| Visit Our Catalog at SteelGuitarShopper.com |

Post new topic Difficulty of pedal steel vs other instruments.
Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4  Next
Reply to topic
Author Topic:  Difficulty of pedal steel vs other instruments.
Darrell Criswell

 

From:
Maryland, USA
Post  Posted 16 Sep 2022 6:51 am    
Reply with quote

Here is an interesting post from Brick on Mandolin Cafe:

"There was a time where I could not play guitar. My fingertips would go numb. I had to play something so I bought a pedal steel. I took lessons, practiced like the devil, and amused myself for two years. Another ten or so and maybe I could have played in a band. Hardest instrument I ever tried. But I did learn to use metal fingerpicks and a lot of skills ported over to Dobro. Luckily I could still play bass guitar.

My feeling is what folks consider folk instruments, guitar, banjo, etc., are all easy to play simply and sing with. After all, there was no big structure of learning materials. Skill was passed down by family members. Instruments had to be cheap to buy or easy to build. How the fiddle thrived in these conditions is beyond me. But advancing on any instrument takes time and dedication. Playing tambourine is a skill few people have mastered. Learning a fourth instrument is easier by far than the first.

I can play and sing with my banjo after three weeks. My daughter, a violist, picked up my mandolin and played a prelude to a Bach suite without error. Never laid her hands on one. I just told her it was like a violin.

But that pedal steel takes feet moving separately, knees moving separately both left and right, one hand moving a bar with intonation, and a right hand working ten strings while palm blocking. Hardest by far than anything else. French Horn is a bitch too."
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Roger Rettig


From:
Naples, FL
Post  Posted 16 Sep 2022 8:08 am    
Reply with quote

On the face of it, you're right. But some of the mystifying factors disappear over time. After a period of time, one no longer thinks: 'I need to raise this string a half-step, that such-and-such a knee-lever'. We think 'raise that string' and we instinctively go to the right lever.

As with most instruments, the factor that separates the great from the merely good is touch and tone. It's that case with pedal steel and a hundred other instruments.

In my mind, the most intimidating instrument has always been the solo violin. I'm referring to the very highest level of soloists whose control over those short-scale strings and the tone they bring forth elevate them to the very pinnacle of musical achievement.

A case in point: Hilary Hahn performing Vaughn Williams 'The Lark Ascending'. Her standards are beyond anything we're confronted with. It doesn't hurt that Ralph Vaugh-Williams music is as beautiful as anything ever written
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Dave Hopping


From:
Aurora, Colorado
Post  Posted 16 Sep 2022 9:42 am    
Reply with quote

Like singing, playing pedal steel is basically a right-brain activity. Singers do not think in terms of moving their vocal cords micro-millimeters closer together or further apart to change notes, or"shaking" their vocal cords to get vibrato. they "just do it".

I think it's possible to approach pedal steel in the same way; just as a capable singer has "muscle memory" in their voice-box, it's possible to get muscle memory in one's hands, knees, and feet so that it all works together. It DOES, however, take a good amount of woodshedding to get there. Winking
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Don R Brown


From:
Rochester, New York, USA
Post  Posted 17 Sep 2022 6:13 am    
Reply with quote

Someone on here - I'd give credit if I remembered who it was - tells people "Actually the instrument plays itself. I just think the music and it comes out of the speaker. It has taken me many years to teach it how."
_________________
Many play better than I do. Nobody has more fun.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Howard Parker


From:
Maryland
Post  Posted 17 Sep 2022 6:38 am    
Reply with quote

There's a quote in a wonderful Herb Alpert documentary.

After years of playing, Alpert loses his "chops" and seeks help.

When sitting with his mentor, the mentor grab's Alpert's trumpet and says, "This is just plumbing. You are the instrument."

I reject the notion that any one instrument is more or less difficult to achieve a level of competency.

It's all on the player.

h
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Dale Rottacker


From:
Walla Walla Washington, USA
Post  Posted 17 Sep 2022 7:13 am    
Reply with quote

Howard Parker wrote:


I reject the notion that any one instrument is more or less difficult to achieve a level of competency.

