Best time to take lessons?

Michael Rademacher · From: Killeen, Texas

I feel sure that this topic has been beaten down already but I can't find it, so please forgive me for asking "when is the best time for a beginner to take private lessons"
a) Right from the start.
b) After you can play a few songs.
c) After you are pretty decent but need help figuring out a few tricks.
d) When you can't find an instruction video on youtube for what you're trying to do.
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Bill McCloskey · Posted 10 Jul 2022 6:43 pm

Right from the beginning is correct for any instrument so that you don't have to break or relearn bad technique

Michael Rademacher · From: Killeen, Texas

Makes sense! In fact, about an hour after my post, while searching the topic some more, someone pointed me to a video on Jeff Newman's right hand alpha course, and I watched it and learned something I would never have guessed about how and where to position my right hand. I don't even have a steel guitar yet and already Jeff Newman has prevented me from making a critical mistake.
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May God have mercy on my no-music-theory-having soul.

Tom Gorr · From: Three Hills, Alberta

Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

Newman is what you might call old-school and Wright seems more wradical to my mind. Personally, I found that R Hand A set me on a good path. Wright has a brain the size of a planet and I have only a regular moon.

Others will disagree, which is why we have a forum. Good luck - the urge to play pedal steel is like no other Smile

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Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

Of course I would side with ASAP. Perhaps one of the biggest issues with many LEARNING students, any instrument , is picking up BAD habits. Its takes longer to UNDUE bad habits than learning something new, properly. Sometimes bad habits can never be reversed or can take years.

IF you have the ability to work with an established player/teacher , then do so. But also keep in mind that there are many established players who also have some bad habits and they are not really good teachers, even being great players. Quite the dilemma.

There are MONTHS of rudiments ( practice) for this dang instrument that we must develop before we get to the music, just like a drummer. RE: Great drummers come from rudiments, not from playing songs in the jam room. Instruments like the Steel, Piano, Guitar etc are no different. Theres a method to the madness.

The late great Maurice Anderson used to say theres a difference between Practice and PERFECT PRACTICE. One teaches songs the other teaches the Instrument.

A good teacher will teach you the rudiments and the instrument , the songs come after that.

have fun , its a crazy world you just joined !

t
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Doug Taylor · From: Shelbyville, Kentucky, USA

If you can schedule a lesson with John Mcclung. You can find him here on the forum. He is a good one to set you up for success.

Michael Rademacher · From: Killeen, Texas

Thanks guys! I searched around youtube and found some popular instruction videos and I think I can say I must have seen at least a half dozen practice techniques to drill on just with the open strings like chord inversions (which I think means string groupings on the same chord?), pick blocking, string picking sequences etc that will keep me busy for a while without even grabbing the bar. This is going to be a lot of work and a lot of learning but the challenge just makes me that much more motivated to learn it. I love the sound of steel guitar so much that it won't seem like work. It will seem like fun haha. Once I get my guitar, I will check in after a few months and let you all know whether I am going nuts or having the time of my life. We'll see.
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Tomas Enguidanos · From: California, USA

I subscribed to a noted famous steel guitarist’ on line lessons. I found that it was difficult to comprehend his lessons. Being a great player doesn’t necessarily mean you are a good teacher.

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

Michael

I started around fifty years ago when I'd been a pro guitarist for about twelve years.

I dabbled with pedal steel and I confess that, in the beginning, I took a somewhat cavalier approach thinking: "How hard can this be?"

As a consequence, I have fought a poor right-hand technique ever since. Now the instrument has become my passion, I bitterly regret my sloppy attitude all those years ago. As Tony said, it's hard to undo bad habits.

You'll get many recommendations but mine would be to contact Buck Reid. He has impeccable technique but, more importantly, he's a gentle and approachable human being who would, I know, be sympathetic to your particular needs. He does Skype lessons, I believe, and is easily reachable here on the Forum.

