Question for slide players

[cantstoplt021]

How good is Derek Trucks? I don't play slide at all so it seems nearly impossible to play anywhere close to as good as him. After seeing TTB this summer I've been getting more and more into him and he really makes me want to learn slide. It just seems like it would take a lifetime to get anywhere close to that level and I have other musical goals besides slide. So yeah is he on a human level that one could obtain?

 

[bob-i]

His intonation and ability to play linear up and down the neck are very impressive. His phrasing and melodic sense is what makes him great IMHO. His mindless wanking for hours bores me to tears, but the moments where he just nails a solo are worth waiting for.

 

[ELmiguel]

He's great, but needs to work on his own voice more. He falls into the Duane Allman mode too often for me. Give him a few more years.
I suggest Ry Cooder.

 

[Stratobuc]

Phenomenal.

I suggest Sonny Landreth.

 

[9fingers]

Derek is VERY good. So are many others (Sonny Landreth , Lowell George, Bonnie Raitt, George Harrison, Duane of course, Luther Dickinson, Ry Cooder, Warren Haynes, Robert Johnson, Bob Margolin - on and on).
They all got that way by working hard at it.
Be inspired! You can do it too.

 

[teleman1]

He is incredible!

I suggest Johnny Winter;"Progressive blues experiment"

 

[smokermaker]

To answer your final question: probably not, for a mere mortal.

 

[bob-i]

He's great, but needs to work on his own voice more. He falls into the Duane Allman mode too often for me. Give him a few more years.
I suggest Ry Cooder.

Funny, I've heard that so much but I don't hear it. Duane moved slowly around the notes, sliding in and out of the pitch making the notes cry and wail. He played around the chords, 3rds and 5ths, seldom playing scale wise. He often ended phrases in long sustained notes, either sliding off or up to a note.

Derek plays precise intonation and fast riffs, many times he's playing linear up and down a string. His phrases seldom end in a sustained note, usually cut off quickly, often with a ghost note. His pitch seldom slides in and out of a note, he'll slide straight to the note and be on pitch.

To my ear they're totally different slide styles. Both are/were awesome.

But I do love Ry and Sonny as well.

 

[jackson]

Derek is a phenomenal player... but I really don't like his style at all. I find his constant sweeping the slide up and down the neck annoying, and I think he plays way too many notes, usually.

 

[Tiny Montgomery]

Funny, I've heard that so much but I don't hear it. Duane moved slowly around the notes, sliding in and out of the pitch making the notes cry and wail. He played around the chords, 3rds and 5ths, seldom playing scale wise. He often ended phrases in long sustained notes, either sliding off or up to a note.

Derek plays precise intonation and fast riffs, many times he's playing linear up and down a string. His phrases seldom end in a sustained note, usually cut off quickly, often with a ghost note. His pitch seldom slides in and out of a note, he'll slide straight to the note and be on pitch.

To my ear they're totally different slide styles. Both are/were awesome.

But I do love Ry and Sonny as well.

Totally agree. DT doesn't sound that much like Duane to me, even when he's playing Duane's parts. The idea that he hasn't "found his own voice" is absurd.

 

[Stratobuc]

and I think he plays way too many notes, usually.

 

[grill]

i love slide, i try to play it also.

DT? saw him with EC. meh.

winter and lowell, duane, cooder, kottke, gatton, even nils lofgren and timmins, jr. brown, countless more slide players are more distinct and exciting.

not knocking the guy, altho it seems like it, he just doesn't deserve a crown.

but he deserves something for still doing it, since it seems to be old school now.

slide is a blast, i play in standard tuning.

get yourself a couple and go for it.

 

[Pablomago]

I disagree. He's building on Indian music and sacred steel traditions, blending it with the blues and creating something original. You may not like his playing, but I think he's right up there with Sonny or Ry or any of them. Go listen to Abrey Ghant, or the Campbell Brothers and you'll understand where Dereck is coming from.

 

[Member 132475]

Derek Trucks is insanely good. Period. A child prodigy and years of experience has made him a giant slide player.

But - as I mentioned in the thread I started about DT - there things about his playing that has made me lose interest in him. I'm not going to start that debate again though.

Bob's assessment of DT's playing is very much spot on. His way of playing makes it sound a bit staccato at times, which I find is kind of contrary to the point of playing slide in the first place.

For me, people like Ry Cooder is the master. He doesn't play those fast extended solos, he's very original in his phrasing, and he's not afraid of playing "pretty" or "romantically", if you know what I mean. He uses a beautiful clean sound often.

In my opinion, if you want to learn slide, go for the typical slide sound first. Simple blues licks, simple melodies (even Hawaiian stuff), and take it from there. It's a long journey though.

 

[gmann]

He is incredible!

I suggest Johnny Winter;"Progressive blues experiment"

This is how I like it!

 

[jiml]

David Lindley, kind of a combination of Duane and Lowell? Melodic, aggressive, big tone and taste.

Derek is awesome, but I'm with others here. Some of the bands he is playing with doesn't really fit him best, he is best with his own band...

 

[buddyrama]

Steve Kimock

 

[MKB]

Derek is beyond great, he's an alien. Like Tuck Andress and Allan Holdsworth, and Hendrix. How else can someone get that good?

Derek certainly has his own thing going on slide, to my ears most other slide players have very similar phrasing, almost as if it is part of the instrument. Derek can do that thing, but also goes way beyond that with his many other influences. Some compare him with Duane Allman, but I don't hear that at all.

And Derek goes beyond just shredding with slide, he can improvise beautiful melodies that have made me tear up from time to time. Nobody else has come close to that on slide IMHO, and very few without a slide.

If there is anything I don't like about his playing is that blast of noise he likes to put at the start of many notes. Kind of a full hand strum of the strings before the note speaks. But I'll gladly put up with that for the rest of the goodies.

For any slide newbies, don't get discouraged, slide is HARD to play well. Keep at it.

 

[bob-i]

David Lindley...

The other night at the gig with a fill in drummer I called out "running on empty". The drummer looked puzzled at first, then he said "the one that goes like this" and he sang Lindsey's solo. THAT'S the way to play a solo.

 

[mad dog]

Derek T. is among the very best slide players, maybe even the very best. At that level, "best" is a moving target. Not all that relevant, depends more on what you like musically than exactly how they play.

There will always be players way better than you. I'll never be a Derek Trucks, but I have my own voice with the slide, have found him to be an inspiration in several ways. One being that has chosen to learn open tunings deeply, and to be just as comfortable playing in them without slide as with. His example that way challenged me to go deeper in open E. I owe Derek a thank you for being such a positive influence.
MD