What I've Learned in 42 years

Barry Hyman · From: upstate New York, USA

I bought my first pedal steel in 1972; I was already a guitar player. And I was a music major in college, so I figured I knew enough music theory to figure it out, without a teacher. Here are some of the things I had to figure out the hard way:

Backslides: When you hold the bar the normal way, you can see frets higher than the bar, and can slide to them using your eyes. But your hand covers the frets lower than where you are, so sliding to a lower note/chord one, two, or three frets lower is MUCH harder than sliding up. I wish I had realized this a long time ago and started practicing downslides preferentially.

Volume Pedal: I overused it for decades. The worst mistake I made was that when I wanted a loud note or chord I would pick harder (a logical guitar habit) AND I would step harder on the volume pedal at the same time. So for many years, I was plagued by sudden painfully loud notes/chords. The solution was to control dynamics with my right hand more, and USE THE VOLUME PEDAL LESS!

As an electric lead player, I had cultivated a light touch and a fluid vibrato. So when I started pedal steel, I didn't press the bar down hard enough, and my vibrato would sometimes even have the bar bouncing up and down on the strings. PRESS THE BAR FIRMLY against the strings and do steel guitar vibrato, not fretted guitar vibrato. Why did it take me 35 years to figure this out?

Rest the left foot (talking standard E9th setup here) centered between pedals A and B, and practice pressing both, pressing just A by rotating your ankle outwards so just the left side of your foot hits just Pedal A, and practice pressing just B by rotating your ankle the other way (inwards) to press just B. Then practice rolling off (again, by rotating your ankle, not by moving your whole leg) from both pedals to just A, then from both to just B. You need to be able to play A or B or both smoothly without moving your leg and without touching any left leg knee lever! Moving your whole leg from A pedal to B and back is inefficient and time-consuming.

Don't avoid strings 1, 2, 7, or 9. (Standard E9th tuning.) They are there for a reason, both for extra chords and for scales. Sometimes they will burn you, yes, but correct that by adjusting them with the right pedal or knee lever, not by avoiding them. Don't get stuck on just strings 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8...

Don't flutter the bar while sliding. Keeping the bar parallel to the frets while sliding is almost always better; that way more than just one string will be in tune. Pedals and knee levers were invented so we don't have to do slants. Intentional slants are still okay if you want. But I used to do random sloppy slants while sliding and call it "blues." No.

Don't mute too much. Let it ring! Let the notes hang! There is so much that can go wrong on pedal steel; I developed the bad habit of muting too much and too often. Now I just pick the strings I want and let them go for a while. The (volume pedal-assisted) sustain of pedal steel is one of its best attributes; don't play too many notes when you can play a few good ones and let them ring!
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I give music lessons on several different instruments in Cambridge, NY (between Bennington, VT and Albany, NY). But my true love is pedal steel. I've been obsessed with steel since 1972; don't know anything I'd rather talk about... www.barryhyman.com

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

All good points. Good work.
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2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
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Curt Trisko · From: St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

Tom Gorr · From: Three Hills, Alberta

Nice thread, good lessons.

Chris Gabriel · From: Oregon, USA

Man thank you so much for these great words of wisdom. It's just comforting to hear someone whose been there and done that share their experiences. I honor what you said!
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Dan Klotz · From: Houston, Texas

Barry, thank you so much for posting this. I read your post before practicing tonight. I have been a guitar player for a long time and have worked on having a light touch. The firm pressure on the bar made a huge difference. I think it cut down on unwanted noise and because the hands tend to work together, it made me want to dig in and pick harder ....and I think the tone was better.

I have had issues with volume pedal too. I think ,as guitar players, we always tried to copy steel by cutting off the attack. My pedal steel instructor suggested not using it for for a while. I've been trying to focus on making everything sound as good as possible without it.

Thanks again for the wisdom.

Scott Duckworth · From: Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies

Grrreat Post!
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David Nugent · From: Gum Spring, Va.

Per overuse of the volume pedal: Seem to remember a suggestion put forth by a noted professional (Buddy Charlton?) on this subject. The suggestion was to have the vp in place but plug directly into the amp thus bypassing the pedal. In that way, the student can determine to what extent he relies on the vp and adjust his picking tecqnique to correct that situation.

