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Topic: Beginner 6 String Steel |
Richard Vineyard
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 17 Nov 2023 2:59 pm |
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I'm 80 years old and have played some bass for a while using the number system, cant read music, now I just purchased a used Rogue 6 string lapsteel, I changed the tuners to something better, purchased a kit of the internet that allowed me to change the scale to 22.5 with a new nut, bridge and fretboard vinyl overlay. I changed out the pots to better ones, and moved the input jack to the side so that it doesn't come out of the top and added new strings. the ones I installed are for G tuning, I also have a set for C6 and open E. Now after all that I need to learn how to master this thing or at least play it. I play bass at our local church in the praise band and thought it might be nice if I could learn to play the lapsteel and occasionally play at least one song with it a month during the service.
Any and I mean any help will be appreciated as this instrument it totally new to me and Im sure it wont come easy to an 80 year old.
Thanks everyone in advance for any assistance, suggestions and directions I might get.
Rich Vineyard from St Louis, MO |
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Tony Oresteen
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 20 Nov 2023 7:28 pm
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There are a number of on-line lap steel music instructors. Check You Tube.
There are a number of members here who publish written materials that are very good but most of the information for lap steel is for C6 tuning. I personally have bought Doug Beaumier's and Andy Volk's C6 material's and I highly recommend them.
Their websites are:
Doug B:
www.playsteelguitar.com/
Andy V:
www.volkmediabooks.com
For G tuning (I assume that you mean GBDGBD (L2H), also known as Dobro) someone else would have to chime in.
Another popular tuning is Open D (DADF#AD (L2H)) that you will find on-line instruction for.
Check the "For Sale: Music, Lessons, etc." forum on this site.
Good luck!
_________________
Tony
Newnan, GA
Too many guitars, not enough time to play
'72 Sho-Bud 6139, '71 Marlen 210
'78 Fender Stringmaster Quad black
PedalMaster D8 |
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John Viterito
From:
New Jersey, USA
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Posted 27 Nov 2023 7:00 pm
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Lessonswithtroy.com
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Emerald Solace acoustic laps and Rukavina steels. Can't play, but I try! |
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Joel Monson
From:
Alabama, USA
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Posted 28 Nov 2023 3:21 pm
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| There are many sources and resources; Basic C6th Nonpedal Lap Steel Method, by DeWitt Scott, Pub. by Mel Bay, Andy Volk's Books, Doug Beaumier's excellent arrangements, Lessons with Troy, Cindy Cashdollar's Lessons online, Check out John Ely's website for chords, tips, and great knowledge of Lap Steel, and look at the hundred's of videos on YouTube for inspiration, instruction, and fun. If you can find any book by Jerry Byrd, He is the Godfather, and Greg Cutshaw has some great arrangements and riffs on his websites. To summarize, use them all and decide on your own style using bits and pieces from all. I started at age 70 and am enjoying playing for folks at age 78. Best wishes and have fun. |
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Richard Vineyard
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 14 Dec 2023 9:38 am
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| Joel Monson wrote: |
| There are many sources and resources; Basic C6th Nonpedal Lap Steel Method, by DeWitt Scott, Pub. by Mel Bay, Andy Volk's Books, Doug Beaumier's excellent arrangements, Lessons with Troy, Cindy Cashdollar's Lessons online, Check out John Ely's website for chords, tips, and great knowledge of Lap Steel, and look at the hundred's of videos on YouTube for inspiration, instruction, and fun. If you can find any book by Jerry Byrd, He is the Godfather, and Greg Cutshaw has some great arrangements and riffs on his websites. To summarize, use them all and decide on your own style using bits and pieces from all. I started at age 70 and am enjoying playing for folks at age 78. Best wishes and have fun. |
Thank you, I will see what I can find.
Rich |
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Richard Vineyard
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 14 Dec 2023 9:41 am
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| Tony Oresteen wrote: |
There are a number of on-line lap steel music instructors. Check You Tube.
There are a number of members here who publish written materials that are very good but most of the information for lap steel is for C6 tuning. I personally have bought Doug Beaumier's and Andy Volk's C6 material's and I highly recommend them.
Their websites are:
Doug B:
www.playsteelguitar.com/
Andy V:
www.volkmediabooks.com
For G tuning (I assume that you mean GBDGBD (L2H), also known as Dobro) someone else would have to chime in.
Another popular tuning is Open D (DADF#AD (L2H)) that you will find on-line instruction for.
Check the "For Sale: Music, Lessons, etc." forum on this site.
Good luck! |
Thank you, I looked and the link to Doug B. didn't work but it gives me some ideas.
Rich |
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Tony Oresteen
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 15 Dec 2023 1:58 pm
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| Richard Vineyard wrote: |
| Tony Oresteen wrote: |
There are a number of on-line lap steel music instructors. Check You Tube.
