Playing Slide

I've heard people say that the key to slide is not to just go from note to note as in with normal guitar, it's to slide from note to note and add vibrato, if you don't use vibrato even if you're slightly off it will sound bad. Other then that, I don't know what to tell you, I've been working on some slide myself and other then some chord work with open tuning, i've had little progress... it is really tough.

I found a how to play slide cd by Brian robertson that was very good, it was of the old mp3.com you can find his web site by puting in his name in a google search. the first cd out of his 2 was a free download at the time.

he uses open g or d tuning ( g is easy to tune to )

always wear the slide on the pinky, this leaves 3 fingers to do chords and play riffs

deaden the strings with the other fingers behind the slide (the strings between the slide and the nut)

always wiggle the slide when you stop and play at one position( it sounds out of tune if you don't)

do not use a pick,(for delta, acoustic playing) i had a hard time with that one but it sounds better if you finger pick it :D

listen to some slide players! in my time of dying is a good one for electric slide (in open g but i think Page used a capo)
check out micheal j hartmans web site, he plays traditional delta slide and i think he has some mp3s you can download, probally some stuff on sound click too.

hope this gets you started---the dog

heavy gage strings work better as well as a bit higher action. I have a cheap acoustic i got for $99, i put a pickup on it and it works great. page used a crapy old danelectro for in my time of dying, point is cheap guitars are made for this kind of music :lol: :lol:

Also, you might want to have a guitar dedicated solely to slide. You can jack up the action and string guage on it, ect...

I heard somewhere that too much slide playing wil bow your guitar's neck. Is this true?

It won't hurt the neck as long as you use proper open tuning. For example for a open G tuning you would tune your 1st, 6th string down to D and the 5th (a string) down to G. So you would have less tension on the neck. Some players will tune up higher and that may cause problems.
8) 8)
On strats or other guitars with trems, whamey bars, ect you may ruin the intonation buy re tuning to different open tunings , but on hard tails I havent had a problem. :D --the dog

The newest Guitar Player has a slide hints article by Sonny Landreth -- can't think of a better source than Sonny for this info.

The big road blues website has a section on slide guitar that's pretty useful, I can't remember the address but you can google it.

If I remember correctly it is useful to use a guitar with a high action, that's about all I know though.

Big Road Blues is one of Brian Robertsons web sites 8) 8)

How do you deaden the strings between the slide and the nut if the slide is on your pinky? What fingers do you use?

Index, middle or ring fingers.

'Dampen' or 'damp' might be a better word than 'deaden'.

Oh wait, I think I know what you're talking about cnev...

I believe that the 'proper' way, if there really is a proper way, is to use the slide on your pinky. But for the few times that I play slide, I put it on my middle (the bird) finger and use my index to dampen or deaden the notes behind it. That's just comfortable for me and I've seen one or two others do it that way. Just go with what feels good to you, that's what I always say.

Well, maybe not always, but usually! :lol: