LAPetrarca Posted August 23, 2001 Share Posted August 23, 2001 After playing bass for 35 years, I'm trying something new. Been teaching myselfto play a six string for about three months now and am falling in love with music all over again! Out of curiosity, I picked up a bottle-neck slide. Can anybody give me any tips on learning how to use it? TIA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Flier Posted August 23, 2001 Share Posted August 23, 2001 Well lessee... slides sound best and are easiest to play on a guitar with heavier strings and with the action set higher than a guitar you'd normally play sans slide. That said, I don't do this myself. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif It's not impossible to play slide with light strings and low action, it's just tougher to get the right tone. You have to be very gentle with it. Make sure the slide is "straight and level" with respect to the fretboard. Muting the strings that you don't want to hear, with either your left or right hand, makes a huge difference. I usually mute with my left hand BEHIND the slide, which cuts out a lot of unwanted overtones. Many of the classic blues slide tracks you hear are played with open tunings. Tuning the guitar to open G, E or D are the most common ones. Have fun and congrats on your new endeavor! --Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin O Posted August 23, 2001 Share Posted August 23, 2001 You may already know this but another guideline is - position the slide above the fret wire not inbetween fret wires. For example to play a note on the 12th fret the slide should be where you would hit the 12th fret harmonic (bass players do that too right? http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/wink.gif ala The Fish by Yes). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAPetrarca Posted August 23, 2001 Author Share Posted August 23, 2001 Thanks to all for the speedy response! No I didn't know that and yes, bass player do that! Looks like I'll have to add yet another axe to the collection for slide work. Boy, the wife's gonna' love this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suck knob Posted August 24, 2001 Share Posted August 24, 2001 Or you could pick up a used lap steel on ebay for $200-$300 bucks. Many of them have a tone that absolutely kills. You won't have to mess with the action on your guitar. Plus it's much easier to do cool sounding slanted bar chords. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strat0124 Posted August 24, 2001 Share Posted August 24, 2001 I'd suggest learning the basic chords in a given tuning and incorporate your slide with it....very Ry Cooder-ish. I like a heavy glass Dunlop slide, seems to perform better. It's difficult but not impossible to do slants on slide a'la' dobro or lap steel, so those chords learned in a tuning will help alot.My biggest suggestion would be to get alot of recordings of slide players you like and try to emulate that. Theres alot of standard licks you hear almost everybody use, and you can make up a few of your own in the process. Just don't be afraid to use the slide, let that sucker roar. You'll find your tone eventually... Down like a dollar comin up against a yen, doin pretty good for the shape I'm in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted August 24, 2001 Share Posted August 24, 2001 BA BADA DA BUMP...(thump thump) BA BADA DA BUMP...(thump thump) "Well, I woke up this mo'nin..." We be callin' you Blind Willie Mojo Bone in no time a'tall... http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gifhttp://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gifhttp://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.island.net/~blues/whitt1.jpg This message has been edited by Tedster on 08-24-2001 at 02:03 PM "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAPetrarca Posted August 24, 2001 Author Share Posted August 24, 2001 Man! You guys are awesome! I've considered a lap steel but, I'm leaning towards a cheap acoustic to get started experimenting with, then, moving to a dobro. I've got a friend who's quite a good dobro player and I was going to ask him to give me a few tips too. Keep 'em coming! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Posted August 26, 2001 Share Posted August 26, 2001 For God's sake man! Buy some George Harrison recordings! -David http://www.garageband.com/artist/MichaelangelosMuse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 Yep, George Harrison is perhaps THE most underrated slide player around. He's got such a cool style, in that most people who pick up a slide immediately go to the blues. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but, Harrison has such a melodic approach...unlike anything else. I'd bet any money that after Harrison's gone (and according to rumors, that may not be far off http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/frown.gif )...that tons of guitar players are going to whack themselves on the foreheads and say "Why didn't we pay attention to this guy while he was here?" And the answer may well be that Harrison has always downplayed his guitar playing relative to his songwriting, so his slide stuff is sort of like those orchestral parts that make a lot of songs, you just tend to not notice them, but rather listen to the song as a whole. "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAPetrarca Posted August 27, 2001 Author Share Posted August 27, 2001 Originally posted by DC: For God's sake man! Buy some George Harrison recordings! Thanks for the heads up! That one NEVER crossed my mind! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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