ls Leap 31 Around the Bend Music by Glenn Weiser bugs32 bent to F, In measure 11, Cis bent to C¥ om the first string. On the third beat of the mea: sure the chord changes to D, Fis bent to Fé on the second string, and B is bent to C on the first string. Ending I returns us to the A chord, Here the first finger bends C to C¥ on the third string. On beat 3 the chord changes to F, and the index finger bends the fourth string. Ending 2 repeats the C to C# bend, this time as an elghth.note figuee. “Around the Bend” should be played as a slow blues at first, After you get the hang of string bending, you can try speeding i up to a medium shu toGtonFINGERPICKING 3 Fingerstyle Blues Basics Kenny Sultan PART ONE cecently, | read an interview with John Fogerty. He commented that be had never heard a bad version of “Proud Mary” because the arrangement is so simple, There's a lesson here for blues musicians. Ifyou listen to the music ‘of Lightning Hopkins, Hank Willams, and Muddy Waters, you'l find that is sity. There are very bare-bones music played with tons of emotion and int cessary notes or changes. Let's keep this in mind as we try to build a fingerstyle blues arrangement ofthe song "Em Up" in the key of E, Well keep things simple at frst andl just get a feel for the song and what is trying to say: Taking this approach and playing to your own technical ability is very important, Get into the music and save th ies for your scale pyrotech exercises or practice sessions. Remember that when you're playing gultar—especially vinen you're playing the blues—it should look easy. tn "Fl ‘Em Up" and the other musical examples, Ive decided to use an alternating Keep things simple and get bass. This was a tough choice because I love the rough edge of the monotone bass style, a feel for what the song Dut [elt thatthe alternating bass would give us more options in the development of the song, First, e's go over some examples that will help in the building process and lead o fe ples that will help D tosay. us up to the song, Be sure to practice each exercise as you read slong. Example 1 is about as easy as it gets. Starting from ground zero, use your thumb to alternate between the sixth and fourth strings. I's very Important to keep this steady! [Next, add your fingers to the first and second strings athe Shing (221) Ex. 1. E aut ye foe, ; ; a o o le o . In Example 2, add your lefthand pinky to create an E6 chord, which gives us a bit of flavor, Use the same righthand attack asin the previous example. apbce Suing (2 Ex. 2. Ee eee : . > a = rs | oO o oe ———35 HS : 7 =au ACOUSTIC BLUES GUITAR ESSENTIALS In Example 3 we start to move the pinky more, going from E to B6 to E7 with a flick of the finger (actually a flick of the wrist), When playing this example, you might notice that ‘your pinky can get alittle jammed moving from the second to the third fret. Ta facilitate the move, I drop my left wrist slightly toward the grounds this helps my pinky get in bet: ter position for a cleaner and stronger sound. One mistake some of my stucents make is to leave the left hand locked ia the same position While this technique works for some chord positions i's sometimes necessary to make x let the fingers do all the work ‘minor lefthand adjustments to smooth out certain transitions, BAC Swing (2-19) Ex Example 4 is very similar to Example 3 except that all the a the first string. sscy eong (TD) Ex. 4 o™, fyb gtd) | [Quegs ooes . = Example 5 combines all the elements we've worked on So far. Watch out forthe added hammeron, she Sng (AT) Ex.5 Ls] For Examples 6-10, well switch to an A7 chord. luse two different first-position AT ‘chords. One is the “folk” or * Dut not real funky. ter, Paul, and Mary” A7—a nice, open-sounding chord“The other is the barred, transposable A7, which is a good rhythm chord because its closed. Example 6s pretty straighforward. In Examples 7 and 8 we start the bullding process by adding the pinky to create the A6 and high A7. The same left-hand adjustments that \ve used on the E chord might he needed here, For Example 9, switch to the funkier A7 chord, You might find this chord alittle more difficult to play, but hang in there. Exam ple 10 takes you even further out. You'll need to reach the A note with your pinky. I's ‘quite a stretch, so be patient *ehCe ning (Jad 3) -~ Ex. 6 Ex.7 ‘Ar Ar pl pee oe par pe ° 3536 Examples 11-18 focus on the B7 chord, We're put ng the same principles to work here as we did earlier: starting slow an adding the pinky to stimulate some action, Whe A6hCr owing (J2=d 3) 7 Ex.11 EAC swing (S221 3) Onis a ae ¢ a 202 t — + + When you feel comfortable with Examples 1-13, try to add some syncopation in the form of iller notes. Filer notes are accidental grace notes played slightly ater the upbeat. [ began using them unconsciously and was completely unaware of them until a student asked why when we both played the same piece the two versions sounded so liferent. realized that I was adding syncopation by lightly hitting the string below the string on which I was playing the melody (for instance, hitting the B string when the melody is on the E string). When | analyzed the move, | discovered the following basle 1. Don’t play filer notes on the downbeats. That's where the bass notes go, leaving no space to fil 2. Always place the filler note on the string below the melody note, I your melody note falls on the first string, the fll wll be on the second: f the melody’s on the secon {he fill wil be on the third, ete 3. Place the filer note a little closer to the next downbeat, or just a shade after the upbeat. This adds to the syncopation. You'll probably need to use two fingers on your right hand to accomplish this. fit swings, you're getting the syneapation correct. Ifyou high schoo! marching band, you're not hit the filer notes as hard as your melody notes. This