Develop Your Own Style (or not!)

Terry Edwards · From: Florida... livin' on spongecake...

I am a guitarist (35 yrs) and a mandolinist (25 yrs). During my many years of playing experience I can say that I have developed my own unique style although I acknowledge many influences and I am occassionally compared to some of those by casual listeners. I am comfortable with that and I am proud to be able to play in my own style. Improvising and letting your soul come through, especially if others are enjoying it, is the ultimate!

Now for the problem.

At 45 years old I fell in love with the pedal steel guitar. I never really liked pedal steel as a young man but that's another story! I guess you don't always get to choose what you fall in love with - sometimes it just happens!

What I have discovered is that the pedal steel guitar is an awesome instrument in many respects. It is highly complex both mechanically and in playability. It is a highly expressive instrument that requires an incredible amount of technique to bring out that expressiveness.

Mine is a monster with two necks, twenty strings, eight pedals, six knee levers, tuning impliments at both ends, and requires three finger picks and a slippery chrome plated steel bar. When I play I feel like I am driving on black ice with my eyes closed!!

Now to the topic:

I want to have my own style just like I do with guitar and mandolin. But this instrument requires so much time to get good on it that there isn't enough years left in my life! I still enjoy playing it and have resigned myself to the fact that I may never aquire a unique style and may in fact live out my steel guitar playing years emulating other steel players that I have learned from.

I am OK with that.

To other steel players that have taken up this instrument late in life or that haven't had as much time to spend at it as the pro players and semi-pro players do, I say it is OK. If you enjoy what you are doing, don't worry about being criticized for being a copy cat-clone player and not developing your own style. The steel guitar player spectrum runs from pro-players to bedroom players and from Elks Club players to church players. From county fair players to recording studio players. All are valid.

If you have developed your own style, congratulations!

If you are just having fun playing the steel guitar, congratulations!

I'm OK and so are you.

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Terry Edwards
Fessy D-10; Nash 1000
Martin D-21; Flatiron F-5

Jack Francis · From: Queen Creek, Arizona, USA

Any one who plays any instrument, regardless
of the outside influences, plays "in thier own style." You can't help it...it's the way you are.
We gotta just relax and enjoy the ride and hopefully improve with "seat time". (as the race car folks say)
Welcome aboard.
P.S. My wife was raised in Layton...a long time ago.

[This message was edited by Jack Francis on 26 September 2003 at 07:53 AM.]

[This message was edited by Jack Francis on 26 September 2003 at 07:54 AM.]

C Dixon · From: Duluth, GA USA

It is good to have your own style. I have known players that copied exactly what their idols did. And in a half a dozen cases they came sooo close it was uncanny. I have never had a problem with this. And I admire that talent whenever I see it. I neither see it as a plus or a minus.

There are others that refuse to copy anyone; even a lick; and I have seen several instances of where an altercation almost ensued over it; when a singer or other player suggested they play what someone else did on a recording.

I saw this one night on the old Friday nite opry which was broadcast from the WSM building. Tompaul Glaser asked the steel player (who shall remain nameless) to do a break like Lloyd Green did on the recording.

The player minced NO words in enforming Tompaul, "I am NOT Lloyd Green, I will play it MY way or you get yourself another steel player!!!" Interestingly Tompaul did not say anymore; the steel player kicked it off and breaked it the way HE wished to.

One final note. This player is one of the most revered players in the world. So to each his own. (NO it was NOT Buddy Emmons

)

So it runs the gamut. I do know this. In most cases, IF a player does not play certain songs almost identical to the classic recording, he might find himself without a job.

So my advice is; develop your own style of course. But do learn the clasics.
And try to play them as close as you can to the original. The most classical example I know of is "Together Again, and "Look at Us". Unfortunately, there are many many of them. Then as you become respected in your own right, begin to let "YOU" and "yours" shine.

In any case, May our precious Savior lead you in the right direction,

carl

Bobby Lee · From: Cloverdale, California, USA

I think that if you figure out your own parts on songs, you will gravitate towards having your own style. If you learn your parts from tab, you will gravitate more towards the styles of the folks who originated the parts.

Most players have a blend of the two, having learned from tab and from figuring things out on their own. That blend is their personal style.

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Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (C6add9),
Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6),
Roland Handsonic, Line 6 Variax

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Don't worry Terry, you have "time" to be a fine steeler. How fast you progress will depend on many things, your determination and committment being the most significant. Generally, what we get out of something is directly related to what we put into it.

Your own voice, or "style" on the instrument is already in you. All you have to do is express it! Different things appeal to different people, and when any two players are listening to some great player, they will focus on different elements of what he is doing. You'll find some things will come easy to you, and others quite hard. This is based on your own physiology, and how your brain is "wired". What you like personally, and the influences you have been/will be exposed to will also come into play. Your style will be a little different than anyone else's, and this difference will increase---as long as you don't listen to and pattern yourself after any single player. Your exposure to the various quirks and advantages of the instrument will be different than anybody's. You'll always hear things a little bit different than anybody else. In essence, what you, yourself, like will become your "style".

