Truefire - David Hamburger's Focus On: Standard Tuning Slide (2015)

David Hamburger’s Focus On: Standard Tuning Slide will quickly impart the requisite right and left-hand techniques, harmonic approaches and fretboard positioning for playing slide guitar in standard tuning — but still sounding like open-tuning slide guitar work! “While there’s a whole lineage of bona fide standard tuning slide masters, from Robert Nighthawk through Mick Taylor to Warren Haynes and beyond, Focus On: Standard Tuning Slide will teach you how to get the sounds of the classic open-tuned slide wizards while staying in standard tuning. You'll be pleased to discover how much you can begin conjuring up in the way of Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Duane Allman and other slide masters — all in standard tuning.”

David presents his curriculum in three sections. The first section is a quick summary of slide guitar history and its most influential players — the players that you should be listening to as you learn to emulate their sound on your standard tuned guitar. David also passes on critical advice for setting up your guitar, slide selection and achieving optimal tone on your own instrument.

In the second section, You’ll get right down to business as David steps you through the eleven key concepts and techniques that will power your standard tuning slide prowess: Left and Right Hand Muting, Slides and Grace Notes, String Crossing, The Basic Closed-Position Box, Using Vibrato, Harmonica Articulations, Open Position in G, Playing By Position, Staying In One Position, Open Position in E, and Using Double Stops.

As David demonstrates and breaks down each new idea, he’ll also show one or more licks to illustrate what you can do with the technique. You’ll play your way through this section, immediately applying each new technique, in a musical context, as you learn it.

Keep your slide on for the Performance Studies in the third section. David has prepared five real-world arrangements and rhythm tracks, across a variety of feels and tempos, to put all eleven of your new skills to work. Additionally, each of these performance studies pay homage to a particular slide master.

Work through these five slide studies and you’ll be ready to take your slide to the bandstand: Red Guitar (Muddy’s ’50s country blues vibe), King James (Elmore James’ imaginative phrasing), Skydog Shuffle (Duane Allman’s signature approach), The Santa Monicat (inspired by Ry Cooder) and Stadium Boogie (Johnny Winter with a dash of Billy Gibbons).

All of the key examples and performance studies are tabbed and notated, plus you’ll get all of the practice rhythm tracks to work with on your own.

Focus On: Standard Tuning Slide isn't just about learning how to play slide in standard tuning — its about how to achieve that authentic open-tuning slide sound, in standard tuning.