Pick up some great slide lick tips, courtesy of Jason Isbell and his vintage Teles and Strats
The “pedal steel imitation” phrase is a winner
During this long quarantine we’ve been treated to at-home electric guitar lessons from the likes of Eric Johnson, Paul Stanley and Brian May.
Now Jason Isbell, best known as a solo artist and for his work with Drive-By Truckers, has jumped into the lesson game, posting three quick Instagram videos that demonstrate some neat little bluesy techniques.
A post shared by jasonisbell (@jasonisbell)
A photo posted by on on Aug 4, 2020 at 9:36am PDT
First up is a quick slide lick in which Isbell, armed with a ’53 blackguard Fender Tele, adds in a subtle note pull off in between the slides.
Which means all your pinkie-wearing slide players will have to shift your bottleneck to either the middle or ring finger in order to, um, pull this one off.
A post shared by jasonisbell (@jasonisbell)
A photo posted by on on Aug 5, 2020 at 11:34am PDT
Next he grabs a sunburst Strat to offers up a more complex slide line that utilizes slide and fingers for a “pedal steel imitation.”
Finally, we have a non-slide demonstration, this time a blues triplet in the key of C, for which Isbell trades in his Fenders for a Gibson Les Paul equipped with a Bigsby.
A post shared by jasonisbell (@jasonisbell)
A photo posted by on on Aug 3, 2020 at 12:49pm PDT
Try these out on your own, and for more on Isbell, head over to his official Instagram page.
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Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.