Lap Maps

[Theo Patterson]

To Ray Langley: If you take your chart, orient it so that it's horizontal rather than vertical (so it's more from the players point of view), and leave out the sharps and flats, then you have a basic picture of the lap map. With the sharps and flats taken out, it's less confusing to find notes and chords. Also where you have the root note for the tuning blank, I would leave it as a note symbol to make it easier to find chords that do not contain any Es. (For some reason I'm having difficulty downloading pictures so I can't show you). The other important component is the clear vinyl (boards so the player can still see the fretboard.

[Ray Langley]

Thanks, Theo! This concept was first described on a thread: Do you keep new strings on your lap steels?

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=146799

I suggested that Theo start a new thread with the Subject: Lap Map. This seems like a great idea to me.

Theo, if you would like to send me any drawings or photos of your idea, I'll be pleased to upload them to this thread. I would like to see your lap map in more detail. You mentioned that you use E7 tuning. It would be interesting to see which notes you chose to use on your clear vinyl overlay.

I chose to use sharps and flats, and to use an E Major scale because I only play in E Major for the time being. That may change shortly. Until the 13th, I am frantically preparing for my first lap steel performance for my family Xmas party. After that, I would like to create a lap map, to scale, for my 22.5" Rondo SX. I am happy to share my work with the forum!

Here is my (not to scale) lap map for Open E:

[Theo Patterson]

Ray: I first posted the idea back in October. I don't know how to bring up an older post, but I can tell you it was made on 1, Oct. 2008 under the title "Newbie? Checking in with some info for beginners" The post shows how the Lap Map would look in E7. If you find it, notice how come chords seem so pop out at you? My eyes are always drawn to slanted C and F chords.

[Ray Langley]

Hi Theo,

I looked up the original post of yours. Here it is:

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... ght=newbie

Did you know that you can click on a member's name and it will bring all sorts of information. You have made 18 posts so far.

I understand your diagram better now. Even though you are in E7 tuning, you chose to make a lap map for the Key of C. It shows all of the notes for the I, IV, and V chords in the Key of C. This is great for tunes in C, but not so great if you want to play in the Key of E, which has four sharps. The same is true for any key other than C.

My diagram shown above, is for Open E Major tuning and shows all the notes in the E Major Scale. This is useful for tunes in the Key of E. It contains all the notes for the I, IV, and V chords in that key. But, like your diagram, it is not so great for other keys. Ideally, we would need a different map for each key we play in. Although I'm beginning to explore other keys a bit, I mostly play songs in the Key of E in Open E tuning. I do hope to learn Sleepwalk in the Key of C in Open E tuning.

I use the charts/diagrams as a learning tool for each new tuning, but your idea of making an entire fretboard overlay is interesting.

Here is your original lap map from your original post so others can see what we are talking about:

[Ray Langley]

Theo said: The other important component is the clear vinyl boards so the player can still see the fretboard.

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Hi Theo, I just wanted to say that if you are doing this on a commercial basis, I don't want to step on your toes or to deprive you of any income, in any way! So, please let me know if you are actually selling these.

If not, I'm willing to share any ideas on this topic freely with forum members. There are many companies on the internet that sell wood-grained textured paper in heavy weight. You can even print on them using a laser printer.

Here is a company that offers a free product for creating wood textures to be used with drowing programs such as CorelDraw:

http://www.ab-archive.com/download/grap ... kshop.html

With wood-grain textures, you could eliminate the clear vinyl over and the stick on note symbols....

Another option is to take off the strings and make life size scans of your actual fretboard!

The graphic shown below has two wood textures I had lying around. And, I downloaded a photo of a fretboard and overlayed a few note symbols, in color.
This will give you some idea of what it would look like on a scanned fretboard.

[Stephen Calhoun]

When I start seeing the lapgitbox vertical I have to take a break!

Some may know of these online resources, for those who do not:

Guitar Room (Piano equivalent available too)
http://www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/g ... ex_rb.html

Gootar
http://www.gootar.com/tabber.html

I tried the demo for Guitar Pro 5 (Mac software) and it's very powerful and generates both tab and sheet music while figuring out just about anything in any tuning.

...great thread. Thanks!

[Theo Patterson]

Ray. Thanks for pulling that post up. Hopefully some forum folks can take advantage of the idea. I originally thought I could market the idea, that is until I realized how easy it was for anyone to make their own, especially with all the ingenuity I see here on the forum.

