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Post by Colchar on Apr 3, 2016 23:02:13 GMT
OK lads which finger do you put the slide on and why? Now I'm no Johnny Winter by a long haul, but when I started sliding in open G the slide was on my ring finger. Got tired of switching guitars in the middle of the set and learned to play slide in standard. Also switched the slide to my pinky so's I could still fret notes with my other four fingers. I'm still not sure which way works best. Thoughts? Well I am still a neophyte so everything that I say is from the perspective of a beginner. I have slides for both ring finger and pinky so I have tried both. I find that I am more comfortable with it on my ring finger as I can control it better and it feels better on the fretboard due to the slightly longer length of that finger, as opposed to the pinky. I get the playing chords behind the slide argument and that is a large part of the reason that I kept trying with my pinky. But my slide heroes are guys like Duane Allman and Derek Trucks who wore/wear it on their ring finger, and Dickey Betts and Gary Rossington who wear it on their middle fingers. None of those guys are playing chords behind the slide (and I think playing chords behind the slide might be more a thing for acoustic slide than electric slide). And since I play in open tunings, as Duane and Derek do (I believe Duane played virtually everything in Open E and Derek only plays in Open E...I'm not sure about Dickey and Gary although Dickey did have to cover Duane's slide parts after Duane died), I can play chords by simply barring behind the fret. Plus when I did wear it on my pinky I found that, unless I kept my pinky well out of the way, I kept hitting the slide on the neck when I was switching chords. That is something that would probably have been solved as I gained more experience in manipulating the slide and moving my fingers when the slide was on there but, as I said above, I want to play the style of slide that guys like Duane, Derek, Dickey, and Gary played so chords aren't necessary. But again, I am a neophyte so take that into account when reading anything that I have to say on the subject. Probably a far better idea to listen to others here who have more experience.
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Post by Catfish on Apr 18, 2016 7:04:13 GMT
OK lads which finger do you put the slide on and why? Now I'm no Johnny Winter by a long haul, but when I started sliding in open G the slide was on my ring finger. Got tired of switching guitars in the middle of the set and learned to play slide in standard. Also switched the slide to my pinky so's I could still fret notes with my other four fingers. I'm still not sure which way works best. Thoughts? No "best" way. I play in standard tuning, and have an approach that blends slide and fretted notes. Pinky is what works for me, and Lowell George, and Muddy Waters. My reasoning wasn't reliant on the other guys...the way I fret notes and chords, leaves me free to get at most of what I do without a slide, with a slide on my pinky. Most of what I do without a slide...not all. Took me a while to settle on the pinky, but that's what works for how I do. Your method may, and probably SHOULD, vary...
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stevie
Burnt Rock Star
Posts: 29
Likes: 60
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Post by stevie on Apr 18, 2016 13:08:26 GMT
OK lads which finger do you put the slide on and why? Now I'm no Johnny Winter by a long haul, but when I started sliding in open G the slide was on my ring finger. Got tired of switching guitars in the middle of the set and learned to play slide in standard. Also switched the slide to my pinky so's I could still fret notes with my other four fingers. I'm still not sure which way works best. Thoughts? No "best" way. I play in standard tuning, and have an approach that blends slide and fretted notes. Pinky is what works for me, and Lowell George, and Muddy Waters. My reasoning wasn't reliant on the other guys...the way I fret notes and chords, leaves me free to get at most of what I do without a slide, with a slide on my pinky. Most of what I do without a slide...not all. Took me a while to settle on the pinky, but that's what works for how I do. Your method may, and probably SHOULD, vary... That's pretty much how I do it and for the same reasons. I find the ring finger stronger and a bit more accurate but the pros of using on the pinky seem to outweigh the cons. Cheers
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Post by Colchar on Apr 18, 2016 15:19:44 GMT
It really comes down to personal preference and what else you might want to do while playing. If you want to fret other notes or chords the pinky makes sense. If not, then another finger makes sense.
Muddy Waters, Ry Cooder, Lowell George, and others use their pinky.
Duane Allman, Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, and others use their ring finger.
Bonnie Raitt, Dickey Betts, Gary Rossington, and others use their middle finger.
Nine great players, all of whom do it differently, and ain't none of them wrong.
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Post by george on Mar 1, 2018 2:20:42 GMT
Slide is kinda like cross picking or playing harp, you get out of bed one morning and say to yourself; oh, that’s how they do that.
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Post by Maxwell on Mar 4, 2018 4:06:02 GMT
Nah. I'm pretty much still at sounding like baptizing a cat...
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Post by Sgt Rock on Sept 17, 2020 23:51:29 GMT
my experience with a slide is that open tunings are great. I wear the slide on my little finger. also, the slide should be above the metal fret on the guitar neck. here's a friend of mine in Austin, Texas.
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