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Topic: Superficial Enticement |
Bob Hayes
From:
Church Hill,Tenn,USA
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Posted 27 Jun 2006 7:25 am |
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Bill,
Glad to see you on the Forum again.
Grouchy |
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Dick Wood
From:
Springtown Texas, USA
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Posted 27 Jun 2006 7:49 pm
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Somehow I don't think I will ever hear a bunch of 14 year olds standing around in the record section at Best Buy saying "Dude,like have you heard Paul Franklin's latest solo"?..."it's freakin awesome man"!...Yeah, I think my old man's gettin me that fessy I've been wanting but he's waverin on account of the cost and my mom's enticeing him to get her somethin.
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Cops aren't paid much so I steel at night. |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 28 Jun 2006 8:48 am
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IMHO, I think it boils down to one thing, what I call the "herd instinct". The straight guitar is for ones who want to be like, or try to emulate, everyone else. They want to be accepted by and associate with the masses. The pedal steel appeals to the direct opposite type of person. They are the ones who want to be different, to take "the path less traveled". They are enthralled by the unique sound, and not by the mere popularity of the instrument.
Just look in the Musician's Friend catalog...hundreds of straight guitars, and only two or three steels. That gives you some idea of the exclusivity of this instrument. I don't think that price has a thing to do with it. They have several guitars well over $10,000 in the latest catalog. Shucks, most banjo players pay almost as much for a banjo as we pay for an instrument that's 100 times as complicated! Steels, with the very best at 3k to 5k, are the biggest bargain you can get. Weight? Has anyone tried to hump around a Marshall stack, and the requisite dozen floor pedals and 3 or 4 guitars that most straight guitar players normally schlep around? Wierd tunings? Have you seen how fast a kid can master a bunch of video games, or a computer? Complexity means little to them, I don't think that a few different pedals would be a problem for most kids...if it was a popular pastime/instrument.
Nope! It's simply a matter of "straight guitar players just want to be like everyone else", and "steelers just want to be a little different". 
Oh yeah, there is the "other advantage" to playing straight guitar, you can make a lot of money and meet a lot of babes...very hard to do that with a steel.[This message was edited by Donny Hinson on 28 June 2006 at 09:56 AM.] |
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Billy Carr
From:
Seminary, Mississippi, USA (deceased)
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Posted 28 Jun 2006 5:40 pm
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| It's an ADDICTION! Even when a player gets burned out over a period of years and lays off playing for a while, it's still there and will probably always be there. That is, the passion for steel guitar. The PSG takes us to places we might never get to go otherwise. It opens many, many doors and even closes one every now and then. But for every door that closes, there's usually about ten that open. The greatest instrument in the world: STEEL GUITAR |
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Ben Jones
From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
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Posted 29 Jun 2006 7:41 am
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| might as well show a kid a tuba.."how'd ya like to play this thing son?"....meanwhile the kid looks over his shoulder and sees the TV display where C.C. Deville is finger tapping on MTV, supermodels on each arm, pyro going off |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 29 Jun 2006 8:23 am
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It certainly doesn't help that everyone who plays steel guitar and another instrument, any other instrument, to a man declares that the steel guitar is the hardest darn thing they've ever tried to deal with. They're telling the truth, of course, but you don't have to tell the kiddies that, do you?
The nu-metal guitar kids don't even have to solo anymore, and they've got this thing called "drop-D tuning" so that you can play all your songs with one finger. One could argue that learning to play six-string like Andres Segovia does, actually, take more skill than learning to play like George Thorogood, but THOROGOOD COULD BLOW SEGOVIA OFF THE STAGE, DUDE - anyday. Especially now that Segovia's dead. |
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Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
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Posted 29 Jun 2006 8:27 am
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| Quote: |
| might as well show a kid a tuba.."how'd ya like to play this thing son?" |
There is big money in the lower brass: [This message was edited by Earnest Bovine on 29 June 2006 at 10:33 AM.]
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Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
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Posted 29 Jun 2006 9:48 am
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David M.,
There is little doubt that the teens of this day and age can be dissuaded by hearsay. Most are fully aware that with practice, their goals to succeed can be realized. There never has been an intent to intimidate, or to envision the steel guitar as an off limits instrument.
Those who ardently seek new challenges, will find a wonderful new experience seated at a pedal steel guitar.
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George McLellan
From:
Duluth, MN USA
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Posted 29 Jun 2006 11:07 am
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Ernest, Which one is lowest in tone, the tuba or Sousaphone?
Geo |
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Barry Blackwood
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Posted 29 Jun 2006 12:42 pm
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| George, you're a poet and don't know it. Nice picture, David. You have a very Earnest look on your face ...... |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 29 Jun 2006 12:52 pm
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"It certainly doesn't help that everyone who plays steel guitar and another instrument, any other instrument, to a man declares that the steel guitar is the hardest darn thing they've ever tried to deal with"
In my experience telling a teenager that something is hard is hardly a deterrent. Makes them want to prove you wrong or master something that others can't. Hence the term "noob" and "owned" in the world of video games. It is the challanging and difficult that makes one motivated, not the other way. |
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Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
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Posted 29 Jun 2006 1:17 pm
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| Quote: |
| Which one is lowest in tone, the tuba or Sousaphone? |
They are the same, because a sousaphpnes are tubas. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Posted 29 Jun 2006 1:44 pm
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I teach guitar lessons to 45 kids a week, ages: 8 through 20’s, and these kids couldn’t care less about pedal steel guitar. They associate PSG with country music, which they absolutely hate. Even when I demonstrate rock/blues sounds on the pedal steel for them they have no interest in it. They just can’t relate to PSG at all. I might as well be showing them some kind of ancient Chinese doo-whacka-doo.
