Just Started Playing Again

William Litaker · Post by **William Litaker** » 11 Sep 2009 4:05 am

Hello , I have not played a note since 2003. I just decided to give it up for a while. A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine said he would sell me all his stuff.....Emmons LeGrande 111 , Nashville 1000 , stool and the whole nine yards. So I bought it. After not playing for 5 years I set up and tried to play. After about 10 minutes I wish I had my money back.....rough to say the least. Anyway , I practiced a little each day and it helped some. I did a video on youtube. I am still rough I know. Tell me what you all think.....

Thanks guys....William Litaker http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TCsr3JukyM

Stan Schober · Post by **Stan Schober** » 11 Sep 2009 5:30 am

ABsolutely horrid. Send me all your stuff and I'll see that it goes to a good home.

NOT !

Really , I wish I had half your talent, I'd think I was king.

Good job. Keep it up.

Chris Buchanan · Post by **Chris Buchanan** » 11 Sep 2009 8:11 am

I think I should take off 5 years too. Seriously, we're all our own worst critic. Keep up the good work, brother, and welcome home.

Jack Strayhorn · Post by **Jack Strayhorn** » 11 Sep 2009 8:42 am

William, where have you been? You've always been an impressive player. I am glad you've decided to get back in the game. I hope you have been doing well? Drop me a line when you get the chance.

Jim Lindsey (Louisiana) · Post by **Jim Lindsey (Louisiana)** » 11 Sep 2009 8:42 am

Hi William ... Welcome back to the steel guitar world! I really enjoyed your video and I think we're all hardest on ourselves when we critique our own playing. You sounded good and I encourage you to keep up the good work.

I know exactly what you're feeling and going through just "getting back into it" after a long layoff like that.

I'm coming off a nine year layoff myself. I quit playing in 2000 and I've just been back into steel for the last three weeks or so and I feel like a beginner again.

The first day I put my picks back on, I tried to play and kept hearing this curious sound like a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, then suddenly realized it was me.

Seriously, though, it is a lot of work getting back into it, but it's a fun adventure.

I, too, have been making videos starting with the day I first put my picks back on. I like to use them as tools to critique my playing and progress and finally got brave enough to upload one of them to YouTube (sort of a little tribute thing I did for Gary Hogue & Junior Knight).

Again, it was really nice to hear you playing on your video. I enjoyed it and would like to see more of them (it's always a pleasure to go on YouTube and see all the different steel players playing). Definitely, keep up the good work.

Bent Romnes · Post by **Bent Romnes** » 11 Sep 2009 12:01 pm

William,
Don't you dare quit.
Sure you are rusty. You milk the volume pedal. You're not on the fret all the time, BUT:
You have some runs that are absolutely lovely. I heard a lot of soul in your playing. You have not forgotten how to slant the bar! I would kill to be able to play that beautiful run at 3:08.
Play this same tune again in say 2 months.
Please keep it going. You'll be back up before long.
Good luck!

Charles Davidson · Post by **Charles Davidson** » 11 Sep 2009 1:33 pm

Read an article by Mr. Green one time.Said he got burned out moved to Little Rock took a job in a shoe store,did,nt touch his guitar for awhile,one day he pulled his guitar from under his bed,set it up and tried to play,his chops were so bad he said I sit there and cried and was overcome with self pity. Then he said HELL NO I'm coming back,THE REST IS HISTORY. YOU BETCHA, DYK?BC.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 11 Sep 2009 3:05 pm

It's like riding a bike. Once you've mastered it you never forget. I used to play the 12-string guitar a lot, then I gave it up for about two years. When I took it up again I found I couldn't hold the strings down without rattling, and my hands ached. Every instrument needs different muscles, and if you stop using them they deteriorate, but it's just a matter of getting back into it and practising. The basic information is in your head, and you need to reactivate brain-to-hand co-ordination.

As far as the YouTube piece is concerned, I wouldn't have known that you were out of practice if you hadn't mentioned it....

Charles Davidson · Post by **Charles Davidson** » 11 Sep 2009 6:54 pm

Alan,that's right, For over thirty years was a sixstring player. Was NEVER a great player but good enough to work steady all those years and raise a family doing,Over fifteen years ago when I started playing steel,stopped playing guitar ,have'nt played since.It would take me months of woodshedding to even get back a fourth of what I used to do.If you don't use it you lose it.My mind still knows what to do,BUT my fingers don't.YOU BETCHA, DYK?BC.

Jim Ragan · Post by **Jim Ragan** » 11 Sep 2009 9:52 pm

I did it .
I took a 15 year break.
I gave away my MSA D12 to a dear friend "Jerry Robbins" because I was just confussed of it all. He is still working with Marrice Anderson; He is still afraid that I will ask for it back.
I play other instriments, Tamborin, tom tom, the tri angle, Banjo, dobro, trumpet, wash board, juice harp,
spoons, harmonica , (I WAS NOT IN PRISON)'etc.
But 3 years ago I went back to the steel guitar.
I found another MSA like the one that I use to have and I got my mind back in it. After only 3 years of practice I now play 10 times better than before.
It will not come to you easy. You have to work at it.
I am 71 years old and I have been blessed with good health , but when I play music, I am just
happy.
(I live in a small town named Ben Wheeler Tx. 75754)
I am still working part time as a musician and other things that pop up.
I do carry a gun and a flask of whiskey.

