Slide fatigue

[edg]

I am just getting back into slide after many years away. I'm making good progress but I notice that after 30-40 minutes of playing it really begins to suck, particularly on the lower frets....fret noise, unwanted sounds, etc. This is not a problem at all when I first begin to play. I'm calling this "slide fatigue", and hoping that the more often I play, this will be corrected. Anyone else have a similar experience or tips to share?

[Chris C]

Old thread I know, but there do not seem to be many slide forums out there...

To answer this question for the OP as well as anyone else who may have found this thread via internet search... there will be times it gets tedious. You may find yourself screwing up a lot in places, or become bored with the slide riffs you're playing. At times like that, set the guitar down, take a break for a few minutes. Come back, and perhaps concentrate working on few individual riffs.

Give it time. Slide is deceptive in that it looks easy but really isn't -- especially slide soloing. You are literally creating your own notes, and there are infinite ways to hit the wrong one. Eric Clapton spent hours perfecting his craft repeating the same riffs hundreds of times. The results showed in the Cream and Bluesbreakers stuff, and show today.

Also, when practicing, vary your targets... concentrate on the lower registers for a while, and then stop and concentrate on scales higher up the neck. And above all, be patient. Accuracy takes time. This includes the 'fret noise', unwanted sounds, bum notes, and missed notes.

And yeah, the lower registers can be tricky. Easy to chord down there in standard tuning, where we all learned guitar. But not all that easy with a slide, where the strings are usually lower to the fretboard than higher up -- even when your guitar is set up for slide.