Starting Out Slide Guitar

[adlankj]

Why is it so hard? I've been picking up for a few months now but I keep putting it down because it just sounds like total ***. I'm sure I'm muting all the strings I'm not playing, but it just sounds sloppy (and not in a good way) and terrible. I know, it takes time to get to a point where I like what I play, but damn. I figured by now I'd be better than the day I started. My goal is to sound like Derek Trucks, but I'd be happy to just not sound like sh*t at this point.

 

Any suggestions?

[cwness]

I have one guitar setup just for slide. I raise the string higher then I do on my

other guitars. If I play on one of the other guitar it doesn't sound good at all due

to the low string height. Also are you tuning to an open chord? Most of the slide

songs I play are in open E or G.

 

CW

[FirstMeasure]

Start Easy and work up to Hard.

 

It's easier to play slide on an Acoustic with High Action, an Electric would be alright, but they let you hear every bad note very clearly, acoustics are much more forgiving. A resonator like the Epiphone Biscuit would be perfect.

 

Experiment with Open Tunings and learn a couple Standard Slide Tunes like "Rollin' and Tumblin'", "Dust My Broom", or "Boot Hill".

 

After a while you can work up to an Electric with high action. Then, before you know it, the action on your regular player will feel just fine for slide. Billy Gibbons and Derek Trucks use low action and switch to finger style effortlessly. That's the Bar, IMO.

 

{EDIT} Transpose your own licks and riffs from Fingers to Slide. They're already in your Bag of Trick, might as well bring 'em along.

[milod]

In large part I'd agree with First Measure...

 

Here's a variation on starting simple and working up to difficult, too... tune to that open chord, then just play it with roughly a barre sort of technique.

 

Then mess with whatever you want to use for a slide.

 

I ain't done any real slide in years. Lost the old 1960s metal lipstick case that fit my left pinkie perfectly during a move in the '90s, and ain't played any slide since. Of course I was largely playing pretty old stuff at the time.

 

m

[rocketman]

I practiced Tush until my ears bled. You're right, it was much harder than I thought it would be. It's takes a lot of patience. I really think it's like learning a new instrument. The hardest part is to nail the notes down well because you have no room for error, unlike pushing your finger down anywhere between two frets.

[Rocky4]

Tune to an open G

 

DGDGBD

 

Remember, you play over the actual fret, not between. Work on the vibrato. It's frustrating because the physical link of your fingers on the fretboard is gone.

[Mr. Robot]

Takes years of practice. I have just changed the finger I use for the slide. Used to use my little finger, but now I use the second last one.

 

Lots of good advice here, here's mine:

 

Play slow. Dont try to play slide fast.

The finger immediately behind the slide is the key to good tone. Make sure it is well bedded in a barre acting as a damper across all six strings. Do that well and practice it, and your tone will hold out. Even a low slung electric can sound OK, although that first E string can be a bugger.

If using an electic. learn to play the slide by confining yourself to the first 7 frets, and avoid the lighter 1st E string until you are more proficient.

Always slide into notes. thats how the experts ensure they are on key.

[freak show]

Why is it so hard? I've been picking up for a few months now but I keep putting it down because it just sounds like total ***.

 

I know exactly how you feel.

 

I love the sound of slide guitar, but I can't get the hang of it.

 

My girlfriend actually complains when I get out my slide!

 

I'm hoping persistence will one day pay off...

[NeoConMan]

I know exactly how you feel.

I love the sound of slide guitar' date=' but I can't get the hang of it.

My girlfriend actually complains when I get out my slide!

I'm hoping persistence will one day pay off...[/quote']

Same here!

 

I first saw Foghat 20 years ago.

After seeing all that slide from an arm's length away I thought "How hard can it be?"

I mean, there's very little movement, and it looks like zero effort.

 

Tried it at home, sounded like I was skinning cats - amplified!

I figured it was because I didn't have an electric set up for it.

 

Years later I tried it again.

Even bought a cheapie Danelectro reissue like Page uses.

Bridge was bent to take the arc out of the strings - flattens 'em out across the neck.

 

I suck.

I don't even attempt it if the wife is home.

Learned to do a few slide leads minus the slide, and made 'em sound pretty good.

 

Wife got me a Gretsch lap steel from the fifties.

She thought it sounded cooler 'n hell.

I told her I had no idea what I was doing with the steel.

She said it sounded cool anyway.

It remains in its case...

 

 

 

I always loved the way slide sounds on a Dobro.

Jerry Douglas kicks ***.

Made me go back and start listening to some of those old Blues Cats.

[Rocky4]

Go with 4 strings, it's a lot easier. The one on the left was made for around $20.

 

[Riffster]

I tried and tried with poor results until Christmas when I sliced my left thumb with a blade right where itmakes contact with the fretboard, the cut was deep and took a while to heal in the meantime I wanted to play so I tried slide again and the funny thing is that the change of approach with my hurt thumb and playing slide for a month finally got me there.

 

I am no expert but I can play it with confidence and with normal action. It does take practice and playing with open tunings is a must if you are starting out.

