# How to play slide guitar



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Any easy lessons or guides out there anywhere? Technique specifically


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Don't specifically know, but there are lots of great Derek Trucks videos which incidentally show his fantastic left hand style.

Peace, Mooh.


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## jimsz (Apr 17, 2009)

I saw a few good lessons for slide on the Gibsons website - Arlen Roth.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Found a couple of things on a search

How to Play Slide Guitar | eHow.com

[video=youtube;TIueIIoupjY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIueIIoupjY[/video]

[video=youtube;HRw6r3ubUQs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRw6r3ubUQs[/video]

[video=youtube;DGp48NJ-oQs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGp48NJ-oQs[/video]


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## Swervin55 (Oct 30, 2009)

I like video #3 above. From my limited experience playing slide, I'm convinced you need to use a finger picking technique with the right hand. It's much cleaner and more controlled than using a pick. As far as which finger to use for the slide, that's mostly personal preference. For a very good intensive training DVD, give Kirk Lorange a listen. He's an ex-pat Canadian living in Australia for the past 30 or so years. url: Kirk Lorange - no Apostrophe, slide guitarist from Australia 

Swervin


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## fudb (Dec 8, 2010)

the problem is: slide ain't easy.

Two great slide lessons and in an unusual tuning

One

Two


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## Gizmo (Aug 7, 2008)

You're right fudb, it don't come easy ;-)

These are both in open G, one of the easiest and most fun open keys to play in.
Notice he uses a pick and has his slide on the little finger.
Its harder to play with the slide there but I find it gives me WAY more flexibility.



fudb said:


> the problem is: slide ain't easy.
> 
> Two great slide lessons and in an unusual tuning
> 
> ...


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

I use a pick and fingers, the fourth finger and a fifth of burbon


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## fudb (Dec 8, 2010)

Gizmo said:


> You're right fudb, it don't come easy ;-)
> 
> These are both in open G, one of the easiest and most fun open keys to play in.
> Notice he uses a pick and has his slide on the little finger.
> Its harder to play with the slide there but I find it gives me WAY more flexibility.


Sorry to pick nits, but they are in AN open G, but not the common DGDGBD. They are tuned to open E tuning up 3 semitones, so GDGBDG. You need to use very light strings.


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## Gizmo (Aug 7, 2008)

Yeah, your'e right fudb, my bad....in fact I think open E is one of the harder keys to play in and he just made it so easy, wow!
It actually SOUNDED like open G to my ears.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

I have been farting around a bit with it and so far I sound like crap. It appears it is going to be a learning curve especially on the techinique side of things.


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## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

Look up Andy Aledort - he has some stuff on Youtube. Hes a great slide player and a great instructor. I got a lot out of this Guitar World DVD that I picked up a while ago:

Learn Slide Guitar DVD [GWD-SLIDE] - $14.95 : GUITAR WORLD, ONLINE PRODUCT STORE


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

GuitarsCanada said:


> I have been farting around a bit with it and so far I sound like crap. It appears it is going to be a learning curve especially on the techinique side of things.


a lot of videos and lessons arent really of much help when it comes to the basics- 
hand position, muting, vibrato etc are things that are easy to show, but not easy to teach.
so until you get those things down, everything will sound like crap.
but keep at it, keep learning the tunes and the tricks etc- at some point, with practice, itll all come together.
your hands and your ears need to get used to doing something different from what theyre used to is all.
when i started learning slide, id wear a slide on my pinky all the time, even when not using it, just to get used to having it there.
and i spent a few months just playing slide in open g- trying to get something that sounded good. basically noodling- 
as ive said before, what with open tunings and right hand technique, it was almost akin to learning a new instrument.
only way to get it right was to imerse myself in it. 
also try some different tunings- i would find that going to open c or d after a while new ideas would come. concentrate on making cool sounds for a bit,
rather then letting a song get to you- because it gets frustrating.
get yourself a few slides as well- i used home made ones of copper pipe when i was learning, rather light and lacking sustain. once i got into fat glass ones 
it was a huge improvement.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

I currently have a metal slide that I had purchased a very long time ago but never really used. It seems heavy and a little akward. I assume mostly becuase I am not used to it. But perhaps the glass ones might be better especially for starting out as I assume they would be much lighter.


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

actually, the glass ones i use are heavier than the metal ones like the dunlops- which is actually, to me, a bit better for a beginner. that bulk helps with accuracy and to control vibrato.
those pyrex type ones you see in the shops are lighter than the metal ones though.
id do a little snooping on ebay, maybe grab a couple different ones to try out, they are pretty cheap.
or start cutting bottles. if you have a rotary tool like a dremel you can cut bottles with a diamond cut off wheel very easily.


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## Slowfinger (Jan 1, 2011)

Like some of the posters are saying, just go for it. I recently tried it in regular tuning with my jam band on one tune. Knowing the regular scale shape helps a lot. The second, third, and fourth strings are the same as open G tuning so it's easy to play classic slide licks on those strings. Palm muting helps as well as finger muting behind the slide. Most important is getting more precise with the pick so as not to hit adjacent strings. If tuned in open G try this. At the 12 fret you can play all the notes across the neck and all the notes across the 15'th and the 10'th frets. that's a good start.
There are good tutorials on regular and open tuning by Robbie Calvo in his "Solo Craft" course on Truefire TV. I'll look it up later and post link in this thread.
Cheers

Here is the link http://truefire.com/tftv/index.html?channel=solocraft&videofile=
You may have to sign up (Free) to access all the lessons. The free ones are samples but in this course there is a lot of meat for free.


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