Having trouble with grips 5 6 8 and 6 8 10

Brian Waits · From: Georgia, USA

While I am just a few months into learning, I seem to find myself stuck on grips 3 4 5 and 4 5 6 most all the time. Also mainly using pedals 2 and 3 and all but ignoring the 4 knees.
A local player once told me that much of the time that is where you will be. Is that correct ?
I have a Stage one with a Roland 80. Also a session 400 limited but the Roland sounds much better to my ear. maybe if I could play the thing it might help.....lol
Can anyone suggest any particular music that would force me to use the other grips / Knees ? Just having a hard time working them in. Probably developing some bad habits as a result.
Thanks in advance for any help.

Randy Owens · From: West Central Indiana, USA

I'm new just like you having gotten my Mullen in September. I find that tabs written by Erv Niehaus here on the forum will work you over but good! He incorporates every grip and will have you going left and right on your knee levers. His version of "I Love to Tell the Story" has been my biggest challenge to learn so far. It uses all grips, A and B pedals and both left knee levers.
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2003 Mullen Royal Precision, Walker Stereo Steel, Ampeg G-15, Telonics FP-100

Paul Sutherland · From: Placerville, California

Try playing just two string combinations. I use 5 & 8 a lot. Work the A floor pedal and the knee levers raising and lowering the E string. Explore. Try dropping down two frets from your normal pedals down position or your normal no pedals position, and work the levers, and bringing in and release the A pedal. Then try going up three frets from your normal no pedals position, and from your normal pedals down position, and do the same. Experiment. If you have a lever that lowers the 5th string a half tone, try using that in those positions I mentioned.

I also like to play 4 & 6, and 3 & 5. Just sounds good to me. Spread your fingers from time to time. Skip a string. Don't always play the adjacent strings.

I play far less three string combinations than two string combinations.
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It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing.

Don Mogle · From: Round Rock, TX, USA

Brian,

It just takes practice. Don't get stuck on two grips. Those lower strings will come in very handy at some point in time!

Here's a good exercise to work up the neck chromatically--going up one fret at a time. For example, start at fret 1 and work up to fret 12. Then go back down again.

Pick 3-4-5, 4-5-6, 5-6-8, 6-8-10 in sequential order. You can go from the higher strings to the lower ones or visa versa. Practice both ways...up and down. You can practice all notes at once (the chord) or else alternate doing an arpeggio picking one string after another.

You will need to develop finger dexterity for the steel. There's no substitute for "time in the saddle" with practice. Practice all the grips with either 3-string groupings or two-string groupings as was mentioned by Paul. For what it's worth, I even play single note scales a lot...think like a violin or cello. I like to ride the fifth or eighth string for some interesting fill work.

There are some good YouTube videos out there for beginners. You might want to check some of these out.

In addition, Joe Wright has a good video on Right Hand Technique. Joe has an incredible right hand and if you ever watch him play, he seems to make it look effortless! Check out some of his videos on YouTube and you'll see what I mean.

Don

Kevin Fix · From: Michigan, USA

PRACTICE AND MORE PRACTICE. IT WILL ALL COME TO YOU IN TIME. LIKE RIDING A BIKE.............BE PATIENT. WAS IN YOUR SHOES ABOUT 35 YEARS AGO. DON'T GIVE UP. IF YOU FALL OFF YOUR BIKE, YOU GET RIGHT BACK ON.

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

Search out tabs (or other courses/materials) that emphasize other grips.
Also exercise your ears: the lions of the instrument spend most of their time in dyads, not triads. And there are LOADS of handy dyads.
Here's a few licks that get you off those grips: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=R8WlDTfLWmk
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

practice and seat time, but you have to practice the right stuff !

take the grips that you are not comfy with...

such as 10,8 and 6 for example

SLOWLY...in meter if you can...without stopping

play the grip, one string at a time, 10, 8 then 6..at the zero fret ( open position)

move up to the first fret, then the second etc...all the way to fret 12, then back down, one fret at a time .

Do this for each grip you are not feeling good about

here's the catch, if you make a mistake you start over from the beginning. It really doesn't much matter if you ever get to the 12 th fret, eventually you will, it's the routine that matters, make a game of it. Do this every time you sit at the Steel for 5 or 10 min. Don't do it for hours on end, but do it every day.

PROPER Practice requires a process, without a process you are just plinking around.

