Best way to start......

[Tony Boadle]

OK, put yourselves in my shoes:
There's a PSG heading my way, 10 string, 3 pedals and two knee levers. (thankyou Santa, I promise to finish my 6-string home-build soon!)
From what I've been told, the set up is normal (?)
A Pedal pulls the 5th and 10th to C#
B pedal 3rd and 6 th to A
C pedal 4th and 5th TO F# and C#
Knee levers raise the Es to F and lowers the Es to E flat.
So, where do I start? I pick purty good 5-string banjer and guitar, and basic only square-neck reso and lap steel. So I'm familiar with picks and steels.
But I'm scared of ten strings and all the stuff underneath!
Is there a non-daunting initial route to follow? e.g: where's the best place to find the chords for a simple 3-chord trick in E,C and G? That's how I started on guitar.....any tips or comments appreciated. And please, please, be gentle with me.

[Ray Anderson]

Welcome Tony, You could start on Youtube with Mickey Adams videos for beginners and it will guide you through all the basics to get you started learning your grips and pulls ( triads and etc.). I started this way and along the way I started using Jeff Newmans instructional media for more intense study and practice. A&B Pedals would be a good choice to start with, then you can move up to D Lever and so on. These courses are still available and will pay great dividends to you on your journey. This Forum is also a resource of knowledge and help that is priceless. Someone always willing to help. Happy Steelin'

[Mike Wheeler]

I started as an experienced guitar player, too, back in the early 70's. There was very little material to study back then, so I was left on my own to make sense of this monster....but I loved the sound!!

My first eye-opener was when I realized the pedals and knee levers were like finger positions on a regular guitar.

For instance, on a guitar play an C chord at the first fret. Next play an F chord at the first fret. Then move to the 3rd fret and play a G chord. Notice that the F and G chords both use the same fret-to-finger relationships...of course, you have to bar the 3rd fret, but it's the same form as the F chord.

On a steel you have an open E chord at the nut. Press the A+B pedals to get an A chord. Now just slide that up 2 frets and you have the B chord. (not every string is part of the major chord, so just pick the ones that are)

Notice the relationship between the guitar chords and the steel positions. Root chord and 4 chord at the same fret position, and moving up 2 frets gives you the 5 chord.

Like I said, that was an eye-opener for me when I first started. From there I played around with the pedals and levers, always in relation to those basic 3 chord positions, and found tons of other chords. In a matter of a few weeks I had a good handle on basic chord structure on the steel.

So, experiment like crazy. After a while you'll want some more detailed instruction. I'd suggest Jeff Newman's stuff.....it's great for more eye-opening ideas.

[James Wolf]

Does anyone know of the DVD that used to come with the carter starter? If I recall correctly it was joe wright....anyway it was a jump start DVD for pedal steel guitar as it related to a six string guitar. It went over basic grips as well as useful bar placement and pedaling with the six string guitarist in mind. Bridge the gap if you will. It had me going within two hours. If I could find the darn thing I would send it to you. Has anyone else seen this DVD?

[Michael Coggins]

Hi Tony,
I'm new to the PSG as well. I find Joe Wright's E9 videos very helpful - http://www.sierrasteels.com/lessons/e9th-lessons.html
You can copy them to DVD to give you a bit more flexibility. Also the Winnie Winston/Bill Keith book "Pedal Steel Guitar" is very good for the beginner. Loads of general info on the PSG, tabs to get you up and running, and more advanced stuff if you want.
The Micky Adams YouTube videos are great and will give you hours of stuff to practice.
Learning this beast is very frustrating and great fun in equal measure, enjoy!

[Tony Boadle]

Thanks, guys. I'll check out YouTube and look out for the Carter DVD. And the CFG advice seems a straightforward and logical starting point. I'm assuming that with only three picks, I'll be picking a maximium of three strings at a time....are there options or will it be obvious on the big day?
And how long before I can play the sublime intro to 'Teach Your Children Well?' (Lol)

[Tony Boadle]

Hi Michael....greetings from sunny West Cork! This Joe Wright stuff looks good, many thanks. Tony

[Carl Kilmer]

ttt

[Jim Williams]

I'm a newbie too, and have a bunch of books, tabs, etc. If I had a word of advice, I think it would be at least at first to find one good basic course and stick with it, then progress to something more advanced. I think I'm suffering somewhat from information overload at the moment. I am trying to get the "Up from the Top" Jeffran video you will see mentioned frequently on here and apply myself to that in it's entirety. I can't recommend it from personal experience, but it seems to be the one resource that the most people are in agreement about on the forum here as being very valuable. My other word of advice would be don't get frustrated...I play several other instruments and the pedal steel is a very unique instrument. You won't be able to just sit down and play it...(if you can, please let us know!). It will most likely seem very alien and non user friendly when you start messing with it, but if you stick with it, it will actually start to sound like something eventually. Make sure also that you have the right bar for the pedal steel, the most common size being 7/8" x 3 1/4" and weighing around 7 - 8 ounces. Trying to play with a smaller bar, or a stevens dobro type bar will handicap you. Good luck.