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My Site | My SteelTab
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Theresa Galbraith
From:
Goodlettsville,Tn. USA
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Posted 29 Jun 2006 2:11 pm
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I think the builders have plenty of orders to keep them busy.
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Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
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Posted 29 Jun 2006 4:32 pm
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Barbara Mandrell played pedal steel so well at age 11 that her father decided to take her to a music trade convention in Chicago. She has been an inspiration throughout her career. Hopefully, others will follow her interest in the steel guitar. |
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Charlie McDonald
From:
out of the blue
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Posted 30 Jun 2006 4:25 am
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| I would really like a pedal koto. |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 30 Jun 2006 4:54 am
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"these kids couldn’t care less about pedal steel guitar."
My understanding is that the strongest interest in pedal steel from youngsters is coming from the Sacred Steel community. I don't know if anyone has any facts in that area but I remember seeing a line of kids waiting to step up to a row of Carters at a Sacred Steel convention. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Posted 30 Jun 2006 7:48 am
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| That true, Sacred Steel has exposed a lot of young people to PSG. A lot of people under 25 know who Robert Randolph is. I wonder how many of those people are actually buying and playing pedal steels though? There are probably a few teenagers out there playing steel guitar, but you have to seach far and wide to find one. They're as rare as hen's teeth. |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 30 Jun 2006 8:51 am
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| Depends on where you are looking. If you are looking in places like the House of God church in Newark, you might find quite few hens teeth. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Posted 30 Jun 2006 9:29 am
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Sacred Steel is alive and well for sure, but that "Enticement" has yet to catch on with young people in general, sorry to say. The average kid in this country has no idea what a pedal steel guitar is, and most of them don't want to know, sadly.
I think there are a number of reasons for this: Steel Guitar is stereotyped Country (right or wrong) which is a style that most kids don't like, it's expensive, it's not portable (like a regular guitar), it's complicated, not easy to play, etc.
In my 30 years of teaching guitar/steel full-time I have had maybe 5 steel guitar students under the age of 20. I would like to see an upsurge of interest in steel among young folks, but I don't expect that to happen any time soon. Robert Randolph is well known to youngsters. Most of the kids I teach know who he is... but they don't recognize the instrument he's playing [This message was edited by Doug Beaumier on 30 June 2006 at 11:13 AM.] |
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Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
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Posted 30 Jun 2006 11:17 am
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The intricate harmonies and tonal qualities of the steel guitar, far exceed vocal prompting as a means of introducing the instrument to youthful musicians. Those who have become advanced players, would resist any notion to abandon the steel guitar, and move on to a new endeavor. The young musically inclined masses, trooping in and out of music outlets, depend on their ears to help them in choosing an instrument. Special tunings combined with string stretching on the steel may serve to prove more in terms of versatility. If done properly, it will turn heads instantly. The transition involving attitude changes will require a proper approach to the steel guitar's viability.
Bill[This message was edited by Bill Hankey on 30 June 2006 at 12:22 PM.] [This message was edited by Bill Hankey on 30 June 2006 at 05:35 PM.] |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 30 Jun 2006 11:58 am
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| Actually, I think if anything is going to entice today's youth it is going to be lap steel, not pedal steel. the immediacy,the sound, the individuality, the portability, as well as the fact that the lap steel sound has permeated more types of modern rock and pop music give me more reason to believe that will be the form of steel that has the best chance of taking off with today's youth. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Posted 30 Jun 2006 12:49 pm
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| I agree! A musical performance is visual as well as "audial". It's hard to generate excitement on stage when you're planted in a chair, staring down at a cluster of strings, thinking about pedals and levers. A lap steel player is more likely to bust out and grab the attention of young audiences. |
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Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
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Posted 30 Jun 2006 1:34 pm
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Junior Brown will be performing at Wahconah Park on Aug. 26 with Bob Dylan. The Park is less than a mile from my home. Junior Brown invented the "guit-steel" which could prove to be an enticement to many who are beset with indecision.
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David L. Donald
From:
Koh Samui Island, Thailand
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Posted 30 Jun 2006 10:53 pm
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I can hear, in my head, Koto and lapsteel duets,
over bass and drums. Pretty cool sound.
I was at a chinese new years dinnner at a
restaurant in Framingham mass several years back.
There were several musicains doing a special
show for the New year.
One very nice lady played koto for about an hour.
I asked to try it after listening through dinner,
and she said yes. I of course had an hour to absorb her melodic ideas,
and just repeated, more or less, what I had heard.
She stopped me and asked how long I had been studying Koto?
Who is my teacher?
I said, "Oh, uh you are..
since you started playing during dinner."
Her jaw rather dropped.
It is a lovely instrument; a harp that can bend notes and warble.
it's on my list of instruments I want in my collection.
Superficial =
not deep or penetrating emotionally or intellectually
Enticements =
2: qualities that attract by seeming to
promise some kind of reward [syn: lure, come-on]
3: the act of influencing by exciting hope or desire
So basically we are talking about the young just seeing little,
or only a passing, hope of reward for playing steel.
And a limited intelectualy inspiring end for them.
They just can't comprehend how much of a brain teaser it will be for them,
hence a suitable challenge for their intelects.
It seems most steelers come to it late ;
a) Because of cumulative exposure to steel over time
b) And increased intelectual desire to learn this difficult instrument.
No wonder kids pick the razor electric guitar,
for more direct gratification,
and only later expand through slide guitar,
and other styles like Hawaiian etc,
into actualy wanting to play PSG.
[This message was edited by David L. Donald on 30 June 2006 at 11:56 PM.] |
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