Peter Roller - Hal Leonard Lap Slide Songbook: Play Solo Slide Guitar Arrangements of 22 Country, Folk, Blues and Rock Songs

Beginning to Intermediate Blues, Spirituals & Rock Songs

Like so many others, I first heard acoustic and electric slide playing through Rolling Stones records, but not knowing anything about this approach I held an acoustic guitar in open tuning on my lap and used a glass tumbler from the kitchen as a slide! For the Fred McDowell slide spiritual You Gotta Move (covered by the Stones), first learn the treble melody with plenty of vibrato on held notes and then add the answering bass riff. For No Expectations, play slowly on this countryflavored song with the long slides dragged out!

The song My Babe is arranged for lap slide based on Fred McDowells bottleneck version. As with his previous song, give plenty of vibrato to held notes and work on muting the quickly strummed open-string chords using the pinky of your hand holding the steel or slide.

Outside Woman Blues is a lap slide version of Blind Joe Reynolds original recording from the 1920s that inspired Eric Clapton with Creams version in the late 1960s. This is the books first lap slide arrangement with a high degree of syncopation between the treble melody, representing the blues vocal, and the steady bass pattern. Learn the melody parts before adding the bass!

Found in both African-American and country music traditions, John Henry is the first songbook tune arranged with alternating bass accompaniment in open G tuning. Note that in the 12th and 16th measures, an E minor chord is sounded briefly by covering the bottom three strings (only) with the steel at the second fret. Take time to get used to alternating this with melody notes played on higher strings where the bar is tipped up.

The Soul of a Man is a spiritual song originated by Blind Willie Johnson and covered most notably by David Lindley (versions on both Arabic oud and Weisenborn lap slide). This arrangement features a syncopated riff played before each verse/chorus section of the song. Spend time mastering the tricky riff before giving attention to the song melody with its many slides and embellishments!

Beginning to Intermediate Country & Bluegrass Dobro

Dobro slow songs frequently played in old-time country and bluegrass music, You Are My Sunshine and Great Speckled Bird, require the lap slide guitarist to learn two-note harmony playing and slants with the steel. Try the familiar Sunshine tune in harmony, but feel free to repeatedly drill the couple of slants to get used to quickly moving the bar (while staying somewhat in tune!). Great Speckled Bird is a universal melody also heard in the country songs Im Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes and The Wild Side of Life (three tunes in one!). Take time to learn the slants on the 1st and 3rd stringsan approach found in many early Hawaiian steel guitar pieces.

The classic American folksong Shenandoah has both a harmony version, featuring a few slants, and an additional arrangement in octaves where the bar is held straight throughout. Playing lap slide melodies in octaves is frequently found in both country and blues styles.

The fiddle tunes Cripple Creek, Red Wing, and The Red Haired Boy are often played in bluegrass circles. Start slow and then move to a faster tempo with each one and get used to moving the tipped bar quickly in playing these fast-moving melodies!