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Just got a slide guitar
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Subject: Just got a slide guitar From: Einnor Date: 04 Oct 98 - 12:41 AM I found nearly new Epiphone MD-40. I picked up a video by Gomez, but I am open for opinions of where the best technique to start would be . I realize we are standing in some pretty deep personal preferance water but I am trying to lay down some foundation. So I guess what I am saying to all you wonderfuly tallented PROS with the utmost of respect, is what the heck do I do with it now. |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: murray@mpce.mq.edu.au Date: 04 Oct 98 - 04:41 AM Congradulations! By the way, what is an MD-40? There is a good book published here in Australia called "Progressive Slide Guitar" by Turner and White, Koala Press. I don't know if it is available elsewhere. I am working through the slide guitar pieces in the book "Play Country Blues Guitar" by Stefan Grossman. He also has a series of lessons on blues slide guitar and a good looking series on open tuning. I haven't tried either. The other piece of advice I can give is to get in touch with our own Gene Ellison. If he doesn't respond to this thread, he has a web site at http://home.att.net/~Ellison-Texas/ Murray |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: Einnor Date: 04 Oct 98 - 10:11 AM Thanks Murray. The MD-40 is a resonator style just like a doboro, to be played as a lap top or slide. Ireally know very little about all this so if I am off base I am eager to be corrected. I live in Powell River B.C. CANADA. Iam going to make a little trip to Vancouver in the next week or so and will research this style further. I sort of play other instruments so finding a direction with this slide should come together. I have a Gibson mandolin and a Martin D-28. They are toys to keep me out of trouble.I got hurt in a logging accident, so the powers to be retired me. Playing [a term only used by me in this case] these toys gives me alot ofcomfort. Maybe one day I will get good enough to play for an audience. |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: PTW@PRODIGY.NET Date: 04 Oct 98 - 10:40 AM Einnor, I also recommend Steffan Grossman's video "Bottleneck Blues Guitar". It comes with lots of great delta blues tunes that help you get control of your slide. It is geared towards a person playing a normal or roundneck resophonic guitar, not a lap steel, but the tunes are great. I also recommend listening to Mississippi Fred MacDowell, Blind Willie McTell, Bukka White, and Son House for some great slide playing. I recently got a Johnson Resophonic, which I think is a copy of a late 30s Stye "O" National Resophonic. It sounds great and I am following all of my own advice and having a good time doing so. Open "D" and "G" tunings are definitely fun to play. Paul Williams |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: Rockaday Johnny Date: 04 Oct 98 - 11:10 AM Also check out the vidoe from Homespun Music by Bob Brozman -"learn to Play Bottleneck Blues" Its a little more "beginner friendly" than Grossman's Bottleneck video, although you'll learn more tunes on the Grossman tape. Brozman also has a second volume! |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: takeo Date: 04 Oct 98 - 09:09 PM yes, i agree with rockaday johnny, bob brozman is my most favorite musician using slide resonator today. he's a little bit hawaiian shifted, but also plays many good country blues. many video and cds are available, homespun video and rounder cd are recommended. -takeo |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: Einnor Date: 04 Oct 98 - 10:51 PM Thanks people. This is great,I will definitly pick up some Brozman material. I like sound of simple and beginner.I have been consentrating on bluegrass for most of the year, now I can feel enthusiastic about a new direction.The true test of my abilities will be my dog[Golden Retreiver]. If she leaves the room when I play,it,s not a good sign. When I got my mandolin home, she left the room when ever I walked towards the case. Now she licks my hand when I pick it up. Maybe thats begging for mercy. We have alot of fun anyway.I am making notes on all the great advice I am getting. Maggie will be grateful as well. Saves her the trouble of finding a quiet place to hide. |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: murray@mpce.mq.edu.au Date: 05 Oct 98 - 03:43 AM Einnor, can you tell me a bit more about the MD-40. Who makes it? Does it have a round neck or a square one? That is, can you hold it like a normal guitar or does it have to stay on your lap? What do they cost? Judging from your other instruments, it must be a quality one. By the way, Grossman has taped lessons as well as videos. I prefer them myself. It is certainly important to listen to slide guitar pieces at the beginning. because the frets become only a visual guide to playing the right note. The sites: Slide guitar as a second language and Homespun has a site at and you can see what else they have as well as order a catalogue Murray |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: