Hello Sliders

Schermerberger · #1 September 26th, 2005

My name is Jourdan Schermerhorn and no one can ever seem to get the last name correct so I just make fun of it... hence the username "Schermerberger" was born.

I've been playing guitar since '87 as a adolescent sprat in a local punk bank, even though I was a closet metalhead, who drifted into psychodelic noise and progressive english rock for a while while broadening my pallet of musical tastes to get into the sound of the jazzmasters (althought I've no clue how to do what they do), blues, folk and now at the ripe ol' age of 32, I can find something good about almost anyone.

A few years ago I was struck with a guitar rut and a bug of curiosity for the bluegrass banjo which I purued to the entry level and fell out of and back into my six stringed friend from old. Now I am trying to hone some new chops, skills and understanding about the instrument I enjoy.

I recently flew on the Plane Talk and am diggin' it. The thought of how it works is along the same way as I've learned but goes beyond to present a whole scheme - it's great.

I picked up the slide many years ago and left it until this past spring. I hope to get to the place where there is a fluency in playing slide in standard tuning where I can make my favorite hymns sing with a new zip.
I play a DEAN Performer A/E with plectrum, 5 nubs and a bit o' slide. Just happy to be here and learn a thing or two.

by the way did I mention, sliders are the best type of berger

allthumbs · #2 September 27th, 2005

Howdy Mr. S. (how's that for a way around that alphabet puzzle) Glad yu found this forum. Why don't you upload a take of one of the bts so we can hear what your doing.

Schermerberger · #3 September 28th, 2005

I might just do that ifn I knew how. Nice to hear from you Mr. Thumbs. if you give me a little hint on what to do I'll try it.
thanks

allthumbs · #4 September 28th, 2005

If your recording acustic, plug a mike into your soundcard. You can mike or do a line in directly from your amp or modeler if your going electric. Open an account at soundclick, upload yout tune there and then link to it here. You need some mixer software. Free stuff like audacity or multitrack work fine. Good luck.

Schermerberger · #5 September 28th, 2005

great. Thanks for the tip. Perhaps I'll try it soon. Where's yours?

allthumbs · #6 September 29th, 2005

blues slide in add a track is mine

Kirk Lorange · #7 September 29th, 2005

Welcome schermerberger ... it's good to have a newcomer here. It's like nerve gas hit this place about three weeks ago ... all activity ceased. Maybe, with at least you, allthumbs and me, we can get some discussion going here again.

Glad to hear PlaneTalk rings a bell with your thinking! I"ve said this many times and I'll mention it again: it was filing away slide 'line-em-up' positions in standard tuning that tuned my brain the PlaneTalk mindset. For some reason, slide makes you look at how music works and how it fits into the matrix of the fretboard in a different way, and also reinforces how melody-harmony-chords are all the same thing.

Regarding Standard tuning: it struck me recently, while working on the DVD I'm putting together on that subject, that standard is a blend of many open tunings ... it's just that they're not six-string chords. But who cares? It's open major, minor, major seventh, minor 7th, 11, 9th, sus4 ... there's a string set to accommodate all of those flavors. There are double stops all over the place for more flavors ... all of them in fact. You may not get all those cliche inversions and licks that open tunings spit out automatically, but there are enough players out there doing that and doing it well. I think standard has the edge, myself. Drop that bottom E down to D, and you've got the best of all: dropped D.

But, I certainly understand those who do pursue the traditional sound of open tunings. From time to time I tune to open and have a good old time, but I lack confidence in my fretboard map when I deviate from standard/dropped D.

Schermerberger · #8 October 3rd, 2005

actually the help I've received from Plane Talk does help for slide playing. I always used the drop D for playing "heavy", in the past. Now I'm working the added "A" chordlet on the 6-4 strings. I'm trying to grasp a bit o basic slide technique to put up some little ditty for Allthumbs listening pleasure and suggestions

Schermerberger · #9 January 6th, 2006

As of late, I've been sliding around with a few friends and they've all chuckled a bit at hearing some slide come out of a "city boy". One friend I have from Texarkana Texas, jokingly stated He didn't know a Yankee could ever play slide.

I'm having more and more fun with it. Still, I have soooo much yet to lay ahold of, but simply sliding out melody lines of well known hymns or solo attempts over some accompanyment it's smooth sailing with a slide.

Kirk Lorange · #10 January 7th, 2006

Is the brass one I sent you the other day the first you've ordered from me?

Schermerberger · #11 January 7th, 2006

indeed, it is the first slide I've purchased from you. I have been using a Dunlop thickwall pyrex shortie. so I splurged hoping to dig it and I hope it will last for a while. its been only six months or so and the dunlop has small (very small) chips in it.

Schermerberger · #12 January 13th, 2006

Got the slide Kirk, it's definitely an upgrade to the dunlop. The weighted top keeps you on the neck and gives you a better contact to the strings. Plus the interior thickness change gives me a more custom fit. I'm liking it already.