Hear a thumping sound? That's me, trying to palm block

[Don DeMaio]

OK, I got me a new lap steel, been playing a month now, just can't get the hang of using my right hand to do blocking/dampening/whatever you want to call it. My notes sound like Thumper's tail hitting a trash can lid.

I know it's hard to visualize but if anyone out there has a simple way of explaining how it works I'd sure appreciate the help.

Don

[Mike Neer]

Don, I advocate using pick blocking as the primary method and using palm blocking in spots. It just seems so much easier to me. With pick blocking you can keep your hand floating above the strings and you just return each finger to the string to stop it ringing when you so desire.

With palm blocking I believe the best method is to extend your pinky in such a way that the side of your hand can easily touch across the top of the strings. Then the motion is to either bounce up and down slightly or rock your hand slightly forward to pick and back to block.

At least that's how it works for me.

[Jack Stoner]

Don, if you are not far from Lake Panasoffkee, come to our Florida Steel Guitar Club jam tonight and I'll show you how to palm block. It's not an "overnight success" but if you are shown a "preferred" way to hold your picking hand it becomes easier. I'm teaching my wife to play steel and she has just started working on palm blocking.

www.floridasteelguitarclub.com

[Mark van Allen]

Hi, Don. While pick blocking is a necessary tool, and even natural to some degree, palm blocking is also something you need in your bag, and has it's own sound.
First, on a lap steel, you'll have to make sure your hand is forward of, or clear of, any palm rest or pickup cover that many lap steels (and acoustic resonator guitars) have. Pedal steels are generally clear all the way to the changer fingers.

When I was first learning, a very talented local steel player showed me to palm block by rotating my hand slightly toward the right, or pickup end, of the guitar after each note and laying it down on the strings, as in : PICK-TILT-BLOCK. After trying and trying, and watching him play I realized that he had explained it incorrectly and was not doing it that way at all!
The thing to grasp is the concept that your at-rest position, in between picked notes IS with the the strings blocked. In other words, START with your hand slightly muting the strings by lying on them. You may find it more comfortable to extend the pinky, or curl it under the palm, either will work.
Then for each note or chord, lift your hand straight off the guitar toward the ceiling, as you pick the note. Return to your at rest position as you prepare to pick the next note. It's NOT a separate movement. And while it will be more pronounced while you're learning, it's actually a very small movement, just enough to clear the strings and let them ring. This is why it's very hard to see what an accomplished pick-blocker is doing while playing.

So, a sequence of notes is played pick-pick-pick, with the hand coming back down onto the strings as the next note is plucked. No turning or tilting to mute separately between notes.
I hope this helps, I can highly recommend getting a copy of Jeff Newman's "Right Hand Alpha" course where he addresses the whole concept, with good looks an attention to the actual hand position of the right hand on the strings to make this work best and give the best tone. Watch some good players for tips on that. Hand position is key.

[Don DeMaio]

Mark, of all the things I've heard, seen and read about this, this makes the most sense to me. Seems to work, too. Thanks.

Don

[Ray Montee]

After playing several decades, professionally, and having taken lessons from several knowledgeable teachers down thro' the years, it wasn't until a few years back that I had even heard of PALM BLOCKING.

Jeff Newman was where I heard it first.

If you look at photo's of the early day success stories of steel guitar, you'll find it difficult to find a single photo where the player's right hand has this deformed little finger jutting out toward the audience. This just has to be one of the newer inventions of a few in order to make playing the steel guitar all that more complicated.

When one picks and rolls the strings, rather than grasping or clawing at them, the natural roll of the right hand seems to make the dampening of the ringing strings an easy task.

If you're a newcomer, I'd forget about it at this stage and see what develops naturally. IMHO.

[Mike Neer]

....
If you look at photo's of the early day success stories of steel guitar, you'll find it difficult to find a single photo where the player's right hand has this deformed little finger jutting out toward the audience. This just has to be one of the newer inventions of a few in order to make playing the steel guitar all that more complicated.
.....

We were having a discussion about this a few weeks ago. Some said that some players were advocating using the pinky stretched out facing the audience while others (including myself) were advocating curling the pinky. It made for interesting discussion. My friend Lynn Kasdorf said this:

"Regarding the pinky- I learned right hand technique from Jeff Newman’s courses. Back then, he preached the tuck in the pinky thing. And that’s how I learned. Then at some point, he switched to having it straight out, laying on the strings ready for damping. Around 1997 or so I recall attending one of his seminars at Billy Coopers steel shop and I asked him about the switch. He kinda dodged the question, but basically said that if you watch the right hand of all the top pedal steel players, their pinky sticks out."

I find that there are some times (although rare) when I extended the pinky a little and palm block (it seems to be when I'm doing some chord strums with my thumb). I'm most comfortable with my pinky curled, hand loose, and pick blocking. I like to have my hand floating and held at an angle of about 45°. Anyone else?

[Don DeMaio]

Is Bobbe Seymour not using palm blocking on this number? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT5lzEBRPJg

Don

After playing several decades, professionally, and having taken lessons from several knowledgeable teachers down thro' the years, it wasn't until a few years back that I had even heard of PALM BLOCKING.

Jeff Newman was where I heard it first.

If you look at photo's of the early day success stories of steel guitar, you'll find it difficult to find a single photo where the player's right hand has this deformed little finger jutting out toward the audience. This just has to be one of the newer inventions of a few in order to make playing the steel guitar all that more complicated.

When one picks and rolls the strings, rather than grasping or clawing at them, the natural roll of the right hand seems to make the dampening of the ringing strings an easy task.

If you're a newcomer, I'd forget about it at this stage and see what develops naturally. IMHO.

[John Groover McDuffie]

I think Lloyd Green's playing on the Charlie Pride at Panther Hall recording is a great example of excellent palm blocking.

[Eric Philippsen]

Blocking is the hardest thing one has to learn on an instrument that is hard to learn from the very get-go. After playing for 20-some years I thought my blocking technique was pretty good. Not great but passable. Wrong.
I started to practice with a headphone setup. Straight steel, no effects. Wow,was that ever revealing. Turns out my blocking wasn't as good as I thought. But I'm working on it and this old dog is learnin' new tricks. Headphone practice never lies. Sometimes I wish it did.