26 Years On Pedal Steel and Cannot Play A Melody

Les Anderson · From: The Great White North

This week end I did a bit of jamming with some local musicians and a pedal steeler showed up do his thing with us. To my amazement, this guy has been playing his steel for twenty-six years and cannot play the melody of any song “not even Your Cheating Heart”. He has all the ability in the world to do great backup work; however, when we asked him to lay on a couple of tunes for us to follow, he admitted that he just plain has never learned to play a melody. All he can do is pick out a simple melody on one string; and, even then has to throw in a string of chords between the single string melody to make it sound like a song.

I took it for granted that if someone has been playing an instrument for that long, he or she could easily do a full melody as well. I wonder how this guy made out playing with bands?

Dave Hopping · From: Aurora, Colorado

If he sounds good accompanying lead voices and lead instruments,then the most likely explanation is that he never tried playing melody.Makes me want to ask how he did on signature licks and the dreaded(by hobbyists)"playing it like the record". Wink

Paul King · From: Gainesville, Texas, USA

I know a couple of piano players who play very well but cannot play the melody. I guess it is not uncommon.

Ransom Beers · Posted 26 Mar 2012 3:12 am

I know a gurl named Melodie,she won't play right either!!! Laughing

Mike Neer · From: NJ

Les, I don't this to be that unusual, especially from where I'm coming from. I have always been more of an improvising player and I never really sat down and learned to play a lot of tunes--especially the Hawaiian stuff, which is why I never felt comfortable calling myself a Hawaiian steel player. In the group I was with, I was playing mostly backup except for a few steel features, and I was always happy in that role. However, I did see my lack of being able to play a variety of tunes as a problem and I forced myself to learn a bunch of standards, but truthfully, I don't know a lot of the old chestnuts.

Being that I am really mostly interested in doing things my way, I don't really put the time in--sort of a shortcoming, I guess, but in a lot of ways I feel like I don't want to play stuff that has been overdone and I seek out stuff that is different.
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Bill Moore · From: Manchester, Michigan

I agree with Mike, if you play in a typical country band, you might rarely play an instrumental solo. You could get by for years just knowing Sleepwalk, and you probably won't get to play it too often. In a band situation, it's more important to play backup to the vocals.

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

Anyone with a solid ability to hear and translate intervals to their instrument should have no problem replicating a melody - provided, of course, that they know how the tune goes to start with!

Anything less and a player is just trotting out a series of licks that have been learned by rote and endless repetition. It's music-making of a sort, I suppose, but only has a very limited application.

Learn to recognise intervals and the rest falls into place.
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Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles and Martins - and, at last, a Gibson Super 400!
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Rick Myrland · From: New Orleans

I still struggle with the ability to figure out how to play the melody and I know it hampers my playing. If anyone knows a steel player that can teach this to another steel player it would open a world of doors for me.
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Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

Start with something simple - 'Three Blind Mice' - and hear the melody in terms of where the notes are within the scale (1 to 8 ):

3,2,1 - 3,2,1 - 5,4,3 - 5,4,3, etc, etc....

Train yourself to hear a tune in those terms and, along with the basic knowledge of where the scales lie on your fretboeard, that's all you need. That's a simple example, of course, but the principle applies to any melody.

You'll eventually want to flesh it out with some harmony notes and chords added for colour, but you'll be surprised at how easy it becomes with a little application.
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Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles and Martins - and, at last, a Gibson Super 400!
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Ray Montee · From: Portland, Oregon (deceased)

Back when, before tab and BIAB, we did have to rely on "DOING IT LIKE the RECORD". In fact, learning the various steel guitar instrumentals like "Boot Heel Drag", "Playboy Chimes", "B Bowman Hop" and countless others, enabled me to learn the fretboard from one end to the other. It was challenging and fun!

When Carl Smith headlined the Really Big OPRY Show here in Portland decades ago, I was in the house TV-band that backed him. The band was highly educated musically and knew all about "intervals" and stuff like that but neither the fiddler with his music degree or the accordianist who was a music teacher could kick off a single Carl Smith hit.

Carl lastly looked at me and my shiney four neck BIGSBY. I kicked off his first song, "just like the record". After that, he directed ME to kick off and solo each and everyone of his songs that night. In fact, that night, I played 'parts' of Carl Smith's songs that I'd never before ever tho't about because on the record, somebody other than the steel guitar was playing it.

