What's More Important Than Developing Technique?

Bill Hankey · From: Pittsfield, MA, USA

I really can't think of one thing to disprove the inquiry in terms of first and foremost to serve a player's best interests. While wading through a sea of unrelated issues, it occurred to me that something is falling short of a main purpose. Improved technique through a better sense of timing, is a good place to start.

Adam Stein · From: Portland, Oregon - USA

technique is the core of everything you play, nothing is more important. Some things are just as important such as ear training and the ability to transfer what you hear or imagine to what you play. Good taste and a sense of humor are also essential...

David Wright · From: Pilot Point ,Tx USA.

One of the BIGGEST things in playing steel guitar is the Right hand, so much comes from there, tone, ect....there is much more to go in to playing, but it's a good place to start with...Just my option, and was approved by me.. Laughing

Colm Chomicky · From: Kansas, (Prairie Village)

And its important to be happy and smile when you play!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYmaUSLMtf8

If I only had Tom's smile!

Ron Davis · From: Lake Arrowhead, California... We're a mile high. ;)

From this newbie's POV...?
# 1 MOST important thing?
Love it! (& I do.)
Smile

rd
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Jim Hollingsworth · From: Way out West

We could definitely learn a lesson from the excesses of '80's guitarists..... technique is a means to an end. The purest beauty for the steel guitar is to play soulfully - all the way back it's Hawaiian origins steel was about the vocal & soulful quality of the instrument. And while Buddy E & Lloyd & all the greats had great technique, they always used it with a soulful feel. If you listen to anything by E or the "Lloyd Green Album" by Peter Cooper you can see that the technique is slave to the FEEL.

Just my opinion.

Jim

Chris Schlotzhauer · From: Colleyville, Tx. USA

Knowing how to play music. I've seen a ton of technical steel players, guitar players, etc, that don't sound good in context of a song

Stuart Legg · Posted 16 Jan 2011 9:22 am

What's More Important Than Developing Technique?
It seems that developing an erudite vernacular utilized irrespective of necessity is the choice of the good starting place. Laughing

I to, really can't think of one thing to disprove the inquiry in terms of first and foremost to serve a player's best interests, but as you can plainly see by this reply an improved technique through a better sense of timing, would be a good place for me to start.
I'm not sure my reply here will be of any enlightenment, however I do feel that the topic is well on its way to the predicted conclusion with or without my efforts.
Don't get me wrong I love it. Great topic!

Bill Hankey · From: Pittsfield, MA, USA

I've found that most melodies will jump out at you, with the proper techniques applied. The stopping of shelving a good melody for reasons that are quite reversible with proper techniques, will build an instrumentalist's repertoire many times over.

Bob Carlucci · From: Candor, New York, USA

More important??.. First, your ear is
WAY more important than technique..
Time is important as well.

The best technique in the world without a good internal clock and an accurate ear...
"Proper" technique is vastly over rated on many instruments...
Some of the best musicians are all ass backward and do everything wrong from a technical standpoint, but they sound great anyway.
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Larry Robbins · From: Fort Edward, New York

Technique is fine but, To me, style is the most importent.You can have all the technique in the world but if you dont develope your own style then you are just another cookie cutter player. Its fine to emulate someone else's playing but having your own style will always set you apart from the crowd.
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Paul Sutherland · From: Placerville, California

Good technique gives you more options and freedom to express yourself, but it is not a substitute for having creative musical ideas. You need to have something to say for your music to be interesting.

Bill Hankey · From: Pittsfield, MA, USA

Without constant practice, especially over longer periods, learned arrangements can be forgotten, and possibly recalled with great effort on the part of the instrumentalist. It really should be forbidden through some unpublished rulings, that hard lessons learned through determination, should never be shelved for future references. A new experience may very well include a "lost" run or fill that you only remember that it's missing in a part of an unrecorded arrangement.

Larry Robbins · From: Fort Edward, New York

That is where style overules technique.
You can play/forget all you want but style will always difine who you are.
What you can play is irrevalent...how you can play it is what makes a mark in the mind of the beholder...just my 2 cents and worth every penny Razz

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Glenn Taylor · From: Denver, CO, USA

intonation
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Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

I assume you're not limiting 'technique' to things like speed and specific ability to execute complex or fast-moving ideas, or to adhere to a particular orthodoxy of playing technique. To me, accurate intonation, good tone, good timing, ability to play stylistically, and a bunch of other things are all aspects of technique. Of course, they are all very important

But I also think it's very important to

- understand music in general
- understand the context of a song and what fits with it (and what doesn't)
- know when to play (and when not to play)
- have good intuition about how to play with and react to other musicians
- just love to play, to never just punch the clock
- have some other 'intangibles' like creativity, soul, fire, and some sense of aesthetics and beauty

I don't think I know how to rank order any of this. When someone has it, I think I can tell. When something's missing, that is often also clear. If playing music was all mechanical, I wouldn't bother.