Michael Rademacher · From: Killeen, Texas

The past couple days I have been bookmarking the Steel Picking channel. And Troy Brenningmeyer's videos. But only the ones Troy does for pedal steel. I like his charts and I think those will help out a great deal for knowing where all the chords are. There are so many good channels. I am just getting started discovering them.
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Michael Rademacher · From: Killeen, Texas

Tomas, I totally agree that being a skilled player does not confer teaching ability. Teaching is its own skill set and is not easily mastered. It is an art form itself, with its own rules and structures, and is a separate thing entirely from playing.
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Michael Rademacher · From: Killeen, Texas

Tom, Joe Wright is amazing! And he plays the exact way Newman says NOT to play!! So, what works for Newman is clearly not what works for Wright. So once I get my steel, I will try both ways and see which feels comfortable and natural for me. I bookmarked the "32 Moves" site so I can do those drills later. Thank you so much for sharing this!
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George Duncan Sypert · From: Colo Spgs, Co, USA

Michael. In Killeen Texas you are surrounded by great pedal steel guitar players. I don't how many or who might be available to give lessons. Go see some of the local players in Temple/Waco Area, Austin and so forth. The Country Cotton Club in Granger has lots of bands with Pedal Steel player and so does Bo's Barn Temple/Belton area. Marc Matoska, Jerry Harkins, Jim Loessberg, Steve Palousek and many others. While you are waiting on your guitar find and go listen to as many as you can. Good luck.

Michael Rademacher · From: Killeen, Texas

George, thanks! I will try to do that! Hopefully I will get to know some of them. I do need to start building my social network of musicians of all types. I did this in my younger years - so I just need to do it again. And since I am retired, it will be easier to do as my time is my own now.
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Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

My suggestion is to get some one-on-one lessons when you start, and regularly (every few weeks or months) until you start to know what you're doing. Courses and videos are fine, but they can't give you negative feedback, and you need for all the aspects of playing. (There's a lot more to playing music than just playing music. Winking

)

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

To the original poster - as has been stated, you have some great players in the area. I would try to get a few lessons from someone like that to get you started on the right track.

In general, I think some in-person lessons from a very good teacher at the very start of playing are a good idea. It's easy to get off on the wrong foot with pedal steel, and some guidance is useful. But I really think in-person is the way to go, if that is available. Pedal steel is a very physical instrument, and I think being there with the student is important to getting a real feel for his or her strong and weak points. I think kind but still brutally honest feedback - both positive and negative, as warranted - is important. Positive feedback about what one is doing well is just as important as negative feedback about what one is doing poorly, especially for beginners. Reinforce good performance, give constructive criticism for problems, and then positively reinforce when things are going better.

But I think the efficacy of ongoing lessons depends on the student and the quality of teachers available in the local area - in most places, there are none. I have found, in teaching other stuff at the university level for decades - that some students need more structured lessons, and others are much more autodidactic - i.e., tend to approach things in a more self-directed way. Too much structure by a rigid teacher can actually inhibit some students, especially highly motivated students. IMO, the right kind of teacher can work with students like these, but also IMO, that kind of flexible teaching is not the standard modus operandi in the teaching profession, in general. That is stated from many years in the trenches.

Personally, I had nobody within several hours of me when I started. I used Tim McCasland's videos, which I found very useful. He focused on the critical beginning skills. I confess that I am very much autodidactic, which is probably why I was able to stick with it - many of my compadres got very frustrated taking this approach.

After several years of going it alone, I did Mike Sweeney's bootcamp, which was very, very helpful for me. At that point, I think I could really appreciate what he was trying to show me in a way that I never would have at the beginning. But there was a period of woodshedding the basics, where I had to repetitiously work out the brute mechanical movements before I could really grok what a skilled teacher/player had to offer. I highly recommend Mike's bootcamp for an advancing player.

As usual, IMO, there's no one answer to these questions. But I do agree that getting a good early grounding is important. I struggled at first without someone to show me the ropes. This forum was what helped set me straight on a lot of the physical issues I had.

Michael Rademacher · From: Killeen, Texas

Dave, thanks! I would consider myself an autodidact. I am good at finding what I need when I need it. I think the thing I need more than anything else is an understanding of music theory, at least the basics. I have a couple books on that topic, and while waiting for my steel guitar to be built I plan on using that time to learn some theory and apply the concepts on my Strat. (I always pick the Strat to learn new stuff because it is so easy to play.) The intervals, circle of fifths, etc all that stuff I avoided learning when playing guitar over the years. That is why I never played lead guitar, only strummed the chords - or played bass guitar. Had I payed any attention to how chords are built, and what makes a chord a minor chord, or a 7th/9th etc and learned all the scale variations, I might have played some lead guitar early on.

