Warren Haynes on Slide Guitar in Standard Tuning | Reverb Interview 

Warren is so awesome. His phrasing is almost unparalleled regardless of whether he is playing slide or not. Also his musical vocabulary is insanely deep. Not to mention he's a genuinely nice guy. When I was about 14 my dad took me to my first Allman Bros show and we were front row center and I was in heaven and Warren saw how much fun I was having and had a roadie grab an Eat A Peach shirt and bring it to him and him and Dickey signed it and he reached down off the stage and handed it to me along with a pick from him and Dickey both. I still have all that stuff too. That was in about 1996 or so. He's still one of my favorite players today

His complete control over his instrument is just amazing. Notice how clean and concise everything is. Not ONE tone or overtone out of place. This is mastery, folks.

The most humble and nicest musician you’ll ever meet

I've seen Derek and Warren play live in Allmans and TTB and his band The Mule. I love when they're so into the other's solo where they just focus and you will see a shake of the head or a smile. I love these times in my life.

Warren Haynes is the nicest and most generous musician I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. Back in October of 2003 I went to see Gov’t Mule & Chris Robinson’s New Mud Earth at the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto, ON. Afterward I was invited to join a small group to meet the band (Gov’t Mule). Everyone introduced themselves before retiring for some well earned rest. Warren stayed and hung out with us for what must have been close to an hour. That’s one memory that I will never forget and always cherish.

This man is a National Treasure.

I've loved Warrens playing since he was about 21. The first time I saw him was at a biker rally way back when he played in David Allen Coe's band. I was fortunate enough to sit on the bus with him and Allen Woody for an extended smoke out and jam session 25 years ago. He's always been most gracious.

Warren's such a good teacher. Really imparts confidence and modesty.

Met Warren when Govt Mule first starting in a little bar. he was coming in with his drummer. I chatted with him outside,and he was just as cool and low key. No rockstar syndrome here ,just a regular fellow playing another show.

I've had the pleasure of hanging out with Warren dozens of times. It's a long story but I used to work in the business as a visual artist. He is one of the most genuine, friendly and kind spirited Men you will ever meet. No pretense, no attitude, he treats everyone with respect. I really think that's one of the reasons why his music is so amazing and pure.

addition to what Warren said: the DGB notes together (2nd 3rd and 4th strings) form a major chord, movable anywhere up down the neck. The GBE notes together (1st 2nd and 3rd strings) form a minor chord. again movable up and down the neck. on any given fret, the minor chord is the relative minor to major chord. ie 5th fret major is C, and the minor is am. Love Warrens playing, both w/ fingers and slide. Also great songwriter.

My favorite guitarist of all time... just love everything about his music, and also love the dude, such a down to earth man.

A great talent whether on slide or not. One of the best players around today, in my opinion and always comes over as a real genuine, down to earth guy too.

Wow, so cool. Love the little tidbit about Duane mostly playing in open E except for dreams and mountain jam

Adore the man, adore the playing, but oh my god that guitar is so pretty

I took this advice years ago and really learned slide in standard tuning, everything he says here is spot on, of course. Such a fantastic musician

Warren is without a doubt my favorite guitar player and songwriter today. Such a talent!

Warren can use open, standard, Eb, and any other tuning know to mankind, he is going to sound awesome singing and playing no matter what he does, he is a super total musician loaded with talent. Let your light shine Brother !!!

This is what Mr. Haynes one of the best. He took the time to sit down and give us this info. Thank you sir.

Played exclusively blues for a twelve year hitch out of my 55 years on stage, and Warren, you used to make me CRAZY because you emulate the half step pull up's and downs that are SO open E. In all these years I just never was able to be that precise and quick. I still try really hard, but slide in open E is so much easier. If I was 50 instead of 70 I'd tune in open E and try to lean how to play conventionally, sort of like (the ever so brilliant) Derek Trucks. Love the way you play. I wish I could tell you in person.

Warren was a primary motivator for me to start playing slide during the year I myself began playing guitar. The parts he played when the Allman Brothers Band took the stage at Municipal Stadium in September 1995 totally knocked my socks off. Same for his smooth switches between the slide and his fingertips.

Seems like the coolest guy in rock and roll. Never heard a bad thing about the man nor have I ever heard him trash anybody else. Love his playing and attitude as a person. (Oh yeah...Mick Taylor occasionally played in standard. Surprised Warren didn't mention him.)