There are a number of members here who publish written materials that are very good but most of the information for lap steel is for C6 tuning. I personally have bought Doug Beaumier's and Andy Volk's C6 material's and I highly recommend them.
Their websites are:
Doug B:
www.playsteelguitar.com/
Andy V:
www.volkmediabooks.com
For G tuning (I assume that you mean GBDGBD (L2H), also known as Dobro) someone else would have to chime in.
Another popular tuning is Open D (DADF#AD (L2H)) that you will find on-line instruction for.
Check the "For Sale: Music, Lessons, etc." forum on this site.
Good luck! |
Thank you, I looked and the link to Doug B. didn't work but it gives me some ideas.
Rich |
I can't connect either. I sent a PM to Doug; his site might be having some issues.
_________________
Tony
Newnan, GA
Too many guitars, not enough time to play
'72 Sho-Bud 6139, '71 Marlen 210
'78 Fender Stringmaster Quad black
PedalMaster D8 |
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Stan Frantz
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 30 Dec 2023 10:34 am
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Hi guys,
I'm 70 and started playing about 2 years ago also with a Rogue. No mods yet, probably not likely as I've picked up some vintage lap steels and collecting them somehow became a new hobby as much fun as playing them. I take it that is a very common syndrome! 
I was about to post a similar ask about how to learn more and go to the next level. Found this thread while looking to see if similar posts had been done. I'm going to still post my questions as my concern/goal now is a bit different.
I've found a lot of the above mentioned resources and bought many books, and have progressed enough to really enjoy playing. For myself alone. hahaha
Reading other threads though, I'm quite intimidated by everyone else's knowledge and the arcane language you all speak, which to me is alien and mysterious and impenetrable... but at the same time I want to learn it, to know it, to internalize it, at least to the point I feel I can call myself a musician.
I never had any musical training or instruction. I just learn songs in tablature from books. So far. Although I've learned some from Troy Breininger's videos and highly recommend him to the OP.
So what I'm saying is: How do I learn how to learn? specifically of course, to play the steel guitar.
Which will be the title of my own post, so I don't highjack this one.
Thanks. |
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Joel Monson
From:
Alabama, USA
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Posted 31 Dec 2023 10:18 am
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| The Doug Beaumier website is not a www but: playsteelguitar.com works |
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John Keefe
From:
New York City, USA
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Posted 31 Dec 2023 10:48 am
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Hello Richard,
There is a fellow Forumite named David Decker, in Ohio, who plays pedal steel in a church band. You might contact him through a private message, and get a head start on playing for the congregation audience.
John Keefe
New York City |
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Fred Treece
From:
California, USA
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Posted 1 Jan 2024 11:54 am
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| How do I learn how to learn? |
This is the right question to ask, and it is fully loaded.
So many sincerely well-intentioned books and videos to choose from, all packed with dozens of musical examples and exercises designed to make you a master. They all show you what to play, but darn few of them show you how. Or how to know if you’re doing it right. That is where a good teacher can set you straight, no matter whose method you decide to follow.
After tension-free basic left and right hand technique, I think the most important thing to learn with steel guitar is ear training for pitch. And the easiest and most underrated way to accomplish that is with…learning how to tune. If you learn all the ways of checking the tuning on your guitar, such as with unisons, octaves, and harmonics, you would be well on your way to developing your ear for correct pitch. An added bonus with tuning is that you learn a few of the different fret locations where the same notes (or their octaves) can be found.
Playing a song in tune is what separates the musician from the doodler. |
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Joseph Lazo
From:
Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 18 Feb 2024 12:24 pm
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Hey Rich,
I salute you for taking on this challenge at your age! I'm in my early 60s and just got serious about lap steel over the past few months, but I've been playing guitar since my teens.
I don't know how you play the bass, but if you use a pick I'm going to give you now the single most important bit of advice you'll get: Learn to use your fingers only!
In classical/flamenco guitar, one of the first things you learn is right hand technique (assuming you're right handed). The exercises are P-I-M-A and P-A-M-I. P=pulgar (thumb) I=indice (index finger), A=anular (ring finger) M=medio (middle finger). What does this have to do with lap steel? Everything! You need to have precise control of your picking fingers to play lap steel (or finger style guitar) and the only way to get there is by practicing plucking the strings using your thumb, index finger, middle finger and ring fingers. You can practice this without being plugged in, with or without fingerpicks on. Strive for economy of movement...moving your fingers only as much as required to sound the note. Do the PIMA and PAMI exercises until you don't have to think about it to do it. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Szabolcs Molnár
From:
Hungary
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Posted 2 Mar 2024 10:33 am
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| Tony Oresteen wrote: |
| For G tuning (I assume that you mean GBDGBD (L2H), also known as Dobro) someone else would have to chime in. |
I also wonder if anyone could have some suggestions for the G (dobro) tuning. I was looking around for a bit, but was not sure which are the ones worth paying for. |
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Lloyd Graves
From:
New York, USA
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Posted 2 Mar 2024 1:17 pm
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| Szabolcs Molnár wrote: |
| Tony Oresteen wrote: |
| For G tuning (I assume that you mean GBDGBD (L2H), also known as Dobro) someone else would have to chime in. |
I also wonder if anyone could have some suggestions for the G (dobro) tuning. I was looking around for a bit, but was not sure which are the ones worth paying for. |
G Dobro is the same as high bass A, but tuned up a whole step (two frets). So also look for that material.
