It Looks "Easy", I Think I'll Try It

Bill Hankey · From: Pittsfield, MA, USA

"It looks easy, I think I'll try it", and another future steeler is born. The newcomer may be borne of the qualities that will lead to harmonic effects, ultimately inspiring others to become familiar with the instrument. The number of individuals who have walked away after lesson number one, will never be known. Yearnings for pleasant harmonic sounds are triggered by their absence over long periods of time.

Ben Jones · From: Seattle, Washington, USA

I more often hear the opposite.."That looks really hard. I am scared to try it"

then when they see how much these things costs they REALLY get scared

Lem Smith · From: Long Beach, MS

I remember one guy telling me once, "If you can play that thing, I KNOW I can." I offered him to sit down and have at it. About 10 minutes later, he had a complete change of heart! Laughing

Pedal steel guitar: It has humbled more than one person, for sure! Shocked

Bent Romnes · From: London,Ontario, Canada

The better the player, the easier it looks.

Just today I had a visit from a math teacher who is semi retired. He bought some lumber from me. When he saw the steel sitting there in the shop he was drawn towards it like a moth to a flame. It turns out this man financed his university education in the 60's by playing guitar in a rock band.
He was instantly awe-struck by it's very construction; when I up-ended the thing and showed him rods and bell cranks he was instantly interested. No "that looks easy" attitude. On the contrary, he was properly awed by pedals, knee levers etc and once I sat down and showed him how they work, the first words out of his mouth " I would have a problem with that..to work a pedal and a knee lever in unison, plus work the volume pedal.

I was amused at his reaction and very pleased that here was no dummy standing in front of me: A math teacher and a former guitar player. And here I was, teaching the teacher so to speak; little ole me with no education to speak of, but a little knowledge of how the pedal steel works. But I could see it in his eyes and detect in his attitude that this is not the last I will see of him. I predict that he will be back to look the steel over once more. Maybe next time he will bring his guitar and we can have a little jam?

I definitely think that the ones who have the proper respect for the steel, would never utter those words, Bill.
Lem, what you said is so true...Steel is a very humbling instrument. Do we realize that we are likely playing the most difficult instrument in the world?

That would be a different thread though, but great discussion material none the less.

Bill Duve · From: Limestone .New York, USA

Andy Jones · From: Mississippi

When I took up the steel 3years ago at age 53,I honestly thought I would be a fair player in about a year.To my suprise,it is taking me much longer to arrive at this level.I had been around music and had been familiar with steel guitar a long time,knowing what was involved to play one.Nonetheless,I am not intimidated or frustrated with the instrument.The music part of the steel isn't the tough part.Learning to hold the bar,working the volume pedal,getting those fluid movements of the pedals and knee levers,and,most of all for me,vibrato,have been the real challenges of the instrument.However,I will prevail,for I've never quit anything but bad habits.All things said,I've never been under the illusion that the steel guitar would be easy.As I've said before,if it was easy,everybody and his brother would be playing one.

Andy

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

Glen Derksen · From: Alberta, Canada

I'm very fortunate that I'm not finding it as hard as other beginners are because of my 30 years of guitar playing experience. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I'm finding it easy, and it is challenging, but I am taking to it quite well for such a complex instrument in terms of eye, hand, foot co-ordination, phrasing, fluid movement, pedal operation etc. I sure have a lot to learn and explore, though...and I'm enjoying it! Cool

Bill Hankey · From: Pittsfield, MA, USA

Then there are the illusionists who will all but convince you that somewhere in their past 50 years of living they "played" a steel guitar. Upon questioning, you may find that the illusion was further "played" out by the existence of a catalog lap steel that wound up in a collector's heap of "collectibles". Not once would there be restraints in the EXAGGERATED claim of once playing a "steel guitar". While towering over your steel, they will insist upon having been dedicated to "playing" a lap steel at some point in life. Usually, upon futher questioning, the illusionist will politely turn and be seated. Sensing a lack of absolute gullibility in the real player, is more than enough reason to hightail it back to the partying guests.