Such an amazing player man, I got excited when I saw this had been uploaded

He is one of my favorite guitarists. The sound is clear and has a powerful sound.

I loved when Warren Haynes played the Father on the television show Rosanne.

What a beautiful demonstration and explanation....what a beautiful man

thank you Mr Haynes. sorry about the loss of your good friend

I love his voice. Never heard him speak before.

This guy rarely gets mentioned in the “great guitarist “ discussions, but he can do it all, Warren doesn’t take a back seat to anyone

I didn't want this one to end!

One of my favourite slide player! Love it!

Been hearing a lot of Warren on the radio lately since he plays the slide solo on Back To The River by The Pretty Reckless. Brilliant playing as usual.

Excellent! One of my heroes!

Warren is one of the greats.

This dude is awesome. His introduction to slide was exactly the same as mine. I play mostly in standard now after having dabbled in open E or open G because I was "supposed to". I play in standard for the same reason as his; it's a whim, or it allows me to play the song in the notes that I'm accustomed too. It's all good, though, slide is awesome. Haynes is an incredible musician.

I remember when Hayes first started playing with the Allman's...of course they had some really good players before after Duane, like Jack Pearson who's a fabulous player. But when Warren came along, it felt as if he was a hot rod created in a lab to be in the Allman's. Not because he was robotic, but his incredible slide and standard playing, and of course his voice. It was as if the Allman's got this extra dimension, but it was completely in tune with their vibe. It's like 'who is this young guy who sounds like he was born to be in this band?'. 'Blue Sky' suddenly took on this immense power, I remember first noticing.

Warren is awesome it's friggin hard to play slide in Standard tuning,well it is for me and my posse.Great player and so humble.Great to listen to so wise

Warren you are the man!!! What a great talent

great advice from the man himself

Good stuff, Reverb! More please! Thank you.

Hey Warren, you are a good guy and a superb player. Best wishes forever!!!

I didnt know who he was until I saw him with the Allman brothers many years ago when Derek Trucks was still a little kid on stage. Warren's one of my most favorite especially now that Johnny Winter is gone,very underrated!

I'm with you Warren, I also tried all the open tunings years ago but went back to standard when I got tired of hearing those same old licks emerging. You also admire the same sliders as I do: Lowell, Ry and David. I got up with Don Felder in Calgary a few years ago. A while later he did an interview for Premier Guitar and mentioned me when asked if he admired any other sliders out there, other than Duane Allman. I was more than pleased, of course. Very cool to hear your take on it.

I like to be able to use both standard and open tunings. It is great to be able to play in any key, which you can do in any tuning ut standard lends itself to weird keys. Good to know the essential intervals in several tunings

What an absolutely gorgeous guitar

Thanks warren you are one of my very best favorite artists I always wanted to meet you

Awesome . I'm learning slide after 30 years of guitar. Finally. And sticking to standard tuning. Wondered how others felt about it too

Thanks for the insight....much appreciated.

Any way he plays it, it comes out Warren. My favourite guitarist.

The man knows his stuff top notch guitar player

great to hear from the legend himself, thanks.

Saw him playing Statesboro Blues with the Allman Brothers on a live clip - quite recent it was wonderful. Pleased to note that some of the things he recommended I had started to do.

very nice guitar playing. amazing

Missed Warren last Fri nite in Charlotte but will catch the Mule soon. Thank you -

Wish I could like this a thousand times

Excellent explanation.

Thanks for the tips. These guys get to tour where the rest of us have to stay home, so the advice for guitar players is much appreciated.

Late to the slide party, here. I know who the Allman brothers are, but never listened to them growing up. As a 80's and 90's kid, I started paying attention to music in my teens just as grunge was handing the baton to alt rock. The bands that perked my ears to slide were Tonic and STP, both of which probably got all their influence from the players discussed here. The thing was, I never really took the first step to even buy a slide for a few bucks because I thought you HAD to play in open tunings. This never interested me because it limited what you could play, or forced you to transpose a song if you wanted to add slide. Now that I realize it's possible, and that guys like Dean Deleo were actually adding slide melodies to a song in standard tuning, it's much more enticing. Just ordered a couple slides to find out what I like best. This video is a gold nugget!

omfg warren is my hero....ima need about 14 more hours of this guys!!!! then after that the 25 hours of b footage yall edited out...

thanks Warren- gives me hope.

