Behold, the answers to a few questions I've been getting about this Saturday's Slide Improvisation workshop, answered here for your decision-making pleasure.
- What will you be covering in the workshop?
The goal of this workshop is get you improvising on a twelve bar blues in open D tuning over an alternating-thumb bass. We'll work through these four main ideas:
- Building a vocabulary of Ry Cooder-style hammer-on and pull-off pentatonic licks for the I chord in open position
- Building a vocabulary of closed-position licks for the IV and V chord at the fifth and seventh frets
- Building a complete solo, practicing improvisation and solidifying your vocabulary by swapping different licks into bars 1-4, 5-8 and 9-12 of a model twelve-bar solo
- Using vamps and stop time to create a more complete instrumental arrangement around your soloing ideas
2. How is this workshop different from January's Slide Foundations class?
Slide Foundations covered basics like how to hold the slide, how to get a good sound, where to find the basic chords in open D tuning, and how to play your first song arrangement. Slide Improvisation picks up where the
Foundations class left off. We'll focus on how to build a vocabulary of licks and phrases and how to put them together to create complete 12-bar solos over an alternating-thumb bass.
3. Do I need to have taken Slide Foundations to take Slide Improvisation?
Nope! If you are already comfortable with the basics of playing slide, or just like getting straight to the good stuff, feel free to jump
in.
4. Can I still get a replay of the Slide Foundations course?
Absolutely. Here's the link: Slide Foundations
5. I wish I was available on Saturday, but I will be (a) writing a book report on Peter
Rabbit (b) competing at the state miniature golf windmills-only invitational championship finals (c) rearranging my sock drawer. Will there be a replay available?
Yes. Everyone who registers for Slide Improvisation will get an entire year's access to a complete on-demand replay of the two-hour workshop, along with a downloadable PDF including notation and tab for every exercise and example in the class. If you'd like to take the class
but can't be there live, go ahead and sign up now, and the replay will be available within an hour or two from when the live event ends.
I hope that answers any questions you might have had! If it hasn't, drop me a line and let me know. In the meantime, if you're ready to sign up, you can do so at the link below:
Slide Improvisation Workshop Registration
More soon,
David