The Steel Guitar Forum

Thanks! Would you know what tuning Margie Mays is using?

Some very nice playing at the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Showcase at the just held (July 2022) Waikiki Steel Guitar Week and Festival 2022 which you can watch on Youtube. Not posting the link since there was an announcement on this site asking people to get the permission from artists to post them playi...

Thanks Jim and Jeff

That's interesting. I guess they were a part of the journey towards finding superiortunings.

Thanks for your reply Jeff - in the book the A7 tuning is (from the top) E C# A E C# G

Hi There

I came across a copy of Keoloha's Modern Harmony Method for Hawaiian Steel Guitar (1935) in David N White Gallery, collectables store in Wellington, New Zealand. I was curious to find out more about it. Anyone got any comments on the subject?

cheers!

Hi There Does one use the same strings for lap steels in the C6 and A7 tunings or different ones. I have recently bought a second lap steel, originally intended to use as my primary C6 tuning guitar but have decided to stick with the original and convert the other one to A7 tuning as I came across a...

Thanks for all the great answers, each helpful in their own way.

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I think I is simply the Am chord played from the bottom up. I play it on the 24th fret on my C6. It is so simple and yet sounds so good. I had thought it was likely to be Don Helm but didn't sound like one of his typical licks which is why I wondered.

Hi There Something that has been confusing me for a while while I teach myself the C6 lapsteel is what straight bar chord positions are available to use when playing a Dominant 7 chord. When I key in the C7 chord on John Ely's (excellent) chord locater for example, the only option that comes up is t...

Hi There Can anyone tell me what are the first four notes played on the steel on Rambling Man by Hank Willians as played on a C6. According to my internet sources it is an A minor chord and seems to be E A C and E but it would be good to get a confirmation. If anyone knows who is the steel player th...

Then on the other hand, maybe it's a crazy idea.
That's why I tend to sit on things for a while.

Hi Levi Yes, I have been to the Wairarapa Country Music Festival (formerly Clareville till it changed locations) a few times. I write advertising features for the Wairarapa Times Age and Wairarapa Midweek. We produce the programme each year and so I have been writing all of these bar the first one. ...

PS the trickiest thing is probably not finding other non-pedal steel players but guitarists, bass players and drummers who have a feel for Hawaiian and even country music. And in country, then you have all your sub genres which are actually quite different to each other.

Well, you kind of know me now Levi. I'm expect the non-pedal Hawaiian and country steel will be making a big comeback pretty soon as I (ahem) find that everything I get into tends to become popular five or ten years later from Art Deco to the banjo to the places I live in (now Featherston is booming...

"One very effective method of learning is to take a specific tune and write out a succession of arpeggios to suit, paying attention to interesting voicings and ease movement between them."

Thanks - that's a great suggestion

thanks! I'll check those out

I forgot to mention that I play a C6 lap.

Hi

Can anyone recommend resources for learning arpeggios to use for improvisation? I would like to learn some nice patterns to play over one or a series of chords!

thanks!

"If the touch isn't there, the tone will not be accurately represented." So true! It's all in the touch with the lap steel. And as much as I love musical instruments for their own intrinsic beauty and interest, I do think it is much easier to buy instrument after instrument than to actuall...

I've got to say, that is an absolutely beautiful piece of playing. Is it a non-pedal steel he is using? Early on when I started learning the lap steel I realised you can't "fake" playing well on that instrument. You don't sound good until you are actually that good to sound good, if that m...

Doug Beaumier wrote:Jerry played that song on his C diatonic tuning. I like his 1950's recording of the song. It's faster than this live one, more energy, and has a nice bakelite tone.

What album is the original from and is it available to listen to online?

Interesting what you say about mandolin David M Brown. Mandolin is a secondary instrument for me but I have a lovely sounding one. I was looking at different types of lessons online and eventually realised (indirectly) after listening to Caterina Lichtenberg playing classical mandolin that nearly al...

Popped into my local music store in nearby Masterton, which has a very nice range of guitars etc, and they have three tube amps, at least one of which is a neo-vintage model so I'm going to take my lap steel in there and see what they sound like. It will be interesting to see if there is much of a d...

Thanks Roman

Thanks for your replies. It's good to be different to all the rest! It has passed my mind that theoretically since this is a "steel guitar" forum there should be lots of blues steel players on it (in the style of Ben Harper etc) but in fact it is very much oriented to country and Hawaiian....