If not in G?

[Blues Pertti]

Hi,
I'm just thinking about possibilities to use my reso and slide in other type of music than blues. For example in gospel music. We have a small band called ArmoOn where we have my acoustic guitar, piano and two vocals. Songs have typically complex chord structures (they are not in G or D... and there are minors and major chords). Is it possible to use slide guitar there too?

Pertti P

[Deleted]

I find using dobro tuning GBDGBD is a good place to start, and often use it for sitting-in with sessions of folk, irish etc. Play lap style and you'll be able to slant to get those other notes for minors and so on. Otherwise, if you are playing regular style, try fretting with your fingers BEHIND the slide (fake slanting as it's sometimes called). It's not an easy technique, as it requires a deft touch. Just because you may be tuned in G or D doesn't restrict to you to those keys, you just have to watch out for where the root notes are and figure the changes from there.

[LouisianaGrey]

What kind of gospel music, Pertti? Are we talking Campbell Brothers and the whole Sacred Steel thing or more conventional hymns? It's also worth listening to Göran Wennerbrandt's work on the early Eric Bibb albums, which leaned towards gospel music.

Personally when I'm playing with other people I find it easiest to stick to the G tuning because it's the one I'm most familiar with. I can find my way around other keys much more easily because I know where the notes are. The easiest minor chord to play in GBDGBD is a B minor, but an E minor is pretty easy to fake too. I do Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" in G for that reason.

If you have a piano then the chords are going to be pretty full anyway so I would have thought you could get away with only playing a few notes to suggest the chord changes. If you play the root and fifth then the chord could be either major or minor and you can let the piano define which it is - after all, the piano player has eight fingers and two thumbs to do that with!

[robn]

Hi Pertti,

I note from an earlier thread that you have an Ozark 3616. Is it this instrument you want to use to add some slide to the Gospel songs your band plays? I agree with the sentiments of ChickenBone John and LouisianaGrey – get yourself a National nut riser and a steel and play lap style.

I’m not sure if I would risk GBDGBD on your round neck however – it is a very high tension normally suited to square neck guitars.

I think that I would start with open D (DADF#AD). I use this tuning quite often on my acoustic guitars and dobro when playing along lap style with folk music. Listen to some of the early work by Kelly Joe Phelps (from the Lead Me On album) to hear the possibilities of this tuning for Gospel.

Yours

Robn

[Blues Pertti]

Thanks for your replies

I think I have to check for gospel music, that already have slide guitar in it. I think that for our band Blind Willie Johnson and many of gospel songs of those old blues artists are too raw material (They are good for me). But I'm searching for ways to use blues style reso playing in modern Finnish gospels music. We are using material from Pekka Simojoki and his EtCetera choir
www.etcetera.to/ ("kuuntele")
and Jaakko Loytty
www.humblehouserecords.com/ ---> "Jaakko Loytty" ----> "Naytteet"
and of course a lot of traditional hyms.

Pertti

[Deleted]

Yes, get that piano player to earn his keep with some chords to leave you free to do some melody work...I've found this a challenge but quite liberating to do when you don't have to 'carry' the whole song with your slide guitar chording.

[Blues Pertti]

Sounds very good!

Pertti

[Michael Messer]

Hello Pertti, I think you need to to study some chord shapes and scales in G tuning and D tuning. GBDGBD and DADF#AD are both excellent for lap-style guitar. GBDGBD being very good for playing 'proper' music, rather than blues and country licks!!!!! DADF#AD is great for following melodies, try it.

Shine On,
Michael.

[LouisianaGrey]

I forgot the obvious person for bottleneck gospel playing in England - Bryn Haworth www.brynhaworth.com/

[Deleted]

Hi Perrti

By chance I was watching my DVD recording of the Concert for Bangladesh shortly after reading this thread and, though he might not spring to mind, Eric Clapton is someone you might like to look at. He was playing slide to "My Sweet Lord" which is classic minor/major song. He also plays slide on a Dobro for "Running on Faith", which is a lovely melodic song with minor and major chords where he certainly uses open G. I've done this song in the past with another guitarist doing the chords. It works really nicely and is fairly straightforward to play.

I have the tab for Running on Faith where you can look more closely at what he's doing. If you'd like a copy let me know and I can scan it for you. I can't see your e-mail address, but I think if you include it in a private message to me using the forum system it should keep your address otherwise private. There is also a PowerTab version around on the web which looks quite faithful to the original version.

[Blues Pertti]

Thanks for ideas and fine links!! ;D
Pertti