I gave Warren my last Coricidin bottle. I'd read where he had one stolen from the set of their Unplugged experience; besides, he could use it a lot better than I could! He was such a gentleman when he invited me backstage to personally thank me. And in fact, took a picture I had of Dickey and got him to sign it for me. (I asked how Dickey was doing and he just shook his head.) Anyway, Warren is the coolest!!

One of the best. 🎵🎶

simply awesome

Steve Gaines played slide in standard tuning on "T for Texas," and I believe standard in his song "Alone in the Multitude." Unfortunately because Steve's career was so short and he died so young, he doesn't get talked about a lot. His slide sound was very cool.

Such a great guitar player.

Legend.

His stuff sounds so good

Great video and a great guy!

The best guitarists go their own way. Phenom on the fretboard, this one.

Thanks so much!!!

Well, could be a little late, but I still think it`s well worth mentioning and considering the UK singer-songwriter Chris Rea from Middlesbrough in North-Yorkshire, the artist who gifted this world with that fabulous and famous song "Driving home for Chrismas"! He also is capable of doing some great slide guitar and I personally think, there`s absolutely no reason for him to hide himself for Warren Haynes and all the other great slide guitar heroes he mentioned in this interview! Why not give Chris Rea a good chance and listen to his profession and passion!

Nice video! Keep it up!

Such a beast on guitar and great singer

Hugely underrated guitarist in my opinion.

I"ve been playing guitar 40 years. The vast majority of that has been conventional "regular" guitar. However, I did learn to play lap steel along the way, and then about a year ago I started making a serious foray into slide. In my humble opinion, if a player takes on slide after he/she has been playing regular guitar for years, standard tuning makes so much more sense than open. That's not to say one shouldn't learn open tunings - heck, we should always strive to grow and expand into new musical directions - but that slide guitar is MUCH easier to learn when you already know the notes and patterns. Trying to learn the touch, intonation, angles, muting, and vibrato is plenty difficult enough. Trying to deal with unfamiliar tunings at the same time just adds an unnecessary layer of difficulty.

First time I saw the Allmans was in Telluride. After 3 1/2 days of rain and being wayyy too high for my own good...The clouds broke up just as the sun set. I'll never forget the "Duels" with him and Dickey. Warren outplayed him by a mile.

Very informative.

This is awesome.

Started playing around 14 and 2 yrs later EVH changed the rules. The only slide guitarist I knew was Foghat's. It was not until I was 45 that I bought a National resonator and learned slide in open D. Going to and from Les Pauls/Fenders to the resonator is like holding a 57 Chevy and playing telephone lines!! I really wanna learn standard.

And that's why You Da Man Warren!!

Great advice. Ive struggled with that very thing. Now I just play in standard. If its open G, sometimes I do five string, or open D ala Ry Cooder. Either way I feel I need other guitars so its easier just to play my strat in standard. Thank Warren.

Thanks Warren, love ya man!!

Warrens the king !!

Warren is simply the best player alive.

Incredible

Awesome ❤

Wonderful player Wonderful man

Lovely touch. I'm trying to slide in standard tuning and it is difficult (for me). But some unplanned stuff is coming out this route. It seems to be sort of riff-based.

Great master!!!

The King!

The great George Harrison played most of his slide stuff in standard tuning. Once you get a feel for it, it's not as hard as one might think.

Grew up on the Allman Brothers band ☺️

Slide isn't my mainstay, but I love it, time to time, where it fits good, musically...I also stayed standard, part out of laziness/stubborness (i.e. to retune my guitar), but also, like WH, to avoid the open tuning cliche's...one of my fave slide outings on record, was Glenn Frey, on "Is It True?" (from Eagles, "On The Border"), I think it's standard tuning, but I'm not certain...

Dat wuz sooo phucking gud, 'splained so much to me about things I have wondering about as I am about to go this slide route but have been wondering about open tuning...Thanks Man, Super Dee-lux!!!

Great guy!

Love a good slide player tone!

Awesome

this dude is the real deal .. very human guy .. was actuallty introduced to him through patrice o neal and the opie and anthony show .. shoutouts to them ..

Watch the RH... very instructive. Great video.

more Warren Hayes please!