Einnor Date: 05 Oct 98 - 10:09 AM Murray The MD-40 is a resonator style by Epiphone[Gibson].Ifound it in a small store in Cumberland,a small town on Vancouver Island. It was traded in on a standard guitar for some unknown reason. I just happened to wander in on them and asked what he wanted for it. The shop keeper said $400. He then told me how nobody was interested in them. I took it away for $225. They are worth $700 or so new. THE epiphone co. only made them for 2 years as it was something to do with buying another manufacture out and training their own people .I am sure there is much more to it but that is the story I got.I would have prefered the Johnson slide guitar but that is around $1000. Mine is a round neck played in the up possition but I did see a fellow at the Chilliwack bluegrass festival play lap stye with one similar to mine. |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: Dave T Date: 05 Oct 98 - 07:01 PM Hi Einnor, I don't think I have any advice on instructional material beyond the comments so far (all good). I've been trying to develop my slide technique for a while. I've tried a number of different slides: glass, brass and steel. I prefer the brass one, but I know many people who prefer one of the others. It's a matter of what fits your instrument, style and what feels right. For me, the biggest hurdle was to get myself to play slide aggressively. I like the way Son House plays: definitely not for the faint of heart. If you have a favourite slide artist, try to think what it is about their playing that gets to you, then put your own stamp on it. Have fun and all the best learning slide; let us know how it goes.
Didn't you post a thread a while back about blues artists? By the way, where's Powell River, B.C.? |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: Einnor Date: 05 Oct 98 - 10:08 PM Hi DAVE . Powell River is on the west coast of Canada about 100 miles or so up from Vancouver. We have alot of beautifull inlets and moutains. We have logged the crap out of it for the last 125 years or so but the area seems to grow back to nice second growth. If we could control the big companys long enough for nature to really go to work it would be an area that would be everybodys recreational destination. |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: murray@mpce.mq.edu.au Date: 06 Oct 98 - 06:25 AM I agree with you Dave about brass slides. They seem the most forgiving. I just picked up a dream of a heavy brass slide called "picato pete's Heavy Brass Guitar Slide" made in the UK. I could swear it improved my sliding on the first try. (But then again I was using a piece of electrical conduit that I cut down to size a la Johnny Winters. That probably works better on an electrical.) Murray |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: Einnor Date: 06 Oct 98 - 10:27 AM Hi Murray. I was told to try a wrist pin, off a piston connecting rod assembly but I have no experience to back me up. |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: Paul Date: 06 Oct 98 - 12:39 PM Einnor: When I first started playing slide, I couldn't find any books that I liked; still haven't. I've got two pieces of advice: 1. Listen to some Elmore James. He was a lot of fun, but had a very limited repertoire, so there is some very simple stuff. 2. Someone once gave me the advice: Play in an "L" shape. If you listen to most slide, the guitarist will slide up to a note, then pick a harmony note on another string. Just fool around with this a little, to get used to where the notes are. After you get used to doing it slowly, and can speed up a little, you will find that this is the main technique in slide, key to getting "that sound". Enjoy! Paul. |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: Einnor Date: 06 Oct 98 - 08:28 PM Thanks Paul that is the sort of thing that will get me going. The other thing is, should I tune the guitar to a different tuning. I've never done that, but I have studied the pentatonic scales to the point that I can play any key in any possition on the neck, but don't know what to do with them. It's like studying the drivers manual till you can get a perfect score on any test but have never been behind the wheel. |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: Gene E Date: 06 Oct 98 - 08:47 PM Einnor, I think if you can get that dog to lick up that slide and kinda lube it up you might have something. I guess you're interested in blues so my input is to find something you like to listen too and learn to play like it. The best blues is of the moment and may be different every time you play it. Just try to make the sounds you hear on a favorite CD and while you're trying that guitar will begin to talk to you and tell you what to play. Gene |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: harpgirl Date: 06 Oct 98 - 09:32 PM ...but remember Einnor, you've got to SUFFER if you want to SING the blues! harpgirl |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: murray@mpce.mq.edu.au Date: 07 Oct 98 - 05:02 AM You not only have to suffer, but you have to have to have been in one of the Southern Prisons and the sun has to be prepared to