| Author |
Topic: How would you describe playing steel guitar? |
David Hartley
|
Posted 5 Apr 2011 8:51 pm |
|
I had to laugh at a comment I received today on one of my YouTube videos.
It said "Playing pedal steel is like trying to juggle while standing in a hammock".
What's even funnier is that I went to YouTube and typed in "juggling in hammock" as a search........there's a few videos to watch........that guy in Mexico would make a great steel player....  |
|
|
 |
Ray McCarthy
From:
New Hampshire, USA
|
Posted 6 Apr 2011 12:39 am
|
|
| I think it was one of the Rolling Stones who tried it and said it was like flying a hellicopter. |
|
|
|
Bo Legg
|
Posted 6 Apr 2011 1:06 am
|
|
How would Bill Hankey describe playing steel guitar?
A vulgar display of dexterity challenged application of music theory to an aluminum mechanical advantaged Merry-go-roundish mechanization propagating the bench-mark of the nonvirtuoso's endless series of nonsensical musical outbreaks in pointless expounding. |
|
|
|
Tony Davis
From:
Brisbane, QLD, Australia
|
Posted 6 Apr 2011 3:49 am
|
|
STEEL GUITAR IS NOT A MATTER OF LIFE AN DEATH
IT.S MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN THAT !!!!! |
|
|
|
Karen Sarkisian
From:
Boston, MA, USA
|
Posted 6 Apr 2011 3:57 am
|
|
When I was 12 I used to ride around my neighborhood juggling tennis balls on my unicycle. I think I was meant to play pedal steel guitar !
_________________
Emmons, Franklin, Mullen |
|
|
|
Kevin Hatton
From:
Buffalo, N.Y.
|
Posted 6 Apr 2011 5:22 am
|
|
| Did you ever try to thread a sewing machine needle when it was running? |
|
|
|
Bill Waskiewicz
From:
Deerfield Beach, Florida, USA
|
Posted 6 Apr 2011 5:36 am
|
|
Bo: That's a good one  |
|
|
|
Charles Pompe
From:
Illinois, USA
|
Posted 6 Apr 2011 6:36 am Acrobats
|
|
Jeez guys! I'm gonna have to throw mine out cause I can't do any of those. It sucks to get old!
Charlie
_________________
2005 Carter D-10,2009 Rains D-10, Session 500,Nashville 400,Nashville 112,1965 Vega Scruggs 5-String Banjo, Martin D-40, Gibson J-50 |
|
|
|
Ray Minich
From:
Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra
|
Posted 6 Apr 2011 7:45 am
|
|
When it works it's absolute nirvana.
When it doesn't it's the same thing only different.
_________________
Lawyers are done: Emmons SD-10, 3 Dekleys including a D10, NV400, and lots of effects units to cover my clams... |
|
|
|
David Hartley
|
|
|
|
Randy Brown
From:
Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
|
Posted 6 Apr 2011 8:50 am
|
|
| I believe it was Ryan Adams who called the pedal steel "a math problem with legs" |
|
|
|
Jim Cinney
From:
Tehachapi California, USA
|
Posted 6 Apr 2011 9:42 am
|
|
| Hours of frustration, punctuated by moments of sheer AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!! |
|
|
|
Chris Dorch
From:
Wisconsin, USA
|
Posted 6 Apr 2011 10:20 am
|
|
I liken it to playing golf..
Both gratifying and frustrating at the same time... And nearly as heavy as a bag of clubs.. (I play an S10) |
|
|
|
John Peay
From:
Cumming, Georgia USA
|
Posted 6 Apr 2011 11:08 am Golf & Steel...
|
|
David, guys like you (and the hammock juggler) make it look easy!
As a former competitive golfer (played collegiately in the early 80's) and a newbie steel player, I think it's a great analogy.
In my prime, my handicap was +1. As a newbie PSG player, my steel "handicap" is the maximum-allowable 36!
Anyone who's seen the movie "Tin Cup" will recall the scene on the practice range at the Open when a frustrated Roy McAvoy tells his caddie "my swing feels like an unfolding lawn chair!"....well, that's how I feel playing steel.
Oh well, seat time, seat time.... |
|
|
|
Dick Wood
From:
Springtown Texas, USA
|
Posted 6 Apr 2011 11:24 am
|
|
Bo, I can't dispute one thing you said.
