need some opinions

[Daniel McKee]

i have bought a couple of beginner books for the pedal steel guitar but i need something else i have ask about this before several people say the jeff newman up from the top course is good here is where i need some opinions. i am an absolute beginner i know nothing about playing the steel guitar is the up from the top course good or is there something elese i need. i already have the winnie winston book but it seemed to hard for me.

[J D Sauser]

As the court record will show; "Asked and answered yer'oner": http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... highlight=


... J-D.

[Will Brown]

J.D thanks for your info earlier but i see your not going to get in this dog fight huh take care

[J D Sauser]

Well Will, while I may secretly pride myself of possibly being somewhat controversial and opinionated I do not really seek to be intentionally confrontational. Re-hashing the same over and over again over a short time period may unnecessarily put that concept into question, now wouldn't it?

... J-D

[Elton Smith]

Look up singlpilot on you tube.I think that is how he spells it.Its Mickey Adams ,a forum member that has posted many lessons for beginners.You will not be disapointed .

[Ken Metcalf]

Anthology of Pedal Steel Guitar by DeWitt Scott
Covers a lot of ground in a strait forward manner.

http://www.amazon.com/presents-Antholog ... 1562222104

http://www.overstock.com/Books-Movies-M ... u=12969953

[Eric Philippsen]

As for most instrument instruction, as the decades go by there are a few course and books that end up being classics. They become that way because they ARE good. For pedal steel.......

- Winnie WInston's "Pedal Steel Guitar." I started with this. I still open it up.
- Dewitt Scott's book (mentioned in an early post).
- You cna't go wrong with pretty much anything by Jeff Newman. The "Up from the top" series you mention is certainly good.

For C6th:

- Buddy Emmons "Basic C6th."
- Herby Wallace's C6th instruction
- Again, Jeff Newman.

Mickey Adams' book. although newly published, has received a lot of kudos.

You simply can't go wrong with the above.

[Larry Bell]

i already have the winnie winston book but it seemed to hard for me.

Don't deceive yourself, my friend
IT IS HARD

Those guys who have become great players did so on diligent study and relentless practice. No collection of books, cd's, dvd's, etc. will learn it for you. Also, some people learn music more easily than others; everyone's aptitude is different. If all you learn is 'play this string' now 'mash this pedal' all you'll learn is the mechanics. If you learn what notes work well over what chords you'll be able to play without someone telling you what string/fret/pedals to use.

Learn to play simple chords along with a song, kinda like a rhythm guitar. It will serve you well with learning your way around the instrument.
IT IS HARD. When I first started playing there was very little learning material available. When Buddy Emmons and Jimmy Day were learning the only way was to wear out a record, listening over and over until you could make your guitar sound like the steel on the record. There is something to be said about that approach -- learning 'by ear' -- it develops your ability to play whatever you hear.

[Joseph Barcus]

Tons of free stuff on youtube, plus cant forget Graham Reid has a sight with intros and turn arounds that comes in handy more times then once http://users.interlinks.net/rebel/steel/steel.html

[Barry Hyman]

I agree with Larry Bell. Use your brain and your ear as well as books/videos/DVDs/YouTube.

There are three ways to play every major chord and every minor chord on (almost) every E9th pedal steel, using what might be called a "starter grip" (strings 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 10). (Grab any three of those six strings and it will work.) Let's use G as an example. There is a G chord at the third fret with no pedals. There's another three frets higher with pedal A and the F lever (which raises your E strings to F). The third is at the tenth fret with pedals A and B, same grip.

G minor chords would be at the sixth fret with the A pedal, at the eleventh fret with the knee lever that lowers your E strings to D#, and at the first fret with pedals B and C depressed. (Although the grip on this last chord is different -- use any combination of strings 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.)

So now you can play any major chord and any minor chord in three different places. Now play the chords to any song, like rhythm guitar, as Larry said. Lots of choices, right?

Then practice playing chord scales. A chord scale is where you play seven chords, with each one starting on a note of a scale. For example, the chord scale in the key of G is G major, A minor, B minor, C major, D major, E minor, and F# diminished. (F# diminished can be played, with the same "starter grip," at the 11th fret with the F lever engaged.)

The chord scales give you ideas as to how you can move from one chord to another. For example, if the song moves from a G chord to a C chord (in the key of G) you could move through A minor and B minor on the way if you want.

This way you can teach yourself a lot without using any instructional material. Books and videos are great, but if you figure it out yourself, you'll remember it better.

And I agree with JD -- tab rots your brain. Tab just tells you what to do without ever telling you what you are doing or why. So it is useful sometimes, but if you really want to learn pedal steel, you have to think rather than just look for instructions to follow. Good luck, brother!

