Sonny Landreth

• Standard tuning is Landreth's default — learn slide in standard tuning (not open G or open D). This requires understanding which fret positions produce chord tones in standard
• Fret notes behind the slide simultaneously — the left-hand fingers behind the slide can fret specific strings while the slide plays the top strings. This enables chord/slide combinations impossible in open tuning
• Right-hand dampening controls which strings ring — by touching specific strings with the right-hand palm or fingers, only the desired strings sound when the slide crosses them
• Glass slide rather than metal — glass produces a smoother, less clangy quality. Landreth uses a glass slide specifically for its tone character
• Slide on the middle finger — unlike many players who use the pinky or ring finger, Landreth's middle-finger position enables the simultaneous fretting technique
• Louisiana bayou music is the rhythmic foundation — the Zydeco and New Orleans groove requires a relaxed, slightly behind-the-beat feel
• Standard tuning harmony knowledge is essential before attempting the style — you must know where chord tones fall across all positions before the simultaneous fretting technique makes musical sense
• Light touch with the slide — the slide should barely touch the strings, not press them. Heavy pressure creates buzzing and flat intonation
• Study "Techno Blues," "Back to Bayou Teche" and "Z'Deco Sont Pas Salés" for the bayou groove and slide vocabulary

Sonny Landreth is the master of standard-tuning slide guitar — unlike most slide players who use open tunings, Landreth frets notes with his left hand behind the slide simultaneously, enabling chord playing, hammer-ons and a melodic vocabulary unavailable to conventional slide players.