_________________
Cops aren't paid much so I steel at night. |
|
|
|
Chris Dorch
From:
Wisconsin, USA
|
Posted 6 Apr 2011 11:47 am
|
|
| Bo Legg wrote: |
How would Bill Hankey describe playing steel guitar?
A vulgar display of dexterity challenged application of music theory to an aluminum mechanical advantaged Merry-go-roundish mechanization propagating the bench-mark of the nonvirtuoso's endless series of nonsensical musical outbreaks in pointless expounding. |
I don't think Bill will ever see this. I don't know if I've ever seen him post in anything but his OWN threads... But the "joke" is not wasted... |
|
|
|
John Coffman
From:
Wharton,Texas USA
|
Posted 6 Apr 2011 11:52 am
|
|
Bo what ever you said is beyond my little mind. I can say it is like a very complicated puzzle for the mind and the game of twister for the body. Some time you just got to hang on for the ride. IMHO. Good thing I love playing.
_________________
ShowPro SD10, Mullens RP, Bose S1 Pro, GK MB200, MB500, Bugera T50 Tube amp with SlidgeRig, TC HOF reverb effect. |
|
|
|
Jake L
From:
Grapevine, Texas
|
Posted 6 Apr 2011 4:00 pm
|
|
| Playing steel is like driving a tractor using the brakes, while steering with your knees, while playing a piano..... |
|
|
|
Stu Schulman
From:
Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)
|
Posted 6 Apr 2011 5:34 pm
|
|
Like a Siamese cat in a room full of rocking chairs! 
_________________
Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952. |
|
|
|
Charles Davidson
From:
Phenix City Alabama, USA
|
Posted 6 Apr 2011 8:58 pm
|
|
Bo you deserve a Gold Medal AND a Blue Ribbon.The MOST accurate observaction you have made.YOU BETCHA,DYK?BC.
_________________
Hard headed, opinionated old geezer. BAMA CHARLIE. GOD BLESS AMERICA. ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST. SUPPORT LIVE MUSIC ! |
|
|
|
Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
|
Posted 7 Apr 2011 3:57 am
|
|
David,
Most assuredly, there isn't another person on planet earth who could give a better account of the advantages and obstacles involved in learning to play the pedal steel guitar, than you David. Obviously, you are aware of the multiples of necessary requirements facing those attempting to master the instrument. After studying and enjoying your renditions of country music, you are by far, one of my favorite steel guitarists. Whatever slows down the learning process, in the series of practice sessions, you've managed to go way beyond, with remarkable accuracy. It's pure delight knowing that
you are living proof of what can be accomplished on the pedal steel guitar. |
|
|
|
Rick Winfield
From:
Pickin' beneath the Palmettos
|
Posted 7 Apr 2011 4:29 am
|
|
To steal a quote from the immortal George Burns:
sometimes I feel like I'm,
"trying to play pool with a rope" !
Of course he wasn't a steeler, as far as I know, but he was filled with wisdom
Rick |
|
|
|
Dick Sexton
From:
Greenville, Ohio
|
Posted 7 Apr 2011 5:19 am Ye Ha!
|
|
| As a Texan and recreational rancher once told me, playing that things gotta be like herding cats! |
|
|
|
b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
|
Posted 7 Apr 2011 9:12 am Re: How would you describe playing steel guitar?
|
|
I've been playing pedal steel long enough that I don't find it difficult or complex. It's easier than most video games, in my opinion. Perpetuating the myth that pedal steel is difficult is really counter-productive, in my opinion. It tends to scare people away from learning the instrument.
One thing I always try to drive home is that lap steel is harder than pedal steel. The pedals and levers make the instrument easier to play, not harder.
_________________
-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video |
|
|
|
Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
|
Posted 7 Apr 2011 9:50 am
|
|
I don't think pedal steel is more difficult than any other musical instrument. If the bass is so much easier to play then how come there are so few good bass players ? I think people say its difficult to play steel because they don't practice enough. Any instrument or musical pursuit takes a serious time commitment to do well.
Drums should be real easy. You just bang on the thing with a stick to create the sound. I have found that among full time pro drummers that only about one in twenty have the ability to keep accurate and musical time.
_________________
Bob |
|
|
|