Though you have some influence in which "direction" you will go, I personally feel that, by and large, our likes and dislikes (as far as what we enjoy playing) are already in us..."burned in our memory", so to speak. Those things...those licks, sounds, styles, and phrasings that we first notice (even sometimes before we begin to play, ourselves), stay with us forever. They haunt us. A player's style never changes completely. It is only "refined" through his lifetime on the instrument.

Don't work, and try to "create" your own style, just let it come naturally. Listen to your heart, and to that little voice inside, and try to make that emotion come out through the instrument. Do that well, and the "style" part will take care of itself!

Calvin Walley · From: colorado city colorado, USA

shucks folks , i would be happy just to be able to copy anybody

Earnest Bovine · From: Los Angeles CA USA

quote:
the steel player kicked it off and breaked it the way HE wished to.

One final note. This player is one of the most revered players in the world. So to each his own.

Carl,

Who was it?

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

So how would ya feel if someone said.."Man you sound just like Loyd or Buddy "..

That would not be a bad day...

After you play for awhile,just like on your other Instruments you will develop your own identity..maybe style whatever..even if you don't and just play like one of your favorite players..that also would be a good day..

have fun

good luck

tp

Larry Bell · From: Englewood, Florida

I'm with Calvin on this one.
I developed my own style for one reason:
I'm LAZY
It's a WHOLE lot easier for me to make up something than to sweat over figuring out exactly what someone else did. When I listen to other people's solos, there may be one or two little phrases that are worth learning and the rest is no better than what I can come up with. And IT'S A WHOLE LOT EASIER TO PLAY WHAT I WANT TO PLAY. I've never had a band complain so I must be doing something right.

Once you can more or less play what you hear in your head, you have the ammo you need to develop your own style. Be lazy. It's much more fun.

What you end up studying is how players you admire approach the instrument. A few signature licks to get the feel of their styles. Specific techniques that you may not have mastered like vibrato and attack. You also study the anatomy of a solo -- tension and release -- scales and harmonies -- finding where the NOTES are not where the LICKS are (sometimes they can be the same).

A lot of this stuff you probably already know from your extensive experience playing other instruments. Applying it to the steel will not take nearly as long since you've played the game before.

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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

[This message was edited by Larry Bell on 26 September 2003 at 05:28 PM.]

Damir Besic · From: Nashville,TN.

There is not enough years left in anybody`s life to master PSGwe can only hope that we are doing ok and progressing and most important that we have fun doing it...

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Charles Curtis · Posted 27 Sep 2003 5:58 am

Oh to be able to sound like Jay Dee Maness and have his keen ear and ability to build a PSG from scratch (or any of the other greats). I've found after practicing someone's tab, no matter how hard I try, I still play it my way. I believe Jerry Byrd said "no two people play the instrument the same". The only way I know to sound good is to practice and practice some more.

David L. Donald · From: Koh Samui Island, Thailand

Think of the TAB as shortcuts to get licks, but think for yourself.
All the steel players you listen too have developed thier own style. Why shouldn't you.

A great music teacher of mine said one thing that long after sticks with me.

"Learn everything, and then forget it.
What comes out later will be your's."

Wayne Morgan · From: Rutledge, TN, USA

People are always comparing my playing to Buddy or Lloyd,,and I hate that !!!!
They say "Compared to Buddy or Lloyd, you can't play jack squat"
I can sit and listen to the greats all day, but when I sit down at my steel, I'm the only steel player in the world.

what fun,,,,,,,,,,,
Wayne

PS,,, I had to edit, I spelled Buddy with a little "b" and I would never dis-respect that name !!

[This message was edited by Wayne Morgan on 29 September 2003 at 06:57 PM.]

Larry Bell · From: Englewood, Florida

I'm always concerned when a player needs tab to learn a song. If that player wants to learn to be a musician, he/she will have to train the ear to hear intervals and pedal slurs and figure out how (and WHY) something was played. Otherwise, like many players, they can never hope to become more than a music box: turn the crank and go through the motions.

I'm all for analyzing the styles of the great players and understanding how they did what they did on records, but when the emulation extends to 'note for note' -- EVERY lick, every solo, they can only hope to be a good parrot. I would not personally find that to be rewarding at all.

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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

David L. Donald · From: Koh Samui Island, Thailand

And as noted elsewhere, they often played differently on different takes.
But we just hear the final released version,
where everybody on the track played best cumulatively.

Jack Francis · From: Queen Creek, Arizona, USA

"I'm all for analyzing the styles of the great players and understanding how they did what they did on records, but when the emulation extends to 'note for note' -- EVERY lick, every solo, they can only hope to be a good parrot. I would not personally find that to be rewarding at all."