Years back a good friend and excellent player once told me, if you want to improve, play the same thing for 5 min a day for 30 days, at the end of the 30 days you will be great at that one thing. But then he said I would still stink at everything else ! Thank you Ray Gantek ! Smile

When you study for an exam you study the appropriate material , when you practice to improve, you practice the appropriate material, same thing.
_________________
Emmons L-II , Fender Telecasters, B-Benders , Eastman Mandolin ,
Pro Tools 12 on WIN 7 !
jobless- but not homeless- now retired 9 years

CURRENT MUSIC TRACKS AT > https://tprior2241.wixsite.com/website

Brian Waits · From: Georgia, USA

Thank you all so much. This kind of info is what I can understand and put to use as i play by ear and tend to find music to play along with that I like instead of something that challenges me. I am a retired radio air personality ( Mostly country ) so I kinda lean toward the honky tonk end of things. Again, thank you all for your help.

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

You really need to get the 5th, 6th and 8th string grip down pat. That is my favorite grip. You can get more chord combinations with that grip than with any other. I can play whole songs using nothing but that grip. It also is the best sounding grip on the pedal steel, in my opinion. Very Happy

Alan Bidmade · From: Newcastle upon Tyne UK

Brian
Follow the advice above - but - spend some money on some of Erv's tabs. They are listed on the Forum or you can contact him yourself.
Erv's tabs are easy to read, accurate and (generally) easy to play. As Erv says, many of them are written around the 5,6,8 grip.Once you have got this grip 'locked in', you don't often have to move away from it. Make it your 'home' grip - easier to move up or down from here than from 'tighter' grips.
Erv got me playing - before I got some of his tabs I really struggled, but I seemed to manage to play them straight off.
I don't think I'll ever make the grade as a player, but I get a great deal of pleasure from what I can do - and I am making progress! Spend a few bucks on Erv's tabs = best $$$ you can spend.
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Ben-Rom #017 'Lorelei', Guild D25, Epiphone 'Joe Pass', Roland 40XL, Hilton VP

First name Alan, but known as Nick

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

Alan,
Bless your heart. Very Happy

Yes, I try to make my tabs a learning experience.
Thanks,
Erv

Dick Wood · From: Springtown Texas, USA

While you're working on those other grips you might a well start working on 3,5 & 8 which Dickey Overby used extensively in many tunes.

Practice this over and over and when you can snatch the picks from hand,you will be ready to go.
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Cops aren't paid much so I steel at night.

b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

Very few memorable steel parts use 3 note harmonies. It's important to be able to hit the right string all the time, but grabbing 6, 8 and 10 together isn't high on the priorities list. 2 out of the 3 is usually enough.
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Carl Mesrobian · From: Salem, Massachusetts, USA

You mentioned pedals 2 and 3. I think more 1 and 2 (A and B). Is the guitar setup as Emmons or Day?
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--carl

"The better it gets, the fewer of us know it." Ray Brown

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

I think it's right to emphasize B and C. The B and C pedals have some cool harmonies.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

I would argue that there is NO GRIP more important than another. The regular practice is about eye to hand to fret board control ( fret marker and bar) of ALL the grips as we really do not know which grip or group of strings we may decide to use when playing.

10,8,6 / 8,6,5 / 6,5,4 / 5,4,3 / 10,6,4 / 5,2,1 etc..

they all have equal value
_________________
Emmons L-II , Fender Telecasters, B-Benders , Eastman Mandolin ,
Pro Tools 12 on WIN 7 !
jobless- but not homeless- now retired 9 years

CURRENT MUSIC TRACKS AT > https://tprior2241.wixsite.com/website

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

Tony's right, learn 'em all. It will come, but it takes considerable time. As you progress, get more comfortable, and get different grips locked into "muscle memory", you'll find you won't have to look at your right hand as much. It's also important to be able to switch seamlessly from 2-string to 3-string harmonies, and back again. (Listen to the intro on the Clint Black song below as an example.) The varieties you use in selecting harmonies will change with the passages in the song, as well as the instrumentation. A small band may benefit from the use of fuller harmony, while a larger one may require you to cut back on the notes played, as other instruments may be covering them. A big part of being a sideman is not only learning what to use, but when to use it.

Very Happy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiTfPaQEt9Q

Bill Terry · From: Bastrop, TX

Brint Hannay · From: Maryland, USA

Lloyd Green used 3, 8, 10 in "Bars of Steel".
0:40 to 0:58 in this live performance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzxzHa6c7Jc

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