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Statesboro Blues 4 string fretless slide by Mark Stowe

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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Comment by Uncle John on July 29, 2015 at 10:01am: Good to hear this one again. Like it a lot.

Comment by A.D.EKER on July 29, 2015 at 7:34am: 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.

Comment by Uncle John on September 10, 2010 at 12:28am: 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. :)

Comment by Uncle John on September 10, 2010 at 12:25am: 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.

Comment by Mark Stowe on July 19, 2010 at 1:09pm: 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.

Comment by Uncle John on July 19, 2010 at 1:03am: 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!

Comment by Mark Stowe on July 18, 2010 at 7:14pm: 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.

Comment by Uncle John on July 18, 2010 at 1:50pm: 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?

Comment by Laura Collins on June 27, 2010 at 4:25am: Very cool. . .

Comment by LittleBigOne on June 26, 2010 at 9:34pm: 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 :-)