That may be good for larry...BUT What the hell, Who are we playing for?

The folks in the crowd could care less if we learned a lick note for note. They only know what they hear. If what we do works well with the song,,GREAT!

How many steel players show up and critique our work when we play out? And if they did they'd only smile and say, WOW, He almost sounded like Buddy!.

Larry Bell · From: Englewood, Florida

Who do I play for?
First and foremost, the audience.
however . . .
I have to satisfy myself, AND I'm my own harshest critic. If I think I played well I DID.

I don't ignore the fact that I wouldn't be there if it weren't for the audience, but if I satisfy myself I'll satisfy any expectations the audience might have, steel players or not.

BTW, Jack,
What was it you took exception to in my reply that you quoted? Just curious. I was certainly NOT advocating playing somebody else's licks off records all night.

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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

[This message was edited by Larry Bell on 30 September 2003 at 03:10 PM.]

Jack Francis · From: Queen Creek, Arizona, USA

Larry...

"I'm always concerned when a player needs tab to learn a song. If that player wants to learn to be a musician, he/she will have to train the ear to hear intervals and pedal slurs and figure out how (and WHY) something was played. Otherwise, like many players, they can never hope to become more than a music box: turn the crank and go through the motions."

Seems a bit condescending,,Eh?

Some of us need more prompts than our inate abilities when we are attempting to wade through uncharted musical waters. The unwashed masses need to somehow feel good about what were doing.

Jack

Jack Francis · From: Queen Creek, Arizona, USA

Larry...

"I'm always concerned when a player needs tab to learn a song. If that player wants to learn to be a musician, he/she will have to train the ear to hear intervals and pedal slurs and figure out how (and WHY) something was played. Otherwise, like many players, they can never hope to become more than a music box: turn the crank and go through the motions."

Seems a bit condescending,,Eh?

Some of us need more prompts than our innate abilities when we are attempting to wade through uncharted musical waters. The unwashed masses need to somehow feel good about what were doing.

Jack

Larry Bell · From: Englewood, Florida

It was certainly not intended as condescending, Jack. I'm sorry it came across that way. I realize that this medium is certainly not optimal in conveying nuances of meaning, but I meant exactly what I said. The only edit I would make is to insert 'experienced player' for 'player'. I meant no disrespect toward anyone.

My concern is that folks realize there's more to aspire to than being able to play something someone else has written out. For example, something as simple as playing chords along with the rhythm track can help orient the player to where useful notes for improvisation might lie. Many don't learn to do that, even though they've learned the piece note for note and can play it perfectly, according to the tab.

My point was simply that relying too heavily on something that comes from someone else's head can prevent musical growth and development of one's own style. You don't have to be a pro player to learn to find chords in all positions and play something that's NOT written on the page. Once the player understands where chord positions are located, the ability to find new musical ideas is born.

Sorry if I offended anyone. I have talked to many players who would like to 'take it to the next level' but don't have a clue how to do it. It was merely a suggestion that has worked for me. Of course, I have been playing for many years and may underestimate how daunting this task of learning the instrument can be.

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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

Larry Bell · From: Englewood, Florida

Cut me some slack, Cohen.

I didn't summarily dismiss ANYTHING. Perhaps my language was too general. Most classical or art music is intended to be played exactly as written, but the nuances are what separate an adequate from a world class musician. It was not always so in the world of art music, particularly in the Baroque era.

Most music that is played on steel, be it country, swing, jazz, whatever, is improvisational in nature. A good friend of mine is a world class concert violinist with the credentials and resume to prove it. Couldn't improvise his way out of a wet paper bag. It's not important for him to, except when he poses as a fiddle player. Of course, wearing the white tie and tails is a reat tipoff.

The ability to learn a melody right off a page is IMPORTANT. But being able to play around with that melody and make it something your own is important too.

Bill Llewellyn · From: San Jose, CA

I've put together a number of my own instrumentals over the years in a home studio (pre-steel). When I'd play some newly formed composition for my wife or some friend(s), I'd sometimes get the remark, "Oh yes, that's definitely you!" I think they meant it as a compliment, but I'd get mixed feelings about that statement. Was it recognizable as being "me" because I had accomplished my own discernable style, as this thread is discussing, or was it just that I used the same licks repeatedly and gravitated towards using similar chord patterns in different songs? I'm a bit too subjective about my own music to be able to accurately answer that question. But since I am not a real music pro and my time available to develop a lot of skill and latitude is quite limited, I fear the latter (repetitiveness) is actually the case. This has made me try harder to make any new composition I write sound different from my others. And that has made my song collection rather eclectic. For better or for worse....

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Bill, steelin' since '99 | Steel page | My music | Steelers' birthdays | Over 50?

Jack Francis · From: Queen Creek, Arizona, USA

Joey Ace · From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

"You Sound Just Like Buddy"
Story Here.

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