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

What I did to control volume pedal "abuse". I came from playing drums to playing steel guitar. Naturally my foot wanted to think I was still playing drums and would mimic my playing of the kick drum. I was also told about the plugging straight into the amp to learn dynamics by good right hand technique (not saying I have good right hand technique - only been playing 43 years. More to learn.). But I also found that I was still using the volume pedal like a kick drum. I do realize that going from drums to steel guitar is a radical transition, although it did develop strong leg muscles. I ended up taking a piece of 2 x 4 and putting a block on the bottom side to tilt it up like my volume pedal. My foot could no longer pump up and down. In time, I was able to ( re) train the leg muscles to stop pumping, and it gave me more control over using the volume pedal. Just learning how to control dynamics with your right hand won't be enough if you keep pumping the volume pedal. This is one of the major problems I have seen in newer players.

Not that anyone should take my advice. Just telling what worked for me. I know someone (a student, long ago) that also just took his foot and placed it on the ground. It allowed him to get good control of his leg muscles. But he found that when he started using the volume pedal, the back of his leg and ankle would start hurting. This is similar to all the inquiries on the forum from newbies about their left leg and ankle hurting. Until you train and condition those muscles to make these, admittedly, strange movements, you will have these problems. It just takes time.

I would tell new players to do both. Try to stabilize and get control of your leg, and to do the no volume pedal thing to improve the right hand dynamics.
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Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting.

Dan Klotz · From: Houston, Texas

Barry Hyman · From: upstate New York, USA

Another mistake I made was due to going directly from guitar to pedal steel without going through a slide guitar stage in between. So for MANY years I tended to use pedals and knee levers too much with not enough left hand bar movement. So now sometimes I'll do a "no pedals no knees" exercise for a while. Because I am a music theory fanatic I spent thousands of hours studying what chords and scales my pulls could make; I could have spent some of that time practicing left hand bar movements...
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I give music lessons on several different instruments in Cambridge, NY (between Bennington, VT and Albany, NY). But my true love is pedal steel. I've been obsessed with steel since 1972; don't know anything I'd rather talk about... www.barryhyman.com

Barry Hyman · From: upstate New York, USA

Another mistake I made was due to going directly from guitar to pedal steel without going through a slide guitar stage in between. So for MANY years I tended to use pedals and knee levers too much with not enough left hand bar movement. So now sometimes I'll do a "no pedals no knees" exercise for a while. Because I am a music theory fanatic I spent thousands of hours studying what chords and scales my pulls could make; I could have spent some of that time practicing left hand bar movements...
_________________
I give music lessons on several different instruments in Cambridge, NY (between Bennington, VT and Albany, NY). But my true love is pedal steel. I've been obsessed with steel since 1972; don't know anything I'd rather talk about... www.barryhyman.com

Eric Dahlhoff · From: Point Arena, California

geez... I sure wish I've been playing 40+ years. It's only been about 4, and I appreciate the tips !!
Maybe I should print this & post it next to my guitar. I'll notice my "sloppy slides" and focus on that... then my volume pedal gets all messy. Oh Well

One thing I have learned is to keep smiling when I play! Very Happy

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Scott Duckworth · From: Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies

I think a lot of guitar players (especially lead) tend to try to play the steel like they did guitar. Great when you are the lead instrument. But you have to break yourself from doing that, so that you can learn to play fill, frills, etc. And it is H A R D to do...
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I may, in fact, be nuts. However, I am screwed onto the right bolt... Jesus!

Dan Klotz · From: Houston, Texas

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

Scott Duckworth · From: Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Good ideas, Barry!

David Peirce · From: Left Coast of Florida

I just calculated that I, too, have been playing steel for 42 years -scary, if you add on the age I was when I started- and I would only add two things to this excellent thread: One-never forget that it's your job to make the singer sound good. Two - play to please your band mates - they're more important than the crowd.

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

Good point Donny. I just want to add something John Hughey once told me. He said that before he makes the move from one fret to another, he always looks at the fret he is going to. This gives a mental picture of where you are going to end up, and helps give you an idea of how far your hand has to move. It works!
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Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting.

Dan Klotz · From: Houston, Texas

Barry Hyman · From: upstate New York, USA

What Richard Sinkler said is definitely true, and is true of every fretted instrument: When moving your hand up or down the neck, look at where you want your hand to stop; don't look at your hand. It's basic neuroscience; the eye cannot track the moving hand that accurately.
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I give music lessons on several different instruments in Cambridge, NY (between Bennington, VT and Albany, NY). But my true love is pedal steel. I've been obsessed with steel since 1972; don't know anything I'd rather talk about... www.barryhyman.com

Peter Freiberger · From: California, USA

And just think what you might learn in the next 42 years!

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