Learning slide guitar has been one of my most enjoyable journeys in guitar playing. It’s something I wish I hadn’t put off for so many years, but now I have students I teach the style to weekly and I play shows entirely dedicated to slide blues guitar.

 

Over the years of learning and teaching I compiled a list of 100 songs that will teach you how to master the slide. So dust off the ol’ slide and enjoy!

 

  1. Death Letter Blues – Son House
  2. Dust My Broom – Elmore James
  3. Rollin’ and Tumblin’ – Muddy Waters
  4. I Can’t Be Satisfied – Muddy Waters
  5. Preachin’ Blues – Son House
  6. Come On In My Kitchen – Robert Johnson
  7. Traveling Riverside Blues – Robert Johnson
  8. Walking Blues – Robert Johnson
  9. It Hurts Me Too – Tampa Red
  10. Shake Your Moneymaker – Elmore James
  11. You Gotta Move – Mississippi Fred McDowell
  12. Special Rider Blues – Skip James
  13. Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground – Blind Willie Johnson
  14. Sitting on Top of the World – Howlin’ Wolf
  15. Terraplane Blues – Robert Johnson
  16. Jinx Blues – Son House
  17. Slide Guitar Boogie – Elmore James
  18. Stop Breaking Down Blues – Robert Johnson
  19. Pony Blues – Charley Patton
  20. High Water Everywhere – Charley Patton
  21. Drunken Hearted Man – Robert Johnson
  22. Black Snake Moan – Blind Lemon Jefferson
  23. Mississippi Boweavil Blues – Charley Patton
  24. Cool Drink of Water Blues – Tommy Johnson
  25. When You Got a Good Friend – Robert Johnson
  26. Future Blues – Willie Brown
  27. Pearline – Son House
  28. Crossroad Blues – Robert Johnson
  29. Me and the Devil Blues – Robert Johnson
  30. My Black Mama – Son House
  31. Shake ‘Em On Down – Bukka White
  32. Big Road Blues – Tommy Johnson
  33. Devil Got My Woman – Skip James
  34. Spoonful Blues – Charley Patton
  35. Lord, I Just Can’t Keep From Crying – Blind Willie Johnson
  36. Candy Man Blues – Mississippi John Hurt
  37. Key to the Highway – Big Bill Broonzy (slide adapted)
  38. One Kind Favor – Blind Lemon Jefferson
  39. Motherless Children – Blind Willie Johnson
  40. Alabama Women Blues – Leroy Carr
  41. I’m So Glad – Skip James (slide versions)
  42. Rollin’ Stone – Muddy Waters
  43. Little Boy Blue – Robert Nighthawk
  44. You’re Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond – Blind Willie Johnson
  45. Canned Heat Blues – Tommy Johnson
  46. Going Down South – R.L. Burnside
  47. Big Leg Blues – Mississippi John Hurt
  48. Cross Cut Saw Blues – Tommy McClennan
  49. Special Streamline – Bukka White
  50. Long Tall Mama – Big Bill Broonzy
  51. Careless Love – Bessie Smith (instrumental adaptations)
  52. Pea Vine Blues – Charley Patton
  53. Jitterbug Swing – Bukka White
  54. Truckin’ My Blues Away – Blind Boy Fuller
  55. No Mo’ Cane on the Brazos – Lead Belly (slide adapted)
  56. Memphis Town – Memphis Minnie
  57. M&O Blues – Willie Brown
  58. Eagle Rock Rag – Blind Blake (slide versions)
  59. Milkcow’s Calf Blues – Robert Johnson
  60. Walking Blues – Son House (different version)
  61. Tampa Red’s Boogie Woogie – Tampa Red
  62. Back Door Man – Howlin’ Wolf (slide guitar adaptations)
  63. Broke Down Engine – Blind Willie McTell
  64. High Sheriff Blues – Charley Patton
  65. You Can’t Get That Stuff No More – Tampa Red
  66. My Creole Belle – Mississippi John Hurt (slide adaptation)
  67. Big Boss Man – Jimmy Reed (slide interpretations)
  68. C.C. Rider – Lead Belly
  69. Diving Duck Blues – Sleepy John Estes
  70. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl – Mississippi Fred McDowell
  71. That’s No Way to Get Along – Robert Wilkins
  72. Ragged & Dirty – William Brown
  73. Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning – Blind Willie Johnson
  74. Poor Boy – Bukka White
  75. Hobo Blues – John Lee Hooker (slide adaptations)
  76. Shave ’Em Dry – Ma Rainey (instrumental adaptations)
  77. T.B. Blues – Jimmie Rodgers (slide guitar covers)
  78. Hard Time Killin’ Floor Blues – Skip James
  79. Joe Turner Blues – Big Joe Turner (slide adaptations)
  80. On the Road Again – Canned Heat
  81. Black Ace – Black Ace (direct slide work)
  82. Statesboro Blues – Blind Willie McTell (Allman Brothers slide popularized)
  83. Louis Collins – Mississippi John Hurt (slide renditions)
  84. Sweet Home Chicago – Robert Johnson (slide guitar versions)
  85. My Baby Don’t Tolerate – Ry Cooder (modern slide blues)
  86. Hellhound On My Trail – Robert Johnson
  87. Tight Like That – Tampa Red
  88. Mean Old Frisco – Arthur Crudup
  89. Two White Horses – Buddy Boy Hawkins
  90. Mean Old World – T-Bone Walker (slide interpretations)
  91. Blind Lemon’s Penitentiary Blues – Blind Lemon Jefferson
  92. Fishin’ Blues – Taj Mahal (slide versions)
  93. Bumble Bee Blues – Memphis Minnie
  94. Alberta – Lead Belly (slide interpretations)
  95. Devil Sent the Rain Blues – Charley Patton
  96. Mistreated Mama Blues – Robert Nighthawk
  97. My Starter Won’t Start This Morning – Lightnin’ Hopkins
  98. Nine Pound Hammer – Merle Travis (slide covers)
  99. Stop and Listen Blues – Mississippi Sheiks (slide adaptations)
  100. Untrue Blues – Black Ace