Sam White R.I.P. · From: Coventry, RI 02816

Hi there Mr. Bill Hankey.Nice to see you om the forum.Well I have been sitting behind the Steel Guitar for 11 years now and I feel I have not gained that much on the Steel Guitar.I knew nothing about music or Steel Guitar all I wanted to do is play one. Well like I said its been 11 long hard years and I still can not play with a band or Rythem tracks. I just can not get the timming down and I have a problem hearing and I don't hear the cord changes.Be getting my hearing Aids from the VA the 20th of November and then maybe I will do better.
I have this big Steel Show comming up this Sunday and I will try to wessel my way out of playing.I will take it and then hope we run out of time so I don't have to play and feel embarrased.
Sam White

Sam White R.I.P. · From: Coventry, RI 02816

Hi there Mr. Bill Hankey.Nice to see you om the forum.Well I have been sitting behind the Steel Guitar for 11 years now and I feel I have not gained that much on the Steel Guitar.I knew nothing about music or Steel Guitar all I wanted to do is play one. Well like I said its been 11 long hard years and I still can not play with a band or Rythem tracks. I just can not get the timming down and I have a problem hearing and I don't hear the cord changes.Be getting my hearing Aids from the VA the 20th of November and then maybe I will do better.
I have this big Steel Show comming up this Sunday and I will try to wessel my way out of playing.I will take it and then hope we run out of time so I don't have to play and feel embarrased.
Sam White

Bill Hankey · From: Pittsfield, MA, USA

Sam,

If you travel near Pittsfield, Ma., stop by to visit. Pack in your steel. Let me hear what you've learned in those 11 years. I've never heard you play. How are you doing with the 4th & 8th strings raises and lowers? The E9th tuning requires that a player uses the 2nd string lower. Are you getting the benefits from the 7th chords? There are two excellent melodies that are perfect for solo instrumentals. If you haven't done so already, give them a try. "The Wild Side Of Life" and "Pick Me Up On Your Way Down" are good calling cards to break the "ice" in country circles. Play them well, and you'll see who is and who isn't country. George Edwards had a great rendition of "The Wild Side Of Life". It was Kitty's answer to Hank Thompson's "Honky Tonk Angels". They were performing at "Indian Ranch", in Webster, Ma., circa 1985.

Bill Hankey · From: Pittsfield, MA, USA

Dave Mudgett,

It's very difficult to determine where that squeak in the "forest" had originated from. Would you agree? When to move on some signal, that may lead to clues, as to why people think and act out their true feelings, is the question. There are always reserves of intentions to relate to, that would help if brought to the table for discussions. Therein lies the catch! Those who try to cover too many bases at one time, have very little to offer, when confronted with a direct line of questions; as they apply to the steel guitar.

Glen Derksen · From: Alberta, Canada

deleted

Glen Derksen · From: Alberta, Canada

oops again!

Bill Hankey · From: Pittsfield, MA, USA

What could be more objectionable, than resourcefully deflecting interests? Taking part in waging an unstoppable interest in belittling discourses seems to be gaining in popularity. Whatever it is that stirs the pen, to become activated by individual writers, is apparently not that easy to determine. They seem to possess an independent train of thinkings, and when expressed, pulls each writer away from the thoughts of others. The so-called "who cares" attitude has been spread about by those who really do need something to trivialize a bungled concept. One of the most irritating behaviors in the land, is experiencing meeting up with an albatross, in the form of absolute bullheadedness. Shops commonly contain conglomerates of personnel bumping and shoving under the watchful eyes of managerial constituencies. I thank my lucky stars for allowing me to recognize a better way of life. One that has included fulfilling my wishes to be able to study into the workings of a good country band. Here in New England, there are musicians who can earn a living within a fairly downsized radius, in communicating with the public. People in general don't locate permanently in one location. The percentages are unknown, and with the current mortgage crisis, and unemployment, resulting from closing work places, makes the musician's ability to thrive, a good option.

Ray Minich · From: Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra

Easy...? uh-huh...

Yup, just like swingin' a golf club...

Ned McIntosh · From: New South Wales, Australia

This is one truly bewitching instrument! It seduces our senses with its looks and sound. It captivates and entrances, teases and frustrates, then yields something so beautiful we are left awe-struck. THis is the way of the steel-guitar.

Many years ago, sitting behind my old Marlen, I was trying to find how to play one particular lick, the turnaround in a Cal Smith song, "Country Bumpkin". For weeks I tried to figure out if the lick was pedalled into place, levered into place or slid into place. Nothing worked - the lick remained elusive, a secret hidden deep within the steel guitar which taunted me, dared me to discover just where it was and how to produce it.

