Merlin Slide Blues Tutorial 

My pleasure. Let me know if you post a video putting what you learned into practice.

Also try to just use the weight of the slide, don't force it down too much onto the strings.

That's what i got. Sounds great

Glad yo be of service, SF. .....Wail away!

Cheers Johnny. Post me a link if you do anything with it. I'd love to hear my slide tutorial put in practice :).

Thanks Lynda. You should get a Merlin, they are fun.

@@berniarmstrong just got one and i didn't thought about playing blues slide on it, but you just opened a new world for me.

I too have a strumstick. It certainly has its place. There are more frets for melodies, for example. But I know what you mean by the Merlin's deeper sounding body. The mahogany body sounds even deeper, but that wasn't available when I got mine.

@@berniarmstrong oh so would you recommend the mahogany? I thought the spruce would be more brighter and resonant and loud. My biggest issue with my beloved strumstick is that it's neck-heavy and keeps up-ending itself, other than that I do love it!

@@ElenaDuffMusic If you want a darker sound go for the mahogany, if you prefer a brighter sound then it's the spruce. Or treat yourself to both 😈

@@berniarmstrong 😆you are indeed tempting me with that notion 😈😈 - anyway thank you for your great slide demo. I know this video a few years old but it popped up on my recommendations!

Jason Blazina - Dulcimer My pleasure. This video is becoming my most popular one. Glad to help inspire people to extend their Merlin playing.

It is! It's an ideal first stringed instrument

Cheers Max. I hope you found it useful.

ktschp Merlins blow your mind, man! ;)

As the elevators of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation were wont to say: "Glad to be of service!" :)

You're a wise man, sir ;)

David Jazay Hope it is useful to you. Thanks for stopping by.

I look forward to hearing what you do with your Merlin. There is a Merlin support group, did you know? merliner.co.uk/

@@berniarmstrong Vid was uploaded today

Thanks. I hope you found it useful. The same advise is applicable to the Strumstick and other diatonic instruments.

Thanks John, it's always nice to be appreciated, especially when it is a new venture, like a tutorial.

Hi Mark. Wow, I should be on commission then ;). I am more often than not just picking the D & DD strings, but throw in the occasional A string. In theory, the A string (as the relative 5th - That just means it is five tones (notes) above the D string) should always sound OK too, hence the slide covers all the strings most of the time, except when I want to "solo" then I only use the DD strings and angle the slide up to avoid touching the D & A strings. On the turnaround I use at the end I actually only pick either the A string or the D as I slide. Experiment! That way you should get a feel for when it is better to avoid sounding all three strings and when not. Play around, that is the main thing. And thanks for the encouragement to post more videos. PS I just looked carefully at the video again and you can see that I use a different finger to bring in the A string during the "RIFF" - that might help you judge when I brought in the middle string and when not.

Yes, Martin it's in DAdd where the capital letters are wound strings and the small letters are plain. For the answer to all your Merlin queries - join us on the Google+ Merlin Community plus.google.com/u/0/communities/118439335147665343514?cfem=1

berni armstrong thank you I have requested to join!

I presume the question was "Can you play Blues on a Merlin?" 😁

Thanks Dennis, glad you enjoyed it. Hope you find it useful.

D A D

ray armstrong Yes, Ray. But I mainly use it for keeping in touch with friends, rather than self promotion 😉. Why do you ask?

Oh what a lovely supportive comment.