shine on your back door some day. I am sure others can add to that list. Murray |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: Roger Himler Date: 07 Oct 98 - 06:19 AM Einnor, The most common tuning for slide guitar is called "Open G". Tune the strings DGDGBD going from bass to treble. When you strum this without fretting, you have a G Chord. Barring with the slide (resting the slide on the strings, not pressing down to the fret) at the 5th fret gives you a C Chord, and barring with the slike at the 7th fret yields a D Chord. You now have the essentials for many'a 12 bar blues. Another common tuning is "Open D". Tune the strings DADF#AD. This gives you a D Chord when strummed unfretted. There are other "Open" tunings, but these will lead you through many blues recording. The natural tendency is to wear the slide on the index finger because it is the strongest. Most blues players wear a slide on the pinky finger. This allows you to fret with the other three fingers. It takes time and practice to strengthen that poor little pinky so it can carry the weight of all that slide work. Keep at it. It will get stronger if you practice regularly. Roger in Baltimore |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: Paul Date: 07 Oct 98 - 09:18 AM Einnor, Most people you talk to seem to prefer the open G tuning, but I preferred the open D. When you're starting, and need some instant results to keep yourself interested, instead of putting the slide on your pinkie, try wearing it on your middle finger, like Bonnie Raitt does; it has a little more strength and control; you can always try the pinkie later, as you want to add more. When you move the slide, rest your index finger on the strings to damp them behind the slide. As you take the slide off the strings, lift your index finger as well. Until you get your technique down a little better, you may want to fingerpick. Damp the strings with your right thumb and fingers, just letting go of a string as you want to pick it or let it ring. When you're using this technique, you can even play in the more familiar standard tuning. Well, that's about all I know about slide. Now if I could only get someone to help me play my mandolin. Paul. |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: Einnor Date: 07 Oct 98 - 09:50 AM Thankyou for the advice. I have been working on the pinky for some time now. I learned along time ago to make the C chord with only 3 fingers. Now I have changed that to a full 6 string chord. This may not sound like much, but if you use the pinky on the 6 string you give it the big stretch to begin with but if you use the same technique for the F chord you will be able to let go with the pinky and put it to work on lower strings. Now you have a pinky that is getting some exercise. And yes Harpgirl I do get the blues , been there , done that and bought the T shirt stuff. I don't have the tatoo but I got the battle skars. |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: Einnor Date: 07 Oct 98 - 07:22 PM I just found out that regarding Slide Guitar a Second Language, my wife is an avid quillter so also visits their site. I am very impressed with what I saw in the music and quilting. |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: Gene E Date: 07 Oct 98 - 11:34 PM Einnor, I hope you found the quilts and blues stuff at Gene & Sandy's , we've got some links too. Funny how music and quilts go together? Gene |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: dwditty Date: 08 Oct 98 - 05:53 AM Two modern slide players to check out are: Keb' Mo' and Kelly Joe Phelps (who plays lap style). I have settled on a Crafstman socket for a slide - nice and heavy. Of course the Sears salesman gives you funny looks as you stand there "trying them on." |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: murray@mpce.mq.edu.au Date: 08 Oct 98 - 06:27 AM Do you bring your guitar into Sears dwitty? I have always been intrigued by Fred McDowell's use of the slide. He had a small tight fitting one that he wore like a ring. He would then use the tip of his finger that stuck out for fretting, so he had the normal four fingers and thumb for fretting. I heard some slide playing by Sam Mitchell recently. I think he overdoes the sliding; but he is worth listening to for his fluency and the sound he gets. The recording was from the 70s; but I would still call him contemporary. Murray |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: Einnor Date: 08 Oct 98 - 10:25 AM Hi Gene My wife is starting on that 2000 pcs. millenium progect [quilt] She is always refering to Gene and Sandy. We just love the house too. I just wish I could play the guitar as good as the quilts look, but then everyone would want my autogragh and that wouldn't be any fun. |
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Subject: RE: Just got a slide guitar From: Gene E Date: 08 Oct 98 - 08:44 PM Howdy Einnor, Thanks for the flowers! My wife wonders if she knows your's from R.C.T.Q.? If she wants the can e-mail Ragmop (wife) from the web site. Work on that slide, it'll be talkin to ya pretty soon. Gene |
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