defeats sou ke 4. Don and could displace your melody. Remember, filler notes are Ike grace notes, 5. Be sure to use filler notes sparingly: Ifyou fill every available space, the song will sound cluttered, Examples M and 15, "ve added filler notes to the E icks in Examples 2 andl 3° ° ‘0 ° In Examples 16 and 17, Te added filler notes to a couple of the AT and BY licks we learned earlier Follow the rules and don’t worry the fil notes sound muted. Notice that each fills on the string below the next melody note. Try adding your own filer notes 10 Examples 4-13, 7 2 o 8 ae o 2 t o ra o Bs t 1 + 1 fF @ 2 2 2 ‘The song “Fill Em Up" a I2-bar blues in the key of F. Te tried to Incorporate every: ophasize the backbeat—the second and thing we've talked about into the piece. Try to fourth beat of each measure—to give the music a ithe extra kick, ”38 ACOUSTIC BLUES GUITAR ESSENTIALS Fill ‘Em Up Music by Kenny SultanPART TWO 1 this part of the lesson we will add various other techniques to the tune [troduction Fil Up." like chord inversions up the neck, singlesnote runs, hammer- ‘ons, and pullolfs. As you play through these examples, be sure to go at your ‘own pace. Let's begin by moving some first position chords up the neck, I know some of you right freak atthe thought of golng past the ith fret, bt with the shortcuts 'm about to show you, you'll be rockin’ in no time ‘The frst chord we will advance Is the A/A7 chord shape, Use this chord in Examples 1 and 2 1 you ean play this chord inthe fist position, you can play It anywhere on the neck The farther up the neck you travel, the easier the chord becomes because the stretch 3940 Acoustic BLUES GUITAR ESseMrrALs becomes shorter you can play Examples 1 and 2, check out Examples 3 and 4, whieh use this position: 8 Er ihe ae eH “The only difference is that the bass alternates between the sixth ancl fourth strings {or the & chord; otherwise the licks are identical Except for the Eand A chords, you will want to alternate the bass between the fourth ‘and third strings to avold dissonance, Well call this movable chord the “poor man’s, barre chord." | don't know about you, but for me, fingerpicking barre chords Is hard work, I'ma pro and ! still can’t get a decent sound with barre chords, This alternate chord shape gets the job done with less stress and a lot more clarity: Try substituting this chord in songs you alrendy know—andl don't be alta to try keys other than E,In this chart, you can see which chords you make as you move this form up the neck A Ay AA BB COD EEF Gta” oe oe &e The next chord we move up the neck isthe F/Fmaj7 chord shape: FE Fray Let’s advance it two steps to the & chord and use it in Examples 5 and 6)Funsenr renin. a AgAcp Swing (12-05) x5 1 works great at this position because you don't need to wrap your thumb over the top of the neck to get the tonic note, allowing your pinky greater freedom to improvise on the melody. The chart tells you which chords you can make by moving this shape around FR OGGAMBS CG DOE Gb Ae Be Db Bb you find that wrapping your thumb over the neck of the guitar is too much of a pai, you can get away with the F position without the wrap by substituting a 4/3 (fourth string/third string) alternating bass pattern instead ofthe 6/4 used with the thumb wrap, ‘The only disadvantages ate that you lose the third string for melody purposes and that, the chord might not have enough bottom. Now let's advance another chord up the fingerboard, Make your first-position B7 chord and move it up two and a half steps to the E7 (seventh fret): Ev ‘This chart shows what chords you make as you move this fingering up the neck ‘7 Gr GbT D7 Dar Ey Fr Far Grob Ay Ber eer Gir Abra2 “This isa great-sounding chord not only for fingerpicking but also for rock ‘roll or R&B. Examples 7 and 8 show some possibilities. Don't psyche yourself out, You've already played these riffs in frst postion, Your pinky will be working overtime here, so try to keep it relaxed, This position works best for the E and B7, butt can also be moved anywhere on the neck (see the chart). Just be careful not to hit the second string on most ofthe other chords because the open B will cause some dissonance. You'll beable to tell whether it works or not SINGLE-NOTE RUNS. ‘Our next technique to make “Fil'Em Up” more interesting willbe the addition of single. note runs. This concept was used by most ofthe old ragtime and blues players as a way to break up the boom-chuck ofthe alternating bass, Depending on the speed of the run, | usually find it faster and easier to pick the notes by alternating the thumb and index finger of my right hand. Check out Example 9. Start with your thumb and remember to alternate with your index finger. I you find it dificult to play this smoothly, try moving, will prevent your thumb ane finger ‘your Index finger back toward the bridge a bit. Th from running into one another and will sharpen the point of attack. If you use finger picks, you might notice some string noise on the bass notes. This is caused by the side of the fingerpick striking the wound strings. To help eliminate this, adjust your right hhand slightly as you move through the example to keep the center of the pick on the strings js one to be It you now feel comfortable with Example 9 try out Example U0. | find such harder. Start with your index finger this time. Go slowly and gradually build up speed. ‘Then connect both examples fora great workout that [use to warm up before a showghey Ex.10 HAMMER-ONS AND PULL-OFFS: {As our last building block, let's look at hammer-ons and pull-offs, They are both valuable tools. There are basically two kinds of hammers and pulls: those that occur on the beat and those that happen in between beats. | find that placing the hammer or pull on the beat is more difficult. Look at Examples 1 and 12, In Example 11 we strike the note on the