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Topic: Best advice for a newbie on a lap steel (peavy powerslide) |
Kevin Kubiak
From:
Texas, USA
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Posted 14 Jan 2014 8:32 pm |
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I have no prior experience in music or any instrument but decided to try my hand at the lap steel.
I have always loved the sound of the steel guitar and thought I would start out with a inexpensive guitar and amp to see if I could play.
I ordered a lesson plan on this site called first lessons for lap steel, by Jay Leach.
I have been practicing the last few days and have done okay, but having a lot of trouble with finger pics and the learning curve seems real slow.
Is this the way to learn, or is it best to have lessons. Just think that I may be picking up bad habits without the help of a pro.
Any thoughts and or suggestions would be appreciated!
Thanks! |
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Jim Williams
From:
Meridian, Mississippi, USA - Home of Peavey!
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Posted 14 Jan 2014 9:50 pm
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Be patient. The finger picks take some getting used to. Study the material you have and get the basics down. Don't get discouraged. Once you get your basics down here are some more resources.
Mel Bay basic c6 non pedal steel. A good book /CD set that takes you from the first steps up to playing several songs of varying difficulty.
Doug Beaumier has two tab books / cd sets for c6 lap steel. Each book has 25 songs to learn when you get far enough along for that. These are some of the best tab books I've seen.
Http://playsteelguitar.com
There are also lots of downloadable lessons available online...search YouTube for some sample clips of these.
A teacher would be great if there is one available, especially to get you started and get rid of any bad habits before they get too engrained into your muscle memory.
Do yourself a favor though and get the basics down first before rushing into trying to learn songs. Things like grips, bar technique, right hand technique, etc.
Visit this forum regularly and ask questions about whatever you are having problems with...this place is a treasure trove of knowledge and information. If you're like me the $5 membership may well prove to be the best investment you make in your steel guitar quest.
Good luck, and most of all, have fun!
_________________
GFI SM10 3/4, 1937 Gibson EH-150, 2 - Rondo SX Lap Steels and a Guyatone 6 String C6. Peavey 400 and a Roland 40 Amps. Behringer Reverb Pedal. |
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Thomas Temple
From:
Florida, USA
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Posted 14 Jan 2014 9:50 pm Welcome
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Kevin,
First off welcome to the forum, I'm sure that you will find as I did a wealth of information as well as advice. I see you are from Texas, so I'm sure there are a lot of steel players to give lessons and I do think that it is helpful to have someone in the know show you the ropes so to speak. Once you get the basics down then I would highly recommend Doug Beaumier's two excellent books. A good cross section of styles and songs. Then it is just a matter of practice and enjoyment. In other words let it be a fun thing. Best of luck
Tom |
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Kevin Kubiak
From:
Texas, USA
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Posted 15 Jan 2014 5:29 pm
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Thanks Jim and Thomas for the helpful advice and the welcome.
I live in the Austin area and my girlfriends dad was a musician here. His name is Bill Neely, and I think my girlfriend knows a few steel players from being around her dad during his hay day.
I am retired and now spend a lot of my time as a crappie fishing guide on lakes Granger and LBJ around the Austin area.
I sure would trade a guided fishing trip for a lesson or two.
Might be someone interested!
Thanks again for the kind replies! |
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John Mulligan
From:
Ontario, Canada
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Posted 16 Jan 2014 7:07 am
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Welcome!
It's good to have the lessons, but it is really important to put in the time so your hands and ears can start to "get it." It's not unusual that you feel awkward playing after only a couple of days. The more time you put in, the sooner you will see improvements.
Have fun! |
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Mark van Allen
From:
Watkinsville, Ga. USA
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Posted 16 Jan 2014 2:52 pm
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Hi, Kevin, and another welcome to SGF. There are all kinds of legacy posts here under the "search" function that might give you some great leads. As with any instrument, your search relates to some degree to what kinds of music you like and want to play.
The Jay Leach book and the other C6 materials are great if you like western swing, Hawaiian, and old time or classic country sounds. You might also really like the Cindy Cashdollar videos.
