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#1
10-05-2014, 06:39 AM
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best resources for learning slide
I can't lie I've always loved the sound of blues slide guitar, but I've never taken much time to learn how to play like that every time I try I just get frustrated and quit. So what are the best resources for learning slide? Thanks for the help guys.
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#2
10-05-2014, 10:55 PM
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I know that this will probably not be the kind of answer you were wanting, but I do think that learning slide is best done without books and videos to help, providing that you have a little bit of knowledge as regards open tunings, then the rest can be learnt by listening intently to records of quality slide players and also listening intently to your own playing when playing slide.
I think that everyone who starts playing slide finds it frustrating at the beginning because it is a totally different skill. I know that when I started playing slide it just sounded a mess but I loved the sound so much that I was determined to get some decent sound going on. Also I play lapslide using a tonebar and when I first started playing with it the amount of times the thing would fly out of my hand and across the floor was unbelieveable. I would say that learning how to slide up to notes and down to notes is the best thing to concentrate on at the beginning. Make it sound fluid like it is flowing water as opposed to the first instinct which is to travel to the note as quick and as straight as possible. So practice on one string quite a lot. There are a number of excellent blues slide guitarist whose first guitar was in effect a wire attached to a wall or a broom handle, a diddley bow. And because of playing on this instrument there ear is so much better because you need to listen for the notes instead of watching like you would do on a guitar. Ideally if you could make yourself one of these it would be excellent training for playing the slide guitar. I used to have one made with a guitar tuning peg on one side of an old walking stick and then the guitar string nailed to the other end and tightened up using the tuning peg. I'm sure that there are a lot of good resources out there for learning slide guitar but I'm sure that even the best of these would still stress the importance of listening and playing to develop a feel for it. The other thing thing that I would strongly recommend, depending upon your musical taste and what kind of blues slide you were wanting to play, is listening to some very good slide players. In particular I would say Mississippi Fred Mcdowell and Blind Willie Johnson are a must but there is such a vast choice... Robert Johnson, Son House. Bukka White has some classic slide tunes and then there are more modern practitioners such as Corey Harris who is excellent and also a favourite of mine is a guy called Kelly Joe Phelps who plays lapslide with a tonebar or should I say played, because he plays bottleneck now, but his lapslide stuff is very good indeed, in fact after seeing him play live one night about 10 years ago, it blew my mind and impressed me so much that the next day I went out and spent all the money I had on a tonebar and then went home and set my guitar up to play lap style and although it was a crazy thing for me to do at the time because I had only been playing guitar for 2 years, it was also one of the best things that I've ever done. Also as well I suppose I should briefly mention about the slide itself and how the choice of material can have such an effect on the sound produced. If you are buying a glass slide don't go for the cheap thin ones because they just don't have a decent tone, the thicker the glass the better. And the same goes for metal slides, usually people go for bronze, brass or stainless steel, but the thicker and heavier ones seem to give a better tone as opposed to thin copper piping which does a job but is not the best quality of sounds. Hope this is of some use to you in your quest to play slide, keep persevering because I can promise you that the 'elusive' sound you are looking for is just around the corner... honestly. Good luck, Mark
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#3
10-07-2014, 04:10 AM
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I learned by listening , playing , listening , playing , listening , playing ..........
Open tunings will get you the most results sooner , once you start finding the right notes and begin making some cool sounds you will be inspired enough to keep trying and continue learning. That's how I did it
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#4
10-07-2014, 08:32 AM
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Quote:
Get an instrument set up for slide, learn your open tunings, and find a good slide player to sit down with you and play/show you the ropes. After that introduction, anything helps add to the data-banks...
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Baby #1.1 Baby #1.2 Baby #02 Baby #03 Baby #04 Baby #05 Larry's songs... …Just because you've argued someone into silence doesn't mean you have convinced them…
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#5
10-07-2014, 11:01 AM
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