playing a few notes that are in control and in tune, the essence of good slide technique!
Tune to open D tuning (DADF#AD) and pop the D drone on…
Now try sliding between the 2nd fret and 4th fret on the top string and hearing all the beautiful tension as you pass slowly through the 3rd fret.
Relax the shoulders and arm, move really slowly between the notes and listen to all the microtones, feels good doesn't it.
Still feeling stressed? Well I hope not but you should be in a better place to tackle some slide playing now.
Give it a go and let me know how you get on. If you want to talk more about getting this technique cracked you can book a call with me here: https://calendly.com/philliphenrymusic/slide-success-discovery-call
