Some Tips On Playing Slide

[Geir]

What Andy said

I also use my little finger so all muting must be done by the right hand. I Actually had to try to see how I mute and I found I use a combination of the palm of my hand for the (4th), 5th and 6th strings and middle finger and/or ring finger for the 1st and 2nd (and sometimes 3rd). As andy says, concentrate on the notes and tones of the notes you want to play and the rest will come naturally after a while.

I use the little finger for two reasons. Some slides are just to small for my ring finger, and using the little finger makes it easier to play without a slide with the three remaining fingers.

Update:
Just saw Johnny's post.

What Johnny said

[AndyR]

Yep, what Johnny said and Geir and, and, other people...

It seems we're all using this "hybrid technique" Johnny mentions - pick, with some fingers. I think, for me, it started as a "trying to damp with a slide" thing, back in the 80s. But I also use those fingers for plucking now (even when no slide), and have done for a LONG time. I remember when I finally saw the Rory Gallagher film Irish Tour 74, there's a bit with him describing the same thing in a soundcheck - and I was going "I do that! LOOK! That's how I do it..." 

This "concentrate on tone" thing, though - I'd forgotten it until this morning, I think that was probably a real breakthrough for me. It was probably the old blues guy who told me, but I can't remember. I think I've read similar somewhere - maybe even in a Duanne Allman Biography (Skydog), that certainly talks about how he got obsessed with slide and used to wander through the house ALL day finding out how to make the sounds.

Early on, I was REALLY keen on Ry Cooder's slide-playing. That was on a strat with some sort of crazy onboard booster. There's an Old Grey Whistle Test performance of him doing How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live? I really wanted to be able to play like that. It sounded like he's not putting too much vibrato and stuff into it, so I assumed that you didn't. Also, it's a really clean sound - so not much overdrive etc for adding the sustain you'd need if you aren't encouraging the string to keep going. Later I found that you do have to put a load of physical movement in, just to get a clean, apparently stable single note - it's all about vibrating the slide in a vigorous but controlled manner... it helps to have a higher action at first, but once you get a feel for what you put in to get the sound out you find you can do it on lower action guitars too.

There's something about pickups too. I've just found my new SG "takes slide" now. It didn't until the other day. The action hasn't changed, but I have replaced the pickups. They're clearer sounding, and lower powered. And they have less strong magnets (and they're not as close to the strings). I'm beginning to suspect, but have no way of telling, that the guitar has more sustain now (certainly it seems more "liquid" and "fluid" on standard lead stuff high up the dusty end of the fretboard). I'm wondering if the magnets of the stock pickups (Gibson 57 Classics) were impeding the string movement ever so slightly?

[Farrell Jackson]

I don't use a lot of long slide passages in my songs but I do use it often for short fills and such. I agree with everything that has been said. It's a combination of things that gives a good slide sound. Muting the unwanted strings (however you do it) is key to keeping the sound clean from other string noises. I use the palm and pinky finger of my picking hand for that purpose and sometimes I use the tips of my middle and ring finger to mute when I'm reaching across the fret board. I found with a lot of practice it became second nature. One other thing I did was to get a very thin medal slide and cut it shorter so that it was about 2 inches long. It fits snugly on my pinky finger up to the second joint. That allowed me to have less of the slide body to worry about hitting unwanted strings and to position the slide more precisely on the strings I was picking and it was out of the way when I was chording with my other fingers. I also use the vibrato technique to cover up when when I hear I'm not precisely on a holding note and for sustain.

Slide is fun and can enhance a song greatly but I find before I record it I have to pratice for a while to get my slide legs steady.

A good topic Johnny and all! I have picked up some things I want to try.

Farrell

[64Guitars]

Lots of great tips from everyone. Thanks guys! This topic is very inspiring.

[The Gobi Desert Canoe Club]

Yeah very interesting. Every so often I put a little slide work well back in a mix just to add a different sound but I've never been very good because I've regrettably not spent enough time practicing. I have a resonator that has a slightly higher action which helps but I still don't give it enough time. I shall watch this thread with interest. Willie

[AndyR]

Yeah very interesting. Every so often I put a little slide work well back in a mix just to add a different sound but I've never been very good because I've regrettably not spent enough time practicing. I have a resonator that has a slightly higher action which helps but I still don't give it enough time. I shall watch this thread with interest. Willie

Ah! Willie - you are in the perfect position!! You own a resonator - that's where I learnt the tone stuff, just jamming on it on the sofa, looking for the tones (I didn't have any electric guitars around during that few years). The sounds that come out of a reso are comparable (to my ears) to an electric guitar. It's got that strident mids thing going on. So anything you pick up on the reso translates to the electric. And because the action is higher it's easier to find the sounds. Don't think of it as practising - just have a blast every now and then, a bit of a laugh looking for what different noises you can get out of it. Concentrate on "effects" and licks, and getting a smile on your face - not on tunes and songs.

After a while you'll have enough bits of slide "vocabulary" to give yourself a "slide voice" instead of just using it as a "texture" instrument - and then you'll be playing some parts you don't mind putting at the front of a mix.

[IanR]

Lots of great tips from everyone. Thanks guys! This topic is very inspiring.

Agreed!

Thanks guys