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Statesboro Blues 4 string fretless slide by Mark Stowe

Posted by Mark Stowe on June 27, 2010 at 1:59am

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Dickey, Brothers, Allman, Duane, Betts

Here is a simple arrangement of the blues classic "Statesboro Blues". I've got the 4 string fretless cigar box guitar tuned to open G (G-B-d-g) which makes it easy to play the song on a single instrument and still manage to add some Duane Allman style slide.While the song is played in the key of D, Duane Allman had his guitar tuned to open E and played the song around the tenth fret. To match what he did I like using the open G tuning G-B-d-g and centering my playing around where the 7th fret would be (if I had frets).While this open G tuning may not be as popular as other open G tunings (namely the D-G-b-d open G tuning), I think you'll find it great for call and answer blues riffs.

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Comments

Uncle John July 29, 2015 at 5:01pm

Good to hear this one again. Like it a lot.
A.D.EKER July 29, 2015 at 2:34pm

You may wonder why is this Dude backcataloging my Vids, Uncle John told me i had to check you out, for some hefty string work ,Thats why !!! and he was right !! Thanks had fun! Greeeettssszz A.D.
Uncle John September 10, 2010 at 7:28am

Oohh, and the slide from the 5th to the 2nd with a pull off and back on. I may not be doing it how you do it, but I am learning and having fun. :)
Uncle John September 10, 2010 at 7:25am

Hey Mark, I came back to this video this morning and it expanded my horizons! I have been playing more slide lately (2 string octave tuned). Thanks to this video, I begin to learn to start songs on at the 5th fret. Now my G guitar can play in C. Just want to say thanks. Thanks.
Mark Stowe July 19, 2010 at 8:09pm

Because I mainly use this tuning for slide (G-B-D-g) I tend to single finger bar-chord the chords so C would be at the 5th fret and D at the 7th, I believe Em would be by fretting the strings(top to bottom) 9th-8th-9th-9th ( or the notes E,G,B,E). If you were to placed a single finger over all the strings at the 9th fret it would be a E chord with the notes being E,G#,B,E, so placing a finger on the third string one fret back should make it a minor. With this type of fingering (single finger bar-chord) I would tend to give it a choppy ragtime feel. Not perfect for every song, but fun to play around with.
Uncle John July 19, 2010 at 8:03am

Thanks Mark. That sounds doable and without too much tension on the neck. Good bass and good treble too. I will give it a try.
Do you know a fingered C, D and Em chord with that setup?
Thanks for your help and I like your videos. Some classic songs.
PS: GO NEBRASKA and Iowa STATE!
Mark Stowe July 19, 2010 at 2:14am

I'm using the 6th-5th-4th-and-2nd strings from an nickel wound electric guitar set (I believe the gauges would be something like 46-36-26-13). So the three top strings are wound, and I tend to tune the thin bottom string to a kinda low pitch. I like this gauge set up pretty well and the strings seem to hold their pitch. Seems to sound good in a lot of different open tunings.
Uncle John July 18, 2010 at 8:50pm

Hey Mark,
I play the more common open G. I would like to try your G-B-D-G tuning. Are you using the 4 large strings off a 6 string?
Laura Collins June 27, 2010 at 11:25am

Very cool. . .
LittleBigOne June 27, 2010 at 4:34am

It's great :D Your hand on the neck seems to do nothing difficult, you play so easy that kids want to play like you ! Keep on posting Mark, we need more people demonstrating and teaching slide guitar :-)