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Topic: Learning materials |
Daniel Morris
From:
Westlake, Ohio, USA
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Posted 2 Nov 2018 10:04 am |
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It's been a long time since i was learning lap steel, and a lot has changed since then.
I've had a couple requests to teach lap steel, so I defer to those of you who primarily play steel without pedals.
I'd like to know what books, DVDs, youtube videos or other learning material you recommend.
Sometimes a guy wants to learn "that ol' Hank Williams sound", sometimes just a basic working knowledge of the steel, sometimes blues slide, so ANY sites etc. that you feel are good would be greatly appreciated.
Typically the student has a 6 stringer.
What tunings are currently used the most (open E chord for blues, etc.)?
Thanks, folks.
_________________
1979 MSA U12 Pedal Steel
1982 Kline U12 Pedal steel
2019 Sierra U12 Pedal Steel
2011 Bear Creek MK Weissenborn
Milkman 40W Mini amp w/Telonics 15" speaker.
Dr. Z Surgical Steel w/TT 15" speaker.
Frenzel MB-50 head.
Spaceman, Empress, Eventide, Pigtronix. |
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Brad Davis
From:
Texas, USA
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Posted 3 Nov 2018 8:29 am
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I'm no expert, and my focus has been Country/Hawaiian/Bluegrass/etc, but I think a lot of beginners would continue to be served well starting on C6, possibly with Scotty's old "Basic C6th Nonpedal Lap Steel Method". For those who really want a taste of Hank they can then just jump right into the Don Helms song book. It's in Don's E6/E13, so they can just change string gauges and tuning or ignore and continue on C6. The tabs work the same either way but they'll probably want to do E6 and play along with the provided backing tracks. In that same vein I think a few might enjoy the Little Roy Wiggins E13 "Memory Time" songbook also.
For a broader look at C6, D and some other tunings I can highly recommend Andy Volk's beautiful books (http://www.volkmediabooks.com). You may occasionally get students more interested in something like Weissenborn or Dobro, so the D tuning book would be good here.
Doug Beaumier (http://playsteelguitar.com/) has some good tab collections in C6 and other tunings.
For the really serious student of lap steel and C6 I think Jerry Byrd's course can still be had from Scotty's Music store.
Getting more into the Dobro realm, mostly G tuning, I really like Stacy Phillips' books. And remember that a lot of these materials can be purchase right here through the Steel Guitar Forum store (links at the top).
As far as video instruction, I don't use a lot myself, but LessonsWithTroy (www.lessonswithtroy.com) instructional videos are popular. www.georgeboards.com (George Piburn) also offers a series of useful DVDs and video lessons for C6 lap steel instruction.
I probably left out some others, but that would seem to be a lot to chew on. There may be some that can chime about materials with more of a rock/blues focus. |
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David M Brown
From:
California, USA
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Posted 3 Nov 2018 9:49 am
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| Brad Davis wrote: |
For the really serious student of lap steel and C6 I think Jerry Byrd's course can still be had from Scotty's Music store.
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Byrd's course has C6, C6+A7, and almost all the tunings used up to that point, with exception of tunings that have a note higher than E on the first strings.
it's a quite good exploration of steel tunings.
I have noticed that there seems to be a bit of a divide between those steel players that prefer Hawaiian music and those that prefer C and W stylings...and of course Western Swing.
C6 seems to cover both styles of music. |
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Michael Maddex
From:
Northern New Mexico, USA
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Posted 3 Nov 2018 9:56 am
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Some real good suggestions from Brad. You might want to take a good look at what another Brad has put together:
https://people.well.com/user/wellvis/steel.html
Good Luck! Enjoy! 
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"For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert." -- Arthur C. Clarke |
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Daniel Morris
From:
Westlake, Ohio, USA
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Posted 3 Nov 2018 10:56 am
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Thanks for the suggestions, gents.
I have the feeling this student may not cotton to a 6th tuning, but I want to have a range of options for him.
_________________
1979 MSA U12 Pedal Steel
1982 Kline U12 Pedal steel
2019 Sierra U12 Pedal Steel
2011 Bear Creek MK Weissenborn
Milkman 40W Mini amp w/Telonics 15" speaker.
Dr. Z Surgical Steel w/TT 15" speaker.
Frenzel MB-50 head.
Spaceman, Empress, Eventide, Pigtronix. |
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