One Week Frustrations

Jason Putnam · From: Tennessee, USA

Well I've had my new Stage One for one week and I'm already frustrated!!! The steel is great!! The owner, not so much. I am trying to learn some stuff from tabs but it's a slow go.

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

It gets worse before it gets better, but don't lose heart. If you are determined and willing to put in the time, it will pay huge dividends for you later on. Good Luck and keep us advised of your progress.

Jody Sanders · From: Magnolia,Texas, R.I.P.

What Jerry said. Jody.

Paul Sutherland · From: Placerville, California

One week is way too soon to get upset about your progress. Learning to play steel takes time, so go easy on yourself.

It would probably be a really good idea to get some private lessons. Learning on your own from tab can be a grind; particularly when you are just starting out. If there are any jams or steel guitar gatherings would also be a good idea.

Rick Winfield · From: Pickin' beneath the Palmettos

Learning to play the PSG,on your own, has been known to "make a grown man weep", Crying or Very sad

so I suggest you hang in there.
Winnie Winston's book helped me organize things and see the bigger picture, but as always
Practice, practice, practice
Rick

Ray Anderson · From: Jenkins, Kentucky USA

Hey Jason, I'm a 57 year old Nooby and maybe I can encourage you. When I started I didn't quite understand the process,I thought maybe that playing would come naturally and to some degree it does, but there are steps in which it does and you cannot bypass any one of those steps. So after acouple weeks I finally gave in to the process of "beginner" teachings. I got materials that were geared for me i.e. Grips,chords ,pedal and lever functions and of course that old dirty word"SCALE" and more scale. When asked if I could play anything, my reply"Sure" and I would show them my scale ability. You can't play melody without knowing"SCALE". November was my 1 year anniversary, and according to peers that have "Mastered" the art, I am doing quite well by their standard. Bar movement, foot and knee timing and of course "SCALE". Practice a little everyday and when you get frusterated, get up and walk away for a spell. She will always lure you back for another go. Hope this will help you. Wink

Steve Lipsey · From: Portland, Oregon, USA

+1 for the Winniw Winston book....it really is all there....

Dick Sexton · From: Greenville, Ohio

I bought the Winston book Pedal Steel Guitar a few months before I got my first steel. I had time to go through it several times before I ever touched a pedal steel. Giant leap in my learning steel experience. It is not the end all do all manual of steel, but it can be a great beginning. That, with some sit down time with a good instructor and you will never look back. I now laugh at myself and say, nothing I played back then sounded like music until I'd been at it for a year. That's probably not true, but it was how I felt.

Never give up. It will happen!

Oh, and the above book will explain things you'll need later. Copedants/mechanical workings/adjustments and tuning/all with pictures of our heros when they were very young. A good read!

Stephen Cordingley · From: Ontario, Canada

I suggest Mel Bay's "Deluxe Pedal Steel Guitar Method" by Dewitt Scott ... at least you can get the positive reinforcment of playing a simple song recognizably...otherwise, what others have said is true: for most people, it's not a "quick study" instrument (I would have trouble mastering the kazoo in one week)
you also can't go wrong with the "Right Hand Alpha" video
just my 2 cents...

Keith Davidson · From: Nova Scotia, Canada

Jason, since I'm a newbie as well (19 months) I'll give my 2 cents worth as well.

Great advice by all above so I'm not going to repeat that stuff but one thing I can tell you is to get your technique down and do things SLOWLY.

If you do it correctly AND slowly - slow to the point that you can play (scales, etc.) correctly without making mistakes then you are going to make progress.

This will ingrain muscle memory and help ensure that things will get a little easier with time.

The biggest mistake most of us new players make IMHO is to try and rush things and play faster.

That mistake can be ever so costly as you are only ingraining mistakes into muscle memory instead of proper technique, notes, posture, etc.

Great suggestion made about walking away as it can get pretty frustrating as well. But like the poster said, and it's true - she'll call you back for more torture and you can't resist.....lol

David Beckner · From: Kentucky, USA

Jason
I too was once in your shoes. A ton of frustration and feelings of dspair .Luckily for me I met Jim Lindsey and Mike Archer on this forum and everything started to fall in place and make sense..The main key advice I can give you is not to push yourself too hard ..First you should learn yor grips or sting combinations, learn your pedals and knees, what they do and how and why they work is of utmost importance.learn to tune and stay in tune, your ears will be your guide- if something sounds out of whack - it probably is...Last but not least - and this is something that cannot be stressed enough-- play what you know and play it well BEFORE you move on to anything else
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Joseph Barcus · From: Volga West Virginia

take a look here
http://www.youtube.com/user/JoeBarcus?feature=mhee
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Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

Great advice here. I would also like to add one piece to this puzzle. When learning the pedals and knee levers, don't just learn "what" they do (like turn an E chord into a C#m), learn the sounds they make. Not only for licks, but for the chord changes you hear on records. I know some players who can tell you every chord made by every pedal on the guitar, but have trouble placing those chords into a song. I have a band that does a jam session (more like live karaoke) twice a month, and I have to play songs I have never played before or even heard before. By knowing the sounds of the changes on the guitar, I can play along and usually nail the song the first time. I'm sure that is the case with most "veteran" players. Just another tool to have in your toolbox.

