Volume Pedal Techniques?

[Pete Storms]

Howdy Folks;

Does anybody know if there is any tab written for the volume pedal? We have tab for everything else on the steel guitar but why not the volume pedal? Is it more preferable to fade up into a passage or fade down out of a passage? I use my volume pedal very little and when I do I am never quite sure I am using it in the right place at the right time.

Any thoughts on this?
Thanks;
Pete

[chris ivey]

you're already pretty correct....use it very little!
basically it is used for allowing a note or chord to sustain at an even volume, possibly through a movement where the note is not repicked....by increasing the volume pedal as the string vibration fades. the less you think about your right foot the better, as long as your notes and phrases are strong and clear.

[C. Christofferson]

I agree but conditionally. The volume pedal is, if youre like me, maybe the hardest thing about the instrument to really become good at because it is so different and so much more unnatural than any of the other controls. It is it's own dimension. Like Reece A. points out, it will take a lot of thinking about and stumbling through. A ton of conscious thinking about it will result in perhaps an ounce of natural subconscious good technique. But once that ounce is there, it's permanent. This is the type of non-thinking about it that is best. So expect that, welcome it, and persist digging in. At first the problem may be in just not losing awareness of it, period. I'll find myself practicing along, then suddenly remembering it and giving it a clumsy jerk which of course sounds terrible. Like asking a centipede how she walks so beautifully, and as soon as she starts thinking how she does it she suddenly starts tripping over her own feet. No pro player ever got good at it by avoiding it. The last thing you want is to feel intimidated by it cause you never gave it the attention it needs. Rule 1: Turn it up when it sounds good to do so. Rule 2: Turn it down when it sounds good to do so. hahaha..

[Paul Redmond]

I used Jeff Newman's advice re: the volume pedal....put the thing away!!! Pretend it isn't even there. He claimed in the past that too many steel pickers 'pump' that pedal and really screw up what they're doing. I kind of scoffed at this at first, but one night I connected directly to the amp and depended entirely on my hands to give me what I needed. Of course, Jeff was right. As a result, volume pots last me 10 times as long as they used to. It's there all the time, but I only use it to bring out a lead part when necessary. The rest of the time I depend on me!! And it works.
PRR

[Bill Duve]

Oh Boy, Here we go again
About 8 months ago I asked the same thing on here which went into in a 3 page long haggle, I heard everything from mash it into submission to where leaving it out of the pacseat would make room for sandwiches.
The end result was to go my own way and forget it until it comes naturally and then sparingly, just for what its worth.....
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[Bill Pillmore]

I was just listening to a Loyd Green song on the steel radio as I was reading this thread with a cup of coffee. What I noticed was on listening to his style, that I could tell when he was using the pedal for expression. I believe the pedal, the vibrato and the slide/pedal into or out of a note are all integrated into your style.