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Topic: 3 year anniversary on non-pedal today!! |
Jerome Hawkes
From:
Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 11 Jan 2013 7:23 am |
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today (01-11-13) marks my 3 year anniversary on non-pedal steel and i am pleased to say i’m just as fired up now as ever, which, for me is a milestone, as i tend to do a lot of musical (instrument) chairs.
i’m posting this because i couldnt have done it without the helpful folks here on the forum - no way - its been a wonderful 2 year experience, and I feel I’ve gotten over the sophomore blues .....that period where you still can’t play but are understanding things a lot more. I feel like I have just started to discover this instrument and its music. i went to the Dallas show last year and it was really the first time i had even seen anyone play the NP steel live believe it or not..and am looking forward to this years sets.
**and thanks to my pal Clyde Mattocks many times over, who has done more for steel in eastern NC than anyone - he got me started right, showed me the tao of it and found me my prized Ric B6.
I remember it was snowing heavily that day so we were off work (yes, that happens in the south), i was cooped up and looked over at the lap steel I had bought a year earlier and said i’m gonna learn how to play that thing. boy, those first 6 months were rough.
thanks again all!
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'65 Sho-Bud D-10 Permanent • '54 Fender Dual-8 • Clinesmith T-8 • '38 Ric Bakelite • '92 Emmons D-10 Legrande II
Last edited by Jerome Hawkes on 11 Jan 2013 9:12 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 11 Jan 2013 8:13 am
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I've been playing electric seriously for about 5 or 6 years now, and they are still some days when I sit down to it and just think, "What the hell?" Then there are days when music flows freely.
Those difficult times are the time to shift focus away from what might be temporarily confounding me. This is what I call my "discovery time". I am not one to sit and practice tunes, anyway. Usually, once I do an arrangement, it's probably the last time I play it. I just want to get to the point where I can sit down and spontaneously create an arrangement of tune, which is probably a little bit further down the road.
I guess the biggest thing I can say is learn as much as you can from recordings that excite you. This is what I did and it paid off. Now I try not to listen to any steel recordings (with a few exceptions, Susan Alcorn being one of them), just to keep my head clear.
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Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Jerome Hawkes
From:
Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 11 Jan 2013 9:34 am
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mike especially, and all the "hawaiian guys" are one reason i am still fired up. when i first started, i figured i would learn some Don Helms / Little Roy stuff and be content to just play good classic country / western swing styles and leave it at that.
I never really considered I would go down the path I did - which is the adventure part of it. I can't get enough of Jerry Byrd and the hawaiian masters now. coming from a bluegrass background, i figured Hawaiian music would be about the last thing i ever got into, right up there with death metal (i cant understand what either of them are singing about!)....the steel has a way that grabs your soul though.
one reason for my post, other than i am proud to have made it, (knowing me all to well) is for other beginners here on the forum. i see a lot of people jump in and then drop off for various reasons. there will come a time, if you put the effort in, where it will all make sense..or start to. You have to stick with it - everyday - as JB said, the steel is not a part-time instrument. it takes serious study and will only give you back what you are willing to put into it.
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'65 Sho-Bud D-10 Permanent • '54 Fender Dual-8 • Clinesmith T-8 • '38 Ric Bakelite • '92 Emmons D-10 Legrande II |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 11 Jan 2013 9:47 am
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That's why I started my blog--I was giving up (for various reasons), and then all of a sudden I had a breakthrough and a resurgence of enthusiasm for the instrument. I used the blog to just work out my thoughts and share some of those things.
I have switched almost all of my attention to playing steel now. I very rarely pick up my guitars, unless it's for a recording session or to record a backing track. I know that to get to where I want to go with it, there's no room for just playing it casually. I've even given up on taking gigs playing other music.
Anyway, good luck and I know I'll be seeing you around here for a long time.
PS: Never give up on the Hawaiian players--their influence has been the one constant in my steel life--even if you can't hear it--no matter what I am playing.
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Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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