Slide

Techniques

A slide is performed by fretting a note, picking it, and then sliding your finger along the string to a higher or lower fret while maintaining pressure. The string keeps vibrating, creating a smooth glide between the two pitches.

Slides are notated in tab with a forward slash (/) for sliding up or a backslash (\) for sliding down. For example, 2/5 means fret the 2nd fret, pick, and slide up to the 5th fret. Slides add expressiveness and are common in blues, Hawaiian, and pop styles.

You can also slide into a note from an indefinite pitch (a "grace slide") — start a fret or two below and quickly slide up to the target note. This adds a vocal-like quality to your playing.