It's all on the player.

h

I think I mostly agree with this in principle, yet certain people will more readily connect with certain instruments over another, with the somewhat rare exception of those able to play whatever they touch... I've known some exceptional Steel players who ONLY play steel, and either are incapable of playing anything else or have no desire to play anything else. For some of us (ME) its a struggle to play just steel, and time spent elsewhere makes that struggle even more so.
_________________
Dale Rottacker, Steelinatune™
https://www.youtube.com/@steelinatune
*2021 MSA Legend, "Jolly Rancher" D10 10x9
*2021 Rittenberry, "The Concord" D10 9x9
*1977 Blue Sho-Bud Pro 3 Custom 8x6
https://msapedalsteels.com
http://rittenberrysteelguitars.com
https://www.telonics.com/index.php
https://www.p2pamps.com
https://www.quilterlabs.com
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Ian Rae


From:
Redditch, England
Post  Posted 17 Sep 2022 8:49 am    
Reply with quote

Some instruments are easier to get started on, but all are hard to play well.

My favourite quote is Pablo Casals:- "Playing the cello is easy - the only hard part is getting from one note to the next."
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Bill McCloskey

 

Post  Posted 17 Sep 2022 8:58 am    
Reply with quote

"I reject the notion that any one instrument is more or less difficult to achieve a level of competency.

It's all on the player."

For most instruments I would agree. But if you've ever played a double reed instrument like the Uilleann Pipes, there is a significant inherent difficulty with the instrument itself and its sensitivity to humidity. Uilleann pipes were not only the most difficult instrument I've tried to play, the fickle nature of double reed instruments finally defeated me.
View user's profile Send private message
Jim Arnold

 

From:
Texas USA
Post  Posted 17 Sep 2022 10:56 am     Hard to play
Reply with quote

Next to a 56 string harpsichord, the pedal steel is easy! Hahahaha.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
J D Sauser


From:
Wellington, Florida
Post  Posted 17 Sep 2022 11:51 am    
Reply with quote

Personally, I think that it is easier to use both hands, knees and a foot to craft together just ONE note or a chord. It's a concerted effort on ONE thing, as opposed to playing organ, where the right may be playing a improvised line, the left some syncopated chords and both feet tip-toe the bass line away on a ORGAN. There are 3 musically different things going on at the same time.

Evidently, even an accomplished organist will find a PSG just as confusing.

Then I observe violin players, some, men with big ol' hands, jazzing away on that tinny little neck... and just can't believe how pretty it sounds and come to think that it's much easier to play that PSG while the violinist looks over in total awe.

Maybe a Kazoo is easier... ?
_________________
__________________________________________________________

Was it JFK who said: Ask Not What TAB Can Do For You - Rather Ask Yourself "What Would B.B. King Do?"

A Little Mental Health Warning:

Tablature KILLS SKILLS.
The uses of Tablature is addictive and has been linked to reduced musical fertility.
Those who produce Tablature did never use it.

I say it humorously, but I mean it.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Doug Beaumier


From:
Northampton, MA
Post  Posted 17 Sep 2022 12:14 pm    
Reply with quote

I tend to agree that it’s more about the player’s musical ability, desire, and willingness to practice than the difficulty of the instrument itself.
_________________
My Site / My YouTube Channel
25 Songs C6 Lap Steel / 25 MORE Songs C6 Lap Steel / 16 Songs, C6, A6, B11 / 60 Popular Melodies E9 Pedal Steel


Last edited by Doug Beaumier on 17 Sep 2022 7:12 pm; edited 1 time in total
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Matthew Walton


From:
Fort Worth, Texas
Post  Posted 17 Sep 2022 12:32 pm    
Reply with quote

J D Sauser wrote:
Personally, I think that it is easier to use both hands, knees and a foot to craft together just ONE note or a chord. It's a concerted effort on ONE thing, as opposed to playing organ, where the right may be playing a improvised line, the left some syncopated chords and both feet tip-toe the bass line away on a ORGAN. There are 3 musically different things going on at the same time.


Good point about the organ. I was thinking about drums the other day in a similar light; each limb could be playing a totally different rhythm! Sometimes during rehearsal I'll get behind the kit to try to demonstrate a rhythm I want the drummer to play, only to quickly realize I don't belong back there! Shocked

Though maybe someday I'll be able to devote the time to getting proficient at drums. I think it would helpful.
_________________
If something I wrote can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, I meant the other one.

