All Lap Steel, All The Time!!!

Ray Langley · From: Northern California, USA

DISCLAIMER: I have absolutely NOTHING to sell. Some may see this as a blatant advertising attempt to recruit new members for my new LapSteelGuitar group on yahoogroups.com

Well, that much is partially true. But, unless Mister Quasar says something to me privately or publically (on this forum), I will assume that it is ok. Smile

If if bothers anyone else, you always have the option not to open any discussion containing my name.

I am not in competition with the SGF forum or the "Steel Without Pedals" sub-forum. Everything I offer is 100% free from the goodness of my heart! And, I have posted to my group that SGF is the Number-One Resource for lap steel guitar!

I am starting a new, involved series on Arranging for C6/A7 Lap Steel Guitar from "Fake-Book" lead sheets. I am certainly no expert on this, and I will need a lot of help. If you are interested in this project, send a blank email to join us to:

LapSteelGuitar-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Or PM me for a private invitation.

First up, I am taking the tune "May You Always" and disecting it one measure at a time. Here is a sample of how I have chosen to arrange the first four measures. I am new at C6/A7 tuning, but not new to arranging guitar transcriptions. My way may not be the best way. I GREATLY appreciate your input to a better way.

This song was chosen because it has 15 different chords! We are talking several different major, 7th, minor 7th, diminished, and augmented chords.

This "course" will be supplemented with several PDF files containing all of the chord diagrams in the song, a midi file, and tab and notation for each and every measure.

_________________
Bluesman's Epitath: "Didn't get up this morning"!
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/LapSteelGuitar/

Ray Langley · From: Northern California, USA

You may have heard the lyrics, but if you will recite them every day, you will get a better seat in Heaven! These are some of the best lyrics around.

================

May you always walk in sunshine, Slumber warm when night winds blow
May you always live with laughter, For a smile becomes you so

May good fortune find your doorway. May the bluebird sing your song.
May no trouble travel your way. May no worry stay too long

May your heartaches be forgotten. May no tears be spilled.
May old acquaintance be remembered, And your cup of kindness filled, and

May you always be a dreamer. May your wildest dream come true
May you find someone to love, As much as I love you
_________________
Bluesman's Epitath: "Didn't get up this morning"!
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/LapSteelGuitar/

Ray Langley · From: Northern California, USA

Introduction To Arranging May You Always In C6/A7 Tuning

This series is a tutorial, or primer, on how to go about arranging
your own favorite tunes in C6/A7. Here is the tuning, low to high:

C#-E-G-A-C-E

Once you learn how to do this, you can play the songs you love.
You will no longer be limited to learning other people’s favorite
tunes. You can make your own tab.

Here is a YouTube video of the Lennon Sisters singing “May
You Always” on the Lawrence Welk show, many years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opm1zuEHZUU&feature=related

These beautiful ladies perform a pretty version of this tune in four
part harmony. Our arrangement will emulate this style. We will
learn to harmonize many of the melody notes using a chord-melody
“system”. This style of playing is about as close as you can come to
playing Solo Lap Steel.

Rather than sliding the bar up a down the Fretboard, we will be
using “close voicings”. In other words, when we change from one
chord to another, we will attempt to find harmonies in the same area
of the Fretboard. Many jazz guitarists do it this way.

This song is laid out in an A-A-B-A format. An eight measure phrase
is played. It is then followed by another eight measures that are
almost the same, with slight variations. Then, comes the “Bridge”,
which is eight measures with a different theme. Then the first eight
measures are repeated, usually with a slight variation in the ending.

This song was chosen for several reasons. It is mostly quarter notes, so
you don’t have to worry about any fancy timing. We will use all six
strings in our arrangement, even in the first four measures. This song
has 15 different chords! It will serve as a sort of “roadmap” for this
tuning, in the Key of C. It sounds good as a lap steel solo. If you add
a strumming or fingerpicking guitar accompaniment and/or acoustic
or electric bass, it sounds even better.

