How good do you need to be to teach Steel Guitar to Newbieâ€

Stuart Legg · Posted 5 Nov 2014 6:48 pm

Steel guitar teaching is about Steel Guitar learning. Success does not depend on how well the teacher can play but on what the student learns.
The best technical and theoretically great steel guitar players do not always make the best steel guitar teachers.
Teaching steel guitar to someone else is not about your own playing but about making the student's playing better.

Stuart Legg · Posted 5 Nov 2014 7:15 pm

The majority of those who seek Steel Guitar lessons are novice/early stage intermediate players with little or no experience of playing Steel guitar but with a genuine desire to improve.
When they seek out a teacher they may think they want a great player who stuns them with their technical ability but what they really are looking for is Steel Guitar lessons that will help them to start off on the right path.

Darvin Willhoite · From: Roxton, Tx. USA

I've seen some great teachers that weren't really good players, and I've seen really good players that weren't very good teachers.
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Jan Viljoen · From: Pretoria, South Africa

Yep, very important.

Any teacher, especially a music teacher should have lots of patience and lots of empathy.

Rightly so, that he should be teaching for the betterment of the student, but the teacher should also have lots of humor explaining what he wants the student to perform.
So, a pedal steel teacher does not have to do 32 rolls per second to be good, he should tell/teach the student what to do and help to overcome obstructions etc.

All these oil the relationship and will eventually give confidence and the continuous desire to practice.

A good teacher will be able to tell pretty quickly if his student does practice enough or not.
If he is involved enough he should be able to tell over time if there are other problems or if the student just does not have enough talent to be a top player.

How he handles that, I dont know.
Others may chime in.

Let the practice begin!
Wink

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Stuart Legg · Posted 6 Nov 2014 1:52 am

While I won’t single out any one player I will say there are some steel players with a huge array of teaching videos and not one video of them playing a complete song.
Though they are perceived to be great players, praised highly for their teaching "you tube" videos by many, I notice a great deal of technique cares, most noticeable the picking hand moving around all over the neck following the bar hand creating unusual string noise and tone variations that are if nothing more annoying.
They get away without being exposed because they only ever play just short snippets of an intro or solo at any one given time in their short teaching videos.
So what! They seem to be doing some folks good with their teaching.
So their "you tube" endeavor is what it is.
I’ve never heard any of these teachers claiming to be great players.
Their students pinned that label on them so who am I to say otherwise…………

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

you need to be a good teacher first, understanding the limitations of the student before you can teach them anything. Great teachers connect with the students ability and understanding, the subject doesn't matter. A Steel guitar teacher doesn't need to be a great player, they need to have the ability to transfer what they know to a mind that is totally confused...unlock the mystery.
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Charlie McDonald · From: out of the blue

That was wise, Tony.

Isn't pedal steel a mystery among instruments?
Unlocking it isn't like throwing a lever to reveal it.
It seems to me that theory is the key, and this forum is a good place to find out what confuses people.

Having the desire to teach is a great thing.
Waiting for a student to come to you to ask the right questions may take longer. I support your endeavor, Stuart.
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Jason Putnam · From: Tennessee, USA

This post brings up something that I would love to see happen. I wish the guys who give lessons in person would video one of their lessons with a student and have a section to post it in. That way you could evaluate the different teachers to see which one you want to go with before you travel and throw down 80 to 100 bucks. You know some teachers work better for some people than they do others. It's a matter of teaching styles, personality, etc. Just an idea to throw out there.
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Joey Andrews · From: Laurel ,Mississippi, USA

Jason you bring up a good point about seeing what you are going to get for your money. There will be one Saturday giving a free lesson on you tube (William Litaker) everyone can check him out for info on the forum.
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Keith Currie · From: Shellbrook, Saskatchewan, Canada

Was watching a video just the other day of a steel instructor and he was using so much bar vibrato that it sounded like he was very cold and out of tune, As soon as he touched his strings the left hand was moving, and moving a lot. I was thinking what if a beginner seen that and thought it was proper. I looked up some more of the guys videos to see if there was something wrong with that one but they were all the same, Would like to here the guy play a song or do some slow fills with a singer Wow.

Rick Campbell · From: Sneedville, TN, USA

Keith Currie · From: Shellbrook, Saskatchewan, Canada

Well what I said was too much vibrato, he was moving the bar way too much to make any kind of good sound. And a link I dont think so, just keep looking at the u tub videos, you will know when you see it.

Bob Ricker · From: Nashville Tn

I beleive well versed players can give valuable tips and point out things that are invaluable to know based on current and hopeful skill level of a player.

I took lessons from Buddy Charelton and he was really big on a student knowing the neck and all variations of where chords repeat by different frets or grips. Buddy was sort of like an algebra teacher making you work things forwards and backwards.

I also enjoyed traveling with the Paul Franklin audio tapes. Seemed to me if you can visualize and understand concepts mentally away from the guitar, you are well on your way to understanding when you are sitting at it.

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

I've seen a few steel guitar teachers who know music back and forth, but they're not very good players. By the same token, there are teachers who are very good players, but they're not good at music theory and notation.

Either one can still be a good teacher, depending on what it is that you want to learn. Wink

Ken Campbell · From: Ferndale, Montana

A good teacher requires an apt pupil.

Stuart Legg · Posted 7 Nov 2014 7:37 am

Here is a concept in teaching that I could be successful with even though I don't physically play the Steel Guitar.
Here is an overly simplified model of Steps in this concept.
The devil is in the details of each step. Use this to train the ear as well as applying it to the Steel.
The student in this method will become a knowledgeable player with a good ear and good technique.
This coupled with a little natural talent and ambition expressed in practice time will place the student well on his or her way in becoming a great player.

Dick Sexton · From: Greenville, Ohio

Step 4=Grips

Stuart Legg · Posted 9 Nov 2014 11:36 pm

Grips start right out in step 2 with the blocking techniques of choice.

Peter den Hartogh · From: Cape Town, South Africa

1 - Be Clear
2 - Keep it simple
3 - Put everything where you can see it

John Scanlon · From: Jackson, Mississippi, USA

There's theory and practice in everything. One teacher probably doesn't need to be "good" as a player to teach theory, but I'd say that the same teacher certainly does to teach practice. Just like a single gig teaches you more than a dozen hours of practice time alone at home, I wouldn't want someone who can't walk the walk charting my course of the "practice" side of the instrument ... or, as I've heard it said, don't take financial advice from poor people.

That may be a bit different from the direction Stuart was heading - my comments are more general, and certainly not directed toward Stuart's accomplishments.
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Stuart Legg · Posted 10 Nov 2014 11:54 pm

My comments about playing and teaching steel guitar are from extensive research of written text, vids, live performance, and studies of 1,000s of steel guitar tabs from most of the Icons of steel guitar.
However I would never attempt to actually teach steel guitar in person. Only written instruction.
My comments are only meant to put it humorously “How I would do it if I could do it like I think I could do it if I could do it” Laughing

Alan Brookes · From: Brummy living in Southern California

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