There seems to be 2 types of pro steelers

Rich Upright · From: Florida, USA

Being involved in the steel guitar world for over 30 years, I have noticed there seems to be 2 types of pro steel players. I am not including beginners or students, just the pro level guys, but not including the biggies like Paul,Buddy,Doug,etc. These guys are in a class by themselves.

Type 1: These are the guys you see playing the steel conventions & posting videos on YouTube. They have the best guitars, the latest effects, accessories, & recording equipment. They are usually very accomplished pickers, with a large bag of licks, fretboard & technical knowledge, and killer tone. They know all the standard steel instrumentals & play them to perfection. But...Put them on stage cold & unrehearsed with a band, and they are totally lost. Tell them "I Fall To Pieces, 4-5-1 kickoff & turnaround" & they give you that "HUH?" look. Oh, they'll play it, but it will just somehow "not fit" into with what the band is playing. I realized this because of the few times back in the day when I hired some great pickers to fill in for me when I couldn't make a gig (I always get my own subs) Of course I violated the cardinal rule of hiring subs which is "Never hire a sub that's better than you" & hired great pickers. To my amazement, the band would tell me that the guy I sent in my place didn't measure up & I thought "HUH??" This is supposed to be a top player, & they said he just did NOT fit in with the band cold.

Type 2: These are the guys out playing the honky-tonks. Usually double on guitar, too.
They ain't the fastest, hottest pickers around, and they don't have that major bag of trick licks, but put them onstage cold with a band & they NAIL it. Perfect intros,fills,turnarounds, & outros.

I am a type 2 player. My best feature has always been the ability to go onstage cold & unrehearsed with any band & nail the performance & make them sound good. Prolly why I get most of the local calls, that & the almost total lack of players in my area. 'Course, I would never DARE to walk onstage at a steel convention..all those great players out there mentally picking apart what I am doing & being totally UNDERWHELMED by my playing. Always hated playing when there was another steel player in the house; I can just imagine an audience full of them??! I would drop dead before I even sat down! And, the only videos I have on YouTube are live performances that a friend would film & post on YouTube, or even MySpace.

So how 'bout it? What "type" are you? Or, are you a combo of the 2? This ain't a hard fast rule, just somethng I have noticed through the years.
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Earnest Bovine · From: Los Angeles CA USA

chris ivey · From: california (deceased)

i have no problem with falling to pieces.

but i get what you're saying. alot of people can get thrown into an unknown gig and through their general experience and knowledge can cut it all night.

there seems to be another class of picker who practice and study and learn and yes, can play at a convention.
but may be uncomfortable at a fun honky tonk which is a different dynamic, where it's 'not' all about the steel player.

Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

I think there are two types of players on most instruments, the studious "trained" type and the more intuitive kind. There are certainly two kinds of players on my first instrument, the trombone - the airline pilots and the skilled seat-of-the-pants fliers.
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chris ivey · From: california (deceased)

i've always considered a gig as a party!

Les Cargill · From: Oklahoma City, Ok, USA

mtulbert · From: Plano, Texas 75023

I now where you are coming from. Knew a guitar player who could Chet better than Chet and Jerry Reed better than Jerry. However he did not have once of creativity.

My take is you need a little of each to be an effective player. There is a need to do signature lucks when the song demands it, but it is nice to have the freedom to improvise during some parts of the song.
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Tom Quinn · Posted 4 Mar 2016 6:27 pm **Re: There seems to be 2 types of pro steelers**

Jason Putnam · From: Tennessee, USA

It's like my dad always told me! The difference in a keyboard player and a piano play is that a piano player plays with paper and a keyboard player plays with a band!!
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chas smith R.I.P. · From: Encino, CA, USA

And then there are those gigs where I load in, set up and I'm picking around warming up when the first thing the producer says is, "No Nashville". Those are the ones where they want what the steel guitar sounds like and can do, but they don't want anything that sounds like a cliche.

Bobby Boggs · From: Upstate SC.

Cody Angel · From: Nashville, Tn

I think a happy medium is ideal. The dedication to sit and learn what the masters did is very admirable; but there is nothing worse than a robot playing any instrument. Ability to jam is huge too, but, a bang up jazz violin improviser who doesn't know "Faded Love" and "Amarillo By Morning" or a drummer who can't shuffle doesn't do me much good. As for myself, I would say I'm a little more "jammer" than a steel "scholar". I love sitting down and learning things note for note from players I like. I also really enjoy listening to a specific player for a month or so and trying to adapt some techniques and ideas into what I do. I play full time with a band doing nearly all original music, excluding some cover tunes on live records; so I don't play "Together Again" and "Farewell Party" except during checks and practice. This to say, I don't have the opportunity to perform these classics and for lack of better term, regurgitate exact passages from the originals. Instead, I watch my Tommy White lesson video and YouTube on the road and try to apply ideas I learned or heard. That's where the sitting down and wood shedding comes into play. If you can/will sit down and do your homework, you can really nail solos and parts and styles. Being on the road 3-4 days a week isnt really conducive to woodshed time, but I am trying to get better. I guess I would sum up my feelings on the subject by saying; other than your guitar's ability to keep up mechanically with your ideas and skill, you are only limited by your dedication and willingness to learn. The E9 neck teaches me something new every time I sit down behind it. I got to meet Johnny Cox a few years ago and when I asked him how long he had been playing, he said "It doesn't matter how many years you play, what matters is how many hours you play". But, also, don't forget to jam.
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Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

And then the are the gigs where the Steel player is asked to kick of XXX..and he or she does, 'zactly like the record, and the band has no clue what he/she is playing .Then the singer says, thats not how I start the song...

"I know that for a fact "! Laughing

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

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

Paul Wade · From: mundelein,ill

Per Berner · From: Skovde, Sweden

chris ivey · From: california (deceased)

i like that post from cody angel. good perspective.

..and of course the input from johnny cox.
how many young hotshot players have been caught bragging themselves and their star gigs up
before they realize their bus driver (johnny) can pick them under the table blindfolded?

James Marlowe · From: Florida, USA

Barry Blackwood · Posted 5 Mar 2016 9:15 am

Willie Sims · From: PADUCAH, KY, USA

Years ago, I was talking to Bobby Seymore while in Nashville at his music store. We were discussing different playing styles, I said that his style reminded me of a honky-tonk player, that played off the top of his head. Most of the time. He said you are correct, I cannot hardly ever play the same thing exactly like I played it before.
I would put him in a number one and the number two class. I only play jam sessions now, and when someone wants me to kick a song off, that I am not familiar with i just say hum the last line so I will know what the hell we are playing. And then learn the song while they are singing it When you are four months shy of 90 years old, it's kind of hard to remember some of the older songs. Willie SIMS

Charlie McDonald · From: out of the blue

b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

I can play the 20th century classics on the bandstand. I know the progressions, but I never learned the straight-off-the-record intros and turnarounds. I use a very unusual copedent. I have played a few steel shows, and I play most of the standard instrumentals. When I teach, it's mostly technique and theory.

Which type am I? Question

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Mike Neer · From: NJ

There are 3 types: good, bad and mediocre. I've been every one of those types.
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Charlie McDonald · From: out of the blue

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