Why does it work?

Having never played slide with the exception of an occasional beer bottle I would like to know that myself. My guess however has always been that it is the sliding that makes the tone not the actual stopping.

When you fret a note, it's not finger pressure that makes the sound - it's the fret wire. A common mistake in fretting is pressing too hard; you only need enough pressure so the string doesn't buzz - which happens when the vibration forces the string to 'jump' off the fret.

With a slide, it's not gonna jump. Or rather, it'll jump towards the slide instead of away from it. String tension actually makes the string want to move into the slide - think about how a string wants to return to the unfretted position when you let up finger pressure, and you can probably envision what I mean. It's possible to get a buzz from a slide with an extremely light touch, but otherwise the physics of string tension means you don't need to press very hard.

Yeah, the slide works because of its hard, unyielding surface. Doesn't absorb the vibrational energy of the string like the soft flesh of your fingertip does.

A slide is hard and has significant mass. As long as the string is pressed against it with enough pressure to stay in place while vibrating, it will not (as Ricochet says) absorb energy, but essentially reflect most of the energy the string tried to impart to it right back into the string -- very much as a mirror reflects light.

Good analogy.

The slide works just like a metal fret except from the top of the string instead of from underneath, and it is a moveable fret, or sliding fret.

This is why you get exactly the same note by placing the slide exacly above the metal fret on the fretboard, it is an upside down fret and stops the string from vibrating beyond the same place that the fret on the fretboard would stop it. However, this fret moves and can slide anywhere on the strings, even beyond the fretboard.

You put the slide exactly above the fret to get the proper note, and not in-between frets where you would place your fingers on the fretboard.

In effect, using a slide is like playing a fretless guitar with a moving fret on your finger, or a bar in your hand if you are playing lapstyle. All you have to do is know where to start and stop the slide to get the notes or chords you want and the fretboard gives you all the markers.

It takes some getting used to, (familiarization), and it is not as simple as it may first appear, but do not be discouraged because once you learn a few basic simple techniques it gets easier and fun, and from there onward you just practice as much as you can and learn more stuff and get good at it.

Some lessons on basic slide techniques are very important and you can find some on the web or if you can afford it you can purchase some instructional materials and even DVD's

Of course you have a full range of notes and pitches from the nut to the bridge with this moveable fret called a slide. It certainly extends the capabilities of a guitar and plus you have alot of alternate tunings such as open chord tunings that make the slide very interesting and fun.

I also must say you have to work at it to get reasonably good.

There is alot of room for good slide players, there aren't that many around in my opinion.

I am just a novice myself but I intend to get very good at it.

I am very tired when I wrote this. I hope it helped answer the questions

you have discovered the properties of slide.
I am amazed how sensitive my slide is. it's not a tight grip in my hands. it's a light hold.
what makes my slide work is the mass; it's heavy. it dents the floor when I drop it.
yet, I am able to hold it lightly. I allow the slide to dance and caress the strings. tones ooze out if you let the slide do the hard work.

each kind of slide emits a certain quality.

Hey Phangeaux, good to see you here!

a bit late but forgot to thank you guys. Quite glad this riddle was solved.

phangeaux: It definitely takes a bunch of time. But that's ok, I don't need to be the best tomorrow. Next week will do fine... :P

Hey Phangeaux, good to see you here!

Thank you very much Ricochet, I have seen you all over the place on forums, with alot of helpful posts and good advice. I have been planning to send a personal email about some stuff. I may get to that today.

Hello Dogbite :-) You are also very much appreciated.

As for me, I haved ecided that making music and writing/composing is all I want to do for the rest of my days. I LOVE it! I do in fact devote essentially all of my time to this, although I spend too much time on the internet and not enough time practicing, but my plan and objective is to get really good by next summer.

Between now and then I will be putting some of my work up on the web to share with all of the wonderful people who have been so helpful in these web forums. (When I get suitable recording hardware). This has been such a great experience and I feel indebted to all. The best way for me to show that appreciation is to put up some good original stuff for everyone. We will see :lol:

Thanks to ALL. EVERYONE is appreciated no matter what skill level or interest

I spend too much time on the internet and not enough time practicingThere's a lot of that going around.

a bit late but forgot to thank you guys. Quite glad this riddle was solved.

phangeaux: It definitely takes a bunch of time. But that's ok, I don't need to be the best tomorrow. Next week will do fine... :P

Arjen, Holy Smokes, I just saw your post count! Also that you are from Holland!!!

