Slide guitar teacher in New York City?
October 7, 2024 7:17 AM
I want to learn slide guitar.
I already know how to play (acoustic) guitar not-badly in a finger-picking folk style with a little blues thrown in. I have always yearned to play slide guide (Mississippi Delta; Bonnie Raitt) and bought a couple of slides and tuned my guitar to open-tuned E. and I've watched a LOT of beginner slide guitar videos on YT, but I can't seem to get the guitar to sound decent at all with the slide.
It might be that I'm not holding down the strings correctly with the slide; or it might be that the action is too low; or it might be that I'm not muting the strings behind the slide correctly; or it might be that I have the wrong slide or I'm not wearing it properly; or it might be something I haven't thought of.
I have a fantasy of an in-person lesson or two, just to get me started (the remote thing may not work because I think I need a teacher to LOOK at me and my guitar (BUT I might be wrong? so that's a secondary question: do I NEED an in-person teacher or can I do a remote less or two? if the latter, then it's easier to get somebody))
My goal is to play a very simple blues that I can sing to.
I am in Manhattan, New York City, and would like to find out if anyone knows anyone who I could go to for one or two lessons to start me off on the right track.
Thank you.
I already know how to play (acoustic) guitar not-badly in a finger-picking folk style with a little blues thrown in. I have always yearned to play slide guide (Mississippi Delta; Bonnie Raitt) and bought a couple of slides and tuned my guitar to open-tuned E. and I've watched a LOT of beginner slide guitar videos on YT, but I can't seem to get the guitar to sound decent at all with the slide.
It might be that I'm not holding down the strings correctly with the slide; or it might be that the action is too low; or it might be that I'm not muting the strings behind the slide correctly; or it might be that I have the wrong slide or I'm not wearing it properly; or it might be something I haven't thought of.
I have a fantasy of an in-person lesson or two, just to get me started (the remote thing may not work because I think I need a teacher to LOOK at me and my guitar (BUT I might be wrong? so that's a secondary question: do I NEED an in-person teacher or can I do a remote less or two? if the latter, then it's easier to get somebody))
My goal is to play a very simple blues that I can sing to.
I am in Manhattan, New York City, and would like to find out if anyone knows anyone who I could go to for one or two lessons to start me off on the right track.
Thank you.
My boyfriend Hyllus plays blues slide guitar and teaches occasionally; he recommends Tom Letson as a slide player that he admires but is not sure he teaches lessons. If Tom Letson is not available or doesn't teach, Hyllus would be very happy to do a couple introductory slide lessons. We are in Brooklyn.
posted by matcha action at 8:01 AM on October 7
posted by matcha action at 8:01 AM on October 7
Tom Letson seems to live in Oregon. I'll contact you about Hyllus. Thank you.
posted by DMelanogaster at 12:09 PM on October 7
posted by DMelanogaster at 12:09 PM on October 7
Teaching aside, these things help:
- guitar must have unequivocally high action
- heavier gauge strings with lower (D and related) open tunings
Also, for me I've found using a Brass slide goes with my style.
posted by ovvl at 6:42 AM on October 8
- guitar must have unequivocally high action
- heavier gauge strings with lower (D and related) open tunings
Also, for me I've found using a Brass slide goes with my style.
posted by ovvl at 6:42 AM on October 8
ovvl, how can I tell if my (acoustic) guitar (nylon strings) has high action? And, if it doesn't, isn't there some "thing" I can put on it to raise the action? I can't seem to find the reference to that Thing that I read about. Thanks.
posted by DMelanogaster at 9:14 AM on October 8
posted by DMelanogaster at 9:14 AM on October 8
Slide will sound better with a regular steel-string acoustic. Playing slide on a nylon string classical guitar isn't that common (It's kinda rare but some people on YT do it). (Also you shouldn't put steel strings on a classical guitar, the tension is wrong.)
High action is when the strings are far from the fretboard. It's usually a very bad thing for regular playing, but a good thing for slide playing. Like many people, I started playing slide when I inherited old damaged guitars with warped necks from my siblings and friends. This is not a very professional approach I know. A more professional approach is playing an acoustic lap steel, takes a bit more expense.
