LEARN TO PLAY BOTTLENECK GUITAR. Fred Sokolow. CD TABLATURE
LIBRO DI MUSICA PER CHITARRA CON CD E TABLATURE
A popular and easy to understand book which teaches and explores the many aspects of bottleneck/slide guitar techniques developed nearly a century ago and made famous through the recordings of legendary blues greats like Robert Johnson, Mississippi Fred McDowell and Muddy Waters. Much of the book is dedicated to teaching you how to use these assorted techniques to make original improvised solos. You will learn to play bottleneck guitar in open D tuning, open E tuning, open A tuning, and standard tuning. Written in notation and tablature.
In blues, rock, or country, the gutsy, gritty whine of a slide guitar brings any piece of
music down to earth; it has an unmistakably down-home, "back-to-the-roots" flavor. That's
because slide guitarists today use techniques developed nearly a century ago in the
Mississippi Delta and popularized by the recordings of legendary blues greats like Robert
Johnson, Mississippi Fred McDowell and Muddy Waters.
To play acoustic or electric bottleneck, whether the context is Southern rock, Chicago
blues, country, or heavy metal, you need to look to this source and study the techniques and
sound of the old Delta blues masters.
In this book, you'll learn many of those techniques and how to use them to make up your
own solos. The emphasis is on improvisation. You'll learn back-up and lead styles in several
open tunings and standard tuning, and how to express a melody in bottleneck style. Along
the way you'll pick up lots of wonderfullicks-of-the-masters that will give your playing that
"back-to-the-roots" sound.
P.S.: The recording that accompanies this book is an invaluable teaching aid. All the
written solo and slide techniques discussed in the book are played just as written. Listen
before, during, and after reading the music and/or tablature.
Guitars & Strings
You can play slide on any guitar (acoustic or electric, steel or nylon strings), but most
of the old blues players used steel-string acoustic guitars (6 or 12 strings). Many of them
favored the metal-body National with its loud volume and sustain.
Heavy-gauge strings and "high action" make bottleneck playing easier (though they
make normal fretting more difficult). "Action" is the height of the strings from the fretboard.
It's adjustable on many electric guitars. Consult your local music store to see if your guitar's
action can be raised (sometimes this is an easy bridge modification) or if your guitar can
stand heavy-gauge strings.
Bottlenecks & Slides
Many of the original slide players used a broken glass bottleneck, a jackknife, or a
sawed-off piece of metal tubing as a slide. Today you can buy a variety of shapes and sizes
of glass and metal slides, as well as carefully smoothed glass bottlenecks. Here are a
few guidelines:
• Slides versus bottlenecks: Most glass bottlenecks (cut from a real bottle) are slightly
curved. This is helpful if your fingerboard is also curved. If it's perfectly straight, a
straight slide will be easier to use.
• Glass versus metal: This is strictly a matter of personal choice, so try both types on your
guitar to see which you prefer for feel and sound.
• Long versus short: Some slides cover most of your finger and span all 6 (or 12) guitar
strings; others, intended for a more precise single-string playing style, cover only 1 or 2
strings. To begin withthe basics, get a long slide. You'll need itto play 5- or6-string chords.
• Fat versus skinny: Most players wear the slide on their pinkies or ring fingers; this frees
the rest of the left hand for playing chords. Find a slide that fits comfortably on your pinky.
LISTENING GUIDE
If you've learned the material in this book/CD set, you have a strong foundation in slide
playing. The next step is twofold:
1. Listen to the masters (recorded or live) and try to imitate what you hear.
2. Make up your own licks, accompaniment, and solos based on the ideas you've
learned.
Learning from Recorded Music
There's a lot to be gained by watching a live performer that records can't duplicate. Go
to live performances by slide players whenever possible, or watch them on TV; more and
more music videos are becoming available. In the meantime, listen to slide guitar
recordings. First, listen for the pleasure of listening and to get acquainted with the styles of
the great players. It's fun and amazing to discoverthe moods and sounds ofthe best players,
past and present. Be sure your listening includes:
Tampa Red
Son House
Robert Nighthawk
Duane Allman
Johnny Winter
George Harrison
Acoustic Players
Robert Johnson Blind Willie Johnson
Bukka White Kokomo Arnold
Electric Players
Earl Hooker Muddy Waters
Ron Wood Joe Walsh
Ry Cooder David Lindley
Fred McDowell
Charley Patton
Elmore James
Eric Clapton
Bonnie Raitt
Next comes listening analytically, with guitar in hand, learning licks and tunes from
recordings. Here are a few pointers:
• Find the tuning: Unless there's a lot of fancy chording, assume that the guitar is in an open
tuning (especially with the acoustic players). Start with your guitar in open G. Find the key
of the song you're analyzing. It's usually the chord that begins and ends every chorus; but,
if your song is the exception to that rule, it's the chord that "resolves" the tune, the chord
that makes the tune feel "finished." This will not be a problem with many of the old-time
players who stayed on one chord throughout a whole tune!
