Honest self-analysis of playing

[Steve Knight]

Mike,

I like your reference to the George Van Eps books. I've only made it through about 1/2 of book one on my six string. I am determined to work through all 3 books in my lifetime. I've used some of those studies on banjo & pedal steel. Great stuff, but a lifetime of work for sure.

[Mike Neer]

Steve, I posted a little bit of how I go about using the basic Van Eps system here: http://www.mikeneer.com/lapsteelin/

The Van Eps exercises have given me a clear path to getting to know my 10 string C13 tuning very well.

I record myself improvising freely almost every day, about 30 minutes worth. I feel it is extremely helpful for me in creating the kind of lines I am trying to build. I am trying to play freely with tonality and atonality, and to play all the right wrong notes!

[George Rothenberger]

Thanks Mike, great topic. I recorded myself the other night after figuring out 'Together Again' on the lap. It sounded great in my head. When I played it back it didn't flow. I thought it did but it didn't. Revieiwing the reocrding helped me hear it and identify what ot work on. Especially true in my singing. I tend to go flat at ends of lines, where I am concentrating on a guitar or mando lick and kinda forget to sing (in pitch). I don't keep the tapes (i use tape as it is so immediate and no messing with computers etc) but I use them to improve my delivery, to pracitce perfection. In practice, i think one should strive for perfection, ie don't practice mistakes. So 'perfect practice' makes sense. Muscle memory. Play the piece prefectly 3 times, or fix the mistake by playing the mitake part perfectly 3 times. But that is practice.
HOwever, I would not like to play with a person who was so overly critical of every gig and every darn note of the last gig. Takes the magic and fun out of it.
Performance is different. Our banjo player will say 'forget it man, it's what you played' when I comment how i messsed up or didn't hit something right in a gig. It just makes me feel good when he says it, 'it's what you played.' It is a jazz approach. You played what your played, it's gone.
The audiance maybe loved it.
-I hhave to go back to work, now. Lunch over.

[Jack Aldrich]

As I am fond of saying, there are only two kinds of music - good and bad - and I play 'em both, often within seconds. I find that, when I'm playing non-pedal steel, I am generally pleased with what I do, but, on pedal steel, I most always want to stop, yell "Time Out!" and then"do it right" after I'm done with a solo.

[Paul Seager]

I don't want to kill this topic with a gag because it is very interesting but on the subject of whole performances being recorded, I do recall, when playing bass in a prog-rock band many years ago, when analyzing the recording our keyboard player turned to me and said:
"Can you put that bass line somewhere else?"
"Sure, where would you like it?"
"In another band!"

[Tom Campbell]

I just bought a Tascam hand held recorder to use for practice self analysis. I'm sending it back...there is no way I sound that bad

Seriously, this is exactly what I need. One can't argue with the truth...and this little recorder indicates a lot of work needs to be done!!!

[Jana Lockaby]

Recording equipment can make a big difference. For practice, I use a little hand held, digital recorder. It's good quality, but listening through the recorders speaker never sounds good. When I load it on my computer, and listen through the Bose speakers, whew, much, much better.

[Dennis Detweiler]

I like Ron's perception. I'm my worst critic. I always listen to the finer flaws. And, after finally getting into the studio with pedal steel on a regular basis, I constantly listen to what needs to improve when I listen to the replay. I'm my worst enemy. No hand kissing going on. Even after 40+ years of playing pedal steel professionally and as a weekend warrior.
I recently started playing lap. One big flaw that I hear in lap vs pedal in most everybody's playing and mine is the lack of flow from one pattern of notes or chords to another. Or, chord transitions. It's easier and creative on pedals with fret movement combined with pedal and lever pulls. On lap you have to work with movement, pockets and slants. Even the slants have limitations compared to pedal and lever combinations. So, my immediate quest is to create without the stoppages between chord transitions and note patterns. Especially the slow tunes.

[Stefan Robertson]

I was once told by my accomplished musical cousin. In Jazz there are no such things as wrong notes.

Then he told me to learn your instrument fretboard layout. Then you can play all the notes you want then stop on the one to emphasize the melody.

As I listening to modern jazz guys on guitar I am realising this to be true. They change scale during a chord and let their hands fly like nobody's business and simply stop in the note desired. Like a C, xxxxxxxx, Bb, xxxxxxx Ab.


He also said learn the notes then you can create scale runs.

When you limit yourself or over analyse you sound no different to others who are simply playing back a scale/mode

[Stefan Robertson]

However clean note diction on our instrument is a must. And learning different time signatures is a necessary evil.

I guess the easiest way to learn your fretboard is learn the Ionian scale up and down until you know the notes without your instrument. That is my current goal. 12 strings a lot of memorisation.

[Jerome Hawkes]

One big flaw that I hear in lap vs pedal in most everybody's playing and mine is the lack of flow from one pattern of notes or chords to another. ... On lap you have to work with movement, pockets and slants. So, my immediate quest is to create without the stoppages between chord transitions and note patterns. Especially the slow tunes.

totally agree with this - one of the things i always try to keep in mind is Jerry Byrd's advice that music is made "between the notes" - that is so true on steel guitar. i keep thinking "like weaving a thread thru the music" - keep it flowing.