@jmills60, no you shouldn’t have to bend the string when doing a slide—sometimes you may want to, but you shouldn’t have to do that. You may need to ensure your finger is more perpendicular to the fretboard to keep the slide clean. I have a bad habit of rotating the fretboard to get a better look, and that makes keeping a good perpendicular position more difficult. So I try to focus on the side markers on the neck. Just my two cents. I’m sure @BanjoBen and others can provide better ideas.
Discuss the Banjo lesson: How to Play Banjo Slides
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Hi @jmills60 John. Learning slides is a tough and painful lesson. My tips for you and others. To avoid bleeding fingertips DON’T apply too much pressure to the string, a light touch works better since there is less friction. Don’t over practice, let your calluses form gradually. Rest the fingers when they become sore, if the skin does break, soak fingers in a solution of salt water to speed the healing.
I don’t usually bend the string on a 2-4 slide unless @BanjoBen suggests it. Some teachers emphasis bending the string on a 2-3 slide, they claim that’s the way Earl did it, I bow to there greater knowledge but I don’t knowingly bend the string every time I play a slide.
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Bending the string for a slide has become part of the style, and it may have begun from this very issue of avoiding the string below! Interesting!
Check this out: https://youtu.be/qeceU2957OA
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Thanks for everyone’s help. I have spent a couple of nights just sliding from 2 to 4 on the 3rd string with my middle finger. And it stills touches the 2nd string. I’m thinking plastic surgery on my finger.
Another question: how high should my strings be off the fretboard?
Thanks for the patience.
Update: I found the lesson by Steve Huber.
I need to remember I have this great resource library.
And what a difference 1/32” makes!