beat, then hammer after it, You should be able to handle this. Now try Example 12: you hit the note before, then hammer on the downbeat. It will take practice to get this timing just right. Ideally you want the bass and hammer-on to occur at exactly the same time. A966 Swing (S205) Ex. 11 I you can accomplish this these two tech ove on to the final step and try pu niques together (Example 13). I! you're having trouble getting this down, try hitting each note separately before you attempt the hammerons to get a better feel for the chythin. A2aCr swing (S20) 5) Ex. 13 E: Pulls follow basically the same rules as hammer-ons; the pull will either happen on o alter the beat (see Examples 14 and 15). you're having a hard time getting a clean put, try pulling down with your finger, not just off. This gives you a better and cleaner release, 4syou've been reasonably successful playing the examples, you are more than ready to play “Fil Em Up," part two, There is nothing like a real song. to get the blood flowing Exercises can only take you so far before boredom sets in; so relax, have some fun don’ worry about mistakes, andl go at! And don't forget, rules are meant to be broken, Fill ‘Em Up Music by Kenny Sultan Version 2 ys 4 ie Dis cls aa! be te “ 2 be : SS ot 4 2 #1 “9 2 —1? 5-0 7 — 7 + * 6 6 6 6 6 6 e 6 7 7 ? 7 7 ” 7 Moy s ro? 20907034 00 oo D . S787 20 20 7 7 7 7Br =e fig z aoe ——e 8 3 8 exONOO KS) Meg, Ly iit46 FINGERPICKING Your First Guitar Rag Dale Miller ultar rags have been popular with fingerpickers at least since the mid. 1920s, when the invention of electronic recording made it possible 10 record softer instruments lke guitar In fact, the steady alternating bass ‘of traditional fingerpicking probably resulted from guitarists imitating the steady left hands of ragtime and stride piano players. Rags are often flashy, usually humorous, and fun to play—the perfect contrast to the sometimes overly artsy, moody, self-conscious new age noodling so prevalent among today’s pickers. Mastering ragtime suitar takes a time of work and dedication, but for those of you whe know first-post tion chords and have some experience picking individual strings with your right-hand Fingers, it shouldnt be too dificult to get started The style is usually based! on a steady 4/4 bass line that looks like Example 1 when played with a firstposition G chord aN are often flas humoro. : fun to play . ° ° 2 AACE siated eighth notes. Try the pattern shown in Example 2 over the G, werking up to med lum tempo, Be sure to make it swing, The fingering indicated suggests using the right hand ring finger. You could just as efficiently use the righthand index finger. The impor: tant thing is not to use the same right-hand! finger twice ina row when playing streams of eighth notes. enc, orn (De ‘Be 2 af ety: z of dd 5 ° a5 o 2 , ° ; °FINgeRP1cKING a7 Now try out this baste pattern over different chords. You'll have to change the bass line depending on where the root note f Is. In a first-position C, fo instance, you should ‘execute the pattem as shown in Example 3 cee Swing (203) @ oc oe fe e | === —— ———n i 2 2» Ii a —— Play the low G note by moving you left-hand ring finger from the fifth string, and keep ‘your pinky free for fretting treble notes. Practice the pattern through few simple chord progressions. “The most popular chord progression for gultar rags is probably the one used for Arlo Guthrie's “Alice's Restaurant,” Robert Johnson's “Hot Tamales.” and other hokum hits like “Keep on Truckin’ Mama.” Here's the chord progression for the key of G ‘fost Ex. 4 Oe ween e 8 & & i a hi & a [As you analyze the chords, you'll notice that for the first position D7 and Cédim chords it's difficult to begin the measure with a root note in the bass, For the D7 chord {you can solve this problem by moving a fst-position C7 chord up the neck two frets for this nice D9 chord that is often used for guitar rags. ti For the Cidim chord, try this fingering Cainer ial "Now play through the progression with your newly mastered picking pattern. As you sain confidence, begin to make the chord changes an eighth note early, a very commontechnique for guitar rags, Here's how the third and fourth measures of this progression would go. ‘Swing (2-1 3) sphee 5 o Ar De iG, De. [Now let's spice things up by adding on to the basic pattern to create a twomeasure pattern, Example 6 is written out forth ie (measures 9 nd 10 of the progression), Finger the G chord in this twormeasure exercise with your nd pinky fingers rather th first two measures of the 0 your index, middle, and Fing fingers, so you conly have to change one finger as you move to the G7. This repetition of the same three eighth notes is very common and provides guitar rags with alot of drive. Since they are srouped in threes and the music isin 4/4 time, the emphasis changes as the three notes sound-—(1 and 2) (anid 3 and) (4 and 1) ete, Swing (9-09) Ex.6 aphce ‘Be aware that becoming too enamored of pattern pleking ean palnt you into a mus cal corner, Learning afew patterns provides a shortcut to working though a progression, Dut its ultimately very limiting. I you're not careful, you'll have to unlearn alot in order to play freely over an alternating bass. As a test, start an alternating bass going in any chord, bring inthe pattern, and then go back to just the alternating bass. Ifyou ean do that smoothly while keeping up a steady rhythm, then you'r already relying too much ‘on patterns. I's very Important in this style of fingerpicking to keep the bass and treble parts independent RAGTIME LICKS Let's break out ofthe pattern trap by learning avery cool ragtime guitar ick that relates specifically toa first position G chord. Hold down the G and try playing Example 7‘Swing (S20) rf Ex. Z —_——_ 2S SSS] = ‘Next, get your left hand (especially the pinky) involved and try Example 