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Post by jawbone on Aug 29, 2021 10:50:22 GMT -5
Thanks fellas! It's true, I'm looking straight up a high wall at the moment. But I think this will take much less time to get halfway okay on slide, as it took me to get somewhere on harp. There are so many resources! I joined 2 slide guitar FB groups yesterday and already have a lot bookmarked.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2021 12:02:30 GMT -5
So doing it by ear is your method. Others have tried that road and have done some amazing stuff. I was going in that direction until one day I was in the back of my pickup truck, picking on my guitar, my wife was driving and we picked up a hitchhiker, he jumped in the back with me and taught me the blues scale (minor pentatonic scale). With that knowledge I went from ear only to learning more theory. The major scale (DO, RE, MI, FA, SOL, LA, TI, DO.) also has a chord set that is called the diatonic scale. Which sounds like DO, RE, MI, FA, SOL, LA, TI, DO. in chords, and they are built on the notes of the corresponding scale. So there is a simple explanation on chord building, it makes composition much simpler than guessing which chords go with each key. The country pickers call DO, RE, MI, FA, SOL, LA, TI, DO. the 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 notes, also they call the chords in each diatonic scale the 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 chords, using numbers instead of names and letters. Very enlightening in learning how to compose your own music.
One more thing, try a glass or steel slide that fits on your pinky or third finger. It has to be snug so that it does not wobble on your finger. And try to run all your fingers all the way across across the fingerboard, it helps in the slide style.
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Post by jawbone on Aug 29, 2021 15:19:28 GMT -5
Thanks Dave. You know I will be whining to you and leaning on your knowledge!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2021 19:21:39 GMT -5
jawbone I am not much of a slide player but I do know a little about the fretboard, so if you can learn some scales in one key, all you have to do is move those patterns up and down the neck to change key So I would suggest you do scale exercises mostly on the pentatonic minor (blues) and pentatonic major (country) It will take a few months of an hour daily to get all of that down in one key. The pentatonic scale is five of the 7 notes in the major scale (DO, RE, MI, FA, SOL, LA, TI) Now all that said, if you tune the guitar to an open tuning none of the above matters. But an open tuning is very limited chord wise. I would strongly suggest that you get one of your musical buddies to help you with a little theory (ones you don't have to pay )
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Post by whitefang on Aug 30, 2021 10:27:00 GMT -5
Now all that said, if you tune the guitar to an open tuning none of the above matters. But an open tuning is very limited chord wise. I would strongly suggest that you get one of your musical buddies to help you with a little theory (ones you don't have to pay ) Well, if the open tuning is of a major chord(I used open D) there's a different chord every fret. But way back when I first tried sliding, a guy(forget who) in the old Musicplayer forum claimed he played slide with a standard tuning. Now, THAT sounds a bit more challenging. Plus would only leave three fingers left( depending if you use your slide on the pinkie finger or not.) for forming chords. But I believe Jawbone is talking about playing LAP slide(with the resonator lying on his lap rather than held like a regular guitar). So if he knows any who play LAP STEEL guitar, he might look to them for tips. Whitefang
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Post by jawbone on Aug 30, 2021 12:06:34 GMT -5
Fang. I had that plan a few years ago but decided that the smart move here would be a round neck, guitar held upright like "normal". The Regal square neck I had in '16 I had to give up when we lost our last travel trailer, in '17. At that time we crammed only what we could fit into the Nissan truck and let everything else go. Jo's guitars, our amps and p.a., my harps, our clothes, and not a lot else. So I got this Dobro DM33 round neck late last week. This is so that I can use feet for percussion on the cajon I built a few months back. I also decided that I ought to be able to play slide SINCE IT DOES NOT REQUIRE MAKING A LOT OF CHORDS. I see guys on YT doing what I want to do, fretting with a couple of fingers and interjecting slide some of the time. While finger picking certain strings. I joined a couple of slide guitar FB groups. I know I will need some theory but consider this- Jolene has never done one single scale and she has provided all that rhythm for 18 years.