1981 MSA "The Universal" Bb6 S-12 9/5 | 2024 Excel Robostar Bb6 S-12 8/5 | 2009 MSA SuperSlide C6 S-12 | Peavey Nashville 112
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Larry Jamieson


From:
Walton, NY USA
Post  Posted 17 Sep 2022 2:00 pm    
Reply with quote

I own a music store and over the years have learned to play a scale or simple melody on many instruments. Pedal Steel and Violin are the two most difficult, steel because you have 4 things to coordinate and you have to have a good ear, violin because there are no frets, you have to hold it under your chin, and you have to master bowing technique as well as proper fingering, and have a good ear. Guys like Milo Deering who play many instruments at top shelf level blow me away.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Bob Carlucci

 

From:
Candor, New York, USA
Post  Posted 17 Sep 2022 2:25 pm    
Reply with quote

meh,, piece of cake... 3rd fret is G just like a guitar,, 1st pedal on those 3 string grips of the major chord is the relative minor,, add the B pedal and its the IV chord, slide off the A pedal, hit the lever that lowers strings 4 and 8 and there is your V7, or shift the thumb to string 7 and you have the plain old major V chord... can of corn..

I dunno, I was never much more than a mediocre musician, and I never thought pedal steel was all that difficult.. I think there are tougher instruments to learn out there.. Jerry Garcia said basically the same thing.. He found it pretty intuitive, and in one interview said at times it almost felt as though it were playing itself... Its all about physical control, and muscle memory... Some get it quickly, others that might be better musicians struggle.. It is what it is... bob
_________________
I'm over the hill and hittin'rocks on the way down!

no gear list for me.. you don't have the time......
View user's profile Send private message
Tom Vollmer

 

From:
Hamburg, Pennsylvania, USA
Post  Posted 17 Sep 2022 5:14 pm     Number Approach
Reply with quote

Aside from the multiple fingers with picks, Vibrato, and bar control if you can approach the instrument in the scale intervals eg Major 1,2,3,4,5,6,78(1) Minor 6,7,8(1),2,3,4,5
6, and 5th cycle Think your Major Triads strings 3,4,5,6
8,and 10 At a given fret 1chord no pedals or knees. 4 Chord
Ped A+B. 5 Chord 7th degree Ped B and Knee. - 4 and 8 Strings. 6M (1 relative).Ped A, 2 M Major Triads + String 1 and 7,(4 Relative) and Knee - string 4 and 8 3M (5 rel)
You would have at 1 fret 1 Maj, 2 Min, 3 Min 4 Maj, 5 Maj
and 6 Min using Ped A nd B and 1 Knee dropping 4 and 8 1/2
tone That Combination 2 Pedals and 1 Knee would probably
cover a whole night, gig. Something a new player would help understanding the Pedal Steel.Just my Humble Opinion.
View user's profile Send private message
Tracy Sheehan

 

From:
Fort Worth, Texas, USA
Post  Posted 17 Sep 2022 10:55 pm     difficult instruments
Reply with quote

I am sure this will come as a surprise to many but it is not the violin that is the most difficult to master. it is the bow. many old masters taught years on using the bow before learning to note. Any one who doubts this can google it. Google Paganni. Hope i remember how to spell his name
View user's profile Send private message
Tracy Sheehan

 

From:
Fort Worth, Texas, USA
Post  Posted 17 Sep 2022 10:57 pm     difficult instruments
Reply with quote

I am sure this will come as a surprise to many but it is not the violin that is the most difficult to master. it is the bow. many old masters taught years on using the bow before learning to note. Any one who doubts this can google it. Google Paganni. Hope i remember how to spell his name
View user's profile Send private message
Jack Hanson


From:
San Luis Valley, USA
Post  Posted 18 Sep 2022 7:47 am    
Reply with quote

For me, learning to play the swinette was much more difficult than learning to play a pedal steel guitar.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Henry Matthews


From:
Texarkana, Ark USA
Post  Posted 18 Sep 2022 1:27 pm    
Reply with quote

I think fiddle is harder and I play both. Played fiddle many years before I played steel and fiddle is still tough, especially in the studio. Anyone can learn a few fiddle tunes but to make it sound top shelf like Larry J. Said is really difficult. I’m not top shelf on either but steel comes out much better in studio than my fiddle work. Now whether that makes steel easier, I really don’t know but both are very difficult. You either got it or you don’t, lol.
_________________
Henry Matthews

D-10 Magnum, 8 &5, dark rose color
D-10 1974 Emmons cut tail, fat back,rosewood, 8&5
Nashville 112 amp, Fishman Loudbox Performer amp, Hilton pedal, Goodrich pedal,BJS bar, Kyser picks, Live steel Strings. No effects, doodads or stomp boxes.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Brett Day