[Ken Brower]

Those beginners out there looking to play pedal steel will do very well to follow what Larry and Barry (sounds like a law firm) are promoting. I bought my first pedal steel in Oct of 06 and up until two weeks ago have been all self taught. I have used very, very little tab charts in my pedal steel journey as I am use to playing all by ear ... just like I do with a regular six string. I will say I have spent a great amount of time learning what each pedal and lever does and applying them as I play. The great part about playing pedal steel is the exploration.

A few weeks ago I contacted Barry, thru the forum, about getting a couple of lessons from him. As it turns out Barry lives in the same town as my mother so while on vacation in NY State last week I got two lessons. Over the 3 plus hours we spent together we went over a lot of stuff. But we primarily covered the chord grips that Barry has provided in his response. You will do well to print it out, follow it, and then practice it and practice it again and again all over the fret board. I can get around the steel pretty well but Barry’s instruction will take me much farther.

Barry, thanks for taking the time to type out your response to Daniel’s question, it will help out many of us. Oh, thanks for the lessons! It was great meeting you and playing with you.

[Rick Winfield]

Winston may seem hard, at first, but he is very thorough, in showing the basics you need to get started. That book covers almost every topic needed to play and maintain a PSG, along with theory,copedants,histories and more.
NOTHING comes easy; especially PSG. Of course I can only speak for myself, but "putting in the time" is mandatory !!. So Practice, and then practice some more!
Good luck
Rick

[Stephen Cordingley]

two resources for technique:
the "Right Hand Alpha" video (Jeff Newman)
and Joe Wright's "Technique Bundle" book(s)

I mention these because they are almost totally mechanical/not musical - simply the "how do I get my hands and feet to do this stuff?" issue

all the by ear/chord theory stuff is great to learn, but if you're as uncoordinated as I am, having a resource that emphasizes the physical challenges of beginning psg is valuable (and strangely reassuring)

I agree that IT IS HARD. It can take a long time for the manual dexterity challenged individual (that's me, btw). Joe Wright likens it to training like an athlete, and he's right!
Good luck and enjoy...

[Daniel McKee]

i got a catalog of jeff newman learning material yesterday there is a course called steel guitar 101 is this something that would be helpful to me.

[Karen Sarkisian]

Bruce Bouton's DVD "Learn to Play Pedal Steel Guitar" really helped me when i first started. Also Winnie Winston and Mickey Adams

[Daniel McKee]

what would be some good material to help me learn some chords.and some other basics i need to get started.

[Daniel McKee]

does anybody know anything about the teach yourself to play the pedal steel guitar course.

[b0b]

A student who teaches himself can't learn anything that he doesn't already know.

[Jay Yuskaitis]

I would suggest learning the first thing about music that was taught to me, and then go from there. My first lesson was "Do Re Me Fa Sol La Ti Do". I'm still trying to fit it all in. Rick Alexander once said, "The key to the Kingdom" Is practice x 100,000,000 and then everything will fall into place. There is no short cut, maybe as you "grow up" you'll find it all fits in! Jay Y.

[Barry Hyman]

Now b0b, you are by far one of the wisest and most sensible and articulate voices on The Forum, something that we all appreciate every day. (!) But what you say here is simply not true. I have been teaching myself to play guitar since '64 and pedal steel since '72, and I have figured out about 100,000,000 things that I didn't know back then.

The relentless and excruciating application of logic, common sense, observation, the scientific method, self-criticism, and constant questioning allows a person to teach himself/herself quite effectively.

I agree that having a teacher can be wonderful, although most music teachers (maybe not pedal steel teachers, but music teachers in general) are still stuck in the 18th century, and many do more harm than good. Yes, teachers can help, and they can lubricate the process of becoming a musician, but they (we) are not necessary, and to state that no one can teach himself/herself something that he/she doesn't already know is ludicrous. Being self-educated is not impossible -- it is just difficult. Most people are not up to the challenge of teaching themselves, true, but to state that it can't be done is wrong, and also quite discouraging to those who are in the process.

[David Ball]

I'm going to jump in with another recommendation for Jeff Newman's "Right Hand Alpha." That one has been a really big help for me.

There are lots of good method books and training aids out there, and I think that each of them has something to offer. I've got to say that getting a copy of "The Amazing Slow Downer" software and listening to steel playing that I like, and then trying to figure it out on my own has probably been the best learning aid for me. But everything that I can learn, from whatever source, all adds up. In my case, it leads up to pretty mediocre playing, but as the old joke goes, "Who do you expect to please with THAT????......ME!"

Dave

[Daniel McKee]

has anyone used the teach yourself to play pedal steel course and i dont mean teaching yourself its actually a learners course i found on the internet.

[Herb Steiner]

Daniel
The best way to learn steel guitar is to sit in front of a a good player, one who wants to teach and has the ability, and ask every possible question you can.

Jeff Newman's video stuff is excellent, IMHO. He talks the language and makes it down-to-earth enough to understand by folks not very experienced in music.