Slide Guitar for the Masses!

[geoff_hartwell]

Howdy folks,

I just wanted to put up a link to my slide dvd in case you're interested. I developed it because, after years of searching, I couldn't find ANYTHING that actually HELPED. As a lifetime student myself, I wanted to have the opportunity to share these ideas with the rest of the folks who want to improve.

Please check it out and let me know what you think.

http://www.filmbaby.com/films/1910

:)
Geoff

[kimock]

Howdy folks,

I just wanted to put up a link to my slide dvd in case you're interested. I developed it because, after years of searching, I couldn't find ANYTHING that actually HELPED. As a lifetime student myself, I wanted to have the opportunity to share these ideas with the rest of the folks who want to improve.

Please check it out and let me know what you think.

http://www.filmbaby.com/films/1910

:)
Geoff


The more I practice the slide, the worse I get.
I practiced so much, I got so bad that I eventually just quit.

Oddly enough, this seemed to really help my fretted playing a lot.
I had lots of new ideas, and felt fresh, so I redoubled my efforts on the fretted guitar.
This resulted in boredom mostly, but that soon gave way to depression as I was clearly getting worse on the regular guitar from all that practice.

Out of desperation I picked up the slide again only to notice amazing progress in my bottleneck technique as a result of quitting slide entirely.
Feeling a renewed sense of commitment I decided to abandon the fretted guitar for good, and focus exclusively on playing slide.

From this minor state of grace I progressed rapidly to utter hack and quit again.

As you might well expect, this payed great dividends on the fretted guitar.
But this time I got smart, and started thinking about it.
I figured out that my right hand practicing on the fretted helped my slide playing by not forcing me into predetermined left hand slide patterns on the slide.
And round about. . .

So now I just practice with my right hand only, on the fretted if I want to work on my slide playing, and the same way on the slide if I need to brush up for a big gig on the fretted.

Dropping that one bad habit has freed up my left hand for typing while I practice my fretted to improve my bottleneck technique, and in between posts here I'm working on a slide guitar method book for the right hand only. Meanwhile I happily continue practicing and making good progress.

Still I feel there's room for improvement and would like to check out your DVD, but before I do I just have to ask one question.

Which hand are you typing with?

peace sk

:)

[decay-o-caster]

As a student in Geoff's slide workshops at NGW, I can say he's the real deal and he has a real passion for teaching. Never seen him type though! :)

[rhp52]

Funny, Kimock!
Maybe a couple more slide examples? Maybe a TGP intrductory offer?

Personally, i think I'll bite. Hope you have much success.

[kimock]

Funny, Kimock!
Maybe a couple more slide examples? Maybe a TGP intrductory offer?

Personally, i think I'll bite. Hope you have much success.
It would be even funnier if it weren't mostly true. . .
That's what it feels like to me going back and forth between those two styles!

:D

[bjjp2]

I've seen Geoff play here in Westchester, NY, and he smokes on slide (and w/o it too). Will definitely check out the DVD.

[opdev]

Do you play in std. tuning, open tunings or both (on the DVD that is).

[geoff_hartwell]

Thanks so much for the interest guys!

If you have any questions, let me know. Or just drop me an email at (thegeoffhartwellband@yahoo.com) I check that one most often.

The DVD examples are all in standard tuning, but the focus is on techniques that apply to all tunings. I use a bottle, but you can use a hambone if you like.

As for typing, I strictly use my nose and elbows.
:)
Geoff

Steve: Do you play Lap Steel anymore? I taught a seminar with Sonny Landreth and Cindy Cashdollar this summer and she just blew my mind!

[Analog Assassin]

I like the idea of learning slide in standard tuning. I can't change guitars in the middle of a song, but I find that I gravitate to the e minor/g major pentatonic because it has some open strings and has a gnarly sound. If I could play in the other keys and make it sound as good as I can in that key, I'd be as good as I wanted.

[jiml]

Got to find the right tuning (open E, or G). Like everyone else, when I first picked up the slide it sounded like a cat getting strangled. Once I found open E, everything fell into place!

Hand muting is also overlooked, tough to teach...

[jpfeiff]

The web site you referred us to says the DVD is out of stock--any other sources??

[kimock]

Hand muting is also overlooked, tough to teach...

If you think it's tough to learn, wait till you try to unlearn it.

It's real easy to get over invested in that technique.

The trick to "stopping unwanted sound" is to not play unwanted sound in the first place.

;)

[Clifford-D]

The trick to "stopping unwanted sound" is to not play unwanted sound in the first place.

;)

Good advice, Giant Steps is safe once again. :)

[jiml]

If you think it's tough to learn, wait till you try to unlearn it.

It's real easy to get over invested in that technique.

The trick to "stopping unwanted sound" is to not play unwanted sound in the first place.

;)

I play a lot more "open" now, as opposed to overly muted. When I was worried about muting, I became more too rigid. Took me seeing Derek Trucks a few times, and listening to a lot of Ry Cooder and Lowell George to "open up" and let some string noise or sympathetics out once in a while.

[geoff_hartwell]

Just fielded some emails about the "stock" issue. There are new copies on the way, so the stock will be replenished in a few days- I'll keep you updated.

As for muting- Kimock's got the right idea: the more relaxed and accurate you are from the get-go, the less you have go chasing after. Listen to his Lap Steel playing - it's incredibly sweet and thoughtful.

After teaching LOTS of students, seminars and clinics I've found that the students who start with a clean and relaxed approach - slowly getting EACH note to be articluated and separated and IN TUNE - have really successfully built upon that.

As I'm sure lots of you have experienced, if you just start sliding up and down the strings with a slide, while playing phrases across the strings with your plucking hand, you immediately get the strangling cat sound.

If you begin the study of an instrument with careful attention to the "basic vocabulary", you can have a solid foundation when it's time to move to the "slang".

You can always get sloppier (or "grittier" or whatever), but it's a LOT harder to go the other direction.

AGAIN! The set of lessons on my DVD is only my way of looking at things, and what has proven very successful for a lot of students - some who post on this very board. There are a myriad of variations, and they're ALL worthwhile.

The DVD contains not only "mute everything" examples that get you going with Elmore James and Duane Allman-type licks, but also utlilizing harmonics on BOTH sides of the slide to your advantage, as well as Sonny Landreth's conventional-fretting-behind-the-slide techniques.

Steal from the best- and don't just loot one store! There's something to be learned from everyone!