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Slides (also known as Glissando) provide a smooth, gradual change of pitch as you move your fingers up or down the fretboard.
How to execute a slide
Place your finger on the 4th fret, G string. Pick that note, then move your finger up to the 6th fret without re-picking.
To make sure the slide rings out clearly, continue exerting downward pressure onto the fretboard while sliding but noly exert the right amount of pressure you need, to much pressure can slow your fingers down and not make the slide sound smooth.
e|-------| B|-------| G|--4/6--| D|-------| A|-------| E|-------|
Different types of slides
Slide up
With this example you simple fret the 4th fret on the G string, pick the note then slide up to the 6th fret.
e|-------| B|-------| G|--4/6--| D|-------| A|-------| E|-------|
Slide down
This is the same as sliding up but you start on the 6th fret, pick the note and then slide down to the fourth fret
e|-------| B|-------| G|--6/4--| D|-------| A|-------| E|-------|
Slide up to unspecified pitch
Sometimes tabs willnot say what note to sldie to, in that case you slide to an unspecified pitch. To do this fret the 4th fret on the G string, pick the note then slide up to any note on the fretboard. Usally with these types of slide you slide up to a very high note.
e|-------| B|-------| G|--4/---| D|-------| A|-------| E|-------|
Slide down to unspecified pitch
This is the same as sliding up to an unspecified pitch but you slide down the fretboard instead
e|-------| B|-------| G|---6\--| D|-------| A|-------| E|-------|
Slide to and from a note
This is using a slide up and a slide down. Fret the 4th fret on the G string, pick that note. Then slide up to the 6th fret, as soon as you have slid to the 6th fret you slide back down to the 4th fret again.
e|-------| B|-------| G|-4/6\4-| D|-------| A|-------| E|-------|
Tablature Notation
In Tablature, the slide is often shown as a slash, either a forward or backwards slash depending on the slide direction.
e|-------|-------| B|-------|-------| G|-------|-------| D|--4/6--|--6\4--| A|-------|-------| E|-------|-------|
Exercise 1
Only pick the first note, slide, pull off, and hammer-on the rest in that order.
E------------------------------------------------ B------------------------------------------------ G-----7/-8-\7p5---------------------------------- D----------------h7------------------------------ A------------------------------------------------ E------------------------------------------------
Exercise 2
In this single string ditty the important thing is to only pick where the accents are and slide the rest. Make use of vibrato to keep it smooth and flowing.
E------------------------------------------------
B------------------------------------------------
G-----5/7~~~~5/7--\5~~~~5/7--\4~~~~5/7--\3~~~5-/7
D------------------------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------
E------------------------------------------------
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