The Downward Slide Technique

In this tutorial, we're going to explore a cool sliding technique that can add some spice to your playing. This "downward slide" basically involves your finger quickly sliding from a higher point on a string to the desired note. The slide in itself is a very quick, swift motion. For starters, pick any random note on the fretboard. Play it a couple times by itself. Then, try the downward slide technique, where you'll position a finger higher on the string than the desired note, then slide down to the note immediately after you pick the string. Try this with many notes on different parts of the fretboard. Now, we're going to practice the downward slide technique with a little song you may have heard of...Mary Had a Little Lamb! I know, I know, isn't that song so exciting?! :) Check out the tab below. Observe the backward slash symbol before all the notes: "\" That symbol means that you are to slide to that note from above. Practice the technique with this song until you start getting comfortable with the motion. Then when you're ready, we'll apply this technique to something more difficult in the next lesson.