Help Getting this Slide Solo

[Alex_DeLarge]

Hello guys! I've been trying to get this solo just by ear, but I'm losing the battle! There are some things that I can't get right, maybe because it is slide and I'm not used to it yet and the sounds that you can make.

 

Anyways, the solo begins at 2:20

 

 

Hope you can help me!

 

Thanks a lot.

[1001gear]

[WRGKMC]

Slide is a real art form. I grew up playing allot of Johnny Winter slide songs. It took me a long time to figure out he was using open D tuning and that's why it was so hard for me to get to the notes tuned regular. I still do allot of slide with regular tuning, just because I'm too lazy to open tune.

 

My Buddy Mark May Took Warren Hayes Spot in Dickey Betts band for about a year. He played all those songs just as well as warren did. He moved from Houston here about a year ago and sold off a bunch of his gear to be so he wouldn't have to haul it up there. He comes back down to Houston every so often, and If he does I can ask him for you.

 

If you want you can probably contact him through his web site.http://www.markmay.com/

He's a really cool guy and if he isn't busy I'm sure he'll respond. The guy who maintains his website and his bass player live a few blocks from me and we usually get together and party every so often. I sold a Synth for him a few months and I'm their go to tech for guitar and amp repairs.

 

Like I said, try contacting him through his site. I'm sure he can give you a few pointers off the top of his head. I can say, the tones you dial up are a key item. Those guys use very few effects, mostly just cranked tube amps for that blues tone.

 

You'll see some pics of him and Dickey playing together. He's worked with Marshall Tucker, Santana and a whole bunch of other great musicians.

[onelife]

Try tuning your high E string down to D then locate the chords form the solo on the neck of your guitar.

 

For example:

D is on the 7th and 19th frets

C 5th and 17th

G/B 12th

Bb 15th

 

If you pay attention to how the chords are changing under the solo you can pick the notes out by ear and try to play them in or around the position of the chords - perhaps this will help you get a better "feel" for how the solo was constructed and make it seem more natural to play. In fact, it might help just to play the chords on the slide while you listen to the song as a bit of prep work for the solo.