Copyright SLIDE LESSON PART 1

Some things to decide when learning slide. You must choose a slide,
either glass, or metal. Bronze slides work well with acoustic guitars,
crome or glass with electric.
Next you will need to decide which finger you will wear the slide on.
Each has it's advantages in control, muting or playing chords and
single
notes with the other fingers. I played with my pinky for years, but
after
switching to the ring finger, I found I have more control.

Another thing to consider is whether to use a pick, or your fingers, or
a
combination. Picking gives a sharper attack, fingers give a warmer
sound.
I use my fingers (most of the time) because it is easier to damp the
unwanted strings that way. Another note on damping - you use a
combination of the fretting hand (fingers and palm behind the slide)
and
the picking fingers against the unwanted strings.

Next you will need to decide which tuning. While you can play slide in
regular tuning as well as several exotic or custom tunings, for
learning
and practice, it may be helpful to decide on one, or two at most. The
common tunings are:
1) Standard guitar tuning, limited use for slide
2) Open-E tuning, favored by Duane Allman, Derek Trucks, etc. Open-E =
E-B-G#-E-B-E High -to- low
3) Open-G - used in folk and some urban blues, a favorite of ZZ Top's
Billy Gibbons Open-G = D-B-G-D-G-D High-to-low
4) Open-D Similar to Open E, but you have to learn more new postions,
since there are not as many common strings as the standard tuning you
already know
5) Dropped-D Useful if you play the low strings, since you can play
chords in D on the low strings. E-B-G-D-A-D
6) You can drop the high-E to D, then the top 3 strings make a G-triad,
useful for playing in G D-B-G-D-A-E

I had tried playing in standard tuning for years, not wanting to go to
the trouble of re-tuning. But only after I decided to keep one guitar
tuned to Open-E did I start to really get a feel for slide. I chose
thise
because it was the favorite of Duane Allman, who I felt like had the
best
slide chops. After I started using open-E exclusively, did I realize
the
advantages that tuning offers. Such as:
1) The High-E, Low-E and B-string do not change, making the transition
from standard fairly painless - you already know most notes and
positions. This is very important, since I play alot on these strings
and
already know the notes.
2) Three strings tuned to the same note, E, which makes it easy to find
your way around. Also 2 strings tuned to B.
3) You can use most combinations of 2 or 3 strings for chords, triads,
and double stops, since they are all tuned to a chord
4) This may be a personal thing, but I don't like the strings to be too
loose, as they are when tuned down.

It is helpful to set up the guitar with higher-than-normal action,
especially if you use a heavier slide. I played for years with a
thin-walled glass slide on normal-to-low action. Finally, I set up a
guitar with high action, heavy strings, and got a heavy, short, chrome
(brass) slide, and I couldn't believe the difference. You can see this
guitar on my webpage. It was damaged in a pawn shop, and has on fret
completely missing. But I raised the action and play only slide, so I
don't need the frets. It also has a Floyd Rose locking Tremelo, which I
don't need, since slide is the ultimate vibrato. But I use the
fine-tuners at the bridge to make keeping in tune simple.

Next lesson: Getting the slide sound, intonation, vibrato, etc.

Ernie Lambert's TEXAS GUITAR PAGE:
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Vine/3069© 1994-2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.