Recently, I've found myself talking to a lot of students about the importance of slow motion practice, so I thought I'd share this idea with you.
When practicing slide, you're doing lots of little experiments to see what works. You're looking to make marginal gains in tone, tuning, touch. What I often find is that people put the slide on and they're in a hurry to slide quickly - what I call "moving in a straight line" between the notes.
With all these little experiments, you're looking to notice all the details, such as subtle changes in how your arm and hand feel, what it is that's working, plus the effect of all the microtones as you slide. The reason we put the slide on and handicap our hands with a metal / glass tube, is to coax out all the beauty in the world between the frets.
But when you move too quickly, you don't give your brain a chance to register the information that you're getting back from all those experiments you're doing. That's why I suggest you consciously decide to do some slow motion practice.
Try sliding up the notes of the major scale on the top string with really slow "curving" slides. It take a lot more control than you realise to slide really slowly, but doing this for a few minutes every day will work wonders for your technique.
Give it a go and let me know how you get on!
Phil
p.s. remember if you'd like more top tips on how to get going with slide guitar, you can book your FREE one-to-one session with me! Here's the link: https://calendly.com/philliphenrymusic/slide-success-discovery-call?month=2025-03
Speak soon!