[Jim Williams]

As for your basic chord question, once tuned, putting the bar at the third fret (directly over the third fret marker) and plucking either strings (10 / 8 / 6) or (5/6/8) or (4/5/6) or (3/4/5) will yield a G chord. Pressing the A and B pedals down together will give you a C chord on the above strings without moving the bar, and moving up to the fifth fret with the pedals down will give you a D chord. The different string groups (grips) give you different inversions of the chord. That should allow you to play the chord progressions to a few thousand country songs .

I'm new too, so someone correct me if any of this is not correct or not stated correctly.

[Tony Boadle]

Thanks again for all the advice and suggestions...the courtesy and kindness of forum members (on all the Hangouts) never ceases to amaze me.
And all you younger musicians...how lucky you are!
Imagine a world without the Internet, imagine scouring record shops on the off-chance of finding an LP (ask your dad, what's a long-player?) that might feature your chosen instrument, then listening again and again trying to work out what was going on!
And never knowing if another picker lived anywhere near you etc etc... OK, I'll stop now.

[James Wolf]

As for your basic chord question, once tuned, putting the bar at the third fret (directly over the third fret marker) and plucking either strings (10 / 8 / 6) or (5/6/8) or (4/5/6) or (3/4/5) will yield a G chord. Pressing the A and B pedals down together will give you a C chord on the above strings without moving the bar, and moving up to the fifth fret with the pedals down will give you a D chord. The different string groups (grips) give you different inversions of the chord. That should allow you to play the chord progressions to a few thousand country songs .

I'm new too, so someone correct me if any of this is not correct or not stated correctly.

The other main grip I use is 8 5 6.....also while you are on the third fret using those grips press the A pedal by itself to get your E minor chord

[Ray Anderson]

Hey Guys, I just want to mention this to you as I forgot in my previous post. When practicing scale it can become boring so it is up to you to find ways to make it productive. One thing that I did to spice it up was to see how many notes I could land on in pitch before my sustain ran out. You will do well going forward on the pattern but descending is a horse of a different breed and descending is crucial or at least I think so. Takes a lot more concentration on the backwards as opposed to the forward. Whatever you do don't push yourself to frustration but have fun with it. When my fun stopped so did my productivity. Happy Steelin'

[Douglas Schuch]

The video for 6 string players who want to learn pedal steel is here:

http://www.steelguitar.com/vids/6string.wmv

You can download or play that link. It is on this page, lower right hand corner:

http://www.steelguitar.com/beginners.html

Doug

[Eric Philippsen]

Here I'm sitting reading and it takes me back all those decades ago to when I was in a beginner's shoes. Boy, that was a couple of lifetimes and a thousand or so gigs ago. Here's my 2-cents from that perspective.

A pedal steel guitar is a very humbling instrument. One might be an outstanding 6-string, mandolin, keyboard or whatever-instrument player but that doesn't get you all that far when you first sit down to the thing. Oh, sure, some of what one already might know theory-wise does help, but it's the totally different physical aspect that first hauls a new player up short. Put another way, previous musical experience or playing ability really only gets a person halfway, at best, to first base. That being said, even after all these years I still am humbled by this contraption. It is addicting, though.

Advice for the beginner? Oh, I have a lot, I guess. I probably could go on and on but a thread like this doesn't have enough space for all that rambling of mine. However, here are some things I'd suggest:

- Dang, how long ago was it that I sat there at my new pedal steel and there were NO teachers for it, NO internet, practically nothing? Heck, cassette tapes weren't even used that far back. But somehow I found an instruction book by Winnie Winston and I used that. It was only after-the-fact that I realized how lucky I was to have found that because, as it turned out, it was .... and still is.... a classic when in comes to pedal steel instruction. If I had to do it all over again? yeah, I'd still start with that. For sure.

- Anything by the late, great Jeff Newman is beyond outstanding. I was fortunate to have taken classes with him and to attend his "Steel Guitar College" down near Nashville. Tragically, he was taken away from us in a plane accident. His instructional material is the best. It is SO clear, easy to understand and challenging, too. Darned if I don't still pull his material out to learn another lick or concept. You know, I can still hear his voice in my head when I go through it, too.

