any music styles not suited for lap?

Ron Victoria · From: New Jersey, USA

I was wondering if there are any styles that a lap steel just won't fit into? Since joining the SGF, I've heard a wide variety played from jazz to Hendrix.

ron

Gerald Ross · From: Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Baroque harpsichord pieces.
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Ryan Barwin · From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Danny James · From: Summerfield Florida USA

I would think rap music would sound horrible on a steel guitar. Laughing

Of course I think it sounds horrible period Exclamation

Just M.H.O. Rolling Eyes

Sorry, I just couldn't resist. Oh Well

Pete Honychurch · From: British Columbia, Canada

Lap Dance music sounds terrible on lap steel,

because the lap dancer gets tangled up in the strings and makes you play bum notes....

Very Happy

Travis Bernhardt · From: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Lots of things don't sound "correct" when you've got steel in the mix, but if that's not the goal then you're fine.

There's almost always a way to fit in, to add something worthwhile to the music. But that's in a band context. If you're talking about steel as the main presence, then I'd suggest that there are a lot of styles of music that are very, very difficult to pull off. Basically, anything that requires a lot of really fast, intricate melody work will be trouble. A violin, horn or keyboard player might easily sight read through a tune that could take a good steel player weeks or months to crack.

-Travis

AJ Azure · From: Massachusetts, USA * R.I.P.

unless you're doing a session requiring specific sounds that lap is not right for, any style works. rather than think about what limitations you might have explore all possibilities.

Richard Sevigny · From: Salmon Arm, BC, Canada

Just using this section of the forum as an example, I've heard all sorts of music done with non pedal steel guitar.

I think the only limitation is the imagination and the skill of the player. Very Happy

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Eddie Cunningham · From: Massachusetts, USA

Don't ask a long haired Hippy type playing lap steel in a Heavy Metal band to do a pretty Hawaiian song !!! You will probably get a lap steel across the head !!! Eddie "C"

Doug Beaumier · From: Northampton, MA

HowardR · From: N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville

Kay Das · From: Los Angeles CA

Andy Volk · From: Boston, MA

As Howard and Kay said so beautifully, the only limits lie in our imagination. That said, steel doesn't belong on accappella music. Smile

Steinar Gregertsen · From: Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.

Andy Barlo · From: Schererville, Indiana, USA * R.I.P.

I'm sorry, but to my ear that is not music. To me that is just a bunch of noise and the steel is used as a noise maker. The original question was "any styles that a lap steel just won't fit", and it definately does not fit this genre. The word "MUSIC" has taken on a vast meaning to some people. It seems that anything that makes a noise and has some sort of beat can be called music even though there is no melodic rhythm to it. But again, this is only my opinion.

Steinar Gregertsen · From: Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.

HowardR · From: N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville

The Desert Rose Band sang it best...."One Step Forward And Two Steps Back".......

Roman Sonnleitner · From: Vienna, Austria

Andy Barlo · From: Schererville, Indiana, USA * R.I.P.

Like I said, That is MY opinion.

Ray Montee · From: Portland, Oregon (deceased)

ANDY: You're NOT ALONE in your position.

Just a daily listen to YouTube and one can learn quite readily what is "music" and what is "electrified noise"........ The one's making the NOISE in their performance seem to be working quite hard to accomplish it........

This NOISE.....IMHO, cannot be classfied as a STYLE as there is no real substance to much of the racket.

JERRY BYRD has recorded some very beautiful Japanese music on his steel guitar. It's different but when performed by a talented musician it can be most pleasurable.

Don't back down Andy. No need to bow or apologize here.

Steinar Gregertsen · From: Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.

Mike Neer · From: NJ

I would never begrudge anyone for their opinion about music, but I will say this: You cannot judge a musician by one musical situation. I have played with and listened to musicians all my life who are chameleons and can and do play any style convincingly.

Many musicians have stuck to their guns and only played one style of music their entire lives, and I respect that. In one sense, I envy them on some level. But many of us, and I can really only speak for myself, get excited by a multitude of musical sounds--many of my closest friends could never even understand some of my choices! I am like a child when it comes to hearing sounds: filled with wonder. But that's what makes me who I am, and the next person who they are.

I've always believed in learning the traditions of a musical instrument while at the same time trying to find my own voice. The secrets of the instrument are tucked in the traditions, and the artistry of playing is filtered through the player. I play music that some would be appalled by, and yet I am a devoted student of steel traditions. The fact that I am able to find my way through most musical situations is a source of pride for me.

Play any style of music you want--just play it well!
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b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

While it can be used in any kind of music, I feel that using lap steel in music that was popular before electric instruments came along is a stretch. I'm speaking of forms like traditional jazz from the 20's, or orchestral music from the late 1800's. Technically it can work, but it tends to sound a bit gimmicky when compared to the "correct" instruments.

Lap steel works well in any modern context, including so-called "rap" and hip-hop. (I actually doubt that any current music is called "rap" by its creators. It's a catch-all term used mainly as a pejorative by people who don't understand modern pop.)

While we hear examples of jazz played on lap steel in this forum, I doubt that it will ever be taken seriously in the jazz community. I do not know of one record on a major jazz label that features lap steel. Pedal steel is making inroads there, but lap steel is viewed as more of a toy.

Ditto with classical or, as they say, "serious" concert music (artistically written and orchestrated). We see inroads being made by pedal steel players, but the lap steel is viewed in the same light as a diatonic harmonica - i.e. as a toy instrument. It's really a shame because, as we know, the instrument itself knows no limits.
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Steinar Gregertsen · From: Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.

Stephan Miller · From: Silver Spring, Maryland, USA

Well, there's Stacy Phillips on lap steel and reso with The Afro-Semitic Experience, a jazz group with several CDs out.

Tom Morrell left behind a sizeable recorded legacy of non-pedal jazz.

Neither of these examples had the backing of a "major jazz label"...whatever that might mean these days...but there have been steelers making jazz without pedals ever since the 1920s and there probably always will be.

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