Hello Folks,

This week we are examining my original second chorus for the Guitar Slim section of Bluesarama. Listening to it now I realise how I have fashioned my own niche out of his style. I start out my solo on the second chorus by hammering on the high F octave making the sound mostly with a few strokes with my first finger. If you want to make that Slim "SOUND", I believe it's mandatory to 1. Use a capo on the first fret. 2. Play without a pick. Only the raw finger can produce that subtle but powerful tone. Turning a small tube amp all the way, or the easier on the ears way, use a good distortion pedal, play light but with riffs alternating between long slow lines and swift lines with pull-offs as I do in this example. In Slim's playing, when he's at his roughest sounding, he lets the amp do a lot of the work. So a pedal like the Bad Monkey (my choice) really helps get that sound at a reasonable level. Start off with a pedal and a capo and no pick you have a head start on finding the Guitar Slim monster tone.

Good luck and enjoy!

Duke

 

 

Topics and/or subjects covered in this lesson:
Blues