Anybody play slide guitar?

Lincoln Goertzen · Post by **Lincoln Goertzen** » 14 Dec 2001 4:40 pm

Hello, everyone!

I would like to learn to play slide guitar, either acoustic or electric, or both, and wonder if anyone has some tricks that could get me started.

I play both electric and acoustic guitar, as well as the pedal steel, and am making progress on the dobro.

Lincoln

Bill Terry · Post by **Bill Terry** » 14 Dec 2001 8:41 pm

I'm not world class, but I get by on electric. Here's a few things that work for me:

1) I use a glass slide, seems easier to get a smooth tone. I use Fender guitars, that might not be as much a problem with a Les Paul or something with humbuckers. Thats my personal preference... you might prefer metal, depends on the amp somewhat too.

2) Develop a light but firm touch. Unless you have a dedicated guitar you can set up with high action for slide, it's real easy to accidently fret the strings. If you get the touch happening you're well on your way.

3) Not wanting to carry a second guitar for slide, I learned to play most everything in standard tuning. That doesn't work for everything you hear, but it's good to be able to play slide without retuning. Lots of great slide parts were recorded in regular tuning.

4) Get a good capo, the open string hammers and pull offs with a slide are real hip. Without a capo you'll find G to be a very 'slide friendly' key. Obviously the capo lets you get those open string licks going in other keys. The Kyser capo is great and quick to use.

5) I use my ring finger for the slide. If you get used to the slide on either the ring or little finger, with a little practice you can play fretted notes and partial chords while wearing the slide, real handy.

6) Practice ALL the time, A LOT, it's gonna sound pretty bad in the beginning. Concentrate on a smooth tone and good intonation.

I'd try to find some video lessons, there are bound to be some good ones out there. Good luck...

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[This message was edited by Bill Terry on 14 December 2001 at 08:42 PM.]

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 15 Dec 2001 2:55 am

Pedal Steel is the penultimate slide guitar.It's all on there - even with the most simple E9.Why waste time with anything else?

Bill Terry · Post by **Bill Terry** » 15 Dec 2001 11:06 am

Michael, I respectfully disagree. The pedal steel is "the penultimate slide guitar" but it will never sound like a strat with the pickups in that 'in between' setting and a cranked Fender BF amp.

There is something sort of crude about that whole thing, including the obvious tuning limitations, that is very desirable to me. A pedal steel just doesn't sound like that.

To me it's two different things. JMO

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Pat Burns · Post by **Pat Burns** » 15 Dec 2001 5:42 pm

..I was wondering the same thing Bob, what then is the ultimate?...must be a guitar that you play with a trombone slide instead of pedals...

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 16 Dec 2001 8:08 am

To me, some of the most effective slide stuff is done on the acoustic guitar. I don't much care for the distortion that most electric players feel is requisite when playing slide. There are slide guitar videos and books available that might help you, too.[This message was edited by Donny Hinson on 16 December 2001 at 08:13 AM.]

Steve Hinson · Post by **Steve Hinson** » 16 Dec 2001 9:52 am

Lincoln.get an electric guitar and tune it to an E chord,and get a copy of"The Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East".Everything you need to know is on there...

John Macy · Post by **John Macy** » 16 Dec 2001 10:06 am

And the congregation said:

Amen

(I wonder how many copies I wore out of that LP)[This message was edited by John Macy on 16 December 2001 at 10:07 AM.]

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 16 Dec 2001 11:38 am

I knew Duane quite well from high school till he died and I never heard him play in anything other than standard tuning.He told me that was so he could go back and forth between slide and regular fretted playing - plus that way,he didn't have to relearn the note layout of the neck.And that's also the reason he stuck pretty much to single string stuff. Duane used to keep his action jacked up real high w/fairly heavy strings and the result was pretty much "sit-in proof". He did fool around with tunings on acoustic though and you can hear it on that acoustic duet w/Clapton.
One time in L.A.during the late 70s,I heard a traveling southern rock/country band from somewhere in the South - Alabama maybe.They were of no particular note except that they played "Statesboro Blues" and the steel player could make his E9 Sho-Bud sound EXACTLY like Duane circa "Live at the Fillmore" lick for lick and tone for tone.I did't catch what amp or effects he was using but I'm here to tell ya it can be done. -MJ-

Lincoln Goertzen · Post by **Lincoln Goertzen** » 16 Dec 2001 1:07 pm

Thanks for the replies, everyone!

