Dear Patricia,
I understood from the thread in the Events section that this book includes a DVD. Would you care to list some of the offerings from that, please? It would be great to learn about specific tunes Mickey addresses, and I can hardly wait to read and see him in action again.
I have a few more questions, if you don't mind. I see this book/DVD as a major investment of your energies, and also of my dollars, and I think we should all learn enough about it to make good decisions. So far, your table of contents looks quite promising. I certainly want a copy!
As an instructional designer myself, I'd like to know about the objectives behind the instruction, not including selling large numbers of copies. Your desire to impart a particular approach to pedal steel playing is what I'm asking here. What kind of student do you expect to teach? Do you use your own and Mickey's progress in learning as models for what your students will attempt?
It seems to me that many PSG people play other instruments before PSG, and many know guitar tablature to a degree, but your table of contents seems to stress music theory, especially scales and chords. Good rudiments, but many prefer to avoid laborious, close analysis... "I'd rather play than talk about it" is a common attitude, with some exceptions (pace Mr. B. Hankey). Do you want to focus on music theory for PSG rather than on a range of tunes in strict arrangements, so that students will be able to hear chord progressions and have a suitable "bag of tricks" and licks for improvisation?
How will you know if your book is successful? Will you seek comments from experts and beginners?
I hope you don't mind if I ask what skills and tasks you consider to be beyond beginner skills, or what milestones you may see for one's reaching the novice or advanced beginner stage. For example, do you discuss the points at which a PSG student should try to play with recorded tracks or on a bandstand with other musicians? Perhaps such skills are beyond the scope of the current effort, but they might be good for ensuing work. Related to this angle is the question of what sort of pacing or schedule you think a beginner might achieve in order to "complete" study of these beginner materials. Maybe an Afterword could address the path beyond this book, in a second edition. I'm confident Forum members would contribute to your thinking.
I surmise that sight-reading of standard music notation is not a skill you introduce in the book, but I'd like to know if your tablature includes a standard staff, as that assists in indicating rhythms.
Are you, Patricia, a co-author of this work, and do you play in the videos? It looks like your E9th chord chart is included, and I've benefited from it, but do you cover other topics? I hope you and Mickey have collaborated on most tiopcs, because your writing and his videos both bring clarity. In a lot of curriculum development, two heads are better than one.
Is there a set of rhythm tracks that might come with the package on CD or as either BIAB or .mp3 files?
Does the book or DVD discuss types of guitars, strings, picks, amps, effects, and so on? Is Mickey going to use his Mullen D-10 or his new D-12?
What's next? An advanced beginner book? C6th instruction? Responses to your customers? I suspect you could both work on this pretty much full time, and I hope I appreciate how much you have both done for steelers already. I guess a lot of others would agree. There are probably many who will think I asked too many questions, but I am a real fan and soon a student (waiting to send a check). Feel free to not answer or to answer. I wish you every success, and I hope I can offer a small contribution, even if it's only moral support.
Very respectfully,
John
