Guitar tuning standard2/13/2024 Guitar slide accessories come in a wide range of sizes, weights, and materials. On a standard guitar, players can use a slide while playing the guitar in an upright sitting or standing position, with a strap around their neck. Instead of pressing the strings with your finger on specific frets as you would with a standard guitar, a lap steel guitar is played exclusively with a slide. These guitars are called lap steel guitars and - true to their name - are meant to be played with the back of the guitar resting on your lap. While all guitars can be played with a slide accessory, there are some types of guitars that are made to be played exclusively with a slide. Slide guitar can be heard across an array of genres including blues, country, and hard rock. Slide guitar playing is sometimes referred to as “bottleneck guitar” based on the old school technique where guitarists would improvise, using the neck of a bottle (or even an empty tube of lipstick) on their fingers to get that signature slide sound. The tool can be made from a variety of materials, including metal, plastic, or glass. This cylinder fits over a guitarist’s finger of choice on their fretting hand. Rather, slide guitar refers to a playing technique in which a guitarist glides a hard cylinder along the fretboard to produce a twanging sound, swiftly arriving from one note to the next. What Is A Slide Guitar?Ĭontrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as a slide guitar. If you’re thinking of trying your hand (literally) at slide guitar, we’ll answer some common questions you may have, as well as offer up some slide guitar lessons on proper techniques to use. Many guitarists opt to put the slide on their pinky, but some players (like the aforementioned Duane Allman) wear it on their ring finger, and other guitarists like Bonnie Raitt and Joe Walsh buck convention completely and play slide with their middle fingers.įor more tips on perfecting your muting technique on slide guitar, check out our Artist Check-In with Jason Isbell: There’s also no set finger to place your guitar slide on. Guitar slides come in a variety of sizes and materials - from brass to chrome to glass. The beauty of slide guitar is that there is no one right way to achieve this sound. Whether you’ve heard it on a classic blues song like Howlin’ Wolf’s “The Red Rooster” or the haunting solo at the end of Eric Clapton’s 1971 version of “Layla” (spoiler alert: that was actually Duane Allman of The Allman Brothers), the sound of slide guitar can inspire players to want to experiment with this style. The alternative rock band Wilco uses DADF#AD tuning in their song “Kamera” from the album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.Slide guitar lends added punch to songs - packing a bluesy wallop with the brash twang of glass or metal gliding down guitar strings, carrying you from one note to another in the span of a second. In this tuning, the 6th E string is tuned down to D, the G string is tuned down to F#, the B string is tuned down to A, and the 1st E string is tuned down to D. Similar to DADGAD, DADF#AD is an extension of Drop D tuning, but the notes in this one makeup one large D Major chord.Īlso known as Open D Tuning, this alternate tuning is popular with slide guitarists and those who specialize in the fingerpicking style. Led Zeppelin’s guitarist Jimmy Page used DADGAD tuning for the song “Kashmir.” 3. This tuning is commonly found in Celtic music, but it’s also used in genres like rock, folk, and metal.ĭADGAD was made famous by British folk guitarist Davey Graham, who was inspired to explore the tuning after hearing an oud player in Morocco. In this tuning, the 6th E string is tuned down to D, the B string is tuned down to A, and the 1st E string is tuned down to D. DADGADĭADGAD tuning is kind of like an extended version Drop D tuning. Here are five more excellent alternate tuning options to explore: 2. Working with new and unfamiliar tunings forces you to think about chords and riffs in an entirely new way.Ĭuriosity and problem-solving are skills that might have been dormant in your guitar playing for years become essential to writing music in alternative tunings.Īpproaching playing in these tunings with patience and an open mind will translate into powerful creative inspiration. How can alternate tunings lead to musical inspiration? Something as basic as a G major chord or scale won’t translate to most alternative tunings. Most common alternate tunings follow standard tuning’s low to high convention, but each features a unique combination of notes. Simply tune your low E string down one step to get drop D tuning.ĭrop D tuning might come to mind for many guitarists, but there are a virtual endless amount of other tunings to explore. The most common alternate tuning for guitar is Drop D.
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