To follow along you will need to download the following four files:

MayYouAlwaysC6_Chords1of2.pdf
MayYouAlwaysC6_Chords2of2.pdf
MayYouAlwaysC6A7Tab1to4.pdf
MayYouAlwaysLeadSheetC6A7_01.pdf

You can download the above files here:

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/LapSteelGuitar/files/C6%20A6%20E6%20Tuning/May%20You%20Always%20C6A7/

We will analyze and dissect this tune, one measure at a time,
one note at a time. Keep in mind that there are many ways to
arrange ANY song. Usually, no two people will do it exactly
the same way, note-for-note.

Everyone is welcome and encouraged to present your own
slant on how this should be done. Those who teach or play
using other tunings are invited to present your version. It
would be great to see how Mike Ihde or Roy Thomson would
arrange this one using the Leavitt tuning.

***to be continued***
_________________
Bluesman's Epitath: "Didn't get up this morning"!
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/LapSteelGuitar/

Ray Langley · From: Northern California, USA

May You Always, Measure 1

Refer to your C chord diagram and the Tab for measures 1-4

Measure 1 is an ascending run of four notes. Each of these notes,
E-G-C-E are contained within the C Major Chord. The first thing
I look for is to see if there is a way to play all of the melody notes
directly under the bar without a lot of sliding around or slants. If
we exclude the open strings, the only place this is possible is at the
12th fret. No matter where we choose to play the low E, the G, and
the C notes, we still MUST play the high E note on string one at
the 12th fret. So, why not make life easy and play all the notes at
the 12th fret, where our “ducks are all lined up in a row”? This is a
fairly slow song and we have some time between notes.

To begin, I like to slide into the first E note on the 5th string at the
12th fret. The second melody note (G) is on the 4th string at the 12th
fret. This could be played as a single note, but I chose to harmonize
it with the low E on the 5th string. The next two notes in this measure
are VERY important. These are the two most common “grips” for
playing a full major triad. The top note is always the melody. The
other notes shown below the melody note in the tab are for harmony.
In this case, these are the other two notes in the C major triad. Notice
that string 3 is NOT played. If we played the third string along with
our other notes, we would be playing a C6 or Am or Am7 chord.

Here is the sequence for the first measure:

Thumb plays 5th string.

Thumb plays 5th string AND index finger plays the 4th string.

Thumb plays 5th string AND index finger plays 4th string AND
middle finger plays the 2nd string.

Thumb plays 4th string AND index finger plays 2nd string AND
middle finger plays the 1st string.

Take your time with this! What we are learning here in this first
measure is two “inversions” of ANY major chord. If we play this
very same sequence at the 9th fret, it will be an A major chord. At
the 2nd fret, it will be a D major chord. Every single chord in this
song/system is a MOVEABLE chord. What this means is that if
you can “pluck” these two chords, you have just learned how to
play all of the major chord triads on every fret. That is 24 chords.

For practice, to get comfortable with these two important “grips”,
you can play the same sequence using only open strings, without
the bar/steel! Since the open strings are exactly the same, only
one octave lower, you will still be playing a C major chord! Yes,
it is a little tricky switching between the two grips but this idea
will be used over and over in just about every song you ever play.

Yep, I realize this is excruciatingly boring for experienced players.
But, I swear to God, that I wish I had something like this when I
was first starting out. We are going to learn to eat this damned
elephant one bite at a time. Smile

==========
_________________
Bluesman's Epitath: "Didn't get up this morning"!
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/LapSteelGuitar/

Ray Langley · From: Northern California, USA

Measure two - May You Always

I agonized a bit over this measure. This would have been a good
time to toss in the towel….

There are several “systems” that many jazz guitarists adhere to:
There is the Freddie Green system where the player mostly plays
“comping chords”. Then there is the “chord-melody” system where
the player tries to harmonize almost every melody note with a
complex chord. Then, there are the “improvisers” who take flights
of single-note fantasies that seldom stray anywhere close to the original
melody. Often, it is some combination of these systems.

I feel that melody is KING!!! If you are going to play a real song,
then play the song! Jazz players sometimes refer to the melody part
as the “head”. After they play that, anything goes…

In my opinion, a steel guitar band has a steel guitar, maybe a uke,
a bass, and a rhythm guitarist (who doesn’t mind playing “second
fiddle”). Each musician plays his part perfectly. It all sounds good.

