• From: Tampa, Fl.
  • Registered: 2006-04-22
  • Posts: 870

Topic: Slide Guitar

Hey all- just wondering does anyone know how/where Joe learned his amazing slide technique?  I was thinking about this today and I realized I don't think I've ever heard this talked about (or maybe I did and I just forgot- you know how those things are smile )

Scott

"Interestingly, according to modern astronomers, space is finite. This is a very comforting thought-- particularly for people who can never remember where they have left things." - Woody Allen

http://www.last.fm/user/skynyrd128
  • Registered: 2006-09-13
  • Posts: 441

Re: Slide Guitar

Speaking of slide . . .

Do any other guitarists and/or teachers out there have any suggestions for a good slide book for teaching?  I have one that I use to teach, (oddly enough, I think it's called "Slide Guitar") but it's very basic and I find that I'm constantly supplementing it with other books and exercises.  I haven't looked that hard yet, but would appreciate any input.

"There is nothing to it.  You only have to hit the right notes at the right time and the instrument plays itself."---Johann Sebastian Bach
  • From: Frederick County, MD
  • Registered: 2006-04-21
  • Posts: 857

Re: Slide Guitar

Hey, FretWork...it's not a book, but you might want to pick up the Hot Licks DVD - Warren Haynes, which has some good technique-y kinda stuff.  I personally can't play slide to save my life....it sounds like 6 cats stuck in a fence.

CarljMD

Takers get the honey, givers sing the blues
  • Registered: 2006-05-31
  • Posts: 184

Re: Slide Guitar

You might want to check out "Bottleneck Blues Guitar" by Bob Brozman. I think it is an excellent series on DVD. It is on Homespun video and available from Amazon on-line. He is an expert on National Resonators and IMHO a good instructor.

Nothin' but the Blues

5 Reply by Fretwork (edited by Fretwork 2007-05-23 10:50:07)

  • Registered: 2006-09-13
  • Posts: 441

Re: Slide Guitar

Thanks for replying guys!  I've messed around with slide guitar for quite awhile now.  I'm comfortable playing it myself, I'm just looking for a resouce for teaching my not so "visual" students.  Some of my students just do better reading standard notation and/or tablature than being shown "how to".  All student's have different learning styles.

Within the past two years, Hal Leonard has put out some wonderful supplement books for Acoustic, Country, Jazz, Blues, and Rock and they are great teaching tools.  The acoustic one has a small section on blues slide guitar, but I would love to see a whole book devoted to it.  I'm sure there is one out there.  If not, maybe I'll have to write my own wink

CarljMD, your comment about the six cats stuck in a fence cracked me up--we've all been there!

"There is nothing to it.  You only have to hit the right notes at the right time and the instrument plays itself."---Johann Sebastian Bach
  • From: East Tennessee
  • Registered: 2006-04-25
  • Posts: 240

Re: Slide Guitar

I think the thing that is so distinctive about Joe's slide playing is the same thing that was distinctive about Duane Allman and is about Derek Trucks and that is that they pick with their fingers instead of a pick. I realize that Joe uses a pick at at times, Cradle Rock from the ANDY DVD comes to mind, but that great intro to The River on the Rockpalast DVD is played with his picked tucked away using his last three fingers. It's makes for incredibly expressive articulation, but dang it's hard to mute the strings you don't want to hear.

I've been playing slide with a pick for 25 years and it's presentable enough to play in front of people. But, after a year of really watching Derek Trucks and now Joe on video and trying to get the muting down, I still wouldn't try it outside my office. I really like CarljMD's line about 6 cats stuck in a fence--that just about nails it.

Blessings,
Larryt

"...play skillfully and shout for joy." Psalm 33:3b (honest, it really says that)