In the first incarnations of the Lap Map, I thought of printing on card stock paper and applying the paper to the fretboard. After losing a small patch of 60year old paint, I decided I didn't want to use tape or glue on my fretboard. Plus, with my printer I would have to make it in two halves, tape them together and hope the printed frets actually lined up with the actual frets. I also used Core Draw, and I went through a lot of ink and paper before I thought of just making a new fretboard using plastic or lexan the exact size of mine. This idea works fine if I'm only making one for that particular fret/string width and scale length. If I wanted to make it available to the whole world, one size fits all does not apply. That's when I came up with the idea for a kit, complete with letters A-G enough for 6 to8 strings/15+ frets, that anyone can customize to their fretboard size and their playing point of view. I really don't think anyone would buy one once they knew how easy it was to do themselves.

I don't know if you saw the photos on my Myspace, but with the clear vinyl you can see exactly where your fret are, and with the press-on letters you can make adjustments for your point of view is anything slips or slides, plus if it gets dusty or if you spill liquids it's an easy wipe off while protecting your guitar.

[Terry Farmer]

If you use numbers like 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 instead of the actual notes and print it on clear vinyl you could just slide it back and forth along the fretboard instead of making one for every key. The patterns are the same for all keys. You just have to learn how to spell chords....example; 1,3,5 major, 1,b3,5 minor, 1,3,5,b7 dom 7th, 1,3,5,7 major 7th, etc.

[Theo Patterson]

Good idea with the numbers, however I'm not that bright, plus when playing from notation (sheet music/songbooks written for piano or other instruments), and the notes on the page read F-A-C, I can look down and see the letters FAC without having to translate in my head. I have a large chord spelling chart on my wall to help me. I guess it depends on what your used to. My Lap Map is made for a particular tuning not for scales.

I saw that stuff on the 'Guitar Room' page and find it useful for finding notes for various scales. I can put in a tuning and find all these different scales with ease. Earlier today I had to go through some old books to figure if I was doing the Dorian and Minor scales correctly. That page came in very handy.

[Ray Langley]

Hi Theo and all.....

I believe that ANYTHING that makes the learning process easier/better/faster for an individual is a tremendous asset! There has always been more than one way to "skin a cat".

Like Edison, I know that you tried many unsuccessful ideas before settling for one that works perfectly for YOU. I admire you for doing that. You determined what you needed to have. You looked around and found out that it was not available to buy, so you made your own.

Sometime after next weekend, I'll probably try to make a life-sized wall chart, to scale, for the instruments that I play. I am old and ill and seldom leave the house, so this will work well for me. If I am able to make this happen, I'll share with the group.

[Ray Langley]

Stephen said: When I start seeing the lapgitbox vertical I have to take a break!
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Well, if you print out the diagram and turn it sideways, it is now horizontal.... The diagram was
just an example. It's a simple matter to rotate the notes ninety degrees, too. It can be custom tailored to the delight of the user.

Terry, I agree with your idea about using numbers, instead of notes. This way, a single diagram works the same for Open D/E or for Open G/A. It would also work well for the tuning family in "6ths". For instance, the same diagram could be used for C6, A6, E6, etc., as long as they have the same string-to-string relationship.

[Theo Patterson]

Ray, I'd previously made the same mistake with the orientation of your chart. Then I printed it, saw that it was horizontal, and felt like a little dummy.

When I first started actually learning songs, I knew very little about reading music. I figured using tabs would be a way around it, but then if I wanted to learn a song that was written in notation I would be at a loss, so shied away from method books written in tab only . I find that the lap map, and a chord spelling chart, has made it easier me to learn to read written music.

In the back of the first lap steel book I was learning from is a chord spelling chart, naming the notes of all of the most used chords (from major chords up to ninths). I scanned it, blew it up to about three times it's normal size, printed it it pieces, glued it together and put it on my wall so I can refer to it when trying to decipher chords that I don't know.

[Ray Langley]

Theo, since you shared your invention with me, here is my contribution. I call it a "Subliminal Learning Lap Map". This method will allow you to study ANY chart/diagram for any stringed instrument, in ANY tuning while you drive down the highway!

If anyone was a little confused at the orientation of my other diagrams, this one will drive you crazy!

It appears to be completely worthless until you hold it up to a mirror. Even then, you may wonder, "What good is that?" And, you would be right.

But, print this out and lay it on the dashboard of your car. Orient the diagram so that you can read it clearly in the REFLECTION on the windshield. It will not impair your driving ability. As you drive down the road, you will be looking through a transparant image of your chosen diagram. After a while, you will no longer "see" it. But, the image will continue to be indelibly impressed on your mind.

I do hope that everyone will try this at least once. It really is a unique concept. You can use it to study scales, chords, licks, sheet music, tab, etc., while driving in your vehicle. It works equally well on the passenger side.

Ray Langley