[tina_]

Hi,

I'm new to slide and I think I just need to practice more but want to make sure I'm doing things right before I devote serious effort to it. My action is on the high side and I'm not getting any fret buzz. However, when I run the slide on the strings I am getting some noise from the strings I don't want to hear. This is how I'm doing it:

- Slide on my 3rd finger
- I'm trying not to press the slide down at all - I haven't quite managed the delicate touch yet though
- Muting behind the slide, firmly but not too much so I push the strings down away from the slide or near to the frets.

I have some questions:
- Muting behind the strings is good?
- While I'm moving the slide - my 2nd finger (which is muting) is touching the slide. My guess is that this affects the sound. Should I avoid doing this?
- Should I learn with my 4th finger sliding? Is this what my aim has to be or doesn't it make a great difference? Note: I've small hands so I'm tempted to go straight to the 4th finger anyhow.
- I think the slide I'm using might be a bit big. Do I choose for comfort alone or are there other factors?

Apologies for loads of basic questions.

[Frankenstrat2]

Hi Tina
Muting behind the slide is a good thing, it helps to get rid of unwanted sounds.
If you are just starting out, I would recommend that you move the slide to your pinky from the getgo. This will free up your other 3 fingers for chords and other things you may want to incorporate later.
The slide should be comfortable- not too light, not too heavy, not too long, not too short, not too loose, not too tight- just right.
I posted a Slide Resource thread with tons of links to the very best slides made around the world.

[tina_]

Thanks

I guess its not a good idea to touch the slide with a finger thats muting? Its probably a stupid question but I don't want to spend hours practicing it to find out its a must

Also, the noise from the strings: this isn't my action and I'm almost certain its due to me not being delicate enough --- it'd be good if someone could tell me if I'm wrong. I'm new to this so I'm guessing.

Any other advice will be appreciated.

[SlickCat]

Hi Tina,
Its ok to mute with the finger behind the slide. You can also mute strings by resting the heel of your picking hand on the strings . You want to apply enough pressure with the slide so the strings wont rattle under it, but not so much pressure that the slide hits the frets. (its a balancing act)

[Kirk Lorange]

Hi tina.

I use the slide on my pinkie, always have. I like to have those other fingers there ready for anything that might be needed 'behind' the slide ... toward the nut. I often play notes with those spare fingers back there.

I don't really do much muting with the left hand fingers, I do it all with my picking fingers. There's an art to it, no doubt about it, but like everything else it becomes second nature after a while, your fingers/thumb get to know exactly which strings to mute and which to leave ringing. If you look at the video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN-c0gAeSdU you'll see how my thumb and fingers keep switching around muting and releasing strings as needed. Of course you need to ditch the flat pick to do it, but I'd recommend that anyway.

I use a very heavy slide on heavy strings, so I let the weight of the slide do most of the work. I hardly press down at all. Also, I wouldn't worry about the slide being too big. You can actually use that extra space inside to get a nice vibrato going. My slides used to be quite roomy but I guess my pinkie has pudged out a bit lately so it's quite tight now ... but I liked it when it was loose.

Keep working on it, it really is a fun way to play guitar once you get it down.

[csason]

I am very new here..
but I have dabbled with slide for ...well a long time. lol

Tina, I think if you have been playing guitar for a while you probably realize that just making a clear note without a slide, requires practice, and time (things I must earn).

The ability to make specific, clear, lead notes with slide...any slide..any guitar... is
the goal of EVERY slide guitarist. Some are much better than others...

The method Kirk uses is foolproof in terms of clarity, and precision..
I would say if you are accompished with standard tuning in playing guitar, meaning you
can play songs and some lead, then you would be well advised to look into the technique he uses.

I have played with various tunings over the years, and some are more forgiving regarding string noise than others..

There are a lot of songs that string noise is part of the tune...and distinguishes the tune from a regular fretted song.


When I first started, I placed the guitar on my lap, and muted as much as I could
with my left palm behind the slide (as has been mentioned, toward the nut) AND with
my right (picking hand) palm along the bridge.