Keith Poteat · Post by **Keith Poteat** » 12 Sep 2009 7:41 am

Atta boy William! Sounds good. Even Vickie said so and you know her, she's not real loose with compliments.

William Litaker · Post by **William Litaker** » 14 Sep 2009 4:38 am

Thanks guys for all the encourging comments. I really need that at this point. The ones that have quit and started back again know exactly what I am talking about. A Steel Guitar is not something that you can take a lot of time off and still be able to play the thing. I have always loved the steel guitar. When I quit in 2003 I really thought that I would never play again. I played for a lot of years , made a little money and had a lot of fun. I am not sure what is next but in the mean time I will keep hacking away trying to relearn or remember all that I have forgotten or lost.
Good to hear from you Jack. Those of you who don't know Jack Strayhorn , If you have an Emmons that was built from 1997 or earlier Jack most likely built it. He worked for Emmons for a number of years. He built several fine guitars for me.
Thank you Keith for your compliments also. Tell Vicky we need to jam ! She knows she is my favorite piano player.
So thanks again to everyone who responded to this thread. I hope a lot more of you will watch the video and tell me what you think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TCsr3JukyM

Bent Romnes · Post by **Bent Romnes** » 14 Sep 2009 10:18 am

William,Georg, we are in the same boat.

Georg, as far as your "Ugly Duckling" goes, I know that you have done a major re-build on this old Dekley of yours, with some innovative ideas implemented by you addressing the tone among other things. This should not be kept from the rest of us.
I would like to suggest that you post a bunch of clear pictures of your rebuild (in a separate thread of course)
We all deserve to get a closer look at the details.

Jim Lindsey (Louisiana) · Post by **Jim Lindsey (Louisiana)** » 14 Sep 2009 10:24 am

Hey, William ...
Man, you hit the nail on the head. Much of what you stated in your last post is exactly what I'm going through myself.

You're exactly right about being away from steel for a number of years and then the experience of sitting back down to it after all that time. I've listened to your video at least a dozen times or more and you're really coming back into it nicely ... and, just as it was when we first started playing, practice and dedication to it will bring us, and all others who've laid off of it, back to where we once were with it and, who knows? Perhaps even better the second time around.

When I quit playing in 2000, like you, I never really expected to play again. I thought that steel guitar was pretty much a closed chapter in my life. Then I got introduced to YouTube and started listening to all the steel players on there which prompted me to get back involved with the Forum here and see what's going on in the steel guitar world. Suddenly, something happened ... like a wheel turning inside another wheel that old first love of steel guitar began to flame up again and, just as it was when I first started in 1976, it became exciting and new again.

I can only conclude that whether or not a steel player quits playing totally, or lays it down for a while and picks it back up, once you're a steel player you're always a steel player.

I also do not know what is next (besides a lot of woodshedding), but whether or not I ever play with a band again or just play in my living room, I don't think I'll ever quit playing this time.

By the way, in your mention of Emmons steels prior to 1997, I had a 1976 Emmons that I bought from Gary Hogue (it was his first Emmons guitar) and that guitar was my most favorite steel I've ever owned. It makes me wonder if it's one of the guitars that Jack may have built ... if so, he did an exceptional job on it. It was a wonderful guitar.

Keep up the great work, William ... you're coming right along and sounding great, man. Looking forward to more videos of your playing on YouTube.

William Litaker · Post by **William Litaker** » 18 Sep 2009 5:59 am

Reading Chuck Hall's post , I am personally thinking that the switch turned on when I got rid of my stuff. I am becoming more convinced that you just cannot take five or six years off and start up again , not and work a job or do anything else. The steel guitar is just to complicated to take that much time off. But the love for the instrument keeps us going. Nobody loves the steel guitar any more than I do , but to play at a level I once did may not be possible......who knows.......I will keep plugging along......William
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TCsr3JukyM

Dennis Lee · Post by **Dennis Lee** » 18 Sep 2009 7:35 am

Bill, you have nothing to apologize about. The talent and knowledge is obviously there, it never left. Just spend some time with this quality equipment and you will soon be bitten by the bug that has bitten all of us.

William Litaker · Post by **William Litaker** » 22 Sep 2009 4:11 am

Thanks again for all who watched my video and posted a comment. It has been almost a month since I started trying to play again. It is feeling a little better and starting to come back to me. I hope to keep at it and keep improving. I guess when I feel like I am not getting any better or not moving foward I will do something else. I want to do another video this week, just to see if I can see progress. I still would like for all who will to watch my video and give any advice that you feel would help. I value the Forum's input. I know there are a lot of great players on the Forum. All You guys are great. OK ,thanks and I will let you know when I get another video completed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TCsr3JukyM

William Litaker
Kannapolis N.C.

The Steel Guitar Forum