Slide in open E

[alligatorbling]

Anyone have any links to good info/lessons on slide in open E? I can do enough to fart around with it and do simple licks, but Id like to really dive into this thing and get more out of it... Any pointers from the experienced slide players would be appreciated as well.

[toneguy86]

Originally Posted by alligatorbling

Anyone have any links to good info/lessons on slide in open E? I can do enough to fart around with it and do simple licks, but Id like to really dive into this thing and get more out of it... Any pointers from the experienced slide players would be appreciated as well.

Never learned from any formal thing. Just listened a lot. Duane and Johnny Winter were early inspirations. I rarely use open E though anymore. It's alot more convenient to just say in standard...or occasionally open G. I am the only guitar player in my current band and I often need to go back and forth between fretted and slide. I adapted Sonny Landreth's fretting behind the slide technique to allow me to play more open chords and add in some licks and tricks that typically only work in open tunings. I guess I also got inspired by Warren Haynes and Greg Martin. I think, aside from Derek Trucks and Landreth, they are two of the best slide guys out there and they do everything in standard tuning. Happy to answer any questions I can though.

Mark

[alligatorbling]

do you find yourself using scales with standard tuning for slide? ive found that it sounds kinda awkward when i try to play slide in standard tuning, nothing like playing normally without the slide in the same tuning for some reason. wheres the slide licks come more easy in open E.

[toneguy86]

Originally Posted by alligatorbling

do you find yourself using scales with standard tuning for slide? ive found that it sounds kinda awkward when i try to play slide in standard tuning, nothing like playing normally without the slide in the same tuning for some reason. wheres the slide licks come more easy in open E.

I really don't do anything a ton differently in standard actually. You move a bit more, but you adjacent tones are all there. As mentioned, I do fret behind the slide a bit to add in some other things, but I really don't need to. I damp a lot behind the slide with my other fingers and also with my palm on my right hand. What standard does require is accuracy with the slide and a fair amount of damping. I will post some clips maybe to give you an idea.

[AllmanClaptonSRV]

really study duane allman, derek trucks, and all the great slide players. but go deeper than that. listen to what influenced THEM. thats the true way to discover great playing, find the root of where it all started. noteablly half of them arent slide players. Howlin Wolf, T-Bone Walker, ROBERT JOHNSON of all people.. started it all man. and then Derek Trucks, i mean his influences go so deep. John Coltrane, Duane Allman, great horn players, obviously. but Sun Ra man. all those guys are huge huge influences. but mainly slide is all about emotion. you gotta feel it to play it, you know.


YouTube - Learning slide guitar: A slide guitar lesson about Open E

YouTube - Learning Slide Guitar: A slide guitar lesson about tone

YouTube - Learning Slide Guitar: A slide guitar lesson in Open E


hope it helps man.

[toneguy86]

Originally Posted by alligatorbling

do you find yourself using scales with standard tuning for slide? ive found that it sounds kinda awkward when i try to play slide in standard tuning, nothing like playing normally without the slide in the same tuning for some reason. wheres the slide licks come more easy in open E.

I was playing today going back and forth between open E and standard. Basically I use scales no matter what. Individual notes, with some adjacent note slide ins, pedal tones and drones, moving chords. There are some things that do work better in open tunings, but actually I have learned some tricks that make it all happen in standard too. Minor blues is easier in standard as well. Basically, just like with learning harmonica, slide players need to learn to play individual notes and runs cleanly. It takes practice and the tuning really doesn't matter at all.

Mark

[ES350]

Open E and D are the Elmore thing---you end up playing those dyads/triads that fall out of that tuning. It's cool, but a little limiting. I usually play in standard and play single notes ala Earl Hooker/Robert Nighthawk. Ummm, check out Nighthawk and Hooker if you want to hear some control and tone...and/or some of the Indian slide players who play ragas on L5's with Dobro bars...

[toneguy86]

Originally Posted by ES350

Open E and D are the Elmore thing---you end up playing those dyads/triads that fall out of that tuning. It's cool, but a little limiting. I usually play in standard and play single notes ala Earl Hooker/Robert Nighthawk. Ummm, check out Nighthawk and Hooker if you want to hear some control and tone...and/or some of the Indian slide players who play ragas on L5's with Dobro bars...

But it doesn't have to be. Derek Trucks plays in open E all the time and so did Duane. Earl Hooker played in standard. Maybe you are already saying this, but it is really not about the tuning...it's about good technique and a good solid understanding of what you are doing and why. I agree that it is easier to rely on the old standard Elmore licks in open tunings, BUT you don't have to. Learn to play clean with good technique and that will take you a long way.

Mark

[RCCola]

Thanks guys (I'm not the original poster). I've been twiddling with slide in standard tuning recently. It definitely sounds a lot different when I play the same notes with a slide and without and I was thinking of doing open tuning, but after reading this post I'll stick to standard.

Evidently, I just need to practice a lot more.

I hear open tunings can stress the guitar neck.

It was actually a bit inspirational to me when I was reading Skydog the Duane Allman biography and his roommates are quoted in the book talking about when Duane decided to start learning slide - said something to the effect "probably the only thing as bad as hearing somebody trying to learn the slide is somebody trying to learn the violin." That made me appreciate Duane wasn't always such a slide master and how he worked hard at it.

[tigerfan22001]

Search John Tuggle on Youtube. I learned a lot from him, but just listen to records and play. Eventually it will click or at least it did for me.

[monroe]

From the Sonny Landreth web site:

Sonny currently uses these tunings onstage:

A ("This River," "Levee Town," "Soul Salvation")
Am ("Z. Rider")
Asus ("Outward Bound")
C ("Frisco Bay" [which made a rare appearance in the setlist in the Golden Gate City])
Dm ("Broken Hearted Road" [the album version, BTW, is in E-flat minor])
E ("South of I-10," "Native Stepson")
G ("Blues Attack," "Back to Bayou Teche")