Help, I am from Outer Space!!

Jim Dickinson · From: Washington, USA

I have not been doing to well in trying to teach mself how to play my old Dual Pro. So, I having been asking around with my many musician friends and the local music stores about someone who plays steel guitar. No one knows one, no one even knows of one, I live in a Steel Guitar desert. A Professional Piano playing friend suggested I send an email to the local music association and ask them, maybe they might know of someone. I went to their site, very nice, knew about half the people listed, but again, no memtion of a Steel Guitar.

So, I sent them an email, I ask if they knew of anyone who might play one, who might might teach, etc. I carefully described the instrument, "dual neck, dual 8 strings, console, non pedal Steel Guitar". I wrote that I had already inquired around and had been refered to them.

I received back (edited to protect the innocent"): Have you found our Directory on xxxx? www.xxxx.com ... Directory has thefollowing listings under Guitar Teachers. There are guitar clinics at xxxxx, xxxx, and xxxxx and individuals. I'm sure that there are moreout there, but here for starters. In fact, you might want to getacquainted with some of the bands in town and see if any of the leadguitarists have time to help you. You can meet a lot of them at the OpenMics or come to their shows. Best of wishes!

Aghhhhhh!!!!!

Perhaps I am not a real nice guy, but this was frustrating, maybe I ought to have been more understanding, I wrote back the following: have already been there. This is a Steel Guitar, not a regular one, the type used in Western Swing Music, also is the old style without pedals. It works entirely differently than a standard guitar, the only thing they share are strings, tunings and operation are completely different. Look at the photo of it, you'll see ( I attached a picture).

Now, you'd think that someone in the music industry would know what a Steel Guitar is. The last thing I want to do is go pal around with the lead guitar players of the local rock bands or hang out at open mics with a bunch of 20 year olds. These guys probably think a Steel Guitar Rag is a piece of fabric that one wipes their strings off with.

I know that I live in a Fruit Loopy area, but are Steels that far out of the mainstream? Come to think of it, I haven't seen one in a local band in over 20 years.

I am just going to have to ask on this forum, are there any of you out there who might help me? I live near Bellingham, Washington, just south of the Canadian Border on the coast. I am going to visit Lynn in Redmond, which is east of Seattle on Tuesday, but that's about 100 miles away, anyone closer? Please let me know. I can fix these things, I just can't play one, yet... Jim

Anthony Minstein · From: Kentucky, USA

Hi Jim,

What might have confused everyone was the detail you used describing your guitar.

I'm guessing folks were confused by the "double-neck, 8-string" description.

You might just want to stipulate "Looking for steel guitar lessons".

Another thought is find a band in your area who is playing western swing and ask the steeel player if he gives lessons or knows someone who does...most steel players know who else is playing in the immediate area.

Anthony
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George Piburn · From: The Land of Enchantment New Mexico

Jim Dickinson · From: Washington, USA

Anthony,

I would have put in all the things you said, I would have posted my inquiry, but I posted it on their email and don't have a copy, it was very clear.

There are absolutely no Bands up here with a Steel guitar, the closest I found was a bluegrass dobro player and a young man at one of the music stores that has a broken pedal steel he does not know how to play.

What I am applalled about is the responder's lack of knowledge about musical instruments. If you are in a position such as this, you ought to know what a Steel guitar is. I have been in the business of dealing with people for many years, if I don't know what something is, I find out before responding. It was obvious from what I wrote that the instrument was not a mainstream device and that I was looking for something out-of-the-ordinary.

Are steels that far out of fashion?
Jim

Mike Neer · From: NJ

Jim,
There's help out there. There are at least 5 members here from Bellingham, WA. Go up to Memberlist above click it and then sort by Location, Ascending. Go to about page 16 and look for the members in Bellingham. You can do this with any of the towns in your area. You'll find someone.
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Jon Nygren · From: Wisconsin, USA

Jim, I would suggest getting one of the instructional DVDs, either something from georgeboards, or another good one is the Cindy Cashdollar videos- how to play western swing. She starts you off at square one, and builds from there. I'm sure there are others that some other forum members could recommend.

Jim Dickinson · From: Washington, USA

George, Mike and Jon,

Thank you all for your suggestions, I didn't know that I could search the forum by location, and I will get some of the materials off the forum. Western Swing is only part of what I want to play, others are Jazz, Standards, Hawaiian etc, I have almost no musical limits.

I am frankly having problems with music theory, tunings, etc. That's why I just wanted to watch and talk to someone about all this, that's all.

I have always been on the other end of the music, behind the mixer board, gettin things to work right for the performers. This part is new to me.

Thanks everyone.
Jim

Roman Sonnleitner · From: Vienna, Austria

You might just have written "8-string lap steel" - sure, yours is a console and has legs - but the playing technique is exactly the same as for a lap steel (as opposed to pedal steel), and "lap steel" is less ambiguous than "steel guitar" (which by most non-steel-players is understood as a generic term for pedal steel, rather than lap steel...)

Anthony Locke · From: Texas, USA

Well Jim, you've definately come to the right place. One thing you could do before you find someone to take lessons from, is find a tuning you like, one that is strummable all the way across the strings. From there, find where your 1,4,5 chords are, by strumming. For example, in C6 tuning, if you are playing in the key of E, your 1 chord would be on the 4th fret, your 4 chord would be on the 9th fret, and your 5th chord would be on your 11th fret. So you could lay your bar on the 4th fret, strum all the way across, and have an E6 chord, slide up to the 9th fret for an A6 chord, then slide up again to the 11th fret for a B6 chord. That's about 2,347 songs right there. For me, the right hand technique is the most tricky, and having a thumbpick, an index finger pick, and middle finger pick, plus a metronome and a whole heck of alot of patience is probably a good idea. This is just stuff that might help you get started until you can find a good teacher. There are alot of good resources out there, and plenty of good folks here on the forum that can steer you in the right direction. Here's one good link that has alot of great tunings. Good Luck, and keep pickin'!

http://www.scottysmusic.com/tunings.htm

Lynn Oliver · From: Redmond, Washington USA * R.I.P.

Charlie Vegas · From: Tampa Bay, FLA, USA

Try here...

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