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Bottleneck plus fingers


pogo97

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A while ago a friend showed me that I can fret strings behind the slide (between the slide and the nut). It had never occurred to me and I was delighted.

 

After playing with that for a day or two, my fingers showed me that you can also reach up over the slide and fret above the slide (between the slide and the bridge). My friend says that I'm a mutant and normal people can't do that. I wouldn't know…

 

But here's a little tutorial, mostly on fretting above the slide: http://home.cogeco.ca/~sgifford/slid...n%20medium.mov

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Fretting behind the slide is a pretty normal thing to do these days. Not sure if the idea has been around long enough to be called traditional, but it expands the voice dramatically.

 

You should really give it a go. :)

 

My slide playing is based on Delta blues with a good portion of Fahey/Kottke style and some lap slide thrown in the mix. I can honestly stay I've never seen the technique before this (or the fretting in front). I'd love to see it used in a song - maybe Pogo or you could point to a link.

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If you watch my tutorial, you'll see that you can fret above the slide even if you place the slide on your pinky.

 

Bonnie Raitt puts the slide on her middle finger, though I don't know if she frets in combination with the slide.

 

The ring finger has mobility issues (place all your finger tips on your desk, like a spider, then try lifting each finger separately) which may be an issue for using it for the slide. Don't know, really.

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great stuff ,i was messing around with it last night i put the slide on my big middle finger just up to the knuckle which feels more natural to me, leaving 2 fingers above and one below for adding tones ,you can do stuff only pedal steels could do before.the genie is out of the bottle

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I been playing slide just about as long as I been playing normal guitar. Polished brass is my preferred slide type over glass or steel.

 

I don't use any string dampening behind the slide. It causes too much drag and interfere with vibratos.

Dampening gets you that George Harrison pure note type slide tone. I'm more into the Johnny Winter type slide tones that contain more open string harmonics that come from the open string in back of the slide.

 

I do use my right picking hand allot to dampen off strings not being used. How you dial up your drive tone for slide is important too. Half driven and half clean works best for me. Too much gain and string noise becomes unwielding.

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I been playing slide just about as long as I been playing normal guitar. Polished brass is my preferred slide type over glass or steel.

 

I don't use any string dampening behind the slide. It causes too much drag and interfere with vibratos.

Dampening gets you that George Harrison pure note type slide tone. I'm more into the Johnny Winter type slide tones that contain more open string harmonics that come from the open string in back of the slide.

 

I do use my right picking hand allot to dampen off strings not being used. How you dial up your drive tone for slide is important too. Half driven and half clean works best for me. Too much gain and string noise becomes unwielding.

hi bill, not talking bout dampening ,talking bout adding notes behind or in front of the slide notes with spare fingers of the same hand ,it makes it more interesting for chord possabilities ,where as before i used to rely on the straight line of the slide for chords which was very limiting ,this opens up lots of ideas .

 

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That was kind of cool and interesting. There's no way my fingers are going over the slide and fretting on the back side.

 

I have tried many different slides, and just like the thinner feeling of brass or a chrome slide.

 

The glass and ceramic ones are just too thick in feel. However I was going to give the Dunlop Keb Mo one a try.

 

Never could get used to national finger picks either. I tend to just go back to the bare fingers and what ever nails I can grow,

 

 

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My misunderstanding. I thought you were talking about dampening.

 

I use the slide on my pinky and I am able to switch to playing some basic chords while wearing it but I don't think I'd have a use for trying both at the same time. The slide needs to be over a fret to be in pitch and trying to fret at the same time would be too awkward for me. The tones of fretted notes and slide notes together wouldn't blend for me either.

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OK, I did fool around with this last night and I can see some value in it. Whether I ever master it is another matter.

 

I've got two guitars that pretty much stay in open G and D, their action is slightly higher and I play about 50 percent slide on them. One big frustration when playing in a major key like G or D is adding the "blue note", particularly on the V chord, with slide I always just sort of fake it or finger fret it before sweeping into the barre with the slide. Here's what I learned...

 

In open G the V chord is D at the 7th fret. To make that a D7 I need to add a C note (think of changing D in standard tuning to D7, you take away the D on the second string and replace it with a C). OK, the C note is two frets behind the slide on the third string so finger fretting behind the slide gives me the 7th. Bingo!

 

Same drill with open D, the V chord is an A on the 7th fret, to make it A7 I need to remove one A and replace it with a G. Finger fretting the 4th string at the 5th fret adds that note.

 

That's pretty cool and might be very useful for accompanying someone playing blues with the slide. It feels very awkward and I loose control of my damping finger. I also loose a little control of the slide (I use my fingers behind the slide to judge how much pressure I'm applying). I did get rattles and buzzes - probably would somewhat go away with practice.

 

For those of you who play electric slide, normally you tune up to open E or A instead of D or G. Obviously adding you can make any of your barred chords into 7th by adding the note two frets down on the appropriate string. I haven't worked thru which notes I would have to add to make minor chords or 9ths but it should be pretty straightforward. It obviously won't work for a lap slide and there is no way I can get my fingers over the slide to fret in front of it.

 

Not sure how much I'll use it but interesting to experiment with. Thanks Pogo and Koiwoi.

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... and there is no way I can get my fingers over the slide to fret in front of it.

 

Not sure how much I'll use it but interesting to experiment with. Thanks Pogo and Koiwoi.

 

A small-diameter slide helps. I'll work out a video of how to actually get your fingers over the slide -- I don't believe that I'm the only person who can physically do this but I do have 'clever' fingers sometimes.

 

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I use fairly large diameter slides - either Tribotones or home made wine bottle necks. I noticed in your earlier vid that you use a fairly radiused slide - I found that interesting since your Dobro probably has a fairly flat fretboard. In fact I assume that would make it easier for your behind the slide fretting since the slide wouldn't be pressing on the middle strings as much.

 

One of the things that I can do that I learned from watching Roy Rodgers is to roll my slide hand as I approach and go above the 12th fret - I can still dampen behind the slide but my thumb gets out of the way of the neck heel and body. It probably wouldn't be much of a step from that to taking my finger over the slide - I just can't see any reason to do it.

 

As I said I do lots of blues and "American Primative" as John Fahey called it and I both barre with the slide and do single string stuff with the end of it. I'll probably just keep struggling with that and not try to add anything fancy LOL.

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I noticed in your earlier vid that you use a fairly radiused slide - I found that interesting since your Dobro probably has a fairly flat fretboard.

 

Actually, my Dobro has a pretty ordinary neck. Some radius, don't know how much. I suspect that my slide is a bit over-radiused, but it's still the most satisfactory slide I have.

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