{"id":1044,"date":"2020-09-02T20:53:48","date_gmt":"2020-09-03T01:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/?p=1044"},"modified":"2020-09-02T20:53:57","modified_gmt":"2020-09-03T01:53:57","slug":"what-does-forward-or-backward-slash-mean-in-guitar-tablature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/what-does-forward-or-backward-slash-mean-in-guitar-tablature\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does “\/” Mean In Guitar Tablature? A Full Guide To Slide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You may have seen the “\/” in a guitar tab, and you may have even heard that it is a slide–but what does that mean? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The “\/” in a guitar or ukulele tab signifies the player to transition between notes continuously without releasing pressure off of the guitar\/ukulele string, creating a smooth glissando effect.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That sounds cool, but what does it look like and sound like? Let’s take a look. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, these slashes (“\/”) in guitar music can mean many different things! I’ll seek to clear up all of this so you’ll know what they all mean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Explanation Of The \/ Symbol in Guitar Tabs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps you’re playing a Jack Johnson tab and you see a \/ symbol. At first you might think somebody fell asleep at the keyboard, but it turns out this symbol is describing an incredibly essential skill for guitar playing. “The Slide”<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In music terms, this is called a glissando, where you transition from one note to another without a break. If you see a glissando in a guitar tab, you should be proud, and you should rub it in your piano playing friends’ faces, because piano can’t make glissandos! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m going to show an example tab, and then I’m going to give a step by step picture explanation of what’s going on so you can see what to do. I’ll also throw in a sound bite so you can know exactly what this technique is for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, let’s talk about a transition from the 5th fret on the lowest note (A) to the note two frets up (B), the tab that you might see could look like this:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\" <\/picture>
Fancy shmancy guitar tab<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Or, if you’re on Ultimate Guitar Tabs, you’ll likely see something like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\" <\/picture>
Text-only guitar tab<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the next section I’ll show you how to do this:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How To Do a Slide on the Guitar (Glissando)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I’m going to be doing the glissando that is shown in the example tabs in the previous section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Place your middle finger on the 5th fret of the bottom string of the guitar (A)<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \"\" <\/picture>
    Finger on 5th Fret<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    2. Pluck the note with the string pushed down on the 5th fret <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    3. While still pressing down the string, move your middle finger to the 7th fret <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\" <\/picture>
    Finger on 7th Fret<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    You have successfully done a glissando! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Here’s an animated gif just to make sure it’s all sunk in: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\" <\/picture><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Finally, if you’d like to hear what this sounds like, you can hear it here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n