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Topic: Oldie / newbie |
Scott Duckworth
From:
Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies
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Posted 6 Apr 2013 12:45 pm |
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Just wanted to say how much this forum has helped me. I just joined today, after "lurking" for several months. I played pedal steel (aka Maverick) 30 years ago, and was just good enough that i was really bad at it. Fast forward to 3 months ago. I started out with a Rogue Lap Steel tuned C6, and just changed last week to E9. I'm loving it!
I have lost the feeling in my left ring and pinky fingers, so playing guitar and bass guitar is working out anymore, so they are being sold, and I believe my name be placed upon a Stage One soon!
Again, great forum!
_________________
Amateur Radio Operator NA4IT (Extra)
http://www.qsl.net/na4it
I may, in fact, be nuts. However, I am screwed onto the right bolt... Jesus! |
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Joe Snow
From:
Argyle,Texas, USA
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Posted 6 Apr 2013 7:17 pm
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| welcome! |
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Russell Taylor
From:
Dade City, FL
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Posted 7 Apr 2013 4:05 am A late bloomer
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I too am a newbie lap steeler and have been lurking about this site for a few months, just joining recently. It’s cool to read about what you more seasoned players have to say, and see your toys. Your advice is especially helpful to us rookies.
I’ve been a hobbyist guitar player since I was 19 (almost 53 now) started out with banjo, and played some dobro too, but never in a group. Where I’ve lived in FL, bluegrass players are hard to find. So I stuck with solo acoustic guitar fingerpicking country blues type stuff. Then one day 15 yrs ago or so I hear Kelly Joe Phelps’ album ‘Roll Away the Stone’ and was mesmerized. Fingerpicked lap slide acoustic guitar.. Wow! That kicked off my interest in lap slide guitar playing. So I began dabbling with that in basic open tunings, but not getting very good at it.
Fast forward to me turning 50 and my wife asking what I would like for my bday as it was a ‘special’ one. I recently had noticed an inexpensive lap steel guitar in a local music store that had me curious. I’d never really looked at one before, and I kept thinking about it after I left. So that was my bday present, a Recording King steel guitar, and a little Fender Champ (solid state) amp. I knew nothing about C6 tuning or how to play it, so i just tried to play it like a dobro. You can imagine how that sounded!
God Bless the internet! Without looking long I found several sites with free information to get me going on the right track. John Ely, Josh Cho and David Stewart were the first ones I dug into. Now I know others like Mike Neely’s that I also use. Since most of the info was based on C6 I decided to go with that and stick with it until I knew it. As a ‘standard’ guitar player, I never bothered to learn chord and scale notes. I used tablature and just played shapes and fret positions. But with the lap steel I decided to learn the notes on the neck, know the notes and intervals of basic chords and of the major scales & minor pentatonic scales. I’ve been amazed at how the C6 tuning layout seems so logical and easy to understand, at the same time challenging and fascinating.
I didn’t get into lap steel because of Hawaiian music or western swing (I hear gasps of horror). Though I respect and admire much of both styles of that music, it’s just not my bag. I grew up listening to rock, blues, bluegrass and some country so I approach the steel in that frame of mind. I love the jazzy swing sound of the chords yet it can also be very bluesy or twangy. It’s the closest I’ve come to replicating the type of music I hear in my head on an instrument. I’m a big fan of all the ‘Sacred Steel’ players but I’ve been spending some more time listening to Jerry Byrd and other early players for their amazing control and technique.
Finally a few tips for other new players. Get Andy Volks book “Lap Steel Guitar”. A great source of history and technical info. Download some jam tracks from itunes or Amazon to practice playing along with. Good for nailing those scales, chord changes and timing.
Learn the notes of your tuning, even if you can’t read music, it will begin to make more sense. Search out those websites of players who share the info you need to learn. Then practice til it hurts.
Sorry this was so long, I won’t make a habit of it! |
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Thomas Temple
From:
Florida, USA
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Posted 7 Apr 2013 9:56 am Plus 1
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Scott and Russell,
I think that there are are lot of us who share common back grounds... played a little guitar in the past, have a few years on us and want to get into something to peak our interest. I started this venture about 2 years ago and am and will always be a bedroom player, but that is fine by me as this is for my entertainment and as long as I'm getting a kick out of it that is the bottom line. As far as this forum, it can not be beat with a stick for good advice as well as vast knowledge of the instruments. In addtion to some of the sources that you have listed I would like to add : http://www.gregcutshaw.com/index.html this is a great site with lots of scales, licks, etc. Also by far my biggest help was Doug Beaumier's two excellent books (25 songs for lap steel and 25 more songs for lap steel) while not instruction books they give you a wide variety of songs to learn and for me it was a big boost to actually hear a song that I recognized coming from my own hands. Any way welcome and good luck with your endeavors.
Tom |
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Scott Duckworth
From:
Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies
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Posted 7 Apr 2013 11:20 am Greg's site
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Have multiple files of his stuff saved!
_________________
Amateur Radio Operator NA4IT (Extra)
http://www.qsl.net/na4it
I may, in fact, be nuts. However, I am screwed onto the right bolt... Jesus! |
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