Books: Stacy Phillips has Dobro and Hawaiian guitar books (https://www.melbay.com/Author/Default.aspx?AuthorId=37630)- all for G tuning. In my opinion, the accompanying recordings for the Hawaiian guitar book leave a lot to be desired. Either the recordings are the original sources (scratchy 78s) or just snippets from different, highlighted sections.
Tab and backing tracks:
Sebastian Mueller's stuff (Hawaiian steel guitar) is great, and he just offered up some great package deals. He offers his stuff in both in G and A tunings, so you don't need a pitch shifter.
Videos:
Lessons with Troy has a lot of high bass G/Dobro videos. But you need to subscribe now. He goes slowly and methodically. It's been a while since I've looked his stuff over, but I think most of it is bluegrass-focused. Though he had a nice, Slow Old Timey lesson that I went through and enjoyed. I remember there being PDFs to print off that explored the fretboard. I should go back and look at that stuff, actually. Anyhow, it's worth a look.
Homespun Records put out a Hawaiian style by Bob Brozman (https://www.homespun.com/hawaiian-guitar/).
Homespun has Dobro videos for bluegrass, too: https://www.homespun.com/shop. I've never seen them, but I have the Cashdollar C6 video, and that was pretty good. Nice tab and personally filmed
Dobro Joe: https://dobrojoe.com/dobro_school.html. I have no real experience with this guy. I checked it some of his were k early stuff, before he started charging, but I don't recall much about it. I don't remember it being bad, at any rate.
I'm my opinion, is a really good idea to take a lesson or two in person/video early on to avoid forming bad habits. I started with Lessons with Troy and now realize that he doesn't take the time to teach bar control, how to wear picks, how to hold the steel... All of that basic stuff. But the time I took an in person lesson I had gotten in the habit of lifting my bar to block notes, rather than use my right hand.
Anyhow, good luck. |
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Szabolcs Molnár
From:
Hungary
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Posted 2 Mar 2024 2:10 pm
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| Lloyd Graves wrote: |
| (a lot of useful stuff) |
Thank you very much, Lloyd! In-person lessons are really hard here (let's just say that the dobro and/or lap steel players are not to be found easily in our country), but I was thinking to find some good videos which let me start.
I have the Jimmy Heffernan's dobro video series on Truefire. That's a good one, but it's rather designed to those who play some kind of guitar already, which I don't. I was also looking into Abbie Gartner's beginner sessions, which are scheduled to be started from next week. From the few YT videos I have seen, I believe she's a good instructor, so I would have the trust in her lessons, but unfortunately she has some weird ecommerce website which doesn't like my bank card I use everywhere else, so no luck with that one.
Thank you for the recommendations, I now subbed for Troy for three months in advance. Let's see. And thanks again! |
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Lloyd Graves
From:
New York, USA
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Posted 2 Mar 2024 6:07 pm
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No worries!
Troy's lessons really do build from square one, so if Dobro is your first instrument, that'll be great. Having played other instruments, I found his lessons... slow. But the split screen videography is great. And it's nice that he teaches both "the instrument" and specific techniques, and also tune by tune.
There are a bunch of folks that do lessons over the Internet, when you're ready for that.
Are you planning to play bluegrass? It's nice that that style is fairly standardized. |
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Szabolcs Molnár
From:
Hungary
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Posted 2 Mar 2024 10:37 pm
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Indeed, his first video spends about 30 minutes talking about how to select your tuner, strap, or what kind of gear you need in general, which is a lot for sure. But it's reasonable if someone never played an instrument, so I like that he goes into details. Back in school I was playing violin for 10 years, and now, as an adult, I started learning piano (been attending our local music school for three years now). So the general concept of music, or how to tune your instrument, etc.. these are not new. But, coming from playing violin, piano, and never playing guitar, the whole idea of "not really playing from sheet music" is a foreign one.
I would definitely like to play some bluegrass, and maybe do some blues. But first, I would like to familiarize myself with the instrument to feel comfortable on a certain level (got an electric lap steel, but decided to go with the open G dobro tuning - Megan Lovell is using that primarily, plus there seems to be a lot of decent materials for dobro in general).
_________________
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Szabolcs Molnar
Hungary |
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