Again, my opinion, a jazz band is five musicians on a stage, each of
them is playing a different song!!!! Smile

So, as a steel guitar player, even if playing solo, sometimes we can
harmonize the melody with chords or chord fragments. Other times
we MUST play some single-notes here and there due to the limitations
of our instrument. We don’t have four fingers on our left-hands to
finger chords. Our bar/steel must take the place of those missing
fingers.

The second measure is played under an E7 chord. The notes are:
1-3-5-b7 or E-G#-B-D. The notes in this measure follow this sequence
perfectly. But, there ain’t no straight bar position that gives us this
particular sequence of notes. What do we do? On strings 3 and 2 we
can play all the notes in this measure using a forward slant on frets
7 and 8, or we can use a couple of single notes and a couple of two
note harmonies. I chose this option, for this measure.

After playing the last chord grip in measure one, you will need to use
some type of left-hand, right-hand, or finger blocking/muting before
moving to the first note of measure two.

This time I play the low E note with the thumb on string 4 at the 9th
fret. I slide into it a bit. You may elect to play this same note at the
12th fret of the fifth string or the 7th fret of the third string. It is not
carved in stone. In general, it is easier to see what you are doing on the
steel if you are sliding into a note that is higher in pitch rather than lower.

The second single note is fret 11 on the 2rd string. Now we are “set-up”
to play the double-stops on strings 3 and 2 at the 11th and 14th frets.
You can use your own choice of fingers or finger and thumb.

Take a close look at the chord diagram and determine what sounds best
to you. After all, YOU are the musician, right? Arranging is all about
choices. If it sounds good then it is music.
==========
_________________
Bluesman's Epitath: "Didn't get up this morning"!
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/LapSteelGuitar/

Ray Langley · From: Northern California, USA

Measure Three – May You Always

Like Measure One, this is an important learning tool. Refer to the chord
diagram for Am (A minor). The Am chord and the C major chord share
two of the same notes.

C Major = C-E-G (1-3-5)
A Minor = A C E (1-b3-5)

Compare the chord grips from measure one with the grips in measure 3.
This time we DO USE the third string. Notice that this entire measure
is played at the 12th fret, just like measure one! But, notice that the
chord grip is different. Instead of strings 5-4-2 or strings 4-2-1, we
are now using strings 5-3-2. This is important. Get this into your mind.

The only other way to play a FULL minor triad is on strings 3-2-1. In
this measure we don’t need the high E note on string one.

Here is the grip for this important chord position:

The bar/steel stays on fret 12 for this entire measure.

The first note/chord is played with the Thumb on string 5 AND the Index
finger is on string 3 And the Third/Middle/Bird finger is on string 2.

Hold that grip/position in your mind’s eye.

In this measure, the Thumb always plays the 5th string.
In this measure, the Index always plays the 3rd string.
In this measure, the Middle always plays the 2nd string.

Measure One and Measure Three remind me of playing a harp. These are what
I call “plucking” chords. These “string-skips” are what kept me from
exploring this tuning, in the past.

Ok, you know how to pluck the first chord. Hold that shape and use only
the thumb and index on strings 5 and 3. Next, while keeping your grip
poised in your mind, hit only string 5 with the thumb. Next, pluck all
3 notes in the chord with the thumb and two fingers, exactly as you did
for the first chord in this measure.

Hey, look at you!!! You know how to harmonize melody notes using the
Major, and the 7th and the Minor Chords. Pat yourself on the back and
let’s move on. This is a big deal. You can do this.

==========
_________________
Bluesman's Epitath: "Didn't get up this morning"!
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/LapSteelGuitar/

Ray Langley · From: Northern California, USA

Measure Four – May You Always

Refer to the C7 Chord diagram.

Whew! Finally an easy one, or is it? Maybe it’s just a lazy man’s
cop-out on my part.

Measure Two was played under an E7 chord. This time we have another
7th chord, C7.

The only difference between the C major chord in measure one and
this C7 chord in measure four is the addition of the Bb note.

Do we have our “ducks lined up in a row” here? Yes, we do. But
they are all lined up at the 15th fret. That sounds kinda high,
but these are on the bass strings. With the bar/steel on fret 15,
playing these three notes with the thumb gives a nice low tone.