Once you feel sure you can hearthe "tonic" chord (the "key" chord), try to rnatch your open
G chord to it; if it doesn't match, barre across all 6 strings with your index finger and try
to match the G#, A, Bb, B, C, or C# (going up 1 fret at a time to the 6th fret) to that tonic
chord. If one of these matches, place a capo where your barring index finger was and you
are ready to play along with the record. (Consult the capo chart in this book to determine
what key you're in.)
If none of your barred chords matched the recording, retune your guitar to open 0 tuning
and repeat the same process. Eventually you will find the key and be set up to play with
the record.
Contents:
Introduction
How To Read Tablature
Equipment
Guitars & Strings
Bottlenecks & Slides
Picks
Open D Tuning
"String-to-String" Tuning
Tuning Down form Standard Tuning
Sliding on the Strings-Preliminaries
Barred Chords
Fretted Chords
Boogie-bass Accompaniment
The D Major Scale
Higher D Major Scale
Emphasizing Open-String Notes
Lower D Major Scale
Turnarounds
The 12th Fret D Major Scale
Open E Tuning
Tuning Up From Standard Tuning
It's the Same as D Tuning
Open G Tuning
"String-to-String" Tuning
Tuning Down form Standard Tuning
Barred Chords
I-IV-V Relationships
Similarities Between D and G Tunings
The G Major Scale
Emphasizing "Open-String" Notes
A Lower G Major Scale
The 12th Fret G Major Scale
Open A Tuning
Tuning Up from Standard Tuning
It's the Same as G Tuning
7th Chords
Slide In Standard Tuning
"String-to-String" Tuning
Playing in the Key of E
E Chord Positions
A Chord Positions
B Chord Positions
9th chord licks
Slide in the Key of A
Play in Any Key You Like - Using a Capo
Conclusion and Listening Guide
Learning From Recorded Music
If you've learned the material in this book/CD set, you have a strong foundation in slide
playing. The next step is twofold:
1. Listen to the masters (recorded or live) and try to imitate what you hear.
2. Make up your own licks, accompaniment, and solos based on the ideas you've
learned.
Learning from Recorded Music
There's a lot to be gained by watching a live performer that records can't duplicate. Go
to live performances by slide players whenever possible, or watch them on TV; more and
more music videos are becoming available. In the meantime, listen to slide guitar
recordings. First, listen for the pleasure of listening and to get acquainted with the styles of
the great players. It's fun and amazing to discoverthe moods and sounds ofthe best players,
past and present. Be sure your listening includes:
Tampa Red
Son House
Robert Nighthawk
Duane Allman
Johnny Winter
George Harrison
Acoustic Players
Robert Johnson Blind Willie Johnson
Bukka White Kokomo Arnold
Electric Players
Earl Hooker Muddy Waters
Ron Wood Joe Walsh
Ry Cooder David Lindley
Fred McDowell
Charley Patton
Elmore James
Eric Clapton
Bonnie Raitt
Next comes listening analytically, with guitar in hand, learning licks and tunes from
recordings. Here are a few pointers:
- Find the tuning: Unless there's a lot of fancy chording, assume that the guitar is in an open
tuning (especially with the acoustic players). Start with your guitar in open G. Find the key
of the song you're analyzing. It's usually the chord that begins and ends every chorus; but,
if your song is the exception to that rule, it's the chord that "resolves" the tune, the chord
that makes the tune feel "finished." This will not be a problem with many of the old-time
players who stayed on one chord throughout a whole tune!
Once you feel sure you can hearthe "tonic" chord (the "key" chord), try to match your open
G chord to it; if it doesn't match, barre across all 6 strings with your index finger and try
to match the G#, A, Bb, B, C, or C# (going up 1 fret at a time to the 6th fret) to that tonic
chord. If one of these matches, place a capo where your barring index finger was and you
are ready to play along with the record. (Consult the capo chart in this book to determine
what key you're in.)
If none of your barred chords matched the recording, retune your guitar to open 0 tuning
and repeat the same process. Eventually you will find the key and be set up to play with
the record.
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