slide gtr information

[Thurgood]

hello all. For those in the US, happy memorial day. I ma interested in any helpful sites for beginner to medium slide players. I have knowlege of open tunings and basic techniques, read music and tab easily. That said, where can i find some licks that cover basic 145 progs and also more sophisticated progs? Poked around on the net but if you folks know of any, please advise. Open to many styles from country blues (fred Mcdowell) to Allman Bros to little feat etc. No genre refused as I use slide in a variety of settings/compositions. Too lazy to wrtite out all scales in the vast number of tuning options so any tab or sheet stuff would help inthe learning area. I generally prefer to use open E, D and G (major or minr for all ok.) Thanks.

[lpdeluxe]

You might try the blues forum:
http://www.bigroadblues.com/forum/in...f8cb1929eef3c7
There are knowledgeable slide players who hang out there.

I've been playing slide for 30+ years, but I'm not sure I can provide what you're looking for. I tend to adapt the slide to songs rather than learning songs that are in a specific tuning. In fact, I've developed the lazy habit of figuring out songs that are in a tuning that I don't use, and transposing them into open D or E (my preferred tunings).

For example, I think the Keith Richard slide part on Love In Vain is in his 5-string G tuning (no low D); I'm not sure what You Got To Move is, originally; and Ry Cooder's slide part on John Hiatt's Lipstick Sunset is probably in D but I do them all in E.

Lately I've been exploring open G, merely because I'm working on a musical project with a long time playing partner who has a very nice sounding Dobro at his place that he keeps in that tuning.

One song that stands out in G (and one that is nearly unplayable in other tunings) is Running On Faith from the Eric Clapton Unplugged CD/video. Clapton's licks lay out very logically in that tuning, and might be a useful place to start.

[Thurgood]

thanks lp. I too, have been at it a while; not slide per se so not one of my great strengths. The reason I mention open tunings is that the most common stuff seems done so. I would love some methods/tricks to use statndard tuning. I find double stops difficult in statdard tuning. However, one of my first teachers is a slide/pedal steel player and gifted luthier to boot. He could pull it off (no pun). ONe thing I am intersted in is the benefit I would gain by using more linear playing rather than the more vertical playing that lends itself to open tunings. Just a thought. What I think would help me is greater slide control (practice anyone??) I digress. I beleive that there are some standard moves that would help me. (in both standard and open tunings). If you know a few, love to hear/read. I shlould go back to having one ax dedicated to slide. That for me would be a compromise position. One guitar to use for both slide and standard gtr. Low action= ease of palyability vs higher action for slide. Call the luthier. I can accept compromise.

Thanks for your help and direction. Will try suggestions. PS: Do you ever use standard tuning (not so standard) by raising the G to a G#?so that you can slide away with dbls stps on G (now G# strings) and B strings? this does change the chord forms and basic scalar formations but not too bad. Sugesstions welcome.

Gotta go cook... will write more later

Sorry for bad typing.

[castlerock]

Originally Posted by Thurgood

Thanks for your help and direction. Will try suggestions. PS: Do you ever use standard tuning (not so standard) by raising the G to a G#?so that you can slide away with dbls stps on G (now G# strings) and B strings? this does change the chord forms and basic scalar formations but not too bad. Sugesstions welcome.

hey bro. the tuning up of the G string isn't a bad idea but then the D and G strings wouldn't work together anymore. still...it's worth a try depending on what you're wanting to play.

when playing slide on standard tuning i leave the G string tuned to G natural. when i play a lick like this in E pentatonic:

-------------------------------------
-------10----8-----------------------
-------------------9-----------------
-------------------------------------
-------------------------------------
-------------------------------------

(slide up to the E on the third string.)

...i let the G# (second string) ring out against the E (last note) and it sounds good. it can even work in the key of Em in certain situations.

i'm not a great slide player, but i've been doing it for a while and feel comfortable with it. when i play slide in standard tuning, i stay in the pentatonic scale and seldom use passing notes. things get complicated if i try to get too fancy in standard tuning. check out billy gibbons work in zz tops's 'just got paid'. he gets some great sounds doing basically the same thing.


i hope that is of come help.

[Gandydancers]

Maybe someone here can help me. I'm just using Open G and cannot
figure out how to make a Minor CHORD. Any Insight, Thank's Ed

[lpdeluxe]

When I'm playing a song with a lot of minors, sometimes I'll just drop the third in the tuning (that doesn't seem to work for G tuning, though).

Otherwise I just avoid the third interval, which is second string in G tuning (D-G-D-G-B-D),
Right now I'm working up a song in G that has Em and Am in the progression: I solved that by playing a two-string lick for Em with the open B and the tilted slide at the II fret on the D string, so I get an E/B combination without the third, which works pretty well. For the Am (in this song it comes right after the Em) I level out the slide and pluck the G and D strings at the II fret, which gives an A/E combination (again, no third) and passes for a minor.

Another place to play the Em is at the IX fret, picking the D and G strings for a B/E two-string chord. This is where you hit the Em in Running On Faith, since you're going back and forth between the V, VII and XII frets.

I've played for years in open E, and for songs like Dylan's You're A Big Girl Now I tune to Em (we play the song a semitone flat, compared to the recording) which gives me the minor third; this is necessary in that song, since it has a strong flavor of the minor and you can't easily get by just by avoiding the third.

Back to setup: I no longer play without the slide (except, of course, when I'm playing bass) but over the years I have adapted my touch to everything from a pedal steel to my Les Paul with pretty low action (but not really light strings: I use .011-.049 with a wound 3rd). I go back and forth between a high-action Dobro and the LP in the course of a set, and it's really just a matter of learning the touch. I don't think the tone is particularly enhanced by having a big honkin gap between the pickups and the strings.

I can dig in a lot harder on the Dobro, but that's the way it's supposed to sound. I like the glassy, Duane Allman tone on electric, not the crash/bang style.

Anyway, I use open tunings exclusively, a decision I made many years ago when it became obvious that I stand on Main Street, throw a rock, and hit five guitarists better than me. I decided to concentrate on slide, and it's getting where it's working pretty good. BTW, you mentioned pedal steel: I had one for a few years (traded it off after foot and knee surgery made it impossible to play) and it sure made me smarter when it came to figuring out intervals on the six string.

The essential difficulty with open tunings played with a bottleneck or steel is that you're stuck with its intervals, until you figure out how to sound like you're not!

[Gandydancers]

Thank you for your answer. It clears it up. Ed

[Horsedoc]

Originally Posted by Gandydancers

Maybe someone here can help me. I'm just using Open G and cannot
figure out how to make a Minor CHORD. Any Insight, Thank's Ed

Fret behind the bar. In open G, fret the 2nd string a half step behind the bar. If you are using the bar properly with a light touch, the fretted string will drop below the bar and sound the fretted note. Fretting behind the bar is a very useful technique for more than just making minor chords. Many other possibilities. Have fun.

[lpdeluxe]

Originally Posted by Gandydancers

Thank you for your answer. It clears it up. Ed

You're welcome.