So since I did a carving job on my right thumb and index and middle fingers Saturday, finger picking is postponed. The mandolin slicer is on the trash now. Wicked tool, not for guitar players definitely. I will try to figure out how to post the little video Jo did of me messing with the guitar before I tackled those rowdy yellow squash the other day. It's on our phone.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2021 14:08:02 GMT -5
Well, if the open tuning is of a major chord(I used open D) there's a different chord every fret. Whitefang Ok if he tunes it to a major chord there is no way he can hit a minor chord by moving the slide up a fret or whatever,
If he is playing a 1-4-5 progression (Blues and country). He can play chords and melodies fret to fret by moving the slide to the proper position. But if there is a minor, or diminished chord in the progression, he will have to fret some notes with his fingers, which is easy enough once practiced. I hope he has fun learning his way through the process.
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Post by jawbone on Aug 30, 2021 15:49:28 GMT -5
Open G and a couple other open tunings are in my future.
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Post by whitefang on Aug 31, 2021 11:36:29 GMT -5
I kinda chuckled when I first saw Joni Mitchell play(on some TV show). It reminded me of way back when my first guitar was a cheap all plastic toy guitar (even the fret "wires" were plastic humps molded into the plastic "fret board"). And not knowing anything(or better) tuned it to what I learned later was a C chord, and used my index finger(ala Mitchell ) to change chords. Of course, I was 12 and after blowing off both piano and drum lessons when much younger, my parents didn't feel like investing in a better(or at least real) guitar. Whitefang
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2021 12:31:51 GMT -5
I always wanted to be an electric blues rock player, which means tuning the guitar to EADGBE and to concert pitch. The reason I never tuned to open chord tuning was because I only had one or two guitars back in the day, and tuning a guitar is a pain in the butt if you change from one open chord tuning then back to EADGBE. I never bonded with open chord tuning or slide for that reason. Once I had 4 or 5 guitars I was set in my ways happily, and I never even desired to play in that style again since I tried it in the late 1960's. I even gave up practicing and playing rhythm guitar, because I was set on leads. I do still practice some chord work but not in songs. I am an improvisor by choice, I never play the same song exactly the same way, I may come up with a new idea (for me) and throw that in on the spot.
The only time I play rhythm guitar is for recording a backing track. I practice the progression over and over for a few hours and then put it down on a track, then never do that song again much or ever. I then use those backing tracks as my band in my daily practice, and that satisfies my desire to play. I have no or very little desire to play out. Most folks want to hear cover tunes, and I only play a few of those, and I rearrange them to suit my taste. So I would not be popular out there with my preferences. And I ain't going out there for the money the local venues pay. My daily practice goes like this; I have 3-45 minute sets of backing tracks each with a full band in each song. I start a 45 minute set and I sing the vocals and play the leads in the lead breaks, I already did the bass, drums, keys, horns and whatever else I put in the backing tracks.
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Post by jawbone on Aug 31, 2021 21:24:13 GMT -5
My main focus will be doing rhythm for my vocals and harp stuff, maybe swapping off rhythm between guitar and harp here and there.
I am experimenting with making a slide from a wine bottle neck. Also may buy a brass, maybe a steel as well.
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Post by whitefang on Sept 1, 2021 9:49:28 GMT -5
Folk blues singer/songwriter CHRIS SMITHER uses a variety of different tunings, often changing those tunings on the only guitar he uses, often retuning between songs.
Whitefang
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Post by jawbone on Sept 1, 2021 11:41:21 GMT -5
I am not sure about ,more guitars so I will be experimenting on changing tunings.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2021 12:06:55 GMT -5
Folk blues singer/songwriter CHRIS SMITHER uses a variety of different tunings, often changing those tunings on the only guitar he uses, often retuning between songs. Whitefang I have seen folks do that as well Fangster. But I never had any luck getting the strings in tune and having them stay in tune to suit my taste without re tuning them several times. Too much trouble for me, since I never liked playing slide in open tuning anyways. I did play slide in the late 70's, but I tuned the guitar to EADGBE (Standard guitar tuning) for my forays into slide work. I gave it up when I decided it was not for me. I do mimic slides by sliding my fingers up or down at the end of notes. That gives the notes a more vocal type of accent.
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Post by whitefang on Sept 2, 2021 10:20:01 GMT -5
Playing slide with standard tuning.....
How could you manage chord changes that way? And if your solos would normally require hitting notes on different strings, was it easy for you to mute out the rest of the strings?
Slide with an open tuning seems challenge enough (for me at least) So with a standard tuning it would seem exceptionally challenging.
Whitefang
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