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I already know that its good to set the action a bit high. I'm not a novice, but I'm not advance. I'm working on vibrato, but I've been doing so in standard tuning. I'm going to go to open E next.
Those of you who have experience playing slide, What tips would you give me?
I put cotton balls in the slide to take up the excess slack.
The slide will then feel more like a finger rather than wobbling at the end.
Old guy running a music store in downtown Pikeville, KY showed that trick and it made things a whole lot easier.
PS Open D capoed up two frets is a lot less tension on the neck. :ride
It depends on what sound you're going for. If you hoping to mats that jangly, joyfully sloppy, raw blues thing, clamp down and shake the crud out of it. It you want the kind of sweet, singing tone and excellent intonation that Lowell George and Bonnie Raitt mastered, you want a lot of transparent compression (Tone Press, Analongman Bi-Comp), a heavy slide and a very light touch on your slide hand. When you can slide straight into a note, nail it, and let it hang with no vibrato at all, you're there.
Thanks.
I want to do the kinds of things Bonnie Raitt thing to a degree though my absolute favorite slide player is George Harrison, and I want to be able to play his licks.
Same goes for George, although I hear less drive and compression in his tracks than Bonnie's.
Harrison is the most underrated slide player ever......Quote:
Originally Posted by ch willie
Not by me, brother. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by refin
Seriously, a guy who played with that sweet, light and completely original tone, who didn't play the blues (instead using slide to play melodies like a singer), who could play perfectly harmonized lines, who used his vibrato thoughtfully... I think he's one of the best ever.
He isn't the first person mentioned in a usual discussion about slide players. His slide melodies often break or gladden my heart.
I already play a bit of slide, just want to get much better. I want to go from where I am now to being able to pull of George, Jeff Beck, and of course Billy Gibbons.
Interesting: George played most of his slide work in standard tuning.
One of the more important aspects of smooth slide playing is effective muting of non-played strings. Find what works best for you.
Go down to your local hardware store, buy a couple feet of copper tubing
You can cut it to the length you like. Scruff it up with some 80 grit to give it some feel on the strings. Enjoy!
Cheap slides, sound better than the expensive ones, and they don't break.
Why open E next?
I'll work in standard tuning first. I've used E and D before and have played more in E than standard.
Thanks for all the tips.
heavier slide = easier sustain
Harder Slide = Brighter sound
Open G gives you licks right out of the box.
I think that the best thing you can do is sit down with an experienced slide player and learn some of the damping techniques. They are hard to explain in words but easy to demonstrate and will take your slide sound up a notch . One of the hardest things to get at first is a clean single note without the other strings joining in from movement of the slide.
A few more things: a lot of players starting out try to slide into every note (either up or down), but this is not necessary and even annoying. Sometimes a note is just a note. Finally, try to avoid a really rapid vibrato all the time - another common mistake with folks starting out. If you are using Bonnie Raitt as a model, you already know that. Her vibrato can be so slow and wide.
Yeah, Rick, I agree with that - unfortunately it also handcuffs you.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wilko
I know that Trucks uses open D and E (capo'ed at II) and he plays all over the map.
Darn, between this thread and the muy contentious Bonnie Raitt thread I feel the need to dust my broom. (Er, my slide chops).
I rarely use "tunings" other than standard when I play slide. I like to know the actual notes I'm playing.
Even when I'm doing my annual Rolling Stones night I use mostly standard. I'll drop the high "E" to a "D" and capo 4 frets for "Happy" but that's about it.
Open G is good for learning slide technique, but you're right--It's just one pentatonic box fest.
At the risk of being contentious for other reasons, the three treble strings in open G/A form a major triad and a lot of classic blues slide is actually kind of "sweet." Think of both "Crossroads" and "Come On In My Kitchen." While both use lots of of the pentatonic on the bass strings especially, both also emphasize the major triad in the treble. A lot of folks do use that tuning mostly for minor pentatonic but in order to do so, they deliberately have to avoid the major triad on the treble strings.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wilko
On paper, that seems like it would be the case, for sure.
Once you start to use it though, the patterns that form all the famous licks are built using the middle clump of strings and avoiding the major 3rd is sort of habit.
all those 5151 combos then the added color of the 35 pair. Sweet stuff, but can get trite real easy. Alternated picking makes it come alive for a few different moods.
Fun stuff either way.
So far my slide playing is limited to "Seven Nation Army" with the low E dropped way down to B (too cheap to get an octave pedal). And the slide licks in "Thickfreakness" by the Black Keys". I aim to take your all's suggestions and remedy the situation soon enough.
+1 on the importance of muting...esp muting behind the slide with your fretting hand. That way ou can up the gain and compression and keep the nastiness at bay.