I'll be Home for Christmas

John D. Carter · From: Canton, Ohio, USA

http://www.freefilehosting.net/download/MzU3MDk=

I have had my steel (a cheap student model) for 1 year now, and am still attempting to learn it. It is a tough instrument to play and this song shows that I am still a beginner. My right side is so dominant that I am finding it extremely difficult to develop a good vibrato technique. My left side seems to simply refuse to function as I want it to. Excuse the BIAB accompaniment, but it is better than nothing. I welcome constructive criticism from all of you pros out there. Merry Christmas and I thank all of you for the great information I have received here on the forum in the past 12 months.

George Keoki Lake · From: Edmonton, AB., Canada

You're getting a neat tone from that guitar, (or amp)...reminds me of my old GIBSON amplifier (tubes) which I had back in the late forties. Your intonation is quite good, just a few slight glitches in the harmony which really go unnoticed by the average listener. I might suggest you refrain from repeating the same note as you attempt to fill the measures...let the main note sustain. JMHO for what it's worth. As a 'beginner', (if indeed you really are), you sound great !!

Alan Brookes · From: Brummy living in Southern California

I hadn't read George's comment until after I listened to the piece and I was struck by the same thing as he was, that it would sound better if you took out a lot of the repetitive notes and just let the instruments sustain from one note to the other. If you come to the steel from a regular guitar, it's difficult to get away from the feeling that you need to fingerpick the rhythm. In this instance you already have the rhythm, and you just need to add the melody.

I've been thinking along these lines myself. I spent so many years playing the Dobro that I have to refrain from trying to play it all at the same time. I have a habit, when I'm playing Hawaiian, for instance, of running up and down the fingerboard trying to hold an entire chord, but listening to Jerry Byrd's backing on Marty Robbins's recently showed me how most of the time you only need two or three strings at a time.

This isn't intended as a criticism, just a suggestion. I enjoyed the piece. Have a good Christmas.

Les Anderson · From: The Great White North

You are doing pretty good for one year on that machine.

I have to second and third the two posters above. It is very easy to put too much clutter into a steel guitar's playing. Listen to the seasoned players and see where they fill and/or just stick to the melody but use bar slides to do the filling where needed.

A word of caution however about bar slides: don't drag the bar up or down the neck in one long drag to get to the next note; especially in slow tempo tunes. Your own ear will tell you when you are closing in on the proper technique.

Your playing sounds great however. You can at least pick out a melody on that thing so you are well over the first big hump.

Paul Arntson · From: Washington, USA

John - Thank you for posting that. I really liked it. You sound way more advanced than the 1 year point.
I also really appreciated the constructive posts by George, Alan and Les. I am going to try to apply those suggestions to my own playing.
Keep up the great playing and analyzing, everyone! And happy holidaze!
-Paul

John D. Carter · From: Canton, Ohio, USA

I appreciate the comments and these points are well taken. Two things immediately come to mind as to why I played this song in this style. First, as I said in my original post, I am struggling with a good vibrato technique, and this style forced me away from having to use it extensively. Secondly, I think that I was trying to better accomodate the jazz style of the accompaniment. George, my amp for this song was a simple little Fishman GII, ran wide open, straight into the mixer, with the treble cut back and the bass elevated to moderate the natural brightness of the single coil. And yes, I have played flat-top bluegrass guitar for some time, but the first time I ever touched a steel bar was almost exactly one year ago. Thanks guys and Merry Christmas!

Les Anderson · From: The Great White North

quote:

John D. Carter Wrote:
First, as I said in my original post, I am struggling with a good vibrato technique, and this style forced me away from having to use it extensively.

John, vibrato is great addition to slow and/or emotional music. It is a beautiful hook when playing a steel solo. One of our forum members, Walter Stettner, is great at it. He knows just when to add it and when and how long it needs to be exercised.

Jerry Byrd however frowned on the over use of vibrato. As he said, and he was so right on it, some can do it while others end up making their steel playing sound like a billy goat.

Vibrato does take a lot of practice if you are not naturally inclined to do right from the start of your learning curve. Vocalists have a terrible time with it. Compare Randy Travis to Eddy Arnold or, or Garth Brooks to George Straight. Two, Travis & Brooks, have very rapid vibrato in their voices where two, Arnold & Straight, have easy and smooth vibrato. Vibrato works the same for steel guitar players and well. Some can and some can’t; plain and simple. Don’t let your thoughts of vibrato over-ride your confidence or distract from your playing. From the recording you posted here, you are off to a great start.

I almost forgot.

The two techniques for gaining vibrato is either actually sliding the bar slightly or rolling it on the strings. I prefer rolling my bar so I don’t get that zinging noise on the wound strings. A warning here as well; some (maybe many) players cannot seem to keep their bar “flat” on the strings when doing their vibrato. The "heel" (I am still learning to spell

) of their hand becomes heavy on the bar. Watch for it.

[This message was edited by Les Anderson on 24 December 2006 at 09:47 AM.]

George Keoki Lake · From: Edmonton, AB., Canada

Also, a bad habit is a wide vibrato...can almost make the listener feel 'sea-sick' !
In our 18 piece Big Band (I play r/guitar), we had a chap who played alto sax very well...however his vibrato sounded as though he was a graduate of the Guy Lombardo band. He just didn't fit with the section, wouldn't change so he was toast. Use vibrato with taste, don't abuse it.

Forum Index > Steel Without Pedals		Next oldest topic :: Next newest topic

All times are GMT - 8 Hours	Jump to: