So Why Don’t You Slide?

Early on in my time here at Maple Street Guitars, a long time customer and friend of the store who I’d only met 2 or 3 times looked me in the eye and said, “I’m gonna make a prediction. In a year, you’re gonna be a helluva Dobro player.” The prediction caught me a bit off guard. Here I was, still walking around with a head full of progressive rock and metal with knowledge and interest almost exclusively placed in the electric guitar. Me? A Dobro player? Where did he see that? Strangely enough, it’s a quote that has continued to stick with me. 

It’s been almost 3 full years since that interaction and I have yet to purchase or even spend any significant amount of time playing a Dobro or any other resophonic guitar. Though my guitar-playing style and taste has broadened significantly as a result of my surroundings here at the store, I haven’t felt a particular pull or calling to the style. I have, however, found myself drawn to a certain aspect that is commonly associated with resophonic guitars… That’s the use of a slide. I’ve owned a couple of slides over the years (and have improvised using all manner of things from drumsticks to TV remote controls when there wasn’t one around) but it was never something I took seriously. To me, playing slide was a bit of a novelty. It was something I might pull out when one of our songs needed a unique texture or a fresh timbre.  For example, around this time last year, I had begun working on one of my most ambitious projects ever, a “metal” cover of Danny Elfman’s sublime “Christmas Eve Montage” from his score to The Nightmare Before Christmas. The full production ended up with dozens of guitar tracks and I opted to play some slide for one or two sections. My intonation was so poor that it took longer to nail the slide parts than any other section. A few months later, I recorded guitar parts for my band In The Presence Of Wolves’ upcoming record. Again, I opted to add a couple slide parts for flavor and, as expected, getting it right was not an easy feat. Though I wasn’t pleased with how long it took to get a decent performance, my bandmates were thrilled with the ideas I’d come up with. And thus, playing slide guitar buried itself into my head as one of my guitar goals to work on for 2021.

This time around, I’ve been focused on making sure that I do things the right way and give myself the proper time to really work on it. So I started where all folks should when interested in slide guitar playing… with the slide! I had previously owned basic, run-of-the-mill nickel and glass ones that I had gotten for cheap at my old local music store. Neither fit my finger particularly well and they were simply a means to an end. I knew this time that I needed a slide that fit properly and was comfortable to play for an extended period of time. Also, I was planning on transitioning to using my pinky since I had always used my ring finger. I found using my ring finger for the slide basically rendered my pinky useless whereas using a pinky slide could allow me to use my other three fingers freely. I also knew that I wanted a brass slide this time around. My old nickel one was my go-to as I preferred the tone, weight, and durability compared to glass, but I did want something that wasn’t quite as bright. Typically, glass will provide the warmest sound, ceramic/porcelain will be somewhere in the middle, and brass will be the brightest with an additional edge provided by nickel coated options. Keeping these criteria in mind and knowing what we sold at the store, I picked up a small, Polished Brass slide made by Rock Slide when the next one showed up in stock. The difference was immediate. Having a slide that fit correctly and wouldn’t shift around on my finger when I played was a revelation! The Rock Slides feature a tapered interior and a finger rest that help maintain comfort while playing and I was surprised that I could flip my hand over but the slide wouldn’t fall off! A proper-fitting slide feels more natural, like an extension to your fingers instead of a clumsy tool. 

The next step was incorporating slide playing into my practice routine. I took a deep dive into my routine a couple of months ago and for the most part I’ve kept that intact, but I’ve involved the slide in every aspect. First, I’ll take some time exploring the guitar with the slide while playing freely. This gets me acquainted with the slide as well as the guitar itself. Next, I’ll run a scale or exercise with the slide, paying close attention to maintaining accurate intonation to the best of my ability. After that it’s time to make some music! Sometimes, I’ll run a few progressions through a 12-Bar Blues as a solo guitar-style arrangement where I’ll act as a lead player while providing my own accompaniment and outlining the chord changes. Often, I’ll load up a backing track on YouTube and play along to that, mixing up fretted playing and slide stuff to keep it interesting. I’ve also really enjoyed playing vocal melodies rather than guitar parts. The slide adds a unique form of expression that I find much more akin to the way a singer would emote compared to “normal” guitar playing. I’ll round out the routine by watching or listening to a video of some notable guitar players who I’ve been learning the trade from, such as Ariel Posen, Sonny Landreth, and Guthrie Govan. Though I’m not trying to play slide exactly like any of these players, it’s always helpful to get tips from some highly respected players!

Over the last month+, slide has become a very fun exercise and I’ve gotten far more invested in it than I ever expected to. Though I would find myself wanting to practice other things occasionally (“Music A.D.D.” can be a very real thing), forcing myself to continue with slide has yielded surprising growth! Just like any other element of guitar playing, I see using the slide as a journey that may lead me to some unexpected places. It’s something that I’ll continue to adapt into my toolkit in (hopefully) interesting ways and there’s no real “finish line in sight.” One thing has made itself painfully clear though. There’s no substitute for time when it comes to slide playing. It’s almost like a new language on the instrument where some elements will remain the same but the overall approach is very different. Previously, this is where I would have been discouraged and I’d go back to my “alternate pick everything” approach but I’ve finally gotten all of the pieces in place to make some real development this time. If I keep it up, who knows, maybe I’ll see our customer after this whole pandemic is in the rearview mirror and I’ll be able to play one helluva Dobro just like he predicted.
Chris Capitanio, 2021