GOing to an open tuning like E or G helps a lot when playing slide. Tune the guitar so when the strings are strummed open unfretted you sound an E major cord. Then give it a try. For me, it works best on the ring finger so I can mute with my pinkie, or play some three note chords or double stops with my index and middle finger when the slide is off of the strings. Another option when your starting out is to tune to an open E or G, and play with the guitar on your lap like a lap steel. If you're playing a fender, finding a slide contoured to fit the fingerboard profile radius is the way to go. You can find the neck of an appropriate wine bottle where the radius matches. You can use the lighter fluid on a string trick followed by a dunk in ice water to cut the kneck off. Then fire polish the cut end to dull the edges. Setting the guitar action higher than you normally would helps too, but is not a must if you can muster a light touch on the slide. Remember, you're not pressing and fretting the strings with the slide, but just touching them to set an end point for their vibration. For me the hardest part was getting that light touch and muting the strings I did not want to sound. I've been doing it for a long time.......and still pretty much sux. But half the fun is trying.