Clyde Mattocks · From: Kinston, North Carolina, USA

This is something I run into all the time. Guitar players who couldn't find the melody with a roadmap and a flashlight. Their leads don't follow the chord structure and it sounds like they're playing a I chord scale against everything. When they do try and seek the melody, they look for it in places it's never going to be found, like a half tone away from the scale notes. I don't understand how people who have played for years don't recognize the "wrong" patterns.
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Tim Tyner · From: Ayden, North Carolina U.S.A

I agree Clyde.I remember after a gig one evening a gentleman approached me as I was packing up my steel and told me he really enjoyed my playing as it was as if the guitar was saying the words.All he really meant was that I was playing the melody and he could identify with it.I feel this is important to some people.Just my opinion.

Steve Lipsey · From: Portland, Oregon, USA

Interval Ear Training app for iPhone, free.

I usually can pick out melody on 6-string because I know the scale forms they probably used to create it and just follow the chords to find it....but often I'll end up with a harmony note, not the actual melody, and have also realized that it is my inability to reliably identify intervals....
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Mike Neer · From: NJ

In some ways, having perfect pitch, or at least being able to pick out chords and all that kind of stuff on the fly, has definitely made me lazier in the tune learning department. I think that there are others who work harder at it and build a big repertoire of tunes of tunes. I'm not saying one is better than the other, but we all have a different approach to playing music. I would bet there are a lot of folks out there like this, maybe just not as many on steel guitar.
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Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

With respect, Mike, 'perfect pitch' is a very different thing - that means being able to identify an exact pitch without any outside reference and, in extreme cases, the unlucky possessor of such a gift can find average performances almost painful to his ear.

Having an 'ear' for hearing chords and melodies, though (what I suspect you mean) is more commonplace and many of us have this ability. It'll always be improved with practice and continual exposure to varied musical genres - my 'ear' is quite highly developed after well over fity years of playing 'pro', but I'm happy to say that don't have 'perfect pitch'. I can play a melody, though - as long as I've heard it before!
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Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles and Martins - and, at last, a Gibson Super 400!
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Mike Neer · From: NJ

I can identify and sing pitches without any reference--although I don't experience the painfulness of out of tune sounds the way some might. Otherwise, I'd never listen to myself play. Laughing

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Bud Angelotti · From: Larryville, NJ, USA

Sounds like he's been faking it for 26 years.
He's not alone. Some people fake it their entire lives.
Sorry to be so negative. Rolling Eyes

Les Anderson · From: The Great White North

I guess my problem with not being able to play the melody of a number of tunes, how does one sit in one's basement for hours and enjoy playing music? Playing nothing but chords cannot be very motivating to continuous practice. I have sat in my basement and played songs for up to three hours at a time. There is no possible way that I could sit that long and pick away at nothing but chords.

Am I wrong in my way of thinking?

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

Who said anything about just playing chords???

I just said that, if someone is having trouble being able to play a melody with just their ears for a reference, it would repay study.

I really don't mind if you, or anyone else, chooses to ignore that suggestion.
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Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles and Martins - and, at last, a Gibson Super 400!
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Bud Angelotti · From: Larryville, NJ, USA

Les said "Am I wrong in my way of thinking?"It's not a question of right or wrong Les. Some people just feed off others, with steel or with life. If this fella can't play any melody than what does he do besides feed off other folks? Just like life. Givers and takers. Again, sorry to be so negative. Rolling Eyes

Pete Burak · From: Portland, OR USA

My fave Steeler, Buddy Cage, rarely if ever played the melody on all my fave NRPS recordings.
I love the Steel playing on those records.

Uhh... Sorry to be so negative???
Razz

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

That may well be, Pete, but I bet he could have if he'd wanted. This discussion is about those who lack the ability to do so.
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Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles and Martins - and, at last, a Gibson Super 400!
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Bud Angelotti · From: Larryville, NJ, USA

Thanks Roger ! Smile

Pete Burak · From: Portland, OR USA

Where does it say this person is incapable of learning Steel instrumentals or melody lines???
fwiw, I don't believe for a second that any Steel player can't teach themselves to play the melody of any song they want to learn.

You don't ever need to play the melody... unless that's what you set out to do.
The meldoy is only one choice that stands next to an infinite number of other things to play.

I'm pretty sure the audience knows what song it is...
Why should I play the same notes the singer is singing???
Do I have to play the same thing every time we play this song now?
Are you tellin' me I have to regurgitate someone elses creativity note-for-note now???... Cuz that's gonna get boring real fast.
Just sayin'...

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But there's a world of difference between making a choice and simply lacking the ear-training and discipline to even have a choice!

Of course there are endless options available to the skilled player who's worked at his craft but let's please not encourage those who are actually proud of the fact that they've ignored all the tenets of theory and hard work; there's too much of that already.

Have you read this thread, Pete?? The original poster spoke of someone who had no idea how to play a melody; that's what I'm trying - in vain, apparently - to address.
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Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles and Martins - and, at last, a Gibson Super 400!
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