Results 1 to 21 of 21

Thread: tips for slide

  1. #1
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Tennessee
    Posts
    8,163

    tips for slide

    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?
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  2. #2
    Forum Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Posts
    650

    Re: tips for slide

    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.

  3. #3
    Gravity Jim
    Guest

    Re: tips for slide

    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.

  4. #4
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Tennessee
    Posts
    8,163

    Re: tips for slide

    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.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  5. #5
    Gravity Jim
    Guest

    Re: tips for slide

    Same goes for George, although I hear less drive and compression in his tracks than Bonnie's.

  6. #6
    Forum Member refin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Posts
    4,753

    Re: tips for slide

    Quote Originally Posted by ch willie View Post
    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.
    Harrison is the most underrated slide player ever......
    "My flesh and my heart fail...but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."
    PS. 73:26

    MY JAMS--
    http://www.soundclick.com/bands/defa...&content=music

  7. #7
    Gravity Jim
    Guest

    Re: tips for slide

    Quote Originally Posted by refin View Post
    Harrison is the most underrated slide player ever......
    Not by me, brother. :)

    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.

  8. #8
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Tennessee
    Posts
    8,163

    Re: tips for slide

    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.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  9. #9
    Forum Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Posts
    167

    Re: tips for slide

    One of the more important aspects of smooth slide playing is effective muting of non-played strings. Find what works best for you.

  10. #10
    Forum Member Offshore Angler's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    New York Finger Lakes Area
    Posts
    8,462

    Re: tips for slide

    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.
    "No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim

  11. #11
    Forum Member Wilko's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    San Diego, CA
    Posts
    5,105

    Re: tips for slide

    Why open E next?

  12. #12
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Tennessee
    Posts
    8,163

    Re: tips for slide

    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.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  13. #13
    Forum Member Wilko's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    San Diego, CA
    Posts
    5,105

    Re: tips for slide

    heavier slide = easier sustain

    Harder Slide = Brighter sound

    Open G gives you licks right out of the box.

  14. #14
    Forum Member Doc W's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    1,248

    Re: tips for slide

    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.
    "The beauty and profundity of God is more real than any mere calculation."

  15. #15
    Forum Member Rickenjangle's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Rochester, NY
    Posts
    6,131

    Re: tips for slide

    Quote Originally Posted by Wilko View Post
    Open G gives you licks right out of the box.
    Yeah, Rick, I agree with that - unfortunately it also handcuffs you.

    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'm gonna find myself a girl
    that can show me what laughter means
    And we'll fill in the missing colors
    In each other's paint-by-number dreams..."

  16. #16
    Forum Member Wilko's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    San Diego, CA
    Posts
    5,105

    Re: tips for slide

    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.

  17. #17
    Forum Member Doc W's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    1,248

    Re: tips for slide

    Quote Originally Posted by Wilko View Post
    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.
    "The beauty and profundity of God is more real than any mere calculation."

  18. #18
    Forum Member Wilko's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    San Diego, CA
    Posts
    5,105

    Re: tips for slide

    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.

  19. #19
    Forum Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Statesboro, Georgia
    Posts
    1,168

    Re: tips for slide

    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.
    Got them Statesboro Blues

  20. #20
    Forum Member dirtdog's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    The Deep North
    Posts
    2,346

    Re: tips for slide

    +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.

  21. #21

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •