How do they do it?

Terry Sneed · From: Arkansas,

How do the pros, and some non pros, play and hardly ever make a mistake? I can practice on a song for months, and still make mistakes when I try to play it. and I've been playin for 25+ years. this is SO frustratin!! Mad

Sonny Priddy · From: Elizabethtown, Kentucky, USA, R.I.P.

If You Have It In Your Mind That You Are Going To Make A Mistake You Probley Will. So Make Up Your Mind That Your Not Going To But You May Still Do It Once And A While The Pro's Do I Do I Think Every Ond Dose Some Times. SONNY.

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Ray Minich · From: Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra

Terry, for your own peace of mind you must go the chalk board and write 500 times...

I am a steel guitar player: I am a steel guitar player: I am a steel guitar player:

(original credit goes to another thread but I like it...)

[This message was edited by Ray Minich on 18 August 2004 at 09:28 AM.]

Ed Naylor · From: portsmouth.ohio usa, R.I.P.

I taught school many years and I had a phrase I tried to implant in my students thinking. The phrase- WHEN IN DOUBT_DON'T. That means whether you are passing a car on a wet road,buying something and not knowing if you can pay for it, Playing a chord or turn on a STEEL.That especially applies in a strange situation or you are unsure. Another phrase I used was- "Expect the Unexpected" Ed Naylor Steel Guitar Works.

Sidney Ralph Penton · From: Moberly, Missouri, USA

well it is like this i am playing for only 4 months and i never made a mistake. i never mad a mistake in my life not one time well at least that i will admit to. ha ha ha well from the things i see and hear is that when they make a mistake they usually do some fast picking to cover it up. then no one notices it. any one who had a inkling of how to play one of these steels or the time involved in playing or the difficulty in learning to play would over look it any ways. i always figured that if they didn't like what i was playing they wouldn't listen so closly ha ha ha keep pickin sid

Ricky Davis · From: Bertram, Texas USA

Here's a little insight to what is going on there.
You can learn all kinds of licks and movements and melodys and positions; but if you can't see/hear them happening in advance; than that will set you up for fumbling..ha.
When I'm playing good and feeling confident in my execution; it is when I'm seeing/hearing 2 or 3 measures ahead, so I already know what I'm going to do as I've already heard what I'm going to do in my head, before it happens.
The approach to get to that measure of confidence is; learn how to see your guitar in your head as your driving down the road or sittin' at home listening to music. Imagery is sooooo important in many aspects of physical movement/motor skills, and being able to see/hear your guitar through imagery is the Key man.
I am always singing in my head; what I'm going to do(what position/what string grips); ahead of the measure coming up and always locate that position before I go; and then I'm there and ready and confident when it happens.
My biggest problem/mistakes that I make; are coming to a section and getting caught between one move and another or the idea comes too late......and that is all preparation and that preparation can only happen in your head in advance; so practicing hearing and seeing your guitar in your head is the key to advance the confidence in your playing.
Good luck.
Ricky

Jim Phelps · From: Mexico City, Mexico

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[This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 17 November 2004 at 08:55 PM.]

Terry Sneed · From: Arkansas,

thanks for all the replys. I think fear is probly my biggist problem. not just fear of makin a mistake, but fear of playin in front of a crowd of people. stage freight I reckon they call it.I'm not sure I'll ever get over that. I play in church, and when the piano player wants me to play the lead, I clam up.
I've tried for years to overcome this, but I'm beginning to wonder if I ever will.
confidence is another biggy. I have to say though, I've got more confidence in my playin since I've started back after a couple years layoff. I'm more interested in it than I was before..

Terry

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84 SKH Emmons Legrand D10
session 400'rd Steelin for my Lord.

[This message was edited by Terry Sneed on 18 August 2004 at 10:49 AM.]

Ray Minich · From: Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra

Heck, I still think TB's odd note in the second verse of the classic "Seven Come Eleven" was a miss, but what a nice miss...

Buck Grantham R.I.P. · From: Denham Springs, LA. USA

Terry, Do you practice with a click track or some sort of beat to keep your speed constant? I find that I can learn a song real good then go and play it with a band at a little diffrent speed I can't play it good. When you are practicing at home you speed up on the parts you know and drag on the parts you are unsure of so when you get with a band you can't play it at a constant speed and start making mistakes. After I've learned a song,I go out and play it with a band and butcher it for about the first 4 or 5 times before I start playing it good. Keep on practicing . That's the key .

Ed Naylor · From: portsmouth.ohio usa, R.I.P.

Mr Phelps- I left out a couple things that I feel are important be it Steel Playing or any other situation in life- One thing is-MAKE WHAT YOU HAVE WORK FOR YOU-and WHAT IS THE WORST POSSIBLE THING THAT CAN HAPPEN? ED

Jeff Lampert · From: queens, new york city

Play with reckless abandon. It's the only way.

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[url=http://www.mightyfinemusic.com/jeff's_jazz.htm]Jeff's Jazz[/url]

Nicholas Dedring · From: Beacon, New York, USA

If you want to learn a specific passage exactly, I can only recall playing classical piano when I was young:

work with the metronome, starting really with extremetly slow tempo and working your way up.

play a passage with an array of different syncopations (almost like swinging it in assorted ways)

[This message was edited by Nicholas Dedring on 18 August 2004 at 01:08 PM.]

Terry Sneed · From: Arkansas,

Mr Buck, yea, I practice with sound tracks which is really a big help IMO.
YOU, butcher a song Mr Buck? I never heard you miss a note at Ronnies Gospel steel guitar show back in June. and I got a purty good ear for music.

are you gonna be at Ronnie's this Oct Mr Buck? and will you be playin your Mullen?
Me and the wife are gonna try to make it one night.
Terry

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84 SKH Emmons Legrand D10
session 400'rd Steelin for my Lord.

Gary Ulinskas · From: San Diego, California, USA

Terry,
Thanks, it good to know I'm not the only one with that problem. After learning a song (which may take me a week or more) I can usually go thru it pretty well without using a rythm track because I naturally slow down for the "hard parts". But when I put on my Band In A Box, I sometimes fall apart in tricky areas. It's just too boring to slow the whole song down to the tempo where I am comfortable in the difficult areas, yet it is so frustrating to mess a difficult phrase or lick. Jeff Newman's course material stresses repetititon-repetition. But to work, the repetition has to be correct. I've found the best thing for me to just keep repeating the "hard parts" by looping with Slow Blast if the track is on CD. (I just realized, I bet I could create a rythm loop in BIAB and do exactly the same thing.)
This a great thread, with encouraging comments for us struggling guys. Thanks to all.

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Gary Ulinskas
MSA S-12 + Walker mono

Mike Bowles · From: Princeton, West Virginia, USA

I had the opportunity to see a pro make a mistake the other night he was backing vince gill the song was my kind of woman youre my kind of man but if you didnt know for sure how the break went you would not have noticed he covered it up so good lot of difference in pro and amateur players

Burton Lee · From: Denton, Texas, USA

A complete approach to musical development helps, too. Playing steel is only one small part of the music inside you, even if it's your main axe. If the voice inside isn't leading the way for the hands then you're asking the limbs to think for you and they will screw up.

Sing always, and sincerely; listen acutely to everything; play what you hear inside your head and work to increase the number of ideas rattling around in there.

The technical obstacles will naturally appear from musical desires that you present to your hands. Practice those obstacles and release the barriers on the inner music. If you're trying to play things that aren't already working in your mind, you're running a dead-end course. If you can't sing it, you're not ready to try to play it.

Jeff Lampert really nailed it, too. I loved reading that! "The zone" is completely what it's all about. Everything else is an activity resembling music. It's like almost dancing. Ricky's right, too, of course. Real playing is a combination of mental detachment and enhanced perception.

Now, don't anybody get me wrong and think that I can play steel because I can't yet, but that approach is going to make me burn hard one day soon. If I'd learned to approach horn like that from the beginning I'd be a monster at that, too.

Burton Lee
Denton, TX

Michael Johnstone · From: Sylmar,Ca. USA

See,clams are your friend. Most anything I ever played on steel for the first 10 years was an expedition to clamville. If like me,you ride this musical unicycle up and down a bannister lined with banana peels with a beer in each hand,you're gonna fall off - it's just that simple.So therefore I say you should dig deep for spectacular dumb-ass clams - that's how you learn where they live. Nowadays of course,I only play high quality jazz clams. -MJ-

Hook Moore · From: South Charleston,West Virginia

Exactly what Ricky said, plus the greats make mistakes too. The great players know the guitar so well that they usually recover without anyone but themselves ever knowing.
Hook

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HookMoore.com
Allen Moore

MIKEHOLLAND · From: stegenevievemo.usa

Your thinking too much. If you start to play a lick, intro, etc. and you have to think about it. Your dead. See Ricky Davis's post.

Bill Bosler · From: Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, USA

Terry - If you hit the right note, that's skill. If you hit the wrong note and slide into the right note, that's not a mistake, it's a gliss!

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Yes, Terry. You'll have to define for us exactly what you classify as a "mistake".

Do you mean playing an entire song in Bb when everyone else is in D?

Or, do you mean one "missed" note in Orange Blossom Special?

Terry Sneed · From: Arkansas,

quote"Do you mean playing an entire song in Bb when everyone else is in D?"quote

LOL! I said I made mistakes, I didn't say I was in a different world!

I mean I miss a lick/note ever now and then.
more often when I'm playin in front of a crowd.

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84 SKH Emmons Legrand D10
session 400'rd Steelin for my Lord.

gary darr · From: Somewhere out in Texas

I play steel and guitar in church allso and there are times when we "get in the spirit" and forget to change chords, substitute major chords for minors ect but the main thing I try to remember is that we are there for the Lord God allmighty, not to please a crowd. We are givin a gift, and its great when it can be used in a mighty way!

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Dekley S-12 Session 500,American standard Strat,Shecter tele,Peavy Classic 50

Daryl Stogner · From: San Diego, CA * R.I.P.

Let me set all of your minds at ease...

I'm brand new at this steel playing stuff. Luckily I play guitar and can find my way around with basic stuff. I'm learning and know I will make mistakes. I care about that and I might even blush a bit when I do, but I don't worry about it, I'm just beginning.

Everyone makes a mistake from time to time even us guys that have been playing guitar 35 years. So be it, we're called human beings, not perfect robotic machines.

Man just have fun playing, don't sweat the mistakes. I tend to go along with Ricky's thoughts. Think ahead in a song and know where it's going, be there waiting for it. It's not like we don't have time to get there ahead of everyone else. We're there to compliment the song and singer, not take it over.

That's my newby two cents worth.

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Daryl Stogner
My Website: www.dstogner.com

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