Slide damping technique

[Plugger]

I'm trying to improve my slide chops.

I've always played with a pick, with the slide on the pinky on the left hand, and using the fingers behind the slide for damping.

This damping technique is pretty much all or nothing; you dampen all strings by lifting the slide off the strings or none.

I was recently trying to use finger picking rather than a plectrum to get more individual string control for damping. I've only just started doing this, and I like the extra control, makes some things easier and more reliable, but I'm finding the tone and volume suffers compared to using a plectrum. I'm just using bare fingers, not fingerpicks. I'm playing on an electric, not an acoustic.

Any thoughts from advanced sliders?

WWDTD (What would Derek Trucks do? )

-Mark

[Don]

What Derek Trucks does (image from Les Paul Forum member)-

[Plugger]

Thanks, Don. It was sort of a rhetorical question, but the close-up is cool anyway!

At the very least I may start wearing the slide on the ring finger... I wonder if the pinky is also being used for damping in front of the slide?

-Mark

[elicross]

It looks like one key to playing like Derek Trucks is having freakishly long thumbs.

[cooltone]

Derek Trucks takes the right hand muting a step further by using individual fingers on his right hand to selectively mute certain strings. I've never seen him use a pick.
Sonny Landreth uses the slide on his pinky and is able to fret notes in front of the slide with his other 3 fingers. He probably only slightly dampens with his right palm as the notes from the slide ring out only when he wants them to.

They're both freaks!!

[Plugger]

Impressive playing, Fezz. Great feel on both pieces (quite independently of technical issues.) That's also something I'll have to work on...

But to technical issues: Are you only plucking with the fingers your right hand on both tracks? Do you damp/mute with those fingers as well? Can you explain how you are muting with the pinky on your left hand? Individual strings or all strings?

Derek Trucks takes the right hand muting a step further by using individual fingers on his right hand to selectively mute certain strings. I've never seen him use a pick.

Yeah, this individual string muting is what I've been playing around with. It actually makes many things a lot easier to do cleanly. But I like to have a pick for rhythm playing, e.g. if I'm playing "Motherless Children" (Clapton version), for the verses I'll play a shuffle rhythm with pick while singing, and then play the slide figure in between the sung verses.

The problem at the moment is sound production and balance... if I play with fingers on the slide figure, I find the volume is too low. If I turn things up, the guitar's too loud for picking...

Hmmm. Maybe I should experiment with some fingerpicks. Anyone using fingerpicks for slide?

-Mark

[Mesotech]

You could try using a compressor to even out the dynamics a bit.

[ragtweed]

Use open tunings for slide.

[bonefish]

what i've been able to discern after years of attempting and failing to be a slide player is that it's a combination of left and right hand muting, no matter what finner you put your slide on, compression is your friend at lower volumes, but gain is your friend if you've got a great tube amp and the room to play it in, and your monitor and/or the sound guy is your bestest friend.