The Steel Guitar Forum

John Troutman's book Kika Kila discusses how the traveling stage show "Bird of Paradise" popularized steel and Hawaiian music in general at the beginning of the 20th century. So I thought that the 1932 Hollywood movie of the same name might be interesting. Be warned: it must have had the v...

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David -- Yes and yes. I'll try those next set. I just put this standard set on. Formerly had a G6 / Bâ™­6 custom set: BDEGBD / Bâ™­DFGBâ™­D to mimic A6 / C6. At this point, I'll use the lap steel for Hawaiian. We mostly do hapa-haole 1930s-40s stuff anyway. With the dobro, I'll start studying bluegr...

Nic: Thanks for replying. The bar sliding along the strings, without picking at all, makes noise. So the effect I'm talking about is one smooth timed slide from the E-G# down to A-C# at fret 2, picking all the sixths at the right time along the way. My hand doesn't want to index-finger-hold-a-block ...

Ok ... here's what I mean. An A scale in sixths. https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/userpix2020-03/16548_DobroDemo_1.jpg Common in Hawaiian playing is sliding through parts of that, and picking where the dots are. With a lap steel, the strings in the middle won't sound noticeably. But the middle string...

To Glenn and Walter -- Well, yes, before the pandemic. But not in person since early March. Most of us are retired, and in vulnerable groups. Here is the link: https://www.meetup.com/CCCukulele/ It is a project of the Chinese Community Church, though the group does religious tolerance and ain't evan...

hi, all -- I've been playing C6 lap steel, mostly with a Hawaiian music club. I bought a Gretsch square-neck in January, thinking I could simplify from schlepping the amp, finding an outlet, etc. But it ain't the same, and I think the hardware demands a different style of playing. Anyway, a couple o...

Wow. Really pretty arrangement, and beautiful tone! All the players do a really great job with this song. It sounds like the music must have been composed by a steel player, with all the vocal slides. But it was written by an emigree Austrian, Wilhelm Grosz (aka Hugh Williams), who also did Red Sail...

Thanks, Nic. I never knew the song had an intro part. But it makes sense for something written in 1937.

Nic Neufeld wrote:

Roger Fletcher wrote:Great to hear all these versions.

[ ... ]
That reminds me of another version I like...the inimitable Vera Lynn, who remains one of my favorite singers (and is still with us at 103!).
[ ... ]

Hi, all -- I like to play standing up. All the volume pedals I've seen mean your foot is ~3" off the floor. Much foot fatigue. What I'd like is a low-profile roller-type, no spring-load, so it stays where you put it. I don't have a shop handy to make one. Anybody is free to use this design; it ...

It would have been simple to check in with the Smithsonian. Here's their podcast, "Aloha, Y'all":
https://www.si.edu/sidedoor/ep-19-aloha ... PiB95O7-EY

Michael Butler wrote:it's ok. too many talking heads and not enough music. but, it is a documentary and is similar to burn's past programs.

play music!

Exactly. Just like the jazz doc. At least, we got that decent concert before the series.

hi, Nic -- Taropatch.net has a collection of links to videos of many of the songs in He Mele Aloha : http://www.taropatch.net/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=9603 The purpose of this is to learn the songs, since the book has no indication of melody or phrasing. But it may provide a few good ones to play al...

hi, all -- I thought I posted this yesterday, but maybe I only previewed it without submitting. Norah Jones' slow & soulful song Lonestar : https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/userpix1712/16548_LonestarA6_2.jpg Here is Norah performing it at Willie Nelson's Farm Aid: https://youtu.be/psJpZzQ_FKs

As Keith says, you can buy adhesive-backed felt sheets ... I found some at Joann Fabrics. That keeps it from sliding on my lap. I put some 3M non-skid tape on the keyboard stand when I have the steel on that. It holds the felt without scratching the finish.

... and learning the new mechanics, and how to exploit the lower strings. I've been comfortable playing a 6-string in C6 for a while now. Then I re-tuned it to A6 and got to know that fairly well. Now I have a new 8-string, tuned A6 low-to-high F#AC#EF#AC#E. The mechanics: avoiding catching the back...

Andy & John --

Many thanks for turning me on to that amazing resource!

hi, Andy --

I have the Morrell Pro 6-string. It's OK, but as you say, the strings are too close together (I have big fingers). My biggest beef is that the middle strings, between the nut and the tuners, rub up against the edge of the slots. This makes it hard to tune because of the friction.

Hello --

Your instruments are incredibly beautiful! Please let me know when you put a new 22.5" 8-string up ... the console model is nice, but I'd really like a lap model with a body shape like the first one below.

Thanks!

[ ... ] Jeff Au Hoy and Bobby Ingano - very big fan. My all-time favorite steel guitar performance was Bobby at a slack key show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-d5Qh5yXYw Steve -- That link is to the song, He Aloha No'o Honolulu , which is one of my favorite melodies. Here is my arrangement in t...

In John Troutman's recent book, "How The Hawaiian Steel Guitar Changed The Sound of Modern Music", he covers in some detail throughout the book how and when it became popular and then almost to extinction, and changes to Slack Key, and out of Country Music, authentic Hawaiian vs non authe...

Steel players should try listening to more Slack Key music. Great new Aloha-filled songs are coming to Slack Key players, more than to steel players I think, who seem in large part to be content with playing the long-ago-popular material, because that's what the audiences expect. Give Keola Beamer ...

Todd -- The DeWitt Scott book, Basic C6... was recommended by many, but I found it wanting. He spends quite a bit of time on music theory: staff notation, tablature, chord construction, etc. ... which may be unnecessary for you, as it was for me. What was necessary was much more on the mechanics of ...

Well, it was partly liking Jerry Byrd & Don Helms, but also all of the Hawaiian artists ... that being the roots of it all. I just bought a Joe Morrell Pro 6-string, and am taking lessons, and grabbing books and online tabs. I want to accompany a ukulele meetup group which does a lot of Hawaiian...

That looks like a nifty little stand. Compact and easy to transport. I use this one: On Stage KS7150 Table Top Keyboard Stand....... I love the darn thing. I covered a 12" X 29" plank with a rubber shelf liner and the guitar sits on that. It does collapse and fold up although it never lea...