Slide guitar

A slide guitar need not be a stand-alone instrument. The term commonly refers to a strung with steel strings guitar, which is played with a so-called bottleneck or slide- bar. Involves leaving the bottleneck slide over the strings (English slideshow ), whereby the characteristic timbre is created. However, there are also specially tailored for this purpose instruments such as the Hawaiian guitar, also known as lap steel guitar, as well as the technically more complex pedal steel guitar.

History

The technique of slide guitar goes back to two musical cultures:

The traditional Hawaiian music and thus the way of playing the slide guitar was especially popular in the U.S. since the Great Exhibition of 1915 in San Francisco. The musicians played with a metal rod on guitars (often from the wood of Acacia koa ), they placed sitting on the thigh. Hence the term lap-steel stirred. An earlier virtuoso of this style was Sol Hoopii. Hawaiian guitars were built from the thirties of the 20th century as an all-massive electric instruments. This Pacific track probably goes back to the Indian subcontinent, where a type of Vina is played with a slide made ​​of hard wood or ivory.

The second track of slide guitar leads on the African continent. Even before about 500 years was played on simple instruments in Africa, where by means of a strained tendon and a piece of wood out back and forth continuously variable pitches were produced. Well-known blues guitarists such as Bukka White and Elmore James made ​​much later on the same principle on a stretched piece of wire and a bottle of their first musical steps.

Both cultures have developed the technique of slide guitar on their own kind in mutual inspiration.

Slide and Steel Guitar

The sitting with a metal rod in an open tuning ( open tuning) played with a high guitar string spacing of the Hawaiians was later adopted by the musicians of the country music. There are known mainly the dobro and pedal steel guitar. In this electrical development of the lap steel guitar is a floor-standing device in which the strings are arranged including neck similar to a zither horizontally on a plate. With the attached at the bottom of the foot pedals, the setting of the strings can be changed at will. The pedal steel is played using steel rods ( Steels ), affecting the pitch. Typical of the steel guitar is the glissandolastige sound.

The blues musician, however, played the guitar in many cases in the conventional attitude. They used as slide a chipped and ground bottleneck ( the so-called bottleneck ) and developed this style to a stand-alone technique.

After the development of the electric guitar slide playing has also been adopted and there is in the various musical styles of blues, folk and rock a popular item. Even today, the styles of country -oriented steel players and blues-influenced slide guitarists, the separation has remained in two camps, despite the similarities. This is also a legacy of racial segregation in the United States, as there are in the southern states, although a common cultural space of whites and African- Americans and thus a mutual influence, but it is also clearly different musical cultures have evolved.

Basics

As already mentioned, each strung with steel strings guitar is suitable as a slide guitar. It does not matter whether it is an acoustic or electric guitar.

Very important is the string action ( This is the distance between the fingerboard and string ). For while the distance in the normal game between string and fingerboard should be as low as possible, he is playing with the bottleneck rather larger. In a low string action the strings come through the bearing pressure of the bottlenecks to contact with the frets and create unwanted noise while playing. A slightly increased string spacing of 1-2 mm makes it possible both to play an almost silent Slide to play as well as in the combination, chords and single notes.

In terms of string gauge thin strings are not as suitable as medium or thick. For an electric guitar, a 11er Set (diameter of the thin E string ) is well suited. In an acoustic guitar, it should be at least a 12- sentence. Whether it is in the steel strings with bronze, phosphor or phosphor bronze / nickel wire wrapped strings, does not matter - however, the natural sound of the string is also component of the slide sound. The weight and material of the slide itself is important for the sound of the slide- game and the length of the reverb. In addition to the simple chrome slides, there are slides made ​​of brass, glass, ceramic, etc. Many electric guitarists prefer glass slides, acoustic guitar and resonator guitars players are more likely to brass slides. The basic rule is: the heavier the slide, the fuller the sound.

Who wants to deal intensively with the slide technique, should be set in addition to the "normal tuned " guitar, a second guitar that you tune to an open tuning, since the constant changing of moods has a tremendous burden on the guitar neck by two different strings trains result. With the purchase of a second guitar the risk of a warped neck and thus a lack of " intonation " (no intonation ) is banned.

Music examples

A selection of slide guitarists of the blues and rock in alphabetical order:

Duane Allman, Richard Bargel, Joe Bonamassa, Manny Charlton, Eric Clapton, Hannes Coetzee, Ry Cooder, Don Felder, Dave Hole, Rory Gallagher, Lowell George, Billy Gibbons, George Harrison, Warren Haynes, Gavin Hayes ( dredg ), Son House, Robert Johnson, Brian Jones, Leo Kottke, Sonny Landreth, David Lindley, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Mick Mars, Joe Perry, Bonnie Raitt, Chris Rea, Hound Dog Taylor, Mick Taylor, David Tronzo, Derek Trucks, Joe Walsh, Muddy Waters, Bukka White, Jack White, Johnny Winter, Peter Wells.