Another great book in that vein is the Don Helms "Your Cheatin' Heart" songbook, a slightly different, though similar, tuning, listing 8 strings although he never uses the bottom two in the course. It's a great intro if you like his stuff with Hank Sr. as they're quite easy to play and very adaptable to different tunes in that genre.
If you like rock, blues, and David Lindley style "Americana" lap styles, I suggest you try my Lap Steel 101 course, an in depth approach to the E major tuning.
Best wishes in the pursuit!
_________________
Stop by the Steel Store at: www.markvanallen.com
www.musicfarmstudio.com |
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Jim Williams
From:
Meridian, Mississippi, USA - Home of Peavey!
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Posted 23 Jan 2014 9:31 am
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Hey Kevin, how is the lap steel coming along?
I just downloaded a small book and thought I would mention it to you. I like the presentation and material in it very well. It's called "First Lessons in Lap Steel" and it is by Jay Leach. He also has the same book for Pedal Steel. Anyway there is some great information there for the absolute newbie to Lap steel, and his presentation is very clear and easy to grasp. It is only about 42 pages but there is a good bit of real meat there. It comes with a CD. The book is from Mel Bay and can even be downloaded as an EBook / Audio files instantly. Cost is only $9.99. I had considered it a little below my level, but to be honest I learned something I hadn't considered about chord progressions in the first few pages. There is the usual amount of info on strings, picks, etc. but he doesn't use a lot of pages for this.
Honestly I think this along with one of Doug Beaumier's 25 Songs Tab books would be a great way to learn the lap steel. I can't say enough about Doug's books...they are absolutely top notch.
I have no stake in these books whatsoever. I really downloaded Jay's book as a sampler for the other PSG book which is not downloadable unfortunately. After downloading it I wish I had had it from the beginning. Anyway I thought of you as a beginner and thought it might be helpful...price is certainly right and you don't have to wait a week to get it.
I also wanted to mention a website that I may have neglected earlier... www.steelc6th.com There is a ton of stuff here that might be helpful. A lot of his tab assumes a tuning of C# E G A C E rather than the standard C E G A C E though so be aware of that. He is mainly into Hawaiian music, but it is still helpful and there is some really pretty Hawaiian music to be played on the lap steel of course.
Happy picking, hang in there and feel free to pm me if I can be of any help.
_________________
GFI SM10 3/4, 1937 Gibson EH-150, 2 - Rondo SX Lap Steels and a Guyatone 6 String C6. Peavey 400 and a Roland 40 Amps. Behringer Reverb Pedal. |
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Kevin Kubiak
From:
Texas, USA
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Posted 23 Jan 2014 4:12 pm Lap Steel
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Hey Jim, thanks for the reply!
I'm retired, but seems like I'm busier now than when I was working full time!
I have elderly parents and a rental property that takes up a lot of my time and have not got to practice much.
With that said, I am having problems with finger pics and hitting the wrong strings at the wrong time, so on and so forth....
I have the Jay Leach book that you described and that is what I have been practicing with.
I just wish I had more info/close up pictures of what the finger pics should look like on your hands and more info about/ hand/finger/ strumming technique.
I will continue to look online for more help and I appreciate your suggestions and will check that out also.
I'm having fun just messin with the guitar and all the sounds, but wish I could make it all sound like something.
I guess it's all in practice, but sometimes I wonder if I'm just not cut out to be able to play a musical instrument..
frustrated, but not giving up just yet!
Thanks again Jim!
Kevin K. |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 23 Jan 2014 7:28 pm
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| Quote: |
sometimes I wonder if I'm just not cut out to be able to play a musical instrument..
frustrated, but not giving up just yet! |
Yep, they'll do that quicker'n ANYTHING else save violin & saxophone.  But mankind is, by nature, a musical animal. It has to do with reinforcement by evolution of the brain structures needed to process language, the co-evolution of brain, culture and sound, a whole lot of not-so-necessary-to-know stuff. But compared to watching TV, come ON.... How much more television do you really need to watch to get any better at it?  No matter what, the gist of it is, it's worse for you not to play music than it is for you to play music. Compare/contrast with... collecting Hummel figurines; friggin' GOLF?!? You see what I mean.