8, Notice how the last note of the liek ereeps into the bass line. Dig as well the funky, bluesy sound of the B-to-B run on the third beat, a minor to major third change that is typical of both ‘blues and ragtime guitar playing. ager Swing (SI=]D) EB 7 F ’ 00 : a eee (Po a We can use the same concept for the E7 chord section by ereating a pattern that includes a very common minor to major third hammer-on, which you probably already know. Swing (2e]9) © Exo E este50 y, busy picking, it's nice to add a bit of open space to the arrange- ‘ment, One way isto simplify the fourth measure like this sce nn RAID) @ 0 G Do in THEY i : nd —— 5 ° = | 99] 4) PLAYING “GUITAR RAG" In “Gultar Rag” you'll find an arrangement ofthis progression that puts all these ideas together. Try it out at a slow, steady pace and leisurely work up to a tempo you lke, From here you can add some slides, hammers, and string bends, substitute in some barre oF partal barre chords, ty out the same progeession in sone other common gu tar keys, and/or try out these licks with other chord progressions. Happy picking51 Guitar Rag ‘Music by Dale Miller ace OS (ath52 SLIDE Acoustic Slide Essentials ale Miller , you'll get fatter tones from your guitar than you've ever gotten before sedce Introduction and Tune-up PART ONE I you've ever listened in frustration as a saxophonist blew a fat, le line, a fiddle player executed a smooth fulloctave slide, or a satod picker explored the microtones tween the frets,” then i's thme to consider pla slide guitar Smooth slides and microtones will be easy, and though you wont be able to sustain a note like a sax player, you'll soon be producing atte, longerlasting, td ‘more ringing tones than you've ever gotten from your acoustic guitar belore Any acoustic guitar can be used for slide, but certain models sound better than ott ers. Resonator guitars—especially those made of nickelplated brass—make fabulous slid rangey, with a ton of sustain. Standard fat ‘guitars, Their tone i ft, loud, ant tops with mahogany or koa tops also work well. Luckily, the cheaper flattops often sound Detter than the more expensive ones when it comes to playing slide, Blind Wille McTell and others even used 12-string guitars for slide, Many yuitarists have a second guitar set ‘up specifically for playing slide, with the action set a hair higher. But you can get start ced on any guitar, even a nylonstring. (See “Slide Guitars and Setup." page 64.) Most side players are fingerstylists who are likely to use fingerpicks and medium- or heavy-gauge strings. You may want to experiment with your right-hand! techni ‘on, but your current style should be fine for starters (OPEN-D TUNING Probably 99 percent of acoustic slice playing is done in open tunings: mostly in ED. A, or G. Pm going to concentrate on D tuning in this part, because i's a bit easier to cone ceptualize. (In Part Two, I'l cover the other most common tuning: open .) To get into ‘open D, simply drop the frst, second, and sixth strings down a step and the third string {down a half step so you end up with the tuning D AD Ft AD. The filth string is now one ‘octave below the second string, the fourth string is now an octave below the fist string and an octave above the sixth string, and the third string will match the fourth string at the fourth fret. The notes in Ft EBE are Tampa Red and Blind Willie Johnson. have exactly the same relationships, but upa step: BE. A couple of early slide players who played almost exclusively in this tuning SINGLE-STRING LINES. After you've retuned your guitar, put on your slide and move It along the fist string as you pluck it. .you put the slide on your pinky, you might want to reinforce your hold on It with your ring finger Some slide players lke to drag cir left-hand index: fingers on the string behind the slide to suppress unwanted overtones. In order to avoid making a Ite elicking sound by hitting the frets with your slide, press down just hard enough to sound the note. Pay close attention {0 your Intonation, As fiddle players well know, there's one exact spot on the string where the note isin tune. Try playing a major scale‘on the first string—open, second fret, fourth fret, ith fret, seventh fret, ninth fret, 1th fret, 12th fret, Play up and down the scale or play 4 few simple melody fragments, and ‘work hard to keep each note in tune. Airs, slur the notes together so there's no silence. Then try to play each note stac- cato by lifting the slide between notes while damping the string with either a let- or righthand finger ‘up to @ note soit rings out clearly and in tune; then move your wrist back and forth $0 lly, combine the two techniques. Try out some tremolo, too—slide the slide is moving from just above the note to just below it, Experiment with both 3 slow, lazy tremolo and a fast, tight one. M's important to keep your wrist loose You can also use some “straight” guitar techniques with slide. For example, you ean hammer on and pull off with the: 's, and a pulkoft ide, Heres anice blues lick that combines slides, ham- RAS Ext BASIC CHORDS IN OPEN D in most songs, you'l fret some chords in the traditional manner. The chord diagrams below show the fingerings for the I IV, and V chords in this tuning: the tonie seventh (D7), the subdominant (G), and the dominant seventh (AT) vow vr oe It the slide is on your pinky, you don’t have to lift it when changing from the IV to the \V chord, You ean play any major chord in open tuning by moving to the correct fret and barring all the strings: the IV chord is at the fith fet, the V chord Isat the seventh fret, and 0 on PLAYING “KEEP ON SAIN [ve included in this lesson atranseription of "Keep On Salin” (rom my CD Both of Me— see discography), which was inspired by Muddy Waters' “Honeybee.” In Waters’ tune ‘Wille Dixon is beating out a steady, rockin ally inthe key of E, 