Duane Allman was the first slide guitarist that caught my ear when I was a young teenager. I had already been playing guitar a couple of years and I was already exploring the blues because of my interest in Eric Clapton. Duane’s guitar playing on The Allman Brothers “Live at the Fillmore” was a genuine eye opener. Duane’s slide guitar is front and center on the first two songs. Duane’s slide licks on “Statesboro Blues” kicks off the introduction to the song. The second song is “I Must Have Done Somebody Wrong” that you hear Duane, or his brother Greg saying is an old Elmore James song. The comment made me curious about Elmore James and he quickly became another slide guitar influence. Duane’s slide playing on those two songs alone made me determined to learn how to play slide guitar. The comment about Elmore James made me curious so I checked him out and he quickly became a major slide guitar influence as well.
The sound of the slide guitar was an integral element in the blues since the beginning. This was due to couple of reasons. The first reason is that it is possible to mimic or imitate the human voice with a slide guitar. One of the essential characteristics of blues is its call and response structure. A second reason for the slide guitar’s popularity among the original blues men was that a slide makes it possible to play micro- tones, or note between the notes. This makes it possible to play with more nuance and color. The original blues player used different object to produce the slide effect. The various objects included metal pipe, knifes, and bottlenecks from old wine bottles. Slide guitar is often referred to as “bottleneck guitar.”
I quickly learned that Duane, as well as many others regarded Elmore James as the father of the electric slide guitar. He was one of the first guitar players to apply the bottleneck style to the electric guitar. James’s slide technique was more or less similar to he acoustic players who learned from in Mississippi and Arkansas but he exploited the sound of the electric guitar to achieve a new world of sounds and possibilities. One of the things that stood out right away when I started listening to Elmore James was that his slide had a much harsher and biting sound than Duane’s slide tone. At the time I didn’t know that this was because Elmore used a metal slide and Duane preferred glass.
In the 1960s and ’70s young rock musicians, Ry Cooder and Duane Allman in particular, took the sound of the electric slide guitar to the next level. Cooder’s slide playing had a significant influence on Allman’s style. Cooder and Allman combined their passion for blues and roots music with a rock n’ roll aesthetic. Among contemporary slide guitarists my two personal favorites are Derek Trucks and Sonny Landreth. Landreth and Trucks are taking the slide guitar into new and uncharted territory.
Learning how to play the slide guitar takes patience, practice, and work just like learning to play the guitar in general. There are a number of obstacles and hurdles to overcome in order to order to play well. Playing slide is essentially the same as playing a fretless instrument. In other words, playing on pitch and in tune is more of a challenge. One of the advantages of a standard guitar is the security provided by the guitar frets. Nevertheless, any guitarist who is committed and dedicated here are a few tips that I learned from my own experience that I hope will help anyone who aspires to play the slide guitar
Five Essential Slide Guitar Tips
(1) Set the guitar up for slide guitar.
Guitar players typically like to use thin gauge strings and low action. The action is the distance between the guitar fretboard and the strings. Low action and thin strings make a standard guitar easier to play but low action and thin strings don’t work well for slide guitar. Finding the appropriate action and string gauge depends on the individual player. Think incrementally. Increase the gauge of the strings and raise the action slightly. Experiment with different string gauges until you find what works you.
(2) Experiment with different types of slides.
Guitar slides are made from a variety of materials such as metal, glass, and ceramic. As a general rule a metal or brass slide produced a harsher and more biting sound and a glass slide produces a somewhat sweeter tone. Elmore James used a metal slide as does Johnny Winter. Duane Allman used a glass Corcidin bottle. Derek Trucks and Sonny Landreth use Dunplop glass slides. I prefer metal or brass slides when I am playing acoustic blues on an acoustic guitar but I have always preferred glass when I play electric slide guitar. Ceramic slides, however, are very nice and warm sounding as well,
(3) Tune the guitar to an open tuning.
While it is possible to play slide on guitar tuned to standard tuning, most slide players prefer open tunings. This makes it possible play chords simply by laying the guitar horizontally across the strings. Learning to play in open tunings is terribly difficult. The two most commonly used open tunings are open G and open E. Open G tuning is D-G-D-G-B-D, going from the sixth string to the first string. Open E tuning is E-B-E-G#-B-E. Open D and are popular tunings well. Open D is the same as Open E except it is a whole step down, D-A-D-F#-A-D. Elmore James used open D. Open A is the same as open G except it is a whole step up, E-A-E-A-C#-E.
(4) Find a slide style and technique that is comfortable.
Ry Cooder and Sonny Landreth place the slide on the little finger of their left hand. Duane Allman preferred to wear the slide on the third his third finger. Derek Trucks uses this approach as well. Bonnie Raitt wears her slide on the second finger. Experiment with different fingers and find the one that is the most comfortable. Some guitar players play with a guitar pick but finger-style technique works very well with slide guitar especially if the guitar is tuned to an open tuning.
(5) Watch, listen, and learn.
Ry Cooder sounds nothing like Elmore James. There is very little similarity between Sonny Landreth’s slide style and technique and Derek Trucks’s style and technique. In other words, avoid thinking that there is only one style or technique for slide guitar. Take advantage of online sites such as YouTube to watch and learn and pickup tips. The ultimate goal should be to develop your own style and approach.
