I haven't played guitar in a few years, I'm probably just an average player at my best - picked up my old guitar, put some new strings on it and started playing again a few weeks ago. forgot how fun it is.

One of the things I've always wanted to do though is play slide guitar, I guess a blues style with an alternate tuning.

Started looking up tunings but there's quite a few. Looked at old Zepplin tunings to get an idea what I want but couldn't decide.

What tuning should I go with so I can mess around?

I would say that Open G/Spanish A would be better from the outset. If you choose this tuning you will want to tune to G, and not A, though. I would say that E/D is a bit easier at first but ultimately limiting if you are interested in playing harmony, too, beyong licks. But, Open E/D is a tuned note away from the Celtic stuff with DADGAD so that's a real plus and will add days of fun. Regardless, Keith Wyatt and David hamburger have each done really decent blues book/CD packages that deal with slide playing. Also, if you are into older music (1920 - 1950), the Vestapul series by Stephan Grossman are good. I would pick up any of those books or videos and feel like I got a good deal.

Have fun!

Late to the party... anyway...


Just few quick slide ideas, thoughts..

Slide materials:

Glass: Great for lower action playing with clean amp. Less fret rattle.
Round tone.

Chrome Steel tube, like the ubiquitous Ernie Ball type: Easiest to learn with,
harsh with high gain stuff (to me) unless you like that.

Brass: like glass, but takes awhile to get clean playing due to weight. A bit "fatter "
tone.

Tunings: You should be able to work out of Standard, open E and G. Patterns will
emerge that are applicable in these tunings. I suggest them for this reason.

A handy hint.. use a "cheater" G. Drop your A string to G. You instantly have an open G
for the most part; eGDGBe . I use this on the fly in a jam situation to get that open chord
sound in a hurry. Drop the high E to D and you have instant Keef Richards and you can do
accurate Stones stuff, like play Brown Sugar properly. It will make a HUGE difference.
Pretty easy tuning to use playing with out a slide, for nice contrast voicings.

Picking: I use Index, Middle and Ring . that way you can damp unplayed strings for a nice
tight sound. I use a pick too, and will palm it for for solos using the above method.

Learn to fret behind the slide. This way you can get minor chords and 7ths or what ever.
Minors and 7ths are the easiest. This is cool for quick little arppegiations, kinda like banjo rolls
that'll pop out and be fun.

Slants.. same as above, again why I will use index, middle and ring finger to damp unwanted strings

Double Stops: Learn where two string chords live and string them together for nice melodic licks
and they also will help what you are playing stand out in a dense mix.

You mileage will vary..