50 you'll need to place a capo at the second fret or tune up a step to bassline, My recording of the tune is actu- ‘open E tuning to match the recording, 1 play the tune on a National Style 0 using a ceramic, finger-ength slide on my pinky: 1 keep a steady bass going with my right-hand thumnb while playing the ody notes. With my index and middle fingers on light gauge bronze strings. I do all of my damping 53se Acoustic tues GUITAR Keep On Sailin’ Music by Dale Miller ‘gua Tuning: DAD F# AD ie NererEas ’ Fe + + S400 3 Turmaround D . . Az oe eS oo ya Sy . . . - wr r i = . Sg eg oe Hy 2 at 1 ge ee se 4 ° ° °‘with my left-hand index finger. It your thurmb has trouble keeping a steady beat when you play the transcription, try playing only the melody at first, ‘When you do add your thumb, don’t try to create a bass sound that's crisp and clea; .g0 for something muddy and nasty. This Is true for the non-slid notes in the treble part as well, Play hard enough that your fingers hit adjacent strings or set them ringing sym- pathetically. Musically, “Keep On Sai "follows a standard 12bar blues progression: four mea sures of two measures of IV, two measures of Lone measure of V7 one measure of 1, two measures of a turnaround resolving to the V7, The tune really exploits the tension between the minor and major third Intervals (and the mierotones in between), with alot of sliding up from the third to the fourth fret on the first string, The slide up tothe tonic note on the second fret is a standard slide technique. The rhythm features quite a few triplets, which is common inthe blues; be careful not to rush them. The first measure of the turnaround shows how nicely octave licks work in open tunings. The best way to fi {ger it (if your slide fs on your pinky) Is to use your left-hand index finger for the descend ing fith-string notes, your middle finger on the descending second:string notes, and ‘your ring finger for the frst-string notes, [After you've mastered “Keep On Sailin” try rearranging it by sliding from the second to the minor third (second to third fret) on the first string and avoiding the major third (on the fourth fret) totally. How might that lead you to change other aspects of the arrangement? PART TWO (OPEN-G TUNING or this second part we'll examine open-G tuning: D GD GB D, low to high. To arrive at this tuning, tune the sith string of your guitar down to D (one octave below the fourth string). Then tune the fifth string down to G (one octave below the third string), and finally lower the first string to D so it matches the second string at the third fret (one octave higher than the fourth string). If you prefer, you can tune the second, third, and fourth strings up a step from standard tuning to get Into open A tuning: EAE A CE (exactly lke a first-position A chord), ‘Open-G tuning has a less grounded feeling than open D (DAD FF AD), which is bracketed by tonic notes on the highest and lowest strings and features a third tonic ‘on the fourth string. Open G's two tonie notes are on the third and fifth strings, and the 0 + two strings are a filth above the tonic. Strum fr picking all the open strings in D tuning makes you feel very much at home and relaxed. Doing the same in ‘open G can create more tension, which opens it up to certain ways of thinking and playing. Perhaps the most common lick in G tuning is the satistying s feo the filth fret on the first string that brings it all back home to the tonic. Try out this simple lick at diferent speeds. You can elther strike the open string, then bring the slide down somewhere around the second fret and slide up tothe fifth fret in one motion so there's no real start lng note, oF you can start with the slide on the second or third fret and let the note be established before sliding up to the fifth fet. Introduction and Ture-up phe 5556 [As I mentioned previously, you must use just enough pressure to sound the note or else the slide will click agalnst the frets. And, as always, listen closely for correct into- ation, Without frets there's a0 gin of error, Remember to touch the string behind the slide with your trailing first finger to dampen unwanted avertones and to try adding some tremolo as your accuracy increases, (You add tremolo by moving the wrist of your sli hand back and forth after you've nailed down the note.) Example 1 18 nice lick to add to the slide up to the tonic. I's a s flatted seventh to the fifth “a Ext You can either use the open frst string asthe final note or play the second string at the third fet, as In Example 2. The latter that you hit 0 1ove Is fairly simple because the previous E second fret) has positioned your slide perfectly to move up one fret on the next-lower string the downward slide (rst strin ey Ex 2 When moving from string to string lke this, you'll have to work om tlting the slide so that only one string ings out, unless you're trying for a double-string slide, To complete the lick, tilt the slide again to play a B> note on the third stein: ‘gaat Ex. 5 ° Bi aT Fe The octave notes on the third and fith strings 0 offer some cool possibilities. Try sliding up to the IV chord (ith fret) and V chord (seventh fret) on these two stsupe 37 You can also play a short phrase on the fith string and then echo It an octave higher ‘on the third, Here i an example of that with an added slide up to the tonic at the first string MASE Ex ‘You might recognize this lick Try playing it with your fingers, while using your thumls 10 play a steady, thumping bas line. Combine it with the octave slice up to the Vand V chords Johnson's “Walkin’ Blues" or the tune that inspired it, "My Black Mama,” by Son House. Example 5 is an excerpt from Watkin’ Blues.” fast Ex.S a _ 1d some other simple stuff, and you have a fingerstyle arrangement of Robert {As [mentioned in Part One, most slide guitarists add quite a few