Learn more songs or more music

[Tommy Gibbons]

I've been playing for a couple years; I can play dozens of basic intros, fills, and turn-arounds.

It seems I'm doing the same things over and over in a lot the music I play.

Do I need to spend more time learning new songs or more complicated music?

This may be a silly question...but, I play about 3 hours a day and I'm stuck in a rut!

I need some advise getting over the"HUMP"!!!

Thanks, Tommy

[Billy Tonnesen]

It's time to do some experimenting and creating in your own right. Listen to a song that you have not already learned and start trying to play it the way you would want to hear it. Use your Ear to find combibnatations that can be used. Do not try to play exactly like somebody else. You need to start developing your own style ! Good Luck and have Fun !

[Larry Jamieson]

It really does help to learn to play some songs, to play melodys. This will get you thinking about different ways to find the notes and harmony notes, and to move from one position to another on the neck.
Practice somes scales as well. Find different ways to play them. Develop ways to move up and down the neck.
What you learn by figuring out the first melody or song, will be useful when you start working on the next. Put on CDs of songs you like and play along. Try to figure out how the steel player is doing the fills and the ride on the song you are working on. Hope this helps.
Larry J.

[Bill Bassett]

start playing all those intros and fills with other people playing too. Get in a band, go to jam sessions, sit around the garage and jam with friends, anything like that will instantly raise the bar and you can put all those practice hours to use. Play songs you have never heard before. Play the songs you know in different keys. There are hundreds of ways to get out of that rut, just mix it up a little. Just remember to stretch before exercising.

Have Fun,

Bill Bassett
Rimrock AZ

[Larry Bell]

If you choose the right songs and study them thoroughly, then
MORE SONGS = MORE MUSIC

[Ray Montee]

What a lot of new comers fail to recognize is that the best intro' to an unfamiliar song, is to simply play the last line of the last verse and slap a turn-around on the end of it..........

People that are familiar with it will understand where you're going with it. Others will likely catch on since you've set theme to which they can musically relate.

Keep at it. We've all been there before.
It's sorta like "WRITERs' BLOCK".

[Brett Day]

I think the best thing to do is experiment with different songs. Bein' a steel player for ten years, I've learned that it's best to experiment with new songs and not play the same songs during a practice session. You could throw in a mix, like start off with a slow song then pick up the tempo a little bit and play a fast song. Another thing to do is to listen to a song's steel parts first, then play along with the song to see if you can figure out the basic steel parts, solos, intros, and turnarounds. This is also a great way to come up with your own playin' style. If you can't get the certain steel part, do your own little steel part-that's what I do. Also, go to steel guitar jam sessions, conventions, and shows because they usually have little seminars that teach you how to play melodies of songs, and other steel parts.This is a great way to get ideas for songs.

Brett

[Martin Johannesson]

This may be controversial but when I look back at my 30 years of steel playing (almost) I can now see that when I learned most about the instrument was at times when I was forced to create something on the spot without preparation, live or on a session. Preasure can often make you lift mountains so to speak. Also one shouldn't be too afraid of jumping into a spontaneous idea at times. Don't always stay on the "safe side"! Of course that depends on the playing/gig situation of course. Be brave but not foolish!

[John Billings]

Martin! I agree wholeheartedly! I took three lessons on steel, and my teacher said he'd gotten me a gig. The only "Country" I knew was the Sweethearts of the Rodeo" album. We were a trio; guitar, bass,steel, and a "Boopa-chicka" machine. A request band. They had a thousand songs on 3X5 cards, and I didn't know any of them! I still remember my first song, and the fear I felt!
"Sugar Daddy in A, JB. Take it away."
I knew by the end of the night that I'd never learn all those songs, and that I'd better learn the instrument! I've flown by the seat of my pants ever since, and never been bored. "Started this song last night on the 3rd fret, well tonight I start at the 6th fret." Never know what I'm gonna play until an instant before I play it. If I couldn't improv, I'd get bored and do something else.

[Martin Johannesson]

John: Amen to that! When were a majority of all the classic great steel lines created? Most likely on the spot when the player didn't really know what he was doing at first! Of course all improvising calls for a basic understanding of how music and harmony works in general but even without any knowledge at all one can create! Take a few cold ones and sit down and play along with some of your favorite records and be sure to record yourself and the music so you'll remember what you played next morning! Who knows maybe you've created a new classic?
Warning! Don't do this routine too often though or you may never get the chance to show the world what you've accomplished? !

[Brian McGaughey]

Hey Tommy,

I'm in about the same spot you are. Been in a rut lately 3 years in on E9.

I decided it'd be fun to order up some type of learning course (yikes!) so I sent off for Herb Steiner's Swinging On E9 Vol. II tab and CD. There were a lot of new grips to me, and although plowing through tab and learning it "just like someone plays it" isn't something I like to do, I have learned alot from this and it's adding more to my arsenal.

Just an idea.