Welcome to all the new members!

Hi, Mike! Until somebody comes up with some more good intro lessons, I'll point you here to start: http://bigroadblues.com/slide/index.html

Doc Mojo's slide guitar lesson CDs seem to be presently unavailalbe, but some of his free stuff's still online there.

Thanks John but, I like to stay within this site.

Well, we need volunteers to write some good slide lesson articles to post here!

I agree...........

But, for the mean time, can someone come up with a quick little ditty that I can mess around with so I can get a "feeling" for the slide method?

O.K., you say you tune to Eb- do you mean the same as "standard", but a half-step down all across the board? (Eb-Ab-Db-Gb-Bb-Eb, low-to-high)

Or do you mean Open-Eb? (Eb-Bb-Eb-G-Bb-Eb, low-to-high)

If you're trying to play slide on an electric with "normal" action, relief, and strings, you may very likely get much better results with a lighter slide than a steel Craftsman socket; too heavy a slide will make it difficult to play without crashing into the frets, strings buzzing against the frets, etc.

Try a glass or ceramic one, or even one of the "medicine bottle" varieties. Those Pyrex slides that several companies offer are excellent and versatile and sound great.

Fretting behind the slide simply entails fretting a string behind where the slide is, so that it pulls down away from the bottom of the slide and the note's pitch is determined by where it's fretted, instead of the slide's position. Played along with other notes held by the slide so that chords or intervals can be played that cannot with just the slide.

Open G is a great place to start....Vigilante Man, Little Red Rooster, In My Time of Dying, No Expectations....

Just tune bottom E down to D, A string down to G, and top E down to D...

The big advantage of this tuning is that the D G & B strings don't change....so you can play partial chords on those, Brown Sugar can be played using just those 3 strings....and that sax solo sounds pretty good on slide....

:D :D :D

Vic

Has anybody got anything on using fingers behind the slide to play partial chords - getting the strings fretted and sounding beneath the slide itself?

A :-)

The main ones would be minor chords and sevenths. Since Open G's been mentioned, look at it. From low to high, it's DGDGBD. The Gs on the third and fifth strings are the root note of the G major chord, and those strings are the root of the major chord you get when you barre across any fret. The first, fourth and sixth strings are tuned to the fifth, and the second string to the third. So, for a minor chord anywhere besides the open or first fret position, if you barre the strings with a slide (the slide goes right over the fret, not in the space), hold down the second string one fret behind the slide and you'll get a minor chord. (Hold it down two frets back, and you'll get a sus2, in case you ever want one.) Hold down the first string two frets behind the slide, and you get a seventh. Easy! If you're not sliding with your pinky, you can fret out in front of the slide. Fret that second string one fret in front of the slide for a sus4. If you're feeling jazzy, it's possible to make augmented and sixth chords by fretting a fifth one or two frets ahead of the slide. (Might have to move your slide over to the middle finger to do that.)

Talking about commonalities between Open G and standard, you can play Freebird entirely on the 2nd-4th strings, so it's the same in either tuning if you're a good string muter.

"...So, for a minor chord anywhere besides the open or first fret position, if you barre the strings with a slide (the slide goes right over the fret, not in the space), hold down the second string one fret behind the slide and you'll get a minor chord. (Hold it down two frets back, and you'll get a sus2, in case you ever want one.) Hold down the first string two frets behind the slide, and you get a seventh. Easy!"
Excellent lesson!

You can also use that sus2 anywhere that a sus9 or added9 would be called for. The 9th is the same note as the 2nd, just an octave up.

Throw in that 7th on the 1st-string, as well, and it's a full-blown 9th-chord. Feelin' funky or greasey-bluesy?

If you're not sliding with your pinky, you can fret out in front of the slide. Fret that second string one fret in front of the slide for a sus4. If you're feeling jazzy, it's possible to make augmented and sixth chords by fretting a fifth one or two frets ahead of the slide. (Might have to move your slide over to the middle finger to do that.)
I haven't tried much of that, but I will now. I have occasionally done similar things fretting with a picking-hand finger, usually the index.

Talking about commonalities between Open G and standard, you can play Freebird entirely on the 2nd-4th strings, so it's the same in either tuning if you're a good string muter.
And you can also find some of the same relationships in Open-D, just moved over to the bass-side of the neck by one string. For that matter, I love how you can relate a lot of things from Open-G to Open-D, and vice-verse, that way.

I started an open G lesson for beginners, but with my wrist it's slow going typing and recording examples. should have it ready to submit in about a week

O.K., you say you tune to Eb- do you mean the same as "standard", but a half-step down all across the board? (Eb-Ab-Db-Gb-Bb-Eb, low-to-high)

Yes, that is what I mean. I'm using it (socket) on my acoustic right now.

I'd like to get into other tunings but, I want to wait till I get another guitar for that.

So, any quick little licks I can start messing with.

P.S. Thanks for clearing up the "fretting behide the slide" issue. I thought I was missing something, thanks!

First, I know NOTHING about theory, so I usually can't tell you what chords I'm playing or what key I'm in. Second, I mainly play a mutant form of blues. Those two things affect my approach to slide a great deal.

I have always found that Open D and Open G tunings are the "standard" tunings for slide, with all the other variants being specialties, kind of like special effects that work really well for one song, but just aren't used that often. The advantage of the Open tuning is that once you get the basic feel for them you pretty much know where to go for whatever sound you want next. (If you are really up on theory, this might not be a problem.)

As for lessons, I don't know what style music you play, but the "Bottleneck Blues Guitar" instructional video by Stefan Grossman is pretty affordable and will have you playing some cool slide in no time.

The more expansive, and expensive, lessons by Bob Brozeman goes much further into the technique of playing slide (and there is a lot of subtle technique involved) but doesn't teach as many "songs."

Basically, if you know how to get proper tone and vibrato and do a bit of muting, put your guitar in either open D or open G and move around between open strings, third, fifth, seventh and twelth frets.

Also, if you are doing finger picking, work on the alternating bass--either sixth and fifth or sixth and fourth strings, depending largely on the tuning--while you move the slide around.

In blues, probably the most basic song is "You've Got to Move" by Fred McDowell (and the Rolling Stones and dozens of other covers). This basic pattern is used for a great many songs.

Hope this helps.

In blues, probably the most basic song is "You've Got to Move" by Fred McDowell (and the Rolling Stones and dozens of other covers). This basic pattern is used for a great many songs. The same basic tune is "Sitting On Top of the World," "It Hurts Me, Too," "Come On In My Kitchen," and others. "How Long" is a variation. If you learn a few basic tunes and riffs, you can play lots of blues!