fretted notes to the slid notes in their arrangen nts, Here are the first-postion I, V, and V7 chords in open | Vv Ve eat cgay + [Note that it isn’t necessary to it the Index finger when changing between the IV and V7 chords. Infact, you can leave it down and move it up the string to the third fret to play the tonic chord. This fretted descending lick on the fourth string resolving to the fretted first-position V7 chore makes a nice blues turnaround, geet Ex. 658 ere is a pair of fretted chords in open G that Robert Johnson used in a few of his songs, Including the great “Terraplane Blues.” By raising and lowering your middle ger, you're changing from a tonie seventh to a tonie sixth, Ge Gr = @ Another interesting technique in open G is to play doublestops on the first two strings, Son House's “Dry Spell Blues” built on this technique. Example 7 shows a cou ple of licks from that tune, with a steady bass. As inal open-chord tunings, first three strings can be exciting, Try it out, Then try sliding up on one of the frst three strings as the first note of an arpeggto: icks on the 12th fet work well. Simply sliding up on the ghee ‘You can use the 12th fret as home base for some happening leks, In measures 7 and 8 ‘of “Blues in G." Pve done just that. This phrase was originally played by Robert Johnson J his haunting *Come into My Kitchen,” just as he sings "hear the wind howling.” “Blues in G," which appears in my book/tape combo Country Blues and Ragtime Gu {ar Styles (Mel Bay), features many of Johnson's greatest licks from different songs in foper-G tuning, arranged into one straightahead 12-bar blues. Johnson's approach wasn't this straightforward, He'd include measures in 6/4 or even 5/4 timing and would often either increase or decrease the number of measures. He also wouldn't play such ‘obvious IV or V7 chords as the ones that appear in measures 5,6, 9, and 10. He would dhint at them with singlestring slides, This approach, which Johnson shared with most country blues players, ‘with other folks more dificult, ‘an create a lot of tension, inte St, and surprise, but it makes jamsue 59 Blues in G Music by Dale Miller (© 1989 Kicking Mule Publishing AI rights esered. Used by permission60 Introduction sear In addition to Johnson and House you might want to check out the playing of early bluesman Charley Patton, who played some great blues inthis tuning, including "Moon's Goin’ Down.” Modern slide player Bob Brozman is also a great player to listen to, He ‘works exclusively in this tuning and has very impressive chops. PART THREE 6 far in this lesson, I've used standard blues rifls and musical examples to ‘luminate the tunings (open D and open G) and techniques of traditional slide playing. In this part I introduce some nontraditional techniques and ideas, (One interesting technique used by the great slide guitarist Ry Cooder and others Is to ance) play open-string notes on higher strings than the slide notes. In ope tuning try out this lick HARMONICS Artificial harmonies can also work quite well with slide. AS you probably know, har monies are those clear, belblike notes you make by lightly touching a string and releas It just as you phuck it, They work best when you touch the string atthe octave (half the length of the string) Artificial harmonies are those you play by touching and plucking withthe same hand, leaving the other hand free to “fret” with a finger or the slide. You touch a string lightly the 12 frets (one octave) above a note you have “iretted.” If you're playing slide 0 plucked note, you'll often slide up as the harmonic rings out ‘There are three ways to play artificial harmonics. The first is to touch with the index finger and pluck with the thumb, This method allows you to rapidly alternate open: string harmonic notes with straight “fretted” notes plucked by the ring finger. The sec= fond is to touch with the index and pluck with the ring finger. With this method your thumb is free to play bass notes, The third, which Is commonly used by lap steel and Dobro players, Is to touch the string with the meaty part of your hand at the bass of the thumb and to pluck withthe end of the thumb. Interestingly, with this method your point of attack is between the touch and the fretted note, ‘One advantage of this thumb method is that you can touch more than one string at the same or adjacent frets and brush down for an entire chord. Another is that it can be used you're wearing picks on all your fingers, unlike the other two methods, which require a bare index finger. The great slide player Bob Brozman is an expert with this method,Not only are harmonics a nice special effect, but they ean make some licks easier to play, Suppose you wanted to play this run in G tuning gigs: 1 would be tough to play lke this: ‘But if you mix the Index touch thumb-pluck style of artificial harmonic on the open B string with slide notes plucked by the ring finger on the first string, ths Ick becomes much easier. ‘On my CD Both of Me I use the index:ouch/ring pluck style of artificial harmonies with a steady bass line. This technique oceurs inthis melody fragment from the hymn Were You There” (D tuning—D AD Ft AD), aphey EB Tuning: D AD F# AD FRETTING BEHIND THE SUDE Another interesting slide technique developed by Louisiana picker Sonny Landreth s to fret notes behind the side, The concept is simple. Since you're only pressing the st 61SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY Bob Brozman, A Truckload of Blues, Rounder 3119 Robert Johnson, King of the Delta Blues, Columbic/legacy 65211 Blind Willie Johnson, Dark Was the Night, Columbia/ legacy 65516. Blind Willie McTell, The Defin- itive Blind Willie MeTell, Columbia/Legacy 53234, Dale Miller, Both of Me, Dele Miller Productions 103. Dole Miler Productions, 70 Terace Walk, Berkeley, CA 94707. Tampa Red, Bottleneck Guitar, 