I have two electric guitars (both Fender), and two electric/acoustic guitars (both Samick).

Steve, what exactly is the "open E" tuning? Do I need to change string guages?

Could you describe the album you mentioned? Is it blues, rock, or what?

Thanks, Lincoln

Steve Hinson · Post by **Steve Hinson** » 16 Dec 2001 4:54 pm

Duane was using an SG tuned to an E chord for slide at the time of his death...I have some video of the Brothers before Dicky gave him the SG,and he retunes his guitar for the slide tunes(he was using the Les Paul only).I grew up in Macon and saw him play in Central City Park many times-he always played slide in E tuning when I saw him-E-B-G#-E-B-E...just like first position E chord...Steve

Steve Hinson · Post by **Steve Hinson** » 16 Dec 2001 5:03 pm

Lincoln-I have the action raised on my SG...bigger strings are nice-the bigger the string,the bigger the note.I can indeed describe that album for you-GREAT!Everybody in the South who played rock and roll in the early'70's had that record and learned everything they could from it...you can hear licks from that record on country radio any day of the week...Steve

Jeremy Steele · Post by **Jeremy Steele** » 17 Dec 2001 6:56 am

You certainly can't go wrong listening to Duane Allman, but I suggest you get ahold of some of Ry Cooder's stuff...amazing slide work, IMO.

Steve Hinson · Post by **Steve Hinson** » 17 Dec 2001 8:26 am

I agree...Ry Cooder is outstanding!Sonny Landreth too...harder to cop their stuff tho...

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 17 Dec 2001 9:11 am

If you like slide guitar, you should listen to the old masters who pioneered nd perfected the style. Fred McDowell, Robert Johnson, Son House, Blind Willy Johnson, Blind Willy McTell, Charlie Patton, Tampa Red etc.

These are the guys that people like Ry Cooder and Duane Allman learned from.

Jeff A. Smith · Post by **Jeff A. Smith** » 18 Dec 2001 4:29 pm

Lincoln asked:

Could you describe the album you mentioned? Is it blues, rock, or what?

Like Steve said, it's "great." Many people (myself included) would include it in the short list of all time classics of rock. You asked about the style of music. The Allman Bros. really created their own style. There is a VERY strong blues foundation, but they get into simple jazz type things frequently. In my mind, the only really noticeable country influences at the time this album was made are in Dickey Betts' guitar playing. It's very organic, spiritual music.

When I was a teenager, I learned some of Duane's licks from "Statesboro Blues." If you try to copy them, you'll see that you can't really do them right in standard tuning. With the open tuning, they fall right into place. The thing that is really missing with slide guitar in standard tuning, IMHO, is all the resonance and overtone structure. I understand that if you want to go for more of a country slide sound, open "G" might be better. I think Lowell George may have used "A" a lot.

Actually I gave up slide after a short while. It didn't seem to bring anything new out of me.

I saw a guy named Tom Britt play with Patty Loveless last year, and he did a solo that was all slide guitar. It was astonishingly new to my ears. Not at all the usual approach.

Steve Hinson · Post by **Steve Hinson** » 18 Dec 2001 6:52 pm

Jeff-your comments about the Brothers are spot on...they really had their own thing going on.Tom Britt is a hoss,ain't he?He and I did an album earlier this year with a really good singer named Steve Runkel(sp?)who has since passed away.We are hoping it will be released eventually.Tom played all the slide stuff on the record-I won't even play slide in front of him...he is as good as any slide player I've ever heard,and his tone is so good...