Take it slow. Watch and talk to as many players as you can (I learned a lot from watching TV shows like the Wilburn Bros.). Take some lessons if possible. The learning from tab route (for me) is not the best way to go. When I first started out, the only lessons you could buy just had a record and tab. They taught you to play a song, but not necessarily how to play the instrument. The Winston book is a decent start for technique discussions.
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Brett Lanier · From: Hermitage, TN

When I began it was just me and my busted up fender 1000. It took a couple of years til I found the forum or even met another steel player. Though there is an incredible amount of helpful information here I'm glad I had that period of self exploration without feeling like there was a right and wrong about everything I was doing.

I guess what I'm saying is that you should spend an ample amount of time just noodling around. Discovering things on your own can be a good thing.

Glenn Uhler · From: Trenton, New Jersey, USA

Jason,
As I advised another Forumite, there needs to be definite structure to your practicing. Try to find the tabs for at least one-half hour of practice material that you already know the tunes and rhythm for. This way, you will have a reference for how the lesson should sound. This should be at least 10 or 12 soungs.

Play through the material, and then play through it again. In a couple of days (weeks) you should start to recognize the songs as you play them. In a couple of months, you should have 10 or 12 songs almost memorized. Then you can start to add other lick tabs and new songs.

There is no other way to learn PSG but to put the time in. There are a lot of things that have to happen at the same time, and the only way to develop the coordination is to practice. Practice at least one hour a day, and blend it into your life. Get up half an hour early and practice before breakfast. Go back to the guitar for at least a half an hour after dinner. There is no substitute!
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Joseph Barcus · From: Volga West Virginia

the thing you should learn in the very beginning is scales, scales and more scales, get those in your head then it will make the work easier as you go, get a full understanding as to why it is tuned like it is. while looking at tab look at it as to where does it apply to the scale of the root chord and so on
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Kenneth Caine · From: Pennsylvania, USA

Jason

I have recently (like two weeks ago) started playing pedal steel after toiling at lap steel for about 3 years. I too had the first weeks frustration. Went from playing C6 to E9th. Started trying to play the tabs in the Winston book, difficult to be sure with the pedals and levers and even just tuning.

I then had one lesson from a local teacher. All the difference in the world. First lesson was about learning grips for the chords, blocking and posture. I played today with our little basement band and they told me not to bring the lap anymore and to stick with the pedal steel it sounded that good.

A good teacher is worth their weight in gold.

Brett Day · From: Pickens, SC

Jason, I've been playin' steel for almost twelve years now, and when I started playin' almost twelve years ago, I was watchin' an instructional video where steel/dobro player Tim McCasland was teaching. He said it takes a lot of practice to learn things on steel. I want to encourage you to stay with the steel and don't stop because the more you play, the more you'll love it!

Brett

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

It eventually gets better. I came to these things via bluegrass Dobro, so I already had the picks and bar. I was between Jr and sr year in high school, with no job save a paper route. With 14 hour days, the Winston/Keith book, and a Buddy Emmons instructional course of 12 shuffles, it took 5 weeks before I no longer disgusted myself!
The only thing saving the guitar from a flight out the window was the fact that it was a borrowed guitar.
It gets better
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2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Karen Sarkisian · From: Boston, MA, USA

Get Bruce Boutons instructional DVD from homespun.
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Patrick Janka · Posted 17 Dec 2011 9:15 pm

I have both the Winston/Keith book and Pedal Steel Anthology by Dewitt Scott. The latter is better in terms of the music having notation in addition to the tab, and a better progression of learning. It introduces each pedal and lever one at a time. The former has a lot of useful written information, but there's no notation, and the music starts out at a lot more difficult level making it difficult to just jump in.

Stephen Cordingley · From: Ontario, Canada

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

Funny. Maybe starting from Dobro (and seven years of childhood piano lessons) gave me a different vantage point, (I looked at pedals and knees as programmable slants), but I got along well with Winston Keith.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Rich Gibson · From: Pittsburgh Pa.

+1 with Steven and Patrick on the Winston /Bey books.
The Winston book is a great resource but I remember finding most of the material too difficult.
I think the best by far for the beginner is John Biadasio's(SP?)E9 workbook.
I believe it is out of print but it is exceptionally well structured and the material is very musical and fun to play.You can probably find one on ebay or amazon.Well worth the effort.
I would also recommend using band in the box to practice your basic moves.Set up some tracks with variations on I IV and V moves and try to play smoothly and in tune in every key center.
Learning from tabbed out song arrangements without actually knowing whats going and what you are playing promotes rote learning which is not an effective way to learn anything.
I make most of my living teaching guitar(35 years)and still find most guitar players woefully ignorant of even the most rudimentary foundations of musicianship.
A large part of this is due to rote learning tab lick
instant gratification.
sorry if I'm ranting-been homebound with a broken leg for 5 weeks and prone to curmudgonly outbursts:roll:
anyway all the best in your venture-hang in there,it's worth it.

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

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