1928-1937, Yozoo 1039, ‘Yax00/Shanachie, 13 Laight St. New York, NY 10013; (212) 334- (0284; ww shanoche.com. Muddy Waters, More Real Folk Blues, MCA/Choss 9278. Various artists, The Slide Guitar: Bottles, Knives, and ‘Steel, Vel. 1, Columbia 46218, Includes Bind Wile Johnson, Charley Patton, Son House, Tampa Red, ond oer or strings hard enough to sound the note, there is still abit of space between where the string is being stopped and the top of the fret So if you fret the string behind the slide {is pushed below the slide and stopped against the fret for a different note In G tuning, slide the first three strings up to the 12th fret while plucking all of them. Alter a brief moment, bring down the index finger on the second string two frets behind the slide (tenth fret) and the second finger on the third string one fret behind the slide (11th fret) and pluck the strings again. You just made a IV change. Do the same alter sliding to the fifth fret and you'll make a V-1 change. These are just a few ofthe techniques you can try out, Who knows, maybe somebody will pioneer a style involving the use of th acoustic guitar with a Hip-Shot string bender. Try experimenting with some of your own, slides on thrce fingers, or play slide on an ideas. EXPLORING STYLES AND TUNINGS ‘You don’t have to limit your slide playing to blues and/or spirituals. Infact, almost every aspect of slide playing relates more to Eastern muse with its co plex polyrhythms, mul tiple scales, and microtones than to Western music with its tempered scale, modula tions, and chord changes, ‘Take open tunings for example. Over the years, either consciously or uncon we learn to tune our guitars to a tempered seale when we're in stand ously 1 tuning, Al chords sound OK, but none are perfectly in tune. Try strumming a first-position E chord and keep futzing with the tuning until that E sounds perfectly in tune. Now strum aC chord. Yikes, the C probably sounds awful. Temperament means we Western musicians cheat alittle everywhere so that all chords sound acceptably in tune. In open tunings ‘our guitars are gloriously and perfectly in tune toa given chord, or to think in more East ‘ern terms, to atonal center Open tunings, with their strange and often harder-tofinger chord positions, make ‘chordal playing more dificult, and putting a slide on one of your fin ss makes it even harder. But with that rich, ft, ringing tone of the slide, who cares? The fullness of the sound takes away much of the need for harmonic supporting notes and invites more sin- slestring melodic playing. In addition, siding on the strings allows us to hear the micro- tones “between” the frets ‘Tune your guitar open and play through this bluesy seale—root, 2,13, 4, 5, 6,17 ‘which is the North Indian scale called kaffi Try to improvise melodies using only these notes; this is a great way to explo {quite be ready to raga round the clock, but you can atleast try out a kal break or two. (On the other end of the spectrum from raga is traditional jaz, with its beautiful and slestring playing, With this info you might not complex chord changes. Jazz changes are very dificult to play on solo slide guitar, but you team up with someone who will play the changes, you can have a great time play” Ing the melodies and running through some standards, The sustain and fullness of tone of slide guitar can get you thinking like a sax player. It will take you a while to figure out which open tuning to use for a given t the € tuning Fl be intr ‘cooks up. Transcribing is a tricky business. At first you'll need to write out a few mea 1e—G,D, ucing In the next paragraph, oF whatever your imagination sures or even the whole song in more than one open tuning to find which is best. Most notes can be played in more than one place, so try out liferent fingerings € tuning (C G CG C8) isan open, major-chord tuning that has been used by quite a few fingerstyle gultarists, For example, John Fahey exploited the tuning’s low, rumblingbass notes and extended range on such tunes as “Revolt of the Dyke Brigade.” Though (C tuning hasn't been used for ste very often, it can work quite wel. Here are the open- position IV and V7 chords: Vv vr fit |As you work on transcribing and arranging songs for slide guitar, i's always worth exploring different tunings and fingerings. You're bound to discover many new ideas and possibilities along the way. 8ou SLIDE Slide Guitars and Setup Dale Miller hough its nota requirement to buy andor set up a guitare most folks who get into the style do so sooner or later. They discover the ‘unique string and a Ion requirements to get those lovely, fat, sustained, and expressive notes. As you begin to learn to play slide on your current guitar take note of what technical frustrations you're having and what tor e you're trying to get. Also take some time to learn which guitars, string gauges, and action settings your favorite slide pickers are using. Keepin busy fingerpicking over closed chord positions and walking bass lines. Many of your ind that slide isa hybrid style that allows you to mix inging slide notes with {decisions about choosing and setting up your guitar wll depend on how you mix these elements, STRING GAUGE Most slide layers use fairly heavy strings. They’re louder and don’t move too much when you press down on them, This makes it easier to avold the clicking sound of the Particular instruments and slide hitting the metal frets, Scale length (the distance from nut to bldg) can also be a | he laelor here. The longer the scale length, the lighter the string has to be stretched to setups will help you get the [actor here. The longer th srt endenei Sesleri aaaeay 7 reach a gven pitch. Since most resonator guitars and many smaller acoustic Hattops best slide sounds. have slightly shorter seale lengths than the standard 25 noughts and OM-style models, the