This week, I want to talk about riffs as one of the most fun ways into slide playing.
I also teach blues harmonica, and one of the first things I get students doing is simply getting the harmonica in their gob and having a chug.
Get your mouth round the bottom 3 or 4 holes, breathe in - in - out - out, and you've got a simple train rhythm.
It feels good straight away. You're making sound, making music, and getting inspired. The finer points can come later.
And recently I've been thinking: why shouldn't slide work the same way?
Get the slide on. Get into open tuning. And instead of getting chugging, get riffing.
Get used to the feel of the slide. Get to know the tuning. Make some swampy grooves. The rest we can sort out later.
That's exactly why I made Backporch Blues Riffs - a mini-course with 7 cool riffs to get you going on slide. It's just $11, and you can find it here.
For this train rhythm idea, open D works beautifully.
Keep it simple. A straight feel works well, and using the bottom 3 strings of open D gives you that same nice, solid block of sound - a bit like using the bottom holes on the harmonica.
Start with a simple off-and-on rhythm.
Bring the slide on, go up to the 5th fret, down to the 3rd, then off again. That's already a great riff.
Then try a slight variation: go up to the 3rd fret for the two hits, then off again. Loop those ideas round and you've got a really cool groove.
After that, add the train whistle.
On harmonica, that comes from drawing in and bending a few holes together. On slide, you can get a lovely version of it up at the 12th fret on the top 3 strings.
Try sliding from 11 to 12 and see if you can catch that bending, rushing train sound.
Then put it all together: groove, whistle, back to groove. Simple, fun, and full of character.
I've also found a way to make this rhythm even more interesting, but I'll save that for another day. There's a little hint of it in the faster example with a bit more rhythmic complexity.
Enjoy playing around with this over the weekend.
And if you'd like a few more riffs to get under your fingers, Backporch Blues Riffs is available for $11 here.
I'll also be launching Summer Slide Launchpad shortly. There are only 10 places on this 6-week fast-track programme, so if you'd like to hear about it first, just get in touch and let me know.
Happy sliding!