Slide: pinky or ring?

[JB_From_Hell]

Like many other slide players, I wear the slide on my ring finger. However, a few guys I'm into wear them on their pinkies (Sonny Landreth, Joey Landreth, Ariel Posen). These guys also combine fretted and slide a lot. Bryan Kehoe says he prefers the ring finger, but uses it on his pinky a lot for the combined playing. Whenever I try my pinky, it's ridiculously uncomfortable, and so awkward it feels like I just started playing.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Slide: pinky or ring?

I use my ring finger so I can also chord with my index and pinky.
I guess for players that don’t fret with their pinky it makes sense to stick it there.


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[treyhaislip]

Re: Slide: pinky or ring?

I'm still trying to sound decent with a slide on any finger. :smash:

But I have two of these slides, Jetslide, and think it is pretty quick to move regular to slide.

Edit: Usually use the ring finger, pinky did not feel nor sound right at all.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Slide: pinky or ring?

I'm still trying to sound decent with a slide on any finger. :smash:

Gotta try a bunch of different ones. For me, thin brass or glass suck. I love the Dunlop Blues Bottle, but the condensation sucks. The Dunlop 215 (pyrex, medium diameter, thick walls) is great. I love the Mudslide 266, also. But only on my ring finger.

 

[RorySquier]

Re: Slide: pinky or ring?

I like using all my fingers for slide...it's like the golden age of porn back in the 1980's...it slides in really good!



;>)/

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Slide: pinky or ring?

Gotta try a bunch of different ones. For me, thin brass or glass suck. I love the Dunlop Blues Bottle, but the condensation sucks. The Dunlop 215 (pyrex, medium diameter, thick walls) is great. I love the Mudslide 266, also. But only on my ring finger.

I agree!

I really like the brass for me. Glass feels great but I have the worst control with it. Just need more practice...a lot more.

 

[RorySquier]

Re: Slide: pinky or ring?

Here's a good finger for slide with attidude.

:>)/

 

[jeremy]

Re: Slide: pinky or ring?

i use my ring finger for slide, cause thats what duane allman did. at this point its way to late to change. if i started fresh, id use the pinky. oh and i get to open for sonny next month. i dont think ill be playing slide that set

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Slide: pinky or ring?

I have never for a moment had any desire to use a slide.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Slide: pinky or ring?

oh and i get to open for sonny next month. i dont think ill be playing slide that set

Holy crap, that’s awesome! Be sure to give some details about that. Been listening to his latest live album a lot. He’s such a great player, but the songs are killer, too. He and Shane Theriot have me interested in zydeco.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Slide: pinky or ring?

pinky because i can change chord voicings behind the bar with my other fingers

 

[dystrust]

Re: Slide: pinky or ring?

I haven't had a chance to try it myself (slide currently MIA), but Jason Isbell plays with the slide on his middle finger. I suppose it'd make things easy if you're playing a lot of barre chords in standard tuning.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Slide: pinky or ring?

i always play in standard tuning, or at least 99% of the time. bonnie raitt plays with it on her middle finger too. i kinda feel you can make most fingers work but if i was starting over, id do pinky for sure. lets you fret behind the slide which is a very cool technique but also have three strong fingers to chord or fret with

 

[ErikH]

Re: Slide: pinky or ring?

I suck at slide but when I'm working on it, it's the ring finger. Pinky feels too awkward and I don't feel like I have as much control. As for slides themselves, I have glass, brass, chromed steel and the Joe Perry Boneyard (porcelain). My favorite is the Boneyard but it requires a little more control vs the chromed steel or glass so right now I'm working with the chromed steel until I get better at it.

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Slide: pinky or ring?

I use the ring finger. I think muting is easier and more intuitive that way.

It's whatever works for you. Betts uses the middle finger and the Reverend uses the index finger I notice.

For a long time I tried using a brass slide but when I tried a thin glass slide that fit my ring finger snugly, but not binding the middle knuckle, it was like "wow I can actually a play slide a little now." Not that I'm not rather bad at it still, but it was a great improvement in tone, vibrato, and intonation accuracy.

 

[gilt.suspect]

Re: Slide: pinky or ring?

I use my middle finger (glass slide preferred) unless I'm on a concrete surface then I use a metal slide. Billy Gibbons and Gary Rossington use their middle fingers too!

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: Slide: pinky or ring?

I've always used it on the middle finger. When I first learned I was playing a lot of barre chords so it made sense. Nowadays I sometimes use ring finger which works okay and still feels natural. On the pinky it just feels wrong, plus it wants to slide off- I have thin fingers.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Slide: pinky or ring?

I use ring. Pinky isn’t strong enough. I’ve tried middle also which works pretty well too, for certain chord shapes in between. But ring mostly.

 

[Jeffblue]

Re: Slide: pinky or ring?

STINKY PINKY for me. It's what I'm used to and free up the rest of the digits.