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Topic: Does sometimes playing a different steel help with learning? |
Don R Brown
From:
Rochester, New York, USA
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Posted 28 Feb 2015 5:58 pm |
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Some years back when the wife and I were taking 2-step lessons, several teacher were big on rotating partners. Their thinking was that if the same 2 people are always dancing together, they become programmed to do what they know will always work. A different partner will force a higher degree of attention, and a better concentration on the proper mechanics of what you are doing.
I'm curious about whether this reasoning could be applied to learning PSG. On one hand we develop muscle memory and if it's always our same steel, we should be very comfortable with what it will do. On the other hand, does playing a different instrument occasionally (or frequently) present subtle differences which force the player to concentrate harder on what he/she should be doing?
Just looking for a few various "2 cents worths". |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 28 Feb 2015 6:28 pm
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Yes! Playing a guitar with fewer pedals, or no knee levers, forces you to learn other ways to do things. Learning anything new is always a benefit to understanding what you're doing.  |
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Don R Brown
From:
Rochester, New York, USA
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Posted 28 Feb 2015 7:23 pm
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| Donnie, I presume the same can be said in the opposite direction, MORE levers and pedals. So I can tell my wife that a well-respected forum expert says it will help me learn more, if I come across some beautiful must-have D-10, even though I have nowhere near outgrown my great Stage One 3+4. |
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Tom Gorr
From:
Three Hills, Alberta
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Posted 28 Feb 2015 8:21 pm
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I suppose it depends on how you are going about learning.
If you learn by jamming or trial and eror or by ear or by noodling or by creatively building songs or parts out of your head then ABSOLUTELY.
Play a guitar with a different copedent...you break muscle memory. Play with a different neck you break lick habits. You see the relationships between the notes differently.
Put a distortion pedal in the rig and you are a different musician than you woke up being.
Put a harmonic generator...eg...Electro Harmonix HOG or POG in the chain...and you play different things. Envelope filter...wah pedal...whatever...
It all makes you think differently. |
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Don Drummer
From:
West Virginia, USA
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Posted 2 Mar 2015 4:54 pm
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| Just playing what you already know on a different instrument can have that effect. I remember starting to change strings after I broke the 4th. Put on a brand new string and played. All of the sudden I was using the C pedal in a way never did before...just an example. |
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Mark van Allen
From:
Watkinsville, Ga. USA
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Posted 2 Mar 2015 6:48 pm
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It's a very good question, Don, and I think resoundingly yes. For all of the reasons already mentioned, and also for inspiration. The way a different guitar responds can have a profound effect on how you play, how much and how long you want to practice, and so on. I think about a beginner moving from something like a Carter Starter to a more professional guitar and how things like stability, sustain, tone, and overall feel will improve and fire them up again about playing.
In the case of a long term pro player, from the outside the differences and changes in their playing might seem minuscule to the observer, but even a small difference in feel can result in a pro getting re-inspired or revisiting older ideas in a new way. I think this may be part of why you seem some players changing guitars, sometimes frequently, and sometimes after years with one brand.
I recently acquired a very fine guitar that I've been enjoying playing a lot, but the other day I tore it down and re-rodded it closer to factory specs, and it played so much smoother and, well, better, that I sat down and played for hours and hours. Inspiring!
_________________
Stop by the Steel Store at: www.markvanallen.com
www.musicfarmstudio.com |
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Don R Brown
From:
Rochester, New York, USA
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Posted 2 Mar 2015 8:30 pm
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Mark, thanks, and what you say makes sense. While there may be a temporary set-back because of unfamiliarity, I'm guessing in the long run it will sharpen one's focus and concentration, as well as giving a broader depth of experience.
FWIW, my first steel is a Stage One and I could not be happier with it. It is far more instrument than I can fully use now but little by little I'm getting there. I have no complaints with it and have no intention of getting rid of it. But it seems like if I have the chance to pick up a second steel it sure is not going to hurt. (except perhaps when the wife finds I have doubled my daily practice time!)
There is SO much to be learned, I wish I had started decades ago! |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 2 Mar 2015 11:14 pm
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There is abundant evidence that you REMEMBER more the more different ways you go at it - it has to do with the number of different "circuits" the information goes through in your brain. This is why (school) learning experts tell you to re-copy your own notes from a class, because it kicks in a somewhat different set of brain cells. It's why playing the same thing in different places is a good idea, why singing your melodies (however froggy) imprints them more deeply, one of the reasons why practicing the same thing at different speeds is good, ultimately why multi-instrumentalist people like David Lindley can say they're not really different tunings, it's all just one big tuning. Tell your wife that WE said it's for your own good....  |
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Don R Brown
From:
Rochester, New York, USA
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Posted 3 Mar 2015 4:21 pm
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David, that's a good way to present it to my wife, and one which she actually can relate to. She says when she needs some things at the store, if she relies on memory she'll forget one or two. But if she makes a written list at home, and then neglects to take the list to the store, she will invariably remember everything - probably because she wrote them down once.
You raise an interesting item about playing the same thing in different places. I presume you mean physically, not different places in a song. I have been considering moving my steel and amp to a different room just so I am looking at a different wall while playing. Sounds like you agree it would not hurt.
I DO realize the main benefit comes from the practice itself, and I am NOT looking for a shortcut or a magic bullet to instantly make me better. But having started learning later on in life, and not having the inborn feel for music that some people do, I'm looking for anything to help me along.
Thanks! |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 3 Mar 2015 4:55 pm
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| Don R Brown wrote: |
| Donnie, I presume the same can be said in the opposite direction, MORE levers and pedals. |
No, I don't feel that way. To me, how "well" you play has nothing to do with how many pedals or levers you have.  For instance, I know a lotta guys with more pedals and levers than Buddy Emmons or Lloyd Green - but they don't play any better, and the vast majority don't play nearly as good, and probably never will. To put it another way, never confuse how you play with what you play.
Nope. Thinking more pedals and levers will make you a better player is just wrong thinking. In my book, anyway.  |
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Don R Brown
From:
Rochester, New York, USA
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Posted 3 Mar 2015 5:56 pm
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Donnie, I didn't