"Long way to go and a short time to get there."

Todd Pertll · From: Chicago, Illinois, USA

I'm normally a pedal steel player, but about 2 month ago I purchased an 8 string lap steel and have been having tons of fun with it. But now I need to get serious.

In about 6 weeks I have a series of shows booked where, because of logistics, I have to play lap instead of pedal. The group will be acoustic guitar, violin, and me. About 20 songs ranging from slow waltzes to shuffles to more straight ahead sounding country. Some of the songs have parts to learn, but mostly it will just be me backing up the singer and splitting solos with the violin.

I guess what I am asking for is advice on how best to spend my practice time leading up to the shows. I guess I'm mostly concerned with not feeling lost on the fretboard, but I'm sure you guys will have a better idea on what I should be concerned about. By the way, I'm using a C6 tuning with an A on the bottom.

thanks,

todd

Mike Neer · From: NJ

Are these songs that are normally played on an E9 neck? If so, I can see why you'd be concerned, but if you relax a little and don't get too hung up on that, C6 can be pretty easy to navigate. There is a lot of music in there.

Do you normally play C6 on pedal steel, too?

It's a little different mindset from pedal steel to lap steel. I've always tried to play pedal steel stuff on lap steel, but I can see coming at it from the opposite direction to be a different kind of challenge.

I'm going to think about this for a while and I'll post again.
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Doug Beaumier · From: Northampton, MA

For backup playing you need to know of the major and minor chord positions very well and be able to get to them quickly. Also the major scale, harmonized scales, two string harmonies, 3rds and 6ths, etc. for fills and solos. If you have Band-in-a-box put together some practice tracks with major, minor, and 7th chords. Practice fills and patterns that move from a I chord to a IV chord, V to I, 7th chord patterns that lead to IV, etc. Also single note scales for soloing. It would also be a good idea to learn one or two slant positions. Practice tracks are excellent for working on solos, intros, chord progressions, scales, riffs, etc. I use tracks almost every day for practice at home. Have fun with it.
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Mike Neer · From: NJ

Todd, a few months ago I was doing a recording session for a band that had a strong vintage Country vibe and they wanted a straight steel player. In my mind, however, some of the songs needed an E9 pedal sound. So, I took my triple neck to the session with C6, E9 (old pedal steel tuning), and a new tuning that I had whipped up a few days before to get me that elusive sound.

I played E9 pedal steel for a spell a few years ago, so I know the pedals and knees. What I wanted was simply the A&B pedal sound, so I designated the top 3 strings to A&B pedals down (strings 3, 4, 5 on pedal), and the rest of the strings I tuned to strings 3-7 of the E9 tuning. So it went like this:

A .011
E .015
C# .018
G# .011
E .015
B .018
G# .026
F#(or E).030

I call this the "singer/songwriter" tuning. With a few hours of dedicated attention to my picking hand, I was able to get those quick A&B pedal moves. It turns out that there were a lot of other benefits, too.

I wouldn't expect you to go to this length, but it was the best solution I could come up with. I used it on gigs and it sounds great, because it's got 60s pedal steel tone.

You could make C6 work, definitely. Try tuning the high string down to F. Be careful, though! It's nice to have the I and IV chord right there in one position. With the high G on top, you have a very easy forward slant from I to IV on strings 1-3.
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Bob Hoffnar · From: Austin, Tx

I would say keep it simple. Leave out a bunch of notes in your chords until you feel confident.

Unless you can really nail it avoid slants. Out of tune is way worse than playing simple.

Find at least 2 non slant positions on the neck to play your root chord.

Don't slide into any chords unless the slide has a musical purpose. Listen to Noel Boggs brilliant phrasing and compare it to the annoying hackery that is the guitar player who doubles on lap steel sound.

Figure out how to play one fast hammer on type lick so you seem like a hot shot for a solo. Even bouncing on one string can impress the punters.

Lay out till the chorus so you seem all musically sensitive. During the verses look wistfully towards the singer and softy sing along to yourself so you seem even more sensitive. This will not only make the singer think you are great but can also get you laid.
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Mike Neer · From: NJ

Jerome Hawkes · From: Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA

keep it simple and learn a specific part for the song and stick with it - play it THAT way EVERY time - no noodling around - that is the worst thing you can do is go the easy way, learn some harmonized scales and noodle around in the background.

thats a tough job ahead - esp if you dont already have established steel parts to follow. i had to learn high E13 in about 6 weeks for a gig (20 tunes), but i luckily had the steel parts on recordings and all i had to do was digest them - in other words, i didnt have to LEARN the TUNING in 6 weeks - just learn where my parts were - thats a BIG difference.

...the C6, oh my, i dont know why, but its harder to digest (same intervals as E13, but ...) -the thing about it is you just cant assume 1 tuning is going to do it, as powerful as C6 is - in other words, you'd have to be damn good and familiar with the tuning to do a full set of as you say, diverse material (waltzes, shuffles, rock, country, blues etc) on that 1 tuning.
Truer words were never spoken than the fact everything a beginning C6 player plays will sound "hawaiian" until they understand the tuning
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Todd Pertll · From: Chicago, Illinois, USA

Thanks for the advice guys.

I'll get to work on your suggestions.

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