How do i get to the next level??

Alex Piazza · From: Arkansas, USA

Ive been playing for a little over a year. I was already in several bands playing guitar and lap steel so I jumped right into it. I think I played my first ps gig the same week I got it, and ive been playing 2 or 3 times a week ever since. Im sure ive got some bad habits. I wouldnt know. Ive never met anyone else thats ever played the thing. I cant find a teacher here in little rock. Is there a universal must have psg instructional video?? I would say that ive passed the intermediate level. Ive at least been fooling the people in this town into thinking that I know what im doing. I would like to finally get some help. Are there workshops within a days drive from arkansas?

Roger Crawford · From: Griffin, GA USA

Alex, there should be a seminar at the ISGC in St. Louis over Labor Day weekend. If you can't make that(or even if you can!), check out Jeffran Music. There is timeless instructional material there.

Roy Ayres · From: Riverview, Florida, USA, R.I.P.

Alex,

Seminars are OK but in the short time you spend, there is only a small tad of stuff you can learn. If you can't find a good teacher for one-on-one instructions, my personal recommendation is to get a few good CD's and the associated rhythm tracks and spend as much time as possible practicing. When you have learned to emulate the steel player on the CD's, then start developing your own licks. The good thing about rhythm tracks is that they keep you moving in tempo, not allowing you to do the natural thing of slowing down through the difficult parts. There is only one key I know of to advancing on the steel -- and that is pactice, practice, practice.

Also, if you can afford the cost and time, a few of the "Greats" like Mike Sweeney and Joe Wright have "bootcamps" or several-day courses where you go there and spend hours and hours in a one-on-one situation.

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[This message was edited by Roy Ayres on 03 August 2005 at 12:58 PM.]

Jody Sanders · From: Magnolia,Texas, R.I.P.

Contact Ronnie Neighbors at Ronnies Steel Guitar store in Hot Springs, Ark. He can steer you in the right direction. Jody.

Jeff Hyman · From: West Virginia, USA

In the upper left hand corner of your screen you'll see "INSTRUCTION". Click on it. b0b has some nice instructional help available right here on the forum.

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Jeff Hyman
jeffshobud@yahoo.com
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WEBB and Fender Deluxe
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Alex Piazza · From: Arkansas, USA

Thanks for the help guys. Jodie, I heard ronnie went out of buisiness. Ill try and look him up.
Alex

Buck Dilly · From: Branchville, NJ, USA * R.I.P.

Joe Wright's stuff will help you with technique. The principals teachs promote good habits. "Technique Bundle" is one such package.

John Ummel · From: Arlington, WA.

or you could try the Rafael Palmeiro/Jerry Garcia method...performance enhancing substances. LOL...

[This message was edited by John Ummel on 05 August 2005 at 09:10 PM.]

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

and also don't forget this..

You can do this on your own..with seat time...

take what you already know and go backwards...

Take what you already know, analyze it a bit, where does it come from, then expand on it..think of the movements as scale structures..add some phrases above and below..experiment with the positions..using bar movements, pedal / knee levers and DIFFERENT strings.

NO TAB will teach you this...

a few minutes with phrases that you are comfortbale with, then expanding them..can get pretty powerfull.

Most of us are VERY comfortable with the standard string grips, 10-8-6: 8-6-5; 6-5-4:5-4-3 etc...

Those other strings , 9,7, 2 and 1 are not there by mistake...they can fill in the blanks but I fully would agree that they are not in the comfort zone, you need to put them in the comfort zone. NO TAB will do that...only seat time.

And who cares if you CLUNK now and then..we all do..I know I do...

just a thought

t

Delbert Aldredge · From: Willis, Texas, USA

Roy, good to hear you again!!!! I know you'd rather be here than the best hospital made...

warmest regards,

Delbert

Charlie McDonald · From: out of the blue

I like Tony's take on this. I'd just been thinking 'next level?' That would be up on a packaseat. And stay tuned to this channel.

Having hung around for several months, I'm amazed at what I've learned, while picking lap steel, waiting for a good deal on some pedals.
I can finally see the 'genius', to quote a fo'bro, of those 'crazy strings' on top, and can't wait to get my hands on them.

To me, a 'clunk' is just the beginning of a new and different phrase, and that's the next level.

Nic du Toit · From: Milnerton, Cape, South Africa

Tony,
Great advice. We are normally so eager to move on to the 'next level' that we start to battle with the new info. Every few months one should just go back to the basics and recap. Amazing how even that can sometimes trip you up, but once you have that info tucked away in some part of the brain the rest comes easier.
Regards, Nic

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Nic du Toit
1970 Rosewood P/P Emmons D10 Fatback 8x4
Peavey Session 500 unmodfied

My CD "Nightmare on Emmons Steel"
Click here to E-mail us.

Mark Lind-Hanson · From: Menlo Park, California, USA

I myself (having only been on PS for 2 years & change) don't have a problem with the 9 or the 7 (I find them wonderfully hady in certain lead runs) but with 2. 1, I have found a use for, throwing it together often with 3 & 4, but I have come to feel (maybe) my reluctance to get too much into this string just yet is the configuration of my Carter (some steels pull the 2 along with the 7 & 10, am I right?) since it only pulls the 2, and down. For a while I experimented with tuning it a half stp up or down (to a major note) which gave some interesting tone to the whole guitar but I've reset it and.. well, that IS where I am, presently, myself. & can anyone add something here about fitting 2 into the scheme of things?)

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

Go to the "Online Steelers" site, and get the e-mail addresses of the players in your area (there's a couple right in Little Rock!). Go out and meet them, or find out where they play, and see someone else "doing their thing". This is the fastest way to learn, and when I started, it was about all we had. Seminars are good, and steel shows are too. Augment this with learning tapes and tab and private lessons if you can afford them, but nothing is as much fun as watching someone else play "close-up", and then being able to talk to them one-on-one. That's what gives you real insight on the different styles of playing!

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