Conference napalm::guitar

    The way to do those one finger barre chords is to go to an
    open tuning (unless you don't want to do that). I would say
    that most people who play slide use an open tuning and wear
    the slide all the time, but there's always exceptions. Whatever
    feels right for you.
    
    For starters, tune your guitar to an E major chord-(low to high) 
    E B E G# B E. If you barre the strings on any fret-presto! you've 
    got a major barre chord.
    
    _Tom

    Ooopps, in my previous reply, I said that most slide players
    wear their slide all the time. Well, they do remove the slide
    for some things:-) Like when they're playing a song that has
    no slide!
    
    -Tom

    Also depends on which finger totes the slide.  I put it on my
    pinky, so I can still play part...usually the top couple of notes...
    of the chord.  I usually play in standard tuning, becuase I don't
    have a seperate guitar for slide.
    
    Regards,
    John K.

    I usually put the slide on my ring finger, and when I'm playing slide I
    generally leave it on for the whole song. I use my other fingers to
    play chords and single notes as well when I'm using slide. You can
    still barre a lot of chords, especially sevenths. It takes a little
    practice to keep the slide out of the way while you do this.
    
    I was at a jam last week where a guy played a slide solo. He pulled it
    out of his shirt pocket when he was ready to start, and when he was
    done he just flicked it across the stage! I don't really recommend this
    approach :')
    
    - Ram

I do ti both ways depending on the song, I prefer to keep the slide on for 
the entire song but occasonally I do just wear it and PITCH it  when I'm done.

dbii

sometimes finding it again is a hassle, and my glass ones don;t take as much
abuse...

re: >sometimes finding it again is a hassle, and my glass ones don;t take as much
    >abuse...

 	I do this sometimes too, but I try to do it only while seated and in
	a room with a carpet.  I broke my favorite slide (mateus wine bottle
	neck) one day doing it on a cement garage floor.

        Lots of times I'll just leave it on and either play partial chords
	with the slide or with my fingers that are free.  There are lots of
	"pieces" of chords that you can play with the slide.  Even full
	major chords in standard tuning.  (A bar across strings 2,3 and 4 
	will give you a major chord like a standard A chord played at the
	second fret.

	If you get good you can even do a little "fretting behind the slide".
	This will allow you to play minor chords as well are more complex
	chords.  This will take some practice though.

	_gary

    What about the guitar's action?
    
    Should you have a flat fretboard? Should the action be adjusted high?
    Or can you do a reasonable job with a standard guitar maybe tuned to an
    open chord?
    
    Richard
    Basingstoke, UK

    I have a brand new American Standard Strat, and the action is pretty
    good.  I have a real heavy hand anyway, so guitars with great action
    are just a waste in my hands.    8^)
    
    I might try the open tuning just for playing at home, but live I'll
    have no choice but to keep it standard.  
    
    BTW - thanks for all these replies !!!
    
    Scary (who will keep his slide on from start to finish on "slide"
    tunes)

>    I might try the open tuning just for playing at home, but live I'll
>    have no choice but to keep it standard.  
    
    Why can't you change tunings between songs? ;-)
    
    I know people that can. ;-)
    
    Mike

    I have enough trouble with "tuning changes" now.  This new guitar
    doesn't have a locking nut (kind of a wild concept these days), so I'm
    slowly getting used to tuning between songs anyway.
    
    Scary

Wot ?!?!?!?!  No locking nut ??  Not even a locking tuning peg ??
A Fender that goes out of tune ?  Impossible.  ;)

Bahahahahahahahaaaa... Thanks for saying that Greg.

;)

      Tough situation... I've tried all sorts of things. Everything from
    a shirt pocket, to leaving it � into a pants pocket to putting it
    in my right hand so I could do some chords to just leaving it on
    top of my amp and doing a "quick change/drop-off"...   whew! What
    a long winded guy huh? If I didn't have another guitar to have
    tuned differently, I'd try every option except de-tuning the guitar.
    Only because it takes too much time to get it back to pitch expecially
    when the rest of the band is waiting for *you* to get your act
    together. 
    	I use my slide on my ring finger and dampen with my index and
    middle fingers (just habit from the old pedal steel days). Try picking
    with your fingers on your right hand instead of a pick and you may
    find it better to dampen the strings you don't want to play. All
    things considered...   try everything and do what works best for
    you.
    
    Slide on,
    	     Fred  

    			<Use the one you're with>
    	You could avoid a lot of logistics by creating a slide out of
    	a harmonica (Satriani did this whilst opening for Bowie), or
    	grabbing an easily-detached whammy...
    
    	The good news is that you don't have to feel awkward trying to
    	position the slide. Naturally you do lose some of the sweetness
    	of a regular slide by using a stand-in.
    
    	Those with double cutaway's can also Velcro a bottleneck slide
    	in the upper cutaway and grab it anytime and replace it easily.
    	DON'T use Superglue on your '58 Strat, however.
    
    	I usually find a nice place to drop a slide after a solo, as my
    	hands get very confused if I play barre or complex chords after
    	the slide parts are done.
    
    	Seems like a good topic.
    
    	-Pete

Well, here's another idea...  I just dropped my slide onto the
lock pin for my boom stand.  I'm usually an arms or twos reach
from my mike anyway, which puts the slide "RIGHT THERE"  I just grab
it a few measuers prior to using it, and 'plink', drop it back
on it's roost when I'm done..

just another mans solution;

      Bonnie Raitt had an idea, in that she had a cup of some sort taped
    to her microphone stand where she dropped off the slide when she
    wasn't using it. I'm gonna try it. At least it's close to the mic
    where you can save some time switching back and forth.
      
    
    Fred (who gets confused switching between guitar and bass back to
          guitar to slide to guitar, back to bass...  make up my mind!)
    
    								;^)
    

    
    
    This may not be the appropriate place to ask this, but does anybody
    have any blues licks in standard tuning for slide ? I dabble a little
    bit on the acoustic, mainly in Emaj tuning, but I'd like some in
    standard, and the ones I'm coming up with sound a bit.... naff !!
    
    Any kind noter fancy putting a couple in to help my little self out ?
    
    Thanks for any help,

    re: -.1
    
    Check out note 28.0 of this conference. Lots of helpful hints for ya!
    
    
    		Have fun!
    			  Fred

    I bought my first slide yesterday and am having a blast learning how to
    use it.  Arlen Roth's book on acoustic guitar has a couple pages of
    stuff on slide work using standard tuning.
    
    Mike