Robert · Post by **Robert** » 18 Dec 2001 8:47 pm

Lincoln:
I don't get it. You had the "intestinal fortitude" to take up PSG, you still PLAY PSG (this takes chops in theory and technique), as well as acoustic and electric guitar (two different animals that are approached and played differently) - it doesn't seem like you would need to get pointers to get started on slide! Anyway - try Elmore James, Muddy Waters, Earl Hooker, or Robert Nighthawk. If you like blues slide guitar these are guys you should hear - especially the last two gentlemen.

Rob Yale

ajm · Post by **ajm** » 19 Dec 2001 8:13 am

I know it's not really hard core blues and much more rock oriented, but when I started playing guitar many years ago my main slide man was Johnny Winter.

When I heard "Mean Town Blues" off of Johnny Winter And-Live and "Highway 61 Revisited" off of Second Winter (the "3 sided" album) I had to stop and catch my breath.

I also like the stuff on Bonnie Raitt's Live album.

Bill Terry · Post by **Bill Terry** » 19 Dec 2001 6:19 pm

I've always liked Lee Roy Parnell's slide playing. Very melodic...

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Lincoln Goertzen · Post by **Lincoln Goertzen** » 20 Dec 2001 7:02 pm

Robert-
NOW I know everything I need to know to get started on slide guitar.

I don't think I would have found these things this fast by myself, and that's what the forum is for.

Thanks, everyone, for your help.

Lincoln

Mark Tomeo · Post by **Mark Tomeo** » 21 Dec 2001 9:33 am

Not quite everything...I can't believe nobody's mentioned Lowell George yet in this thread. He's sort of the anti-Duane of slide playing; he tended to play long, slow heavily sustained lines rather than a lot of fast notes, and his stuff sounds more like a horn, a harmonica and in some cases a human voice than it does a guitar. Listen to "Lafayette Railroad" and you'll hear what I mean.
Lowell was, of course, the architect of the band Little Feat, could sing as well as he could play, and wrote some of the most idosyncratic songs and slide parts in all of rock 'n' roll. When you get done with "Live at the Fillmore" find a copy of "Waiting for Columbus" to sort of balance out your listening.
Lowell played strats and used a Sears & Roebuck Craftsman 11/16" wrench socket - one seriously thick and heavy plug of metal - for a slide. Duane Allman was reportedly fond of using Coricidan bottles for slides, which are glass and a lot lighter. Their differing styles certainly reflect this.
I don't know what kinds of tunings Lowell used but it doesn't sound like he played in standard tuning, and a lot of photos show him using a capo.
Bonnie Raitt and Lowell were close friends and her slide style is real evocative of his (she uses strats and open tunings, too).
Now you know everything...
[This message was edited by Mark Tomeo on 21 December 2001 at 09:35 AM.]

Chris Walke · Post by **Chris Walke** » 21 Dec 2001 12:38 pm

Not everything...

What about slide guitar MASTER George Thorogood?

I'm KIDDING!!!!

John Kavanagh · Post by **John Kavanagh** » 24 Dec 2001 9:48 am

I spent about a year working mostly on slide guitar, and got a lot of interesting ideas from an article about Sonny Landreth (who plays some beautiful things). One thing he's really made a part of what he does is fretting behind the bar.

Simplest example: in open E, with the bar at the twelfth fret, press down the third string at the eleventh fret to get an e minor chord. It works best if you have the slide on the little finger.

The trick is to get the pressure with the slide no heavier than it has to be, so when you depress a string to a fret one, two, or three frets behind the slide, it passes under the slide without touching it and sounds the fretted note, while the rest of the strings sound the notes where the slide is.

I found this worked better for me with a nut raised a little higher than I'd like it for frets-only playing, but not so high that the guitar fretted out of tune. People with a lighter touch can do it on a guitar with standard set-up.

I worked out a whole lot of chords in G tuning, and I think they're there in E as well if you prefer that. At any fret, there's two minors, three majors, and some sixth, seventh, major seventh, including a iv and a V9 chord, and a few other possiblities if you add in bending the string behind the bar with the side of your finger or a fingernail.

For me, this kind of thing adds a whole lot to the vocabulary of bottlenecking, especially unaccompanied solo or backup playing.

You might try it, and have some fun.. [This message was edited by John Kavanagh on 24 December 2001 at 09:54 AM.]