Then one day I came home from work. It had not been a good day. I was tired, fed up and dispirited. I sat down at the steel, placed the bar on whichever fret it was and without even thinking I played the exact lick I had spent weeks searching for! For the next few minutes I just stared at the fretboard, wondering how many more secrets lay beneath it. It was a humbling yet inspiring moment for me, a mini-Epiphany.

The steel guitar is "like jewellery in the music". Steel-players are simultaneously blessed and cursed. They are blessed with the desire to bring forth delightful sonorities from a mechanical contraption heavily disguised as a musical instrument, and they are cursed with the burden of knowing there is almost an entire universe of sound, texture, timbre, voicings and harmonic potential in the steel-guitar, the full exploration of which will in all likelihood take more than their own lifetime.
_________________
The steel guitar is a hard mistress. She will obsess you, bemuse and bewitch you. She will dash your hopes on what seems to be whim, only to tease you into renewing the relationship once more so she can do it to you all over again...and yet, if you somehow manage to touch her in that certain magic way, she will yield up a sound which has so much soul, raw emotion and heartfelt depth to it that she will pierce you to the very core of your being.

Bill Hankey · From: Pittsfield, MA, USA

Ned,

My sentiments, exactly! Your writing skills are of the best I've seen to date. So very interesting, the accounts of chasing down an elusive steel fill recorded in "Country Bumpkin". I'm hoping for a continuation of defined experiences in your steel guitar searches. That touch of suspense is very much in demand for the sake of finding a favorable outcome. Thanks for the wonderful article written for the benefit of steel players around the globe.

James Cann · From: Phoenix, AZ

One of the most satisfying statements made in music--"Hey, where did that come from?"--might well be intrinsic to steel.

Here's my 'holy grail' lick: two versions of it on Marty Stuart's "Farmer's Blues"--follows the lyric ". . . this life I choose."

http://www.youtube.com/watchv=efZicSp0Myc&feature=related

Any insights most appreciated.

Stuart Legg · Posted 23 Oct 2008 9:35 pm

Quoth the Lap Steel you are big and fat Pedal Steel
Oh! Fat words spring forth and reveal
Abhorrence gleaming in minds windows.
Elicited aggrivated by fiction.
Condemed by objection.
Annihilation certainly seems impervious.
Delirious.
But contentment is indefinate.
Gaze politly into the keyholes of locked doors.
Certainly warrents higher.
Enquire into emotions.
In no way seperate.
You'll be obliged to devulge.
You exposed animosity.
Unlocked that door.
Oh big and fat words
Mystic mysteries revealed
Showed me I couldn't spell
And still can't play Steel

Jonathan Cullifer · From: Gallatin, TN

Good thing I never saw a steel when I decided to play...I might have shied away. Smile

Seriously, I've seen a lot of people my age (especially guitar players) sit down and try to play and when they can't make a good sound immediately, they get scared and quit.

When I saw the topic of this thread, I realized I tell myself that all the time when I see someone else playing a cool lick or riff.

Bill Hankey · From: Pittsfield, MA, USA

James Cann,

I clicked on the link that you provided, and the results were as follows:

The webpage cannot be found. Most likely causes:

There might be a typing error in the address.
If you clicked on a link, it may be out of date.

What you can try: Retype the address. Go back to the previous page.

P.S. I would enjoy listening to your rendition.

Bill Hankey · From: Pittsfield, MA, USA

I'm very elated this morning after viewing the messages here on the computer screen. The pleasant regard for camaraderie, and sharing some of the actual experiences of each writer, redresses any reduction of interests in the study of the steel guitar. Finding a bit of rust at the fingertips, should provide ample recall of the missed practice sessions; should they have occurred. The expressed enthusiasm, made clear by writers who are distinguished steel guitarists, would by natural tendency,promote any dedicative determindness to succeed at playing the steel guitar. The destructive nature of quitting, or giving up, cannot be overstated.

Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

In 1957 or 58 I saw Santo and Johnny perform Sleepwalk on Amercian bandstand. At the time I thought "That looks easy. I bet I could learn that instrument."

Obviously I did learn to play, but I was wrong about the being easy part.
_________________
Please visit my web site and Soundcloud page and listen to the music posted there.
http://www.mikeperlowin.com http://soundcloud.com/mike-perlowin

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