What do you think? What are the other options? The last note in
this measure is a half-note. This gives us a little time to figure
out what comes next.

==========
_________________
Bluesman's Epitath: "Didn't get up this morning"!
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/LapSteelGuitar/

Ray Langley · From: Northern California, USA

_________________
Bluesman's Epitath: "Didn't get up this morning"!
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Ray Langley · From: Northern California, USA

Measures 5-8

Congratulations! You have now learned 3/8 or 37.5 percent of this
song. This song has 32 measures. There are 8 lines consisting of
4 measures each. Measures 1-4 are repeated three times.

Refer to your Chord Diagram (1 of 2), and the PDF file for
measures 5-8.

Measure 5 is played under the F Major Chord, 1-3-5 (F-A-C). In our
system of “close-voicing” we have been hanging out around the 12th
fret. Our first note “A” can be played on the third string at fret
12. Now we come to a small snag. The second note “B” is not a part
of our F Major chord. But, it is a note in our C Major scale.

How should we play/harmonize this note? We could simply play this
as a single-note and it would sound ok. As you can see from the
tab, I chose to harmonize it with a G# on string 3 at fret 11. This
is a “passing tone” and we can get away with this because our next
note in the chord is 1 fret higher. I use the thumb and index finger
for notes 2 and 3 in this measure. You can use any choice of fingers
that you like. Here is how I play it:

Thumb
Thumb and Index
Thumb and Index
Thumb

Measure 6 is interesting. It is played under our old friend, the
C Major chord. Some jazz players might play a different chord over
each of the four melody notes. The first note is a “G”. Since our
bar/steel is already on the 12th fret from the last measure, we can
thumb this note on string 4. The next note, “A” is not a part of
our C Major chord, but it is a note in the C6 or even the Am chord!
I chose to thumb this note since we are already on the 12 fret. We
could also choose to harmonize this note with the “G” on string 4.
The third note in this measure is not a part of the C Major chord,
but it is in the C Major Scale, AND it is a note in the C Maj.7th
chord. I chose to harmonize notes 3 and 4 the same way we did in
the previous measure for notes 2 and 3. It sounds good like this.

Measure 7 contains another high E note. Referring to our 15-fret
chord diagrams, there is only one possible place to play this one.
This is a pretty big tonal jump from a low F# to the high E. You
can think of the first two notes as being played with a forward
slant, although this does not have to be the case. I chose to use
single notes for this. As shown in the Alternate tab for measure
7, you can also harmonize the second note. BTW, the high E note is
a part of a D9 chord. Note 3 is harmonized with a chord tone. Note
4 is thumbed.

Measure 8 is played under a G7 chord. The “C” note is not a part of
the G7 chord! But, it is in the C Major Scale, and it is a part of
a G11 chord. Since our bar/steel is still on the 14th fret from the
previous measure, I chose to stay in this area, staying true to our
“close-voicing” system. The first two notes are thumbed at the 14th
and 15th fret. The last note is a half-note. It gets two full beats,
instead of one beat like all the quarter-notes. If you would like
to play a fuller chord based sound for this measure, refer to the
Alternate for measure 8. Decide which one sounds best to your ears.
==========
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Bluesman's Epitath: "Didn't get up this morning"!
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/LapSteelGuitar/

Ray Langley · From: Northern California, USA

This third line in our tune is EXACTLY the same as the first line!

This means we have just learned four more measures for free.
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Ray Langley · From: Northern California, USA

This fourth line in our tune is EXACTLY the same as the second line,
except that Measure 16 is different. If you have been following
along, there should be no surprises here. Well, we are at the half
way point in this arrangement. Next up is the “Bridge”.

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Ray Langley · From: Northern California, USA

The “Bridge”: The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is designed
to carry people/cars from one place to another. A musical bridge is
designed to carry the music from one place to another. Usually, it
has different chord progressions from the main verse or chorus of a
song. Usually the melody is different that the main theme. All songs
do not have a bridge. This one does.

This chord progression used in our bridge was VERY popular in
the 1950’s. Most people find it to be pleasant to the ear. Some call
this progression the “Popcorn” or “Ice Cream” changes. Everyone
likes popcorn and ice cream! A few songs you may recognize with
this progression are:

Heart and Soul
Earth Angel
Silhouettes
Sleepwalk, with a slight variation
Blue Moon, and hundreds more.