same gauge strings will fel looser on these instr ments, An equally impor factor is whether you choose to tune up or down, The vast majority of acoustic slide playing is done in open tunings where your guitar fs tuned to a chord, A set of extralight strings om a guitar with a short scale length tuned down to ‘open D (DAD FAD) can feel very rubber banc! nought tuned up to open E (EB E Gt BE) can feel very stiff and may even damage the ke, while a set of heavies on a dread: instrument. | would suggest using the heaviest strings your instrument and fingers ean tolerate, Of course it's quite easy and inexpensive to experiment with different string sfauges. Ifin doubt, ask someone knowledgeable about how much t lar instrument can handle ACTION Nearly all slide players agree that a slice guitar should he set up with higher action than “straight” instrument. Just how much higher depends on how your own style develops, if you have a busy fingerpicking style where you throw in the occasional slide lick you'll probably be pleased with low action and may not even need! a separate guitar. Ifyou just can’t get enough of those fat, ringing side notes and you love the Warner Brothers car toon theme (big slides over all six strings), you'll probably want high action and may even want to experiment with playing lapstvl. | suggest setting the strings as high as possible without interfering with your ability to execute the “stralght™ licks you like to ‘mix in with your slide playing. Adjusting action is not as easy as changing strings, but ws >t extremely difficult either, so you can experiment with this as well.FLATTOPS Fattop guitars make excellent slide instruments. Luckily, cheaper ones often sound bet ally, a well¢made flattop guitar co long time but at a greatly reduced volume. Many cheaper guitars are plywood copies of ter for playing slide. 6 ues to ring out for avery. more expensive instruments with similar (though nfert fof) tonal characteristics, but others (particularly the ‘more traditional “el cheapos” built 30plus years ayo) have heavier bracing and tops, These ae the instruments to look for, because they put out a much quleter initial sound but sustain for a longer time, Mahogany and koa! tops tend to sustain more than spruce tops, ow you amplify your flattop guitar can also influence the tone, I you're in the habit of plugging in, I would sug gest trying a magnetic pickup for slide. These pickups 1 than piezo pickups do, J emphasize the midrange which isn good thing for most sli styles. Many of the modern magnetic pickups made especialy for acoustic iuitar ae cleaner than you might want, though. Search for ok/4ashioned models or improvise a way to mount an electric guitar pickup in your soundhole. That'll make your sound dirtier. funkier, and more distorted, RESONATOR GUITARS 1'm one of many slide players who loves resonator instruments. There are three types of resonators. The spider is the resonator of choice for square-neck instruments, though can also be found in quite a few wooden resonator guitars with standard round necks. “The tone of these instruments is very closely associated with bluegrass music. The sin- ile-cone resonator s far and away the most common one for slide. It looks very much lke the speaker in your stereo system and produces a wonderful, fat, sustained tone, Various ‘manufacturers use them, mounted in wood, sheet metal, and nickel or chrome-plated brass bodies, Fane ‘of all is the ticone setup: three smaller resonators bunched together. A few manulacturers use them mounted in sheet metal and brass boxes, These instruments can have a lot of complesity to thelr sound and are fabulous looking, Brass instruments are especially prized. You can play them softly and produce heart breakingly sweet tones or get a funky sound by playing hard enough to overdeive the cone (ust like an electric guitarist overdrives the amp speaker) Sheet metal guitars can sound quite nasty and down-home though their tone isnot especially complex. Wooden f imetalborly guitars. Astan-built wooder-body ftruments are a bit warmer sounding and tend to be quieter and to sustain less than struments can cost as litle as $400, while American- or English-builtnickel-plated single-cone guitars are $2,000 and ‘up, and tricones are even more expensive SUDES “Though you could follow the lead of many past slide masters and use a pocketk polished plece of bone, a hollow tube made of brass, thick glass, or ceramic is a better choice, because it leaves you with three ‘manner, I you're interested in playing only slide notes, you're better off raising your gers free to play chords in the traditional Jim Dunlop Blues Botle slides, ‘and Martin’s all-mahogany 00-15.86 Corey Harris playing a 1990 Islander. strings, putting the guitar in your lap, and playing Dobro/lap-steel-style with a heavy metal bar. Slides come in diferent shapes and le ns. Many players use slides the same length as their fingers; others use slides that fit on their fingers from the lower knuckle to the lip; and a few others use slides that are worn like large rings. Many slides are straight which makes tilting them easier, but f you like the sound of sling up on more than three strings a atime, you'll probably want a slightly curved slide to match the bevel of most steel-string gultarfretboards. In the past, most players slid with their ring fingers, but these days the pinky is prob- ably a more popular finger for slide, ve seen slides used on the first and second fingers as wel. Slides aren't that expensive, so it's easy to buy a few different kinds and experi= ‘ment with the possibilities, As with most aspects surrounding guitar that most maverick of all instruments, there are no hard and fast rules. Keep listening and keep pieking—both instruments and people's brains—antl you find that perfect instrument and setup far you.RULE