That position allowed me to hear ME playing clean slide notes, but it greatly reduced
my ability to play other stuff.

As I began trying to play standing or sitting and holding the instrument normally, and use the slide, I had to improvise a way to mute unwanted noise.

Since then, I have learned some notes, properly struck, need no muting..other notes, that you might be able to play in an open tuning format, require maybe just the
4,5,6 strings be muted, and careful attention to 'strike' or 'pluck' on the remaining strings to get in and out of the song without being too noisy...

Now, I have written this lengthy post just to say this...

After learning probably dozens of songs in each of the various popular open tunings over the years, and having jammed with some of the greats..

When I listened to Kirk play, I realized he had mastered using the slide in standard (and or dropped D) tuning..which is not just VERY desirable, It removes all the blocks
that open tuning places when it comes to a lot of songs.

The funny part is, I started out playing in standard tuning, but went the way of the rest and open tuned.

I didn't know Duane Allman used open tuning until just a few years ago, and I called myself a Duane Allman fan.

in this vid of mine I am hardly muting at all, but it has a reasonable sound..(some peeps liked it)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6Nc6qWHMUU

I hide, as best as allowed...the unwanted sounds by emphasizing the hard notes.

quite different from the controlled approach.. but it gets boring and really just rythmic
in nature versus an actual clear melody.

As was mentioned, bad habits are hard to break, and I find myself now learning and enjoying a new (to me) method of individual string muting, that Kirk has mastered and is willing to share that is to my knowledge the best method I have seen of achieving
the most versatilty out of the slide sound.

Good luck..

it looks easier than it is...huh ?

[tina_]

Yep - it does csason, thanks! Thanks for the advice Kirk.

I'm gonna check the hints out and I'll let you guys know how it goes

[tina_]

It seems that the noise I'm hearing is the harmonic on the string I want to hear (except when I bash the string to hard or just get everything wrong).

I really can see the benefits of muting with the right hand (at the picking end) but I'd rather not do this as standard. Is it essential or can I practice the technique enough to avoid the need? Right now - with simple exercises I can get away without it sometimes.

[DemoEtc]

I tend to mute with the 'other' fingers of the sliding hand, but not always, as some have already stated. They're just sorta hanging there, ready to damp anything that starts to go off on its own, like adjacent strings, or if I start hearing a 'woof tone' behind the slide. Sometimes, on electric especially, those other notes and noises don't come through the pickups so it's not a problem. I mean yah, if you're playing at onstage volume through a big amp, you'll hear it, but normally it's not that much of a problem.

Like Kirk the slide always winds up on my pinky. I think because way back when, those 'standard' Dunlop metal slides were easy to get and cheap, and they were...a bit narrow (I think it's the model 220) so I couldn't get it on the ring finger that easily. I tried the thin-wall pyrex once, dropped it once, and that was it, but I liked the lighter slides because I used standard gauge strings (.010-.046). I use the same setup for acoustic sliding too actually, but sometimes all that fret rattle and string noise is part of it - more like bottle-neck style than electric slide.

[tina_]

I'm persevering without muting and it seems to be working. I guess its not for everyone but I think it might be the right way for me

[doveman]

I like a glass slide on 3rd finger ... since I've been doing it so long. I've always used open tuning even though I've experimented with Open E and a couple of other tunings. I use 10-46 strings and use standard string height.

For many years I used a flat pick ... muting with the left hand mostly. Later I began to use my right hand for muting and picking. I rarely use the flat pick but I keep it tucked between my fingers a lot. I've actually started playing without a pick a lot of the time now ... even when not playing slide.

So I think it comes down to practicing using both left and right hand muting and not muting ... sometimes pick ... sometimes not. You can get a lot of sounds mixing it up.

[tina_]

I've moved to 11's and am practicing with muting on behind the slide. Maybe I'll try other ways later. Well I will once I've sorted out the intonation following the string change I think my actions ending up a little higher than normal, it certainly isn't low.

I'm also using a glass slide which feels much better than the metal one. Its still a bit long but easier to manage without the weight hanging off my finger.