In the key of C the chords are C-Am(7)-Dm7-G7

This is the 1-6-2-5 progression. I-VImi-IIm7-V7

The 2-5-1 portion of this progression is EXTREMELY popular
in jazz standards.
_________________
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Ray Langley · From: Northern California, USA

This is the largest chunk so far. The entire bridge is displayed all
at once for a reason. Notice the first two measures in both lines.
The bridge modulates from the key of C to the key of D, and then
back again.

The first two measures are exactly the same, except that the two
measures in the lower line are one full tone (two frets higher).

The minor 7 chords give us more options for harmonizing because
there are 4 notes in the chord, instead of 3 notes as in minor chords
and major chords. In this tuning, in this song, the minor 7 chords
give us the option of strumming 5 strings in a row. To play triads
for the major and minor chords we have had to skip strings. There
was no possibility of strumming a full chord. They had to be
“plucked”. Unfortunately, much of the time, the melody notes in
this tune do not “line-up” under the bar for a 5 note strum.

Measure 17 has 3 “C” notes all lined up in a row. The first two notes
are under the C Major Chord and the third note is under a Am7th.
We could elect to play a full C Major triad for the first two notes, but
instead I chose to add a short “walking bass” line under the melody.

For the Am7 portion, we could strum 4 strings on melody note 3, and
even 5 strings to harmonize the 4th note in this measure. Playing too
many strings at once can sound muddy or “too rich/too full”. I chose
to harmonize the Am7 melody notes using either a three-note strum
or three-note “pluck”. It is good to have several options. Sometimes
as beginners, we may decide to take a simpler option. As we grow
musically, we can try different ways to get the sound we want to
hear or play.

Measure 18 is similar to what we have been playing so far. There are
many different ways to play the bridge. This is only one of those ways.
Again, as we move from one chord to another, I have tried to keep the
melody and the harmony fairly close together, from one chord to the
next.

Measure 19 is the same as Measure 17. In Measure 20, we have a
dotted-half note. This note is held for 3 beats. I used 4 strings for the
A7 chord. This four-note Dom. 7th chord is one of the advantages of
tuning string 6 up to C#, instead of C. If it sounds too muddy to you,
just eliminate one or two of the bottom strings.

Measures 21-22 – We could do this exactly the same way as the first
two measures in the first line to keep things easier to remember/play.
Just move everything two frets higher. But, notice the difference to how
I harmonized the Dm7 chord above and the Em7 chord in the second
line. This is a 3 note voicing/inversion for this chord. It is a forward
slant on strings 3-2-1. You could also do it this way for the Dm7 chord.
I’m just showing you a couple of options. Also, if we played the Em7
the same way we played the Dm7, we would need to play on the 16th
fret! That would also be fine, but I really wanted to stay true to the
“close-voicings”, at least for this song.

Measure 24 completes the bridge and leads us back to the familiar verse.
Since neither the B note or the C note is a part of the D diminished
chord, I think it could be a mistake? The chord symbols are not always
100% accurate when working from a fake book transcription. So, to be
on the safe side, I chose to use single-notes for this measure.

You may notice that the songwriter has taken some liberties by ripping
off a phrase or two from “Auld Lang Syne”, in the bridge. Smile

==========
_________________
Bluesman's Epitath: "Didn't get up this morning"!
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/LapSteelGuitar/

Ray Langley · From: Northern California, USA

Measures 25-28 are exactly the same as Measures 1-4 and Measures
9-12. We now come to our exciting conclusion.

Measures 29-32
Referring to the Chord Diagrams and the tab/notation, I think that you
will be able to figure out this last line on your own. ***The End***

This is the first song I have arranged for lap steel in this tuning. It has
been a tremendous learning experience for me. I hope it has been of some
use to you too.

This 10 page narrative, in PDF format and the complete transcription
of this song, including Chord Symbols, music notation, and tab can be
downloaded here:

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/LapSteelGuitar/files/C6%20A6%20E6%20Tuning/May%20You%20Always%20C6A7/

Ray Langley
March, 2009

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http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/LapSteelGuitar/

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