Bill Hankey · From: Pittsfield, MA, USA

Dave M.,

It's doubtful whether or not a cumulative mass of humanity could ever parry your thrusting king's language. From my standpoint, you are a writer's writer. In your above message, you've described a steel guitarist with immense experience, and capability. I think of LLOYD GREEN, as the finest example of a musician to cover any and all logical aspects of steel guitar achievements. He'd be one of the very few individuals who could establish a keen acknowledgement of your idealizations. For my part, it's very difficult for me to become disputatious once you "dig" into a given concept. I'd simply know better than to go out on a limb while attempting to become argumentative.

Bob Simons · From: Kansas City, Mo, USA

I believe if you examine the history of popular music (aside from classical genres in which technique is an entry requirement) you will find that technique is often the least important factor in the music. Try focusing on passion and emotion, Bill. Let that speak. We all take for granted that we should learn to execute or intentions as closely as possible, but I'm more interested in MUSIC than pedal steel gymnastics.

Take for instance any steel guitar jam in which a blues song is played. The players will invariably trip all over themselves trying to cram in every harmony and pedal board back-flip you can squeeze into 12 bars and 3 chords. THe result is usually abysmal. Give me a blues player with NO technique and a chip on his shoulder any day and I'll experience better MUSIC.
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John De Maille · From: On a Mountain in Upstate Halcottsville, N.Y.

Technique is an extremely important acquisition in learning how to play the steel, but, having a good ear and a good sense of timing is paramount in my opinion. Without those two requisites, all the technique in the world won't help you. This is a fretless instrument and if you can't hear if you're sharp or flat, that's how you'll sound, sharp and or flat. Timimg is important in order to play a tune correctly within meter. When I was first starting out on playing steel, there was a fellow, who, was a crackerjack on technique and had a whole bag full of tricks. He could demonstrate all of this, flawlessly, by himself, solo. When I heard him play with a band, he sounded worse than I did. He was lost most of the time and sounded out of tune. As a newbe to the steel, I was quite surprised at his lack of prowess. I then realized, that, a lot of us are setting our building blocks down in the wrong order. There are so many aspects to learning this thing, that, I think everything has to be taken slowly and nothing should be ignored. Otherwise, you're going to come up short on the learning curve. I overlooked a few lessons, years back, and wish I never did. I can't seem to undo some bad habits.

Barry Blackwood · Posted 17 Jan 2011 8:05 am

Bo Legg · Posted 17 Jan 2011 8:15 am

Good technique means that someone knows how to play the Steel Guitar with accurate movements that are aesthetic and also as anatomically correct as possible.
However technique changes over time as can be observed by looking at the Big Picture and the Ripple Effect (starting at the beginning and following the ripples of change to the present).
This brings me to a logical conclusion that maybe we should reconsider some of our approaches to help us absorb the different ways of thinking that change over time requires.
I’m not suggesting you try to reinvent the wheel. Just think a little out of the box.

Bill Hankey · From: Pittsfield, MA, USA

"The proof is in the puddin'." An old "timer" a few years back in time invited me to a social pancake breakfast at the formerly celebrated "Eastover" in Lenox, MA. Larry Gilbert, the "banjo king" acquired a liking for my pedal steel guitar during a couple of practice visits at his home in Lanesboro, Ma, and as a result suggested that I join him at the gathering at Eastover. Things were nip and tuck for the first set, as I pondered the situation. I had been gradually easing into Larry's banjo tunes, while looking for something to set the crowd in motion. As Larry gazed over at me, I requested a chance to play one of my favorite melodies. I played one of the most recognizable melodies on the charts, known as "Wild Side Of Life". The response was immediate, and Larry went on to top off the show, "happy as a lark" in secluded meadows. Audiences need to relate in some way to performances. I would consider the far reaching effects of technique would be to learn as quickly as possible, that which pleases attendees in a given series of performances.

Bill Hankey · From: Pittsfield, MA, USA

John De Maille,

I found your thoughts concerning the gentleman steel guitarist flunking in the band situation, of great interest. You stated that he was "flawless" with his bag of tricks, but faultered upon entering a group. It could be regarded as a very unfortunate situation, particularly if in reality it turned out to be an ongoing problem. I'm wondering whatever would cause his synchronous disruption? I'm aware that certain external influences can produce a negative effect in otherwise normal situations.

Scott Henderson · From: Camdenton, Missouri, USA

Without a doubt it is #1. Not to be rude but I have seen so many quivering bars and overextended elbows over the years. I took a guy on my guitar one time and simple pushed his elbow in a little and told to hold the bar still and his tone and playing increase significantly...Learning tech right the first time puts you miles ahead.
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John De Maille · From: On a Mountain in Upstate Halcottsville, N.Y.

Bill,
I think a lot of it had to do with him being a "bedroom" or "closet" type of musician. Playing with tracks and playing with live musicians can really be a "horse of a different color". Playing with live musicians has a spontaneity to it and some players can't react to it. Obviously, this was his problem. It really was an eye opener, to me. It wasn't the only instance, either. Through my years of going to PSGA shows and other shows, I've heard quite a few, who, can't get it right. Some of it might be construde as "pier pressure" and other times, just a lack of live stage presence. I would think that, exposure to others might solve that problem. Recorded music is set in stone with meter and feeling, whereas, live music isn't, especially, feeling. As I said, exposure to others and playing live should cure the problem.

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