Bar Slant Positioning

Dave Mayes · From: Oakland, Ca.

I use Jerry's split - string technique for both forward and reverse slants when I want to bring the middle note of an oddly staggered chord more into tune - playing either the top or the bottom of the split depending on the situation. Anyone else employ this approach ? I've yet to see this suggested in print (?).

Paul Brainard · From: Portland OR

Largely thanks to some inspiration & tutelage from Mr. Montee (truly a master of Hawaiian steel!) and of course Mr. Byrd's many recordings, I've been finding a lot of uses for this technique lately - min/maj7, augmented, dim, dom.9 chords, etc. It seems like doing a split-string forward slant (actually I've never been quite clear which way was forward and which was reverse, but I mean with the closer end of the bar further up the neck) would be facilitated by a double-bullet-ended bar, which I think I have seen somewhere or other in the past. Does anyone use one or know where to get one? Does not having a flat or indented butt end make it a lot harder to do get in & out of slants?

Ray Montee · From: Portland, Oregon (deceased)

Thank you Paul........

I believe a double bullet ended bar might be trickier to use that one might choose to believe.

The square ended bar (butt end)with any kind of an indentation, I do believe, would serve you better since you have some friction for your THUMB to stick in to while making that REVERSE SLANT with the bar.

A forward slant it the standard, every day slant and the nose of the bar is UP THE NECK toward the pickup end of the guitar. A REVERSE slant is just the opposite. It's just the humble opinion of an old man.

Paul Brainard · From: Portland OR

Thanks for the correction. I have the same trouble driving. . .Actually I find I can do a split-string slant with the butt end reasonably well, after some practice of course.

Lincoln Goertzen · From: Taylor, British Columbia, Canada

I have been trying to execute bar slants, too, and I have a really easy question for all you experts:

When you do a slant, do you play adjacent strings, or do you skip a string, so that you don't have to angle so much? (Particularly close to the nut.)

Also, do you ever slant over more than one fret? That is, from fret five to fret seven?

Lincoln

Ray Montee · From: Portland, Oregon (deceased)

Lincoln......when you speak of "slants" it all depends on what tuning you're using.
If you're talking C6th, as an example, you routinely can use both forward and backward slants of the bar.
First and second string reverse slants are common....but for some, can be difficult.
Second; 1st, 2nd and 3rd string forward slants covering three frets are quite common....as in "I Love You So Much It Hurts" and/or Jerry Byrd's "Twilight BLues".
First and third string slants, forward and backward/reverse slants are common, as are first and fourth string reverse slants.
Using first, second and fourth strings, SKIPPING the third string, is also a common forward slant.
Jerry Byrd also uses a three string (1st, 2nd & 3rd strings) reverse slant in E7th tuning or whatever, in one of his tunes that covers three frets then goes to a straight bar position.
There's many examples but I hope this might give you a quick and easy to understand
approach to bar slants. REMEMBER...you slant the bar with your fingers, NOT your wrist, arm and shoulder!

Ricky Davis · From: Bertram, Texas USA

Yes here are a couple that I use that cover either three strings together and/or two or more frets.



C6th tuning


      


      D         A    A              D


                 (&)


E.________________|___________________


C.__~~14_13~~8~~9_|__9__10__11__13__14


A.________________|_________10__12__14


G.________________|__9__9___9___11__14


E.__~~14_12~~10~9_|___________________


C.________________|___________________

------------------
Ricky Davis

My Homepage
Rebel™ and Ricky's Audio Clips
www.mightyfinemusic.com
Email Ricky: sshawaiian@aol.com

Lincoln Goertzen · From: Taylor, British Columbia, Canada

Thanks, Ray and Ricky. Actually, what I was referring to was bar slants on a six-string dobro, tuned to GBDGBD, low to high (for playing bluegrass).

I assumed that bar slant styles would be the same almost everywhere. Is this wrong?

Lincoln

Paul Brainard · From: Portland OR

Lincoln, the principle is the same but what the slants actually look like depends on your tuning & string spacing. On a dobro, the strings are generally closer together and the scale is longer than on most lap steels, so adjacent string slants are going to be at relatively steeper angles and thus more difficult. Also, without a 6th in your tuning, many grips will be separated by only one string rather than two, as most are on a lap/hawaiian steel. Not that you can't do them - actually there are some cool ones in an open G tuning that don't exist on a 6th tuning. Here are some ones I use on a G dobro tuning:

D major:

D. 12
B. --
G. 11
D. --
B. 10
G. --

C major:

D. 14
B. 13
G. 12
D. --
B. --
G. --

C 7th:

D. --
B. 13
G. --
D. 14
B. --
G. 15

G7#9 (pick any 3 or 4 adjacent strings):

D. 12
B. 11
G. 10
D. 9
B. 8
G. 7

G turnaroud:

D. --------------------------
B. 12-10-13-12---------------
G. ---------------12-11-14-12
D. 12-10-14-12---------------
B. ---------------12-10-13-12
G. --------------------------

[This message was edited by Paul Brainard on 22 January 2002 at 12:11 PM.]

Paul Brainard · From: Portland OR

BTW, I don't know what other players will say about this but I've found that using a bullet bar instead of a Stevens-type, once you get used to it, makes slants a lot easier and also sounds better too. You might want to use one of the narrower diameters to help out with intonation.

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