Book Recommendations

George DeMers · From: York, PA

Hey all,

I am new to the forum and just recently purchased a Carter Starter for a fair price as my first steel. I am an established musician on many other instruments but steel is completely new to me. My main goal would be to play along with my other much more talented friends in a country band. Can anyone recommend some books or videos for beginners, specifically geared towards learning the basics, chords, and fills/intros? Thanks!

Jack Hanson · From: San Luis Valley, USA

Fred Treece · From: California, USA

If you’re like me and start working with The Book that has been suggested, you will soon find yourself asking other questions. If you are a gifted self-teacher, maybe not.

Gene Tani · From: Pac NW

Lots of old threads about that Winston/Keith book, others from Jeff Newman, DW Scott, Paul Franklin, Mickey Adams, Johnny Helms and others:

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=347569

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=330000

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=303663

Good selection at Steel Guits Canada and http://www.steelguitars.me/Inventory.html

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I've been watching DVDs by Rob Haines and Bruce Bouton, they're well done but no tab, lots of foot/hand closeups which will teach you a lot about pedals/levers, RH/LH.

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Also look at https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=187596
_________________
- keyless Sonny Jenkins laps stay in tune forever!; Carter PSG
- The secret sauce: polyester sweatpants to buff your picks, cheapo Presonus channel strip for preamp/EQ/compress/limiter, Diet Mountain Dew

John Spaulding · From: Wisconsin, USA

You can check out all of Paul Franklin's courses here: Paul's Courses

FREE Test Drive version of The Paul Franklin Method: Test Drive

He also has clips on YouTube

And a blog: Paul's Place

If you are just starting out, the Foundations: E9 Pedal Steel Basics course will get you on the right path and the $99 can be applied to the full Method at any point during your subscription.

George DeMers · From: York, PA

Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

The Winston book is not a beginner's course. It demonstrates what the instrument can do (by getting quite hard quite soon) and is a valuable compendium of steel knowledge. Buy it, but for basic tuition follow other suggestions.

If you read music check out the Mel Bay tutor written by deWitt Scott.
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs

Jon Light · From: Saugerties, NY

In 1982, before I had ever touched a pedal steel, but knowing that I was going to buy one soon, I bought the Winston/Keith book and studied from it, familiarizing myself with the idea of string grips and pedal combinations as they applied to I-IV-V.
The day my first steel arrived, I was ready to sit down and have a clue.
I can't praise the book enough.

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

Scotty had some good books out.
They were published by Mel Bay and should be available on the web.
Erv

Jamie Kitlarchuk · From: Alberta, Canada

I’ve been at it for a year now, and I would say the Jeff Newman up from the top series put me in a position to play with my band in less time than expected. I really like his material and teaching style... it’s repetitive, but works for me. It’s expensive, I got it on a half price special... and there were some issues that took a while to sort out with my order (there seems to be some risk ordering from them at the moment), but for me it’s been worth it.

I hear the Paul Franklin E9 Essentials course is also a great choice for beginners and is a reasonable $99 for the year. If I hadn’t bought the Newman stuff before I heard about the Franklin course, I likely would have tried the essentials course first.

I also have he Winston book and one of the DW Scott books (with the red cover)have gone through a few songs and excersizes, but I got way more value from the Newman stuff as a beginner.

You may be trying to save some cash by buying one of the books, but as a beginner you will likely get a better start from the Paul Franklin course or Newman DVD lessons.

ajm · From: Los Angeles

I basically quit my quest on the PSG several years ago to focus on other musical pursuits.
I did go after it fairly heavy for several years, though.
So, from what I remember, and FWIW............

The Winston book was my first book.
It was the standard recommendation at the time, maybe because at the time there wasn't much else. Remember, there was no internet back then.
It has several songs/lessons that in hindsight sort of show what the PSG is capable of.
If you cut them up, eventually you'll use the musical knowledge other places.

The second book that I got was by a guy named John Bidasio (spelling?).
As I recall it only really essentially had four major "lessons" in it.
However, they were all very useful.
Maybe the most useful one had to do with holding the Eb lever in to simulate a 6th tuning.

The third book that I got was I think the first Dewitt Scott Mel Bay book.
It was pretty thick.

All of these books had their pluses and minuses.
Off the cuff, if I had to pick a *first* book, I might go with the Bidasio.

The one thing that you're going to need before even a bar and picks is something that tells you how to get it in tune.
I seem to recall that all of the books had a section on this to some degree.
Which brings up another point: You're going to need an electronic tuner.
It doesn't need to be expensive.
It needs to be chromatic.
Some 25-30 years ago I got my first and only tuner, a Boss TU-12.
That is all you need for now and maybe forever.
And with technology having advanced the way that it has, there are probably many other tuners out there that will do the same thing but much cheaper.

George DeMers · From: York, PA

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, I really appreciate it. Although I read music I would prefer something with tab as my treble clef isn't the best and it's not like I know what each note on each string is yet.

The biggest thing for me is the price, I am afraid of dishing out even more cash than I already have just to get started for a video series! I think I will go with the Winston book as I am a quick learner on most instruments (although I do respect the unique challenges psg will provide). Don't get me wrong, I don't expect anything to be easy.

And ajm, thanks for the suggestion about the tuner. I have a couple laying around, including a snark clip-on which I like a lot.

Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

An electronic tuner is not essential. I use an E tuning fork and my ears. I have Cleartune on my phone to save carting the fork.
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs

Jack Hanson · From: San Luis Valley, USA

Gene Tani · From: Pac NW

I printed this out (enlarged) and yellow highlighted all the notes tuned flat

http://hummingbirdmusicstudio.com/pedal-steel-tuning.php

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The WInston/Keith book is packed w/info, just like everybody says but when you get to the 1st tune Red River valley, you'll probably buy another book
_________________
- keyless Sonny Jenkins laps stay in tune forever!; Carter PSG
- The secret sauce: polyester sweatpants to buff your picks, cheapo Presonus channel strip for preamp/EQ/compress/limiter, Diet Mountain Dew

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

A tuning fork for me (mine's an A) but when I'm on the bandstand a Snark gets me in the ball-park without interrupting the performance.

In your music room, though, the tuning-fork is fine.
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Roger Rettig: Emmons D10, B-bender Teles, Martins, and a Gibson Super 400!
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