I would LOVE to go to Amsterdam and just play all day in the parks and on the streets. I think Amsterdam must be one of the best cities in the world to hang out for awhile and play some music. Maybe I will see you there in a few years. It will take that long before I can come to Holland

As you could see from a previous post, I have set a schedule to be quite good by next summer. My objective is to write and compose rather than performing, and a current medical disability is the reason. I think that a performing routine would be a bit much for me to handle right now, although when I do get good enough I may do a few gigs, or sit in on some.

I am about ready to pretty much set aside the internet and focus entirely on studying/learning and playing. Aren't I fortunate to have that luxury? No work schedule due to the current disability situation. However I think that I have earned this opportunity, thank heavens.

I have been thinking about adding this quote to my signature, it is my own saying and is very appropriate to me:

"Obsesssion with music is such a sweet insanity"

This is essentially all that I think about every day. I even dream about it and wake up thinking about it. Now all I need to do is learn how to play, LOL

Take care, Arjen, and I hope to see you playing in Holland when I get there :lol:

you have discovered the properties of slide.
I am amazed how sensitive my slide is. it's not a tight grip in my hands. it's a light hold.
what makes my slide work is the mass; it's heavy. it dents the floor when I drop it.
yet, I am able to hold it lightly. I allow the slide to dance and caress the strings. tones ooze out if you let the slide do the hard work.

each kind of slide emits a certain quality.

Yo, Dogbite! I must say that I always enjoy seeing your posts.

I started with a commercial glass slide on my Continental style 2 Tricone which still has the same medium guage strings and fairly low action which is where I asked for it to be set up when I bought it a few years ago. I don't recall what kind of strings they are but they have held up very well and this tricone stays in tune so well.

I have come to prefer the commercial brass slide that I am using (Dunlop) but it is too thin. I am ready to change to some much heavier strings and a heavier slide because I like to pick very hard sometimes as part of the emotional input, I tend to want to put a whole lot of power into some of the notes, and this could be a signature style for me, we will see.

I have some heavy thick wall stainless steel slides that I made, but I need to modify the lengths a little bit and cut some new ones. I won't be trying those until I get some heavier strings.

I would also like to get a heavey brass slide. Yes you are right, different slides reult in different sound qualities and allow for some different playing techniques, although these differences may seem very subtle at first I have come to notice the differences more clearly.

Thanks for your input, Dogbite. Winter is coming in Minnesota, the land of 2 seasons (Winter is Coming and Winter is Leaving, LOL) so you may be hibernating and playing more :-) Actually the Spring, Summer and Autumn seasons are beautiful there, although a bit short.

Minneapolis, Minnesota is right up there among the top of my favorite cities in the USA, great multi-cultural atmosphere, nice people and I especially appreciated the Native American culture when I lived there. Minnepolis/St. Paul is a regional hub for Native American culture because of the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Fort Snelling, which serves a 5 State area.

I need to go and get some heavy guage strings for my Tricone which I have been playing alot lately. The more I play this one, the more I like it!

Take care, and when I get back to that local area, which is inevitable, I will give you a buzz and we can have coffee up the street.

BTW, early yesterday am I was listening to some traditional and contemporary Native American music on the radio. The quality of recording in traditional Native American music has greatly increased. This is a huge cultural jump for most people, but being familiar with it myself, I have become attuned to the depths of emotion and expression in Native American traditional music.

Later, I was listing to Arabic stringed instruments and singing and that was also very interesting and very expressive.

I can relate both of these areas of music closely to Blues, which is what I am really into.

Best to you, Dogbite, catch ya later

I spend too much time on the internet and not enough time practicingThere's a lot of that going around.

LOL, Ricochet

Ordinarily I would not submit a 'Me Too' post, but for me this is an important issue that deserves comment. Relating to my experience it can all be simply summarized as follows. Let's just use the music frame of reference for example.

There is a point were engaging on the internet becomes counter productive. For example, I have been on here 3 hours already.

My tricone is right here next to me and I have an extraordinary amount of resources that I can work on right now. Should I be doing that instead of writing this post? Of course, I probably should and that is what I will be doing after I post a new topic on Paul Black, slide guitar with a great resource I found, which is actually productive time to post that.

I have to learn when to draw a line on productive use of my time because over the years I have become addicted to the internet. My situation is different than most, I develpped the habit of long hours on the internet during a time of medical disability where I didn't go out much at all. It is not an easy habit to correct.

Best to you, Ricochet, look for my post on Paul Black, and it will be here in 'Slide and Alternate Tunings'