We see talented players like Bonnie can switch between fretting and sliding on electric and acoustic, they are just incredibly talented. Their guitars are also set up in very particular ways. I got the idea about using heavy strings & down-tuning from reading about Stevie Ray V.
Modifying a guitar to a higher action is a serious deal where you want to consult with teachers and guitar repair techs first. A tech might remove the bridge on an acoustic and glue shims under it to lift it up.
The other option is to shop around for a cheap damaged steel string acoustic. Serious musicians may scoff at this idea.
posted by ovvl at 1:15 PM on October 8
High action is when the strings are far from the fretboard. It's usually a very bad thing for regular playing, but a good thing for slide playing. Like many people, I started playing slide when I inherited old damaged guitars with warped necks from my siblings and friends. This is not a very professional approach I know. A more professional approach is playing an acoustic lap steel, takes a bit more expense.
We see talented players like Bonnie can switch between fretting and sliding on electric and acoustic, they are just incredibly talented. Their guitars are also set up in very particular ways. I got the idea about using heavy strings & down-tuning from reading about Stevie Ray V.
Modifying a guitar to a higher action is a serious deal where you want to consult with teachers and guitar repair techs first. A tech might remove the bridge on an acoustic and glue shims under it to lift it up.
The other option is to shop around for a cheap damaged steel string acoustic. Serious musicians may scoff at this idea.
posted by ovvl at 1:15 PM on October 8
NY-based guitarist here.
To play like Bonnie and/or Mississippi Delta, you definitely want steel strings. Nylon will not cut it, either in terms of sound or feel.
The advice about a higher action is good, but it might be impractical, depending on what else you want to do with your guitar. Like, if you only use it for slide, then take it to a good tech (eg, Matt at 30th Street Guitars) and ask him to set it up for slide.
BUT - if you want to use it for non-slide playing too, you don't want a slide-specific set up. You want more of an all purpose set up.
Things that have helped me play slide guitar on an all-purpose set up -
I use a glass slide - my preference is a Jim Dunlor 212 glass slide. I wear it on my ring finger. it's small enough that I can wear it on my finger but still play non-slide things until I'm ready for the slide. Also, it's pretty light.
Open tunings - E or G - can make some things easier, but again - it will have a big impact on the other things you use that guitar for. I'm not saying you shouldn't use open tunings - they can be incredibly gratifying - but the trade-off is that you have to adapt all of your other playing.
Conversely, you can develop a vocabularly using standard tuning. I find this to be the most practical solution.
If I were regularly gigging on slide, I'd consider bringing multiple guitars with different tunings... but that's a project.
DM me if you'd like to discuss more.
Have fun!
posted by fingers_of_fire at 2:20 PM on October 8
To play like Bonnie and/or Mississippi Delta, you definitely want steel strings. Nylon will not cut it, either in terms of sound or feel.
The advice about a higher action is good, but it might be impractical, depending on what else you want to do with your guitar. Like, if you only use it for slide, then take it to a good tech (eg, Matt at 30th Street Guitars) and ask him to set it up for slide.
BUT - if you want to use it for non-slide playing too, you don't want a slide-specific set up. You want more of an all purpose set up.
Things that have helped me play slide guitar on an all-purpose set up -
I use a glass slide - my preference is a Jim Dunlor 212 glass slide. I wear it on my ring finger. it's small enough that I can wear it on my finger but still play non-slide things until I'm ready for the slide. Also, it's pretty light.
Open tunings - E or G - can make some things easier, but again - it will have a big impact on the other things you use that guitar for. I'm not saying you shouldn't use open tunings - they can be incredibly gratifying - but the trade-off is that you have to adapt all of your other playing.
Conversely, you can develop a vocabularly using standard tuning. I find this to be the most practical solution.
If I were regularly gigging on slide, I'd consider bringing multiple guitars with different tunings... but that's a project.
DM me if you'd like to discuss more.
Have fun!
posted by fingers_of_fire at 2:20 PM on October 8
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posted by zaelic at 7:50 AM on October 7