The first one, “Mother Carey’s Chickens,” is slide guitar played in standard tuning over a pre-recorded backing track in the key of E. The second one’s a Guitar Noise collaboration – five of us jamming over another pre-recorded backing track. A D G Dsus4 (inv) OR Gsus2 (inv) *Blues slide guitar player CeDell Davis used a butterknife for his slide work. It’ll take a bit of practise to get used to, but believe me, it’s well worth the effort.). The second through fourth strings are D G B which is an inversion of the G chord or could be part of Em7 and numerous other chord, E A D Asus4 (inv) … The second through fourth strings are D G B which is an inversion of the G chord or could be part of Em7 and numerous other chord, E A D Asus4 (inv) OR Dsus2 (inv) Some people prefer the ring finger, others like the pinky. Alternate tunings let you play voicings and slide between chord forms that would normally be impossible. Slide that shape up two frets and it becomes a D major triad – F#, A and D. 0 0 0 – G triad The A-shaped powerchords are especially useful, if you play the root with your index finger and the fifth with your ring finger or pinky, you’ll find your slide is ready to use near the “HOME” position for that key. ”†oû�÷³É`g!É�Rnï¹(¨@1¤aœjE)Àn NĞfÖ†�“¤Íš§M4Ï ?ğ`r¸ì5 ArÚG. Ring any musical bells? Think of those strings as the HOME position, or 0 0 0. Obviously, it won’t work if you’re playing in G or Ab, unless you’re up at the 12th or 13th frets – but for any other key, it’ll work fine. Vic Lewis I’ve also found that writing this article has helped me immensely – instead of playing by feel, I’ve actually had to sit down and THINK about what I’ve been doing for the last few years. E, A and B? You can read a review of his teaching methods here. One last point before moving on – don’t forget your E- and A-shaped powerchords. by Steve Flack Slide Guitar Licks in Standard Tuning Root 5 E Mixolydian with b3 7 9 6 7 9 Learning the various different methods to tune for slide guitar will give you more options to let you suit the tunings to your playing style. The first decision is what kind of slide to use — glass, metal or ceramic. Warren Haynes, who famously took over for Duane Allman when Dickey Betts reunited the Allman Brothers, began playing slide guitar in standard tuning because he had not yet learned that there was such a thing as open slide guitar tuning. Once you’ve learned the relationships of the various notes, you’ll find it fairly easy to put a solo together. Playing familiar fingerings on an unfamiliar fretboard is exciting - you never know exactly what to expect. Before we actually move on to the mechanics of playing slide guitar, I’d like to introduce a couple more very useful chord shapes, again just using the D G and B strings. Standard tuning can be easier to play because your melodic instincts dont have to be translated to the altered tuning of the guitar; however, it can make it harder for the beginning slide guitarist to mu… We’ll stick to the most basic chords because you’ll see in the very first example we can name all sorts of chords with four notes, so imagine how many possibilities there are with three or two notes! D G G5 powerchord (inv). It seems like everyone is kinda mystified about how to play slide guitar in standard tuning. 2 0 1 – C triad 11 q.˚=˚84 Dobro (I) 02 4 D(V) 57 ~ 0057 0 02 4 02 4 C(IV) 3 5 035302 302 3 02 4 2 302 3 G(I) 0 0 5 (w/out slide) 11 Ex. 11 q.˚=˚84 Dobro (I) 02 4 D(V) 57 ~ 0057 0 02 4 02 4 C(IV) 3 5 035302 302 3 02 4 2 302 3 G(I) 0 0 5 (w/out slide) 11 Ex. 10 So I decided, as an experiment, to try playing slide in standard tuning. Remember to think of the D G and B strings as “HOME.”. A D D5 powerchord (inv) My part’s the last section – from 4:10 to the end. Never tune a string above standard tuning, at least with an acoustic guitar and heavy strings. Let’s group the strings together in sets and look at the chords we can form. Instead of, say, D G and B, we’ve now got D A and C. I usually think of this shape as a 6/9 shape – with C as the root, A would be the 6th and D the 9th in that scale. The only one I can think of off the top of my head is scar tissue, and that's only used for the solos. Warren Haynes, who famously took over for Duane Allman when Dickey Betts reunited the Allman Brothers, began playing slide guitar in standard tuning because he had not yet learned that there was such a thing as open slide guitar tuning. I haven’t delved into the actual mechanics of playing slide guitar because, for the most part, the techniques are pretty much the same as for playing slide in any tuning. And finally, a couple of examples of my own playing. Sometimes, though, it’s nice to spread your wings and fly a little. Guitar Lessons Guitar Tuning, Slide Guitar Lessons for Beginners. Open D, open G, DADGAD – I’ve tried them all (and others) at various times. It’s not very practical, either, to take numerous guitars everywhere. To begin with, let’s look at a map of the fretboard: Then let’s look at one of the most popular open tunings, Open G, and compare it, from low to high strings, to standard tuning: Standard Tuning: E A D G B E It’s actually the chorus progression for “Happy” by the Rolling Stones, a song which is played in open G tuning by Keith.