From:
Pickens, SC
Post  Posted 19 Sep 2022 9:54 am    
Reply with quote

Because of my cerebral palsy, I had to go through several instruments, but as a teenager, I felt like I would be playing keyboards all my life, and I'd try playing along with records on keyboards, and with one hand(my right hand, it wasn't so easy. In 1999, at the age of eighteen, I switched from keyboards to pedal steel, and I remember listening to country records before playing along with them to see if I could play the steel parts. Then, I would play along with the songs and somehow taught myself the steel parts. I remember one time, I decided to see if I could remember anything I played on keyboards, but decided to go back to pedal steel after sitting at the keyboard for five minutes. In 2017, I added dobro to pedal steel, and taught myself songs on it. Pedal steel and dobro are the easiest instruments for me. I have no idea what the hardest instrument is because there are so many different thoughts about it
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website Yahoo Messenger
Susan Alcorn


From:
Baltimore, MD, USA
Post  Posted 23 Sep 2022 2:26 pm    
Reply with quote

Every instrument is difficult to play at a top professional level, but some are easier to get a decent sound out of right off the bat - guitar (Roy Clark's guitar book), piano, kazoo, percussion, etc. And others, like the pedal steel, violin, and oboe, take a bit more work to get a nice sound, even for music that is simple.
_________________
www.susanalcorn.net

"So this is how you swim inward. So this is how you flow outwards. So this is how you pray."
- Mary Oliver
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
John Larson


From:
Pennsyltucky, USA
Post  Posted 23 Sep 2022 5:40 pm    
Reply with quote

Coming to pedal steel with no previous instrument experience, I can't imagine how difficult that is but if you come from fingerstyle guitar you already have one of the aspects down a bit.
If you come from lap steel you have the bar. Keep in mind many of the greats started on lap steel back in the day.

It's a lot all at once.

I still think the theremin is harder as there is zero tactile feedback. Whereas with steel there is tactile feedback of some extent its just a lot of multitasking so it puts it in the class of instruments like the pipe organ.
_________________
Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous; praise is meet for the upright. Give praise to the Lord with the harp, chant unto Him with the ten-stringed psaltery. Sing unto Him a new song, chant well unto Him with jubilation. For the word of the Lord is true, and all His works are in faithfulness. The Lord loveth mercy and judgement; the earth is full of the mercy of the Lord.
- Psalm 33:1-5
View user's profile Send private message
Charlie Hansen


From:
Halifax, NS Canada and Various Southern Towns.
Post  Posted 24 Sep 2022 6:16 am    
Reply with quote

I play every instrument very rhythmically because I played drums first. Many people have asked, "why do you play ------ that way". Because drums were my first instrument. Even as I type this post I'm listening to Johnny Bush and typing to the drummer.
_________________
I don't know much but what I know I know very well.
Carter S-10 3X5, Peavey Nashville 112, plus Regal dobro and too many other instruments to mention.
Bluegrass Island CFCY FM 95.1 Charlottetown, PE, Canada, on the web at cfcy.fm.
A Touch Of Texas CIOE FM 97.5 Sackville, NS, Canada,
on the web at cioe975.ca.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Dennis Lee

 

From:
Forest Grove, Oregon, USA
Post  Posted 24 Sep 2022 8:29 am     Psg
Reply with quote

It's a journey. Some had the privilege of beginning it earlier than others. There is no other instrument that is so addictive and pays back in dividends. As my friend and mentor, Larry Behm, always told me, you have to be in love with the sound. Damn if he wasn't right! There are those that have the gift, but there are those of us that persevere and love the journey. Every day we discover something new and have an ah-ha moment. Whatever level, we derive the same benefits. I appreciate all instruments, but the psg can pull emotions out of you like no other. If you love it, it's no more difficult than any other instrument. It just kind of jelled with me.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Marc Muller


From:
Neptune,NJ USA
Post  Posted 25 Sep 2022 5:46 am    
Reply with quote

Think steel's hard, try fiddle. I've been playing since I was 15 and still sound about as good as I did when I was 14.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Jump to:  
Please review our Forum Rules and Policies
Our Online Catalog
Strings, CDs, instruction, and steel guitar accessories
www.SteelGuitarShopper.com

The Steel Guitar Forum
148 S. Cloverdale Blvd.
Cloverdale, CA 95425 USA

Click Here to Send a Donation

Email SteelGuitarForum@gmail.com for technical support.


BIAB Styles
Ray Price Shuffles for Band-in-a-Box
by Jim Baron