- Pay no attention to the persistent falsehood that you must have another steel or better amp or whatever equipment. Lawd, the message that you should buy this or buy that and "you will be great" is never-ending. Instead, what instrument and gear you have now as a beginner is just fine. Yeah, there are bad junk steels out there but chances are you've got something that will suit you just fine for the first year or two. Later on you can refine your gear.

- Be careful that you develop a positive attitude about listening to pro steel players. I mean, it can be VERY intimidating to listen to a pro player because their chops and ability are so advanced and developed. One less accomplished, as a beginner, can quickly become discouraged when listening and comparing themselves to them. Even now, and I've heard most if not all of the greats play several times, I can get discouraged when I play that no-win comparison game. So I stop playing it and just enjoy this wonderful instrument.

- Practice. All the time.

[Lane Gray]

- Be careful that you develop a positive attitude about listening to pro steel players. I mean, it can be VERY intimidating to listen to a pro player because their chops and ability are so advanced and developed. One less accomplished, as a beginner, can quickly become discouraged when listening and comparing themselves to them. Even now, and I've heard most if not all of the greats play several times, I can get discouraged when I play that no-win comparison game. So I stop playing it and just enjoy this wonderful instrument.

- Practice. All the time.

Actually, I find that listening to the masters analytically (once you get a hang of what's going on in these contraptions) is reassuring. The big masters rely on the same handful of basic licks and tricks, they just put them together differently. Then they mix in a few snippets of a relevant melody. Then they start slicing the licks and tricks into licklets and tricklets, which they then mix and match like Garanimals (anybody else remember those?)
Buddy is a master of playing half a lick, then finishing it with the back half of a different lick.

[Bob Hoffnar]

I would highly suggest finding a good live teacher to help you in person right away. Do not wait until you "get it together more". The basic ergonomics of playing the steel don't come naturally and if you start wrong not only will it be a ton of extra work to correct bad habits , you can injure yourself. I see so many guys starting out with there right hand wrist bent , elbo sticking out, shoulders all tensed ... And many more very basic and super easy to fix problems. If you can't find a live teacher take a few joe wright skype lessons to get on the right track. You cannot deal with these problems without live feedback.

[Stephen R. Feldman]

What Mr. Hoffner said!

"Dvd not hit back!"

You CANNOT replace a teacher
for pedal steel for getting
the right ergonomic habits in place.

Paying the right teacher now
will save you untold amounts
later in frustration, which
does have a monetary cost, even
if you can't put it in terms
of currency. Lost time is lost money...
Pay now or pay later...

Personal feedback and pattern recognition
from a good steel player is all important.

I could go on, but almost anybody here
will say it better than I can, so take
their advice...

[Michael Coggins]

Tony,
Forgot to mention this http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=147199
Patricia Warnock very kindly makes these charts available to forum members.
Sunny West Cork?? You're lucky, it's rainy season again up here

[Tony Boadle]

Thanks again Michael.
Er, I lied about the sun btw. Just trying to squeeze the last tourists out of the gathering!!
Tony

[Patricia Warnock]

Thank you, Michael Coggins, for continuing to promote and support the chart. Always happy to share! Take care, all, and all the best in 2014

[Roual Ranes]

Don't forget that Winnie Winston book.

[Michael Coggins]

Best wishes for 2014 to you Patricia. Your chart is on my music room wall in A0 size

[John Billings]

In '72 I bought a new Shobud, and was trying to figure it out on my own. The first two strings just totally screwed with me! Took a lesson. The instructor had heard me fingerpicking Watson and Travis, so he didn't worry about my right hand. He handed me a Tele with a capo on the 4th fret.
'Forget about those first two strings for the moment."
"Play a C form chord. "
He then told me what each pedal and lever did, and had me finger those changes on the Tele. Lightbulbs went off non-stop! I had a gig in 3 weeks. So,,, if you're already a good guitarist, and a good fingerpicker, you really do have a huge advantage over others, right from the start.

[Stuart Legg]

If you don't mentally have a basic understanding of musical scales (doe ra me etc,,) and chords (1 3 5 b7 9 etc..) you will not recognize that mentally is the obvious place to start.
Or do like some folks and just put some tape on the neck to show you where the chords are and slide the bar from fret to fret and pump the crap out of the A pedal and fantasize they're a PSG player.
Just kidding nothing wrong with tape on the neck.