How to play slide guitar like the world's greatest players

Figure 1. Duane Allman

Legend has it that, following an arm injury in 1968, Allman picked up a bottle of Coricidin pills he’d been given to ease the pain and instantly started using it as a slide and jamming along to a Taj Mahal album. Duane played in open E tuning and wore his slide on his 3rd finger.

In this example, we’ve included a riff section and a solo section. Playing riffs in open position requires a technique adjustment on the lower strings. Instead of laying your slide flat across the strings, angle it so that only the tip makes contact with the string you’re playing. 

If you’re playing on the 1st, 2nd or 3rd strings, there’s no need to lay the slide across all six strings; simply reposition it so that you only cover the strings you’re playing on.