My first guitar was a Kay hollowbody (335 style). A friend of mine who played guitar showed me all the basic chords and I practiced changing from one chord to another for hours every day until I could do it pretty seamlessly. At some point, I got a songbook and by the end of the first day I had memorized all the chords to "Take Me Home Country Roads" which was a song I liked a lot. Then I learned most of the popular country and 'classic rock' songs of the 70's. I learned the country songs in several keys because I played for a time in my dad's country band when I was in my later teens and early twenties. There were several singers over time and each had a different vocal range, hence needed a different key. But I never took the time to learn basic music theory. So I am not too concerned with the mechanics of playing steel guitar. Repetition and muscle memory will serve me there just like it did with guitar. And I already know how important economy of motion is. I will learn where chords can be found all over the neck, and how to color each using the pedals/levers. However, I really want to understand how music is put together. That way I can learn lead parts and vary how I play them, and not just memorize one way to play each song. I think music theory will make this possible for me. So many people in bands and on youtube have gone to music school prior to launching their careers. I never went to music school. I went to business school instead, to study economics and finance.

Recently, I decided to learn "Jessica" by the Allman Brothers on my Strat. To my surprise, I discovered that virtually the whole thing is built on an A chord and G chord! I looked at where the notes were, then looked at the notes making up the chord, and it was like Eureka!! And now, even if I don't play the recognizable part of that song for weeks, I can still replicate it again without messing it up because I know how it is made. Hence my newfound interest in music theory.
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Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

I think it's great to spend time studying music theory - scales and melody, chord construction and harmony, rhythm, reading, number charts, you name it. Since you don't have a pedal steel yet, that's good use of the time.

But I would not underestimate the amount of new technique and focus required to get competent on the physical aspects of playing a pedal steel. It is very different than fretted guitar. Very different. I would highly recommend reading up on those issues also - bar control, picking, the various ways of blocking (muting) the strings, ergonomics and proper posture, planting the foot so you can execute the various E9 pedal moves smoothly, what you'll need in terms of bar and picks, and so on. There are a lot of details that are very different than for guitar, and a ton of information on this forum about all of this. I think this can be mentally processed to some extent before ever sitting down at a pedal steel.

John McClung · From: Olympia WA, USA

Michael, the sooner you get with a good steel teacher, the better, it's so easy to teach yourself bad habits that are tough to correct the longer you use them.

I teach live to a handful of local guys and gals, but mostly on Skype. My teaching has significantly evolved over 27 years of doing it. It has become a way to pass on a method or process of getting better that worked for me as I struggled to become a good steeler. It's not just theory, not just licks, but a coherent and sensible approach to how to turn yourself into a good musician playing E9 pedal steel.

I teach you how to teach yourself, so you're largely self-sufficient and not too dependent on tab and courses.

Holler if you'd like to discuss! I prefer dialogue via email or phone, please.

All best,
John McClung
Pedal Steel Lessons, Casuals, Sessions
Olympia, WA 98512
Email: steelguitarlessons@earthlink.net
Website – http://steelguitarlessons.com
Skype name: professortwang
Cell & text: 310-480-0717
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Michael Rademacher · From: Killeen, Texas

Great News: Steve Palousek may have some time to fit me in once I get my guitar. That would be just awesome if he can swing it. I don't know what his schedule might look like 6-8 months out; Donna says he stays pretty busy but may be able to take me on. Internet will not work for me; my internet here outside of town is very spotty - it comes and goes. I cannot watch a youtube video without it starting and stopping repeatedly. I have to download videos I like and play them afterward in order to avoid the pauses. But if Steve has some spare time later in the year, or in the spring, then I'm in. And he lives very near to me. I could probably get there in half an hour. So, fingers crossed!
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May God have mercy on my no-music-theory-having soul.

John McClung · From: Olympia WA, USA

That's great news, Michael, live lessons still have advantages over internet and Steve is among our star players and has created courses, so I would imagine he's also a great teacher. Let us know how this segment of your likely lifelong journey goes!

Keep in mind the Professor Twang Student Mantra: Playing pedal steel requires: Patience, Practice, Persistence, Available Time, and Faith that with all that in place, you WILL succeed at this! Smile

All best, Professor Twang
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