Silenced Fred Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I recently started messing around with using a chapstick container as a slide and realized... I love it! Just bought a brass slide and I like how it sounds Anyone else like playing slide? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAS44 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I just kinda play around with it..... because I suck at it so much. Its fun to just fool around with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Oh man, do I ever feel your pain. I started playing with some guys recently who keep suggesting songs off of Allmann Brothers records... "Done Somebody Wrong", "One Way Out"... I'm having to do some serious wood shedding on the slide to handle those Duane licks. I've always wanted to learn that stuff, but now the pressure is on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenced Fred Posted September 22, 2009 Author Share Posted September 22, 2009 Oh I suck at it, I just love it It's fun to do, and I like the way it sounds, made up a couple of riffs with it But the Allman Bros. are just flat out amazing It is a great way to get a different sound and play with stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Surprisingly, I am finding it not as complex as I thought it would be. Most of the licks are quite simple once you have the right tuning (open E chord for the Duane Allmann stuff). However, it requires a lot of restraint and subtlety - not things I am good at personally. Finger muting really cleans things up too - you don't want those extra notes ringing out all the time. That guy had such a touch... We are also doing some ZZ Top, and his slide playing is a lot more reckless -which I personally find easier than the restraint Duane had. Billy G just lets the overtones fly. So you might try playing slide over "Just Got Paid" (also open E, btw). Anyway, I remember reading somewhere that when Duane first started using the slide, his band mates practically begged him to ditch it because it sounded like cats fighting. He persevered though, and it came together (quite brilliantly in fact). So keep at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenced Fred Posted September 22, 2009 Author Share Posted September 22, 2009 Oh, I am not even thinking about stopping too much fun I have already played for about an hour and a half tonight alone "Did we give up when the German's bombed Pearl Harbor?" Anyone? Animal House? great movie:d/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHO Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 I've played a bit of slide here and there, and I intend to get good at it at some point. Right now other stuff is distracting me from it though. If you haven't noticed, Arlen Roth has a whole bunch of lessons teaching slide in various tunings right here at Gibson.com. They're pretty good, even if you just watch them for some inspiration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 I mess with slide now and then and only as an accent to waht I am playing, open tunning is almost a must. The "play on the fret" thing messed me up for a while since I play in stadnard tunning. I would love a brass slide but like surfpup sublety is not my forte, too much weight to be precise. My first slide was a Gibson Chromed Slide and it is too heavy, then I bought a glass slide but it is thin and bigger, finally I ended up with a Small Dunlop Heavy Glass and that's the slide for me. If I ever buy a Dobro (which my wife insisst I do) I may buy a brass slide for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwness Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 I've been playing slide since I was knee high to a grasshopper. My guitar mentor got me into it with Savoy Brown, ZZTop, and Foghat. I always have a guitar open tuned. Stiffhand I also use the heavy glass Dunlop. We were doing Just Got Paid back before anyone knew who ZZ were. Savoy Brown and Foghat also had some great Slide tunes. I never use a pick for slide just finger pick. CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstMeasure Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Slide is such a great tool. It's all about Accuracy with the slide. Land it directly above the Fret, that's the first "Secret". Don't push too hard on the strings and keep your wrist loose. The hard part is Dampening the strings. Suddenly the fingers on your right hand have a new job to do. they have to "rest" on the strings your not using. Then there's the Slide hand. "Rest" a finger Behind the slide (the Nut Side of the slide) so you don't get the extra Ringing sounds from the strings behind the slide. Open tunings are Best if the song has a lot of slide in it, but not necessary if you just want to bust out a quick slide lead in a song. ZZ Top and Allman Brothers are good slide examples, but if you want to dig a little deeper into slide technique, check out Joe Walsh (Eagles too), Eric Clapton 461 Ocean BLVD (Tele Slide Tones), any Ry Cooder, Johhny Winter, and of course old blues guys like Elmore James, Blind Willie MacTell, Lighting Hopkins, Muddy waters, and Leadbelly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 I play with the slide sometimes too. I bought a Dunlop steel slide and cut it in half. That way it only covers about two strings at a time and if I practice right, I can use the finger to fret normally also. I'm far from great at it though. Like Surfpup says, it's a lot better with open tuning but I'm usually too lazy to do that so I try in standard tuning and it sounds even worse. It's too easy to hit "off" notes in standard. When our band plays Allman Bros or other slide songs (like Thing Called Love) I just use a bending technique to imitate a slide. When playing live, you either play good slide or you sound like crap. There's no in between! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Here is another great technique to play simulated slide on a Stratocaster with a Tremolo. http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Play-Simulated-Slide-Guitar-Using-the-Tremolo-Bar-68806588 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenced Fred Posted September 23, 2009 Author Share Posted September 23, 2009 Thanks everyone It is just purely fun for me right now and I need to work on it a lot Everyone thinks it is simple because "you only play with one finger" but they have obviously never played it is hard! I think I might have to pick up a glass one too if my budget allows Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvhbngh Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 It was fun to just mess around with it, til' I lost it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeBudfrumHull_SG Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 I've got a slide but I rarely used it because as the previous posts said, it sounds alot better on a guitar that is tuned to an open chord (usually E) ... so now I know what to do with my old Vantage guitar ! Keep the standard tuning on my SG, and tune the Vantage to open E. That way I'll always have an axe ready to practice playing slide on. Lots of great playing suggestions in this post too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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