Playing the C neck

Randy Major · From: Kentucky, USA

I played an Emmons SD10 for 30 years but I've just bought a D-10. I'd like to learn to play the C neck without using pedals at first. Any ideas??

Andrew Goulet · Posted 3 Jan 2024 10:42 am

It might be helpful to relearn your primary moves from E9 on C6 without pedals; any favorite licks, transitions, intros, turnarounds, etc... that you use a lot and know by heart. That might make the logic of the new neck more accessible and highlight the difference between the tunings.
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Randy Major · From: Kentucky, USA

Thanks Andrew I'm not familiar with the grabs on the C neck. I would guess they're not the same as the E neck grabs.

Andrew Goulet · Posted 3 Jan 2024 11:41 am

Finding the new grips might be a great first step. I don't have much experience with switching to a new tuning, as I've only done it once or twice, but I definitely needed to get back to basics on the most recent and dramatic change. I went back to the grip exercises I had first done years ago and they really helped.
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Marlen S12 pedal steel
12 string Bill Hatcher lap steel
ZT Club and Lunchbox

Scott Denniston · From: Hahns Peak, Colorado, USA

I've found that Paul Franklin's C6 courses online are a quick way to get up to speed. If you don't want to dive in for the whole year you can have full access on a monthly basis. The "C6 Essentials" starts pretty much at the beginning -- grips & all. I couldn't recommend them more. These are great courses.

Scott Denniston · From: Hahns Peak, Colorado, USA

Also Jim Cohen has an excellent course called "C6 for E9 Players-- or something like that.

Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

If you can find it, Buddy Emmons' "Basic C6" is a good introduction. Got mine from Jim Palenscar.
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Bill McCloskey · From: Nanuet, NY

Doug Jernigan has a patreon page and posts a lot of C6 licks. A youtube channel called Steel Picking has a number of C6 lessons (sorry don't know the name of the steeler). He also has a patreon site.

And there are a ton of C6 lap steel tab out there that can get you started learning the neck. Lessons with Troy has C6 lap steel lessons, all of which can be applied with open strings to the C6 pedal. You'll soon find the pedals help you get rid of the common slants of C6 lap.

I keep a 12 string Superslide in Reece's ext C6 which makes it easy to practice the neck while watching tv on the couch.

And then there is good old fashioned grunt working, mapping out all the pedal/lever combinations for chords in a spreadsheet program like Google Sheets. Also there is a very good app called Steel Side kick that comes with standard copedants and allows you to create your own. you just plug in the chord and or scale you want and you can interactively play with the lever and pedals in any combination to help map out the neck and your specific copedance.
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Dale Rottacker · From: Walla Walla Washington, USA

Randy, I've played E9th since the early 70's, and although I could play some things on C6th back then, I just never connected to it like I did E9th. In fact if you've seen any of my YouTube videos you'd see that playing C6th stuff on E9th was somewhat my "Thing" LOL.

All that said, I knew that the only way I was ever going to connect to C6th was for me to stay off of E9th and try to play everything on C6th. I did that not by taking lessons or by reading tab, cause I'm just a bad student. I did it just by finding some grips that worked and then expanded on them. And then try to hear what each pedal and pedal lever combination made and just stay on it. That method may not work for you, its just the way I process things. Good luck.
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Ron Funk · From: Ballwin, Missouri

Randy -

As a beginning C6th player, you might want to review the 'Steel Without Pedals' section of the Forum for Tablature of C6th six-string Lap Steel songs that don't use any bar slants.

Since the Non-Pedal C6th 6 string tuning (C, E, C, A, C, E) is 'Embedded' into our Pedal Steel C6th 10 string tuning via strings 7 (C) through sting 2 (E),

Those songs / tabs (without any bar slants) should get you familiar with the sounds of the C6 neck, as well as grips for Major and Minor chords.

Ron

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