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Topic: Teaching yourself to play |
David L. Turner
From:
Killen , Alabama
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Posted 10 Mar 2014 3:43 pm |
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| I'm happy to be a part of this forum because it brings people who love the pedal steel guitar together. I'm not exactly new to the steel but never have mastered it. My career was in the way. That's changed and I'm back to the world of pedal steel guitar. Now even with all the books and self studies it is driving me nuts. I have limited knowledge of basic string groups and pedals and even some music theory but programming everything in my head is going to take time. I was playing around looking for a melody to a song. Seems to be a great way to get names of positions in my head. The song is a hymn. FARTHER ALONG. I found some of it. Maybe I'm going about this the wrong way. Comments anyone? |
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Don R Brown
From:
Rochester, New York, USA
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Posted 10 Mar 2014 4:42 pm
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| David, there are few people who have truly mastered the pedal steel, and even fewer who will state that they have done so. |
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Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 10 Mar 2014 6:01 pm I'd need greater detail...............
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What tuning are you referring to?
If I were playing in C6th, I'd try real hard to learn that song without using any pedals whatsoever. I love the song to which you refer and it lays real nice in C6th tuning without pedals.
After you've truly learned the song without any compromising...............attempt to play it without any SLANTS. When you get to a fret position that doesn't sound right, start at the far left of the pedals for that neck. Gently apply the first one. If that doesn't sound 100% correct, try the next pedal and so forth. Ultimately you'll find the pedal you need and then you can begin to utilize them the way it was originally intended.
Pedals are not there just to stomp on whenever, but rather to expand your musical tones. Give it a try.
Strings can be raised/lowered wherein bar slants are used. |
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David L. Turner
From:
Killen , Alabama
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Posted 10 Mar 2014 6:32 pm
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| Ray, right now I'm working with the E9th. It's where I started. C6th comes later on for me. |
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Bo Legg
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Posted 10 Mar 2014 11:47 pm
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Well being of the fake it till you can make it persuasion..
Learn the Major Pentatonic Scale at the up and down positions on your steel and go jam.
Using the E9 pedals in those two positions is naturally the pentatonic scale.
Try to play the melody just using the major pentatonic scale and even when you miss the melody note but stay within the scale you’ll just sound like you‘re adlibbing.
Farther Along is a perfect song for this. |
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David L. Turner
From:
Killen , Alabama
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Posted 11 Mar 2014 7:03 am
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| Thanks Bo. Tips like yours really help my understanding. Sometimes I'm doing it right but I don't know it. It's a long road to having confidence in myself but in time I'll be there. |
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Edward Meisse
From:
Santa Rosa, California, USA
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Posted 11 Mar 2014 9:30 am
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I have a ton of fake books. I go through them playing every song as both single string melody AND in melody chord style if I can. Then I work up a chordal background for the song. I do this even with songs I don't really care about learning. It trains the ear. As the ear is trained, you can play more and more stuff upon hearing it. Learning to sight read is very helpful for this. Reading up on theory is good too.
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Amor vincit omnia |
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