Happy to be on Board!

[Chris Berney]

Just getting started on an 8 string lap after playing guitar for 25 years and banjo for two. I happened upon a great lap made for me by an old friend and now Im going to learn to play it.

So many questions, I dont know where to begin. The lap came tuned in C6 - GACEGACE. I assume I should switch it to ACEGACEG? Others have said the E13 tuning is a good one as well. I know C6 is the old standard and may have more material available for it.

I would like to find scale/chord diagrams/grips so I can jump in with my friends as soon as possible and try to keep the lap from sounding like a drunk cat while I do it.

Thanks for any advice, input.

[Brad Bechtel]

I prefer the tuning you already have (G A C E G A C E, bass to treble). The top six strings are the same as the standard C6th tuning for six string guitars.
There are many different discussions on C6th tuning on the forum. A bit of searching will give you some good ideas.
Also check out Mike Neer's Lap Steelin' blog for some examples and tutorials.

[Chris Berney]

Thanks. I think I'll keep it here for now.

[Jim Williams]

Check out Doug Beaumier's book & cd sets. He has two books of 25 songs each for c6 lap steel, very nice tab with performance and background tracks on two cd's per book. Doug's playing is worth the price of the books.

These are not music theory books, but they will get you acquainted with the fretboard by learning familiar tunes. They are for 6 String lap steel. You can find them here: http://www.dougbsteel.com/

There are also some very good free resources online, one of them is Greg Cutshaw's site: www.gregcutshaw.com/‎

Another nice site with a wealth of C6 stuff: http://www.steelc6th.com/ - A lot of this is Hawaiian oriented, but there is a LOT of stuff here.

Hope that helps, also check out the forum store for C6 books and courses. Mel Bay Basic C6th Nonpedal Lap Steel Method by DeWitt Scott is a good one.