I'll only harp on one favorite little biggie and one big biggie here.
LB: you need at least THREE sets of fingerpicks. One set is your playing steel guitar picks. You do not bend them, fidget them around, any of that. You just put them on and play music with them. The next set is your adjusting to fit better set. You need two pairs of pliers & a mind that says "Well if my fingers are here and the strings go like that the tip of the blade needs to be like this" or thoughts to that effect. This is the set you fiddle with while watching TV, in the shower, doing your taxes, in bed, whatever. When these fit better than the playing steel guitar picks - the sets exchange position. If you find yourself at the steel, with pliers, fidgeting picks, you have 30 SECONDS then either quit fidgeting or just quit playing.
3rd set: even more than flatpicks (which'r hard to beat) metal fingerpicks can travel, dude. You could be sitting in a 30' X 10' room with absolutely nothing in it except your steel and your chair all the way down at one end, and a big heavy dresser all the way at the other end. Drop one fingerpick...  'nuff said.
BB: Play SONGS. I teach underarm guitar, and this seems so mind-bogglingly simple, no one understands it. You start out being really bad at it, then you get better, then you get better. If you can't sit down and play "Mary Had a Little Lamb" correctly cold, from a dead stop, without hunting and pecking - well, you HAVE to be able to do that. All the fingering exercises and scales, modes, dodecahedronic reverse-cluster inversions can't help you a bit if you can't locate any music. Nursery rhymes, Christmas carols, if you can hum it go FIND it. |
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Brian McGaughey
From:
Orcas Island, WA USA
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Posted 23 Jan 2014 9:18 pm Since you asked...
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Kevin,
I can't help myself from posting my advice: 1 to 2 hours a day practice minimum, and measure your progress using a yardstick that measures in years. I mean, you can appreciate and enjoy all improvement along the way, but if you're looking up to some talented heros, it's gonna take some time.
All the learning materials in the world won't help if you're not practicing.
You just gotta stay on it daily.  |
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Kevin Kubiak
From:
Texas, USA
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Posted 23 Jan 2014 10:11 pm
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Thanks everyone for the encouragement and comments!
I think a lot of my problem has been the finger picks.
On my instructional guide, it said to bend finger pricks at a 90 degree angle... so that is what I did, but did not seem right...
finally found a u tube video that showed a close up of someone playing and their picks were not like that at all...
I changed to the picks being more at a 45 and more away from the end of my fingers so you can actually pic a string.... seems a lot better now...
Any one else have suggestions on finger picks and or a close up picture of how you bend your picks? |
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Jim Williams
From:
Meridian, Mississippi, USA - Home of Peavey!
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Posted 24 Jan 2014 8:02 am
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Finger picks are kind of a personal thing that you will have to experiment with. Some folks like em bent almost around the end of the fingers, some like em at less of an angle. I personally bend mine probably somewhere between a 60 and 90 degree bend. In my case this may come from my banjo picking tendencies. There are some wrong ways to use finger picks...upside down for instance...but I'm not sure there is one "right" way for everyone. Find what works for you.
_________________
GFI SM10 3/4, 1937 Gibson EH-150, 2 - Rondo SX Lap Steels and a Guyatone 6 String C6. Peavey 400 and a Roland 40 Amps. Behringer Reverb Pedal. |
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Ian Ufton
From:
Ontario, Canada
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Posted 18 Mar 2014 8:48 pm
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Hi ,
The posts here do not refer to my original post --- WHAT HAPPENED --- please refer people to my websites uftonsteel.com hawaiianufton.com --- listen to some really original steel guitar . |
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Bill Hatcher
From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
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Posted 18 Mar 2014 9:59 pm
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| try some alaska pics. they are more comfortable to me and are more in line with the way your nails feel and they also allow the flesh of your finger to make contact with the string. |
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Len Amaral
From:
Rehoboth,MA 02769
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Posted 19 Mar 2014 9:33 am
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| Once you decide on a bar and picks, take the bar and picks to your easy chair and while watching TV, wear the picks and manipulate the bar as Joe Wright mentioned. It helps getting the feel of the bar & picks without practicing. |
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