# Guitar/Slide Guitar

## Introduction

A slide is a metal/glass/ceramic tube which fits over a finger (most
commonly the ring finger or little finger, but any will work). If you
wish to experiment with slide guitar, but do not have a slide, objects
ranging from lighters and glass bottles to sections of metal pipe and
batteries can work just as well, and in some cases provide entertainment
and stage presence to a performance. *Do not press the string down.* The
slide rests on the string, not enough to give fret buzz, but enough to
stop the string buzzing against the slide. Some players will lightly
deaden the string behind the slide with a trailing finger to stop any
unwanted vibrations.

!A metal slide being
used

Practice getting a crisp note without sliding first. Because the slide
rests on the strings, the slide playing a single note should be directly
above the fret, not behind it as with the fingers. Usually the slide
guitarist keeps the slide moving backwards and forwards slightly to
create a vibrato effect.

A common technique found in slide guitar is playing fingerstyle as
opposed to the use of a pick or plectrum. The benefits of fingerstyle
playing includes the ability to more easily pick the desired strings,
while using the other fingers to dampen the other strings from undesired
vibration. Raising the action of the guitar is also recommended. The
normal low action, which is ideal for playing lead in standard tuning,
is counter-productive when playing slide because of string buzz and lack
of a clear sounding note. For this reason many guitarists have a second
guitar where they raise the action to such a height to make it almost
unplayable using normal technique. This high action guitar is
permanently kept in an \"open tuning\" and is used exclusively for slide
playing. Note that raising (or lowering) the action means that the
intonation of the guitar has to be re-set. This can simply be done with
a guitar tuner and just involves turning the string adjuster until the
open string and its octave at the twelfth fret (fretted and harmonic)
produce exactly the same note. Basically the needle or display of an
electronic guitar tuner should settle exactly dead center regardless of
whether you are playing an open high E string or fretting its octave at
the twelfth fret. A guitar that is correctly set up will show this on
all strings. Setting the action of electric guitars is very easy due to
the string adjusters; however, acoustic guitars have their intonation
set at the factory and don\'t have string adjusters. Adjusting the
action of an acoustic should be left to a guitar shop or luthier who
specializes in repair and maintenance.

Though slide guitar is often played in open chord
tunings, Open G and Open D being
the most common, playing slide in standard tuning is also possible and
can add a new dimension to your playing. Slide guitar has always
provided a fascinating approach to playing the guitar and the sound of
the slide has found a home in genres such as rock and country.

## History

One of the earliest mentions of slide guitar is in W.C.Handy\'s
autobiography \"Father Of The Blues\":

\"As he played, he pressed a knife on the strings of the guitar in a
manner popularized by the Hawaiian guitarists who used steel bars\"

This is also one of the earliest references to the blues. As you can
tell from the quote above the use of the slide in no late-comer to the
blues genre and there is large body of work from the 1920s to the
present day. No guitarist can confuse the slide playing of Duane Allman
with that of Robert Johnson. Each period informs of itself the dictates
of taste and style.

### 1930s

Robert Johnson is cited as the first great slide guitarist. Other famous
blues performers had comer before him, Blind \"Lemon\" Jefferson was a
major entertainer during the 1920s but Robert Johnson is considered to
be the first major exponent of the slide. During his life-time he only
recorded a handful of tracks and though known locally for being a fine
entertainer; the world-wide fame that is associated with his name now is
more down to later blues fans and guitarists who have sought the roots
of the blues.