 

The right slide for you matters, I use my ring finger and use two slides a Dunlop glass (short) and a Dunlop brass (curved). The curved slide helps a lot with buzzing sounds since it conforms more to the radius of the guitar.

 

Playing slide well and with a bit of distortion on your sound will turn heads. Songs like Led Zeppelin's in my Time of Dying or the White Stripes Seven Nation Army sounds awsome.

[FirstMeasure]

The right slide and right finger are definitely Key Points. I like my Pinkie, but sometimes I think I should have used my Middle Finger 'cause that would make quick power chords and finger licks easier, but when I started on it the Pinkie made the more sense, and it was very comfortable.

 

The right slide has a lot to do with weight, depending on your Finger Strength and String Size it should rest on the strings allowing them to sound true.

[jimmiJAMM]

Takes a while to get it but once you do, sweeeeet Georgia brown.... lookout!

 

Delta Blues gonna buy Papa a new pair-o-shoes.

[KL]

Here's what I think will really help: A good GLASS slide.

 

I use glass slides almost exclusively. OK glass is not for everyone, but I find it it works really well for me.

 

I use a quite thick glass slide. I have lots of them, one here on my table says Dunlop USA 215 on it. That is quite a good one. The glass is quite thick.

 

I like the lightweight nature of a glass slide. It gives me more control.

 

I also feel that the glass on string has slightly more friction than metal and this allows me to be accurate. (This is all my subjective opinion).

 

I also prefer the sound of a glass slide.

 

Find one that fits your finger well.

 

Experiment with different fingers. I use my ring finger most of all. Some use their little finger. (Any finger can be used, but the ring finger works well for me).

 

Experiment with different sizes of slide. Sometimes I use a smaller one when I need to use my other fingers.

 

Using your ring finger you can learn to use the index and middle fingers to dampen the strings behind the slide and also the little finger to dampen strings when required in front of the slide. Damping is important as it cuts out extraneous noise from other strings your slide is in contact with.

 

Open tunings are useful but you can play some good parts in standard tuning.

 

I like open D.

 

I do not have a guitar set up with a high action specifically for slide at present. It is certainly good to start with one if you can. After a while you will be able to work with a normal action as long as you don't have really light strings on.

 

I mainly play electric slide. I also play 12 string slide, particularly the paired plain E and B strings. I love the sound of this and have used it quite a lot. You get a lot of stability playing on paired strings and you don't see too many people playing slide on 12 string guitars.

 

I don't know if any of this helps. It's just a few points that I have found helpful in my slide playing.

 

Keep at it and have a lot of fun.

[KL]

Oh and one more thing. If you decide to go for a glass slide, and you find one you like always buy two or three of them as they DO break if you drop them on a hard surface!!!

[FirstMeasure]

I mainly play electric slide. I also play 12 string slide' date=' particularly the paired plain E and B strings. I love the sound of this and have used it on a couple of albums. You get a lot of stability playing on paired strings and you don't see too many people playing slide on 12 string guitars.

[/quote']

 

Got a little Blind Willie MacTell goin' on there. Every time I hear 12 String Blues I think of MacTell, Love That Stuff!!

[FirstMeasure]

Oh and one more thing. If you decide to go for a glass slide' date=' and you find one you like always buy two or three of them as they DO break if you drop them on a hard surface!!! [/quote']

Same goes for Porcelain.

 

[KL]

Same goes for Porcelain.

 

 

Yep!!

[crazyhair]

Arlan Roth on Gibson Guitar lessons has a couple lessons dedicated to slide.

[milod]

Way back in the day I played a lotta slide blues.

 

Back in those days one could rip off a metal lipstick case from a mom or sis or girlfriend - whatever - and find one that would fit one's playing hand pinkie. I liked the open tuning that was pretty much the same chording a one would do with a G-tuned banjo. Then I could chord or slide or yes...

 

Here's another one to try, though.

 

Don't bother with the slide.

 

Use a finger for some or all of the stuff you wanna play.

 

That puts you into perspective on the fingerboard.

 

Then when you go to mess with the slide, you've already got the moves and concept.

 

m

[bloom59]

I have been working on slide for a few months now, and I too suck pretty bad. Two things that I did that ended up helping me was raise the action(which has already been said), and put a set of 11's instead of 10's on the electric. Stayed with 12's on the acoustic.

 

I had one of those Dunlop glass slides that was supposed to replicate the old Coricidin medicine bottles from back in the day. It has a little 'lip' where the slide narrows that I kept getting caught on the high E string. Went to an open-ended glass slide with no lip and that also helped.

 

And to repeat others, use open tunings. I think Trucks plays in open E, but that can put some strain on the neck going back and forth between that and standard. Open G is about as painless as it gets IMO. The licks from 'In My Time of Dying' are actually pretty simple, plus it's a great song. Muddy Waters and R.L Burnside have a ton of cool slide stuff. Have fun, even if you have to do it when nobody's around!

[jimmiJAMM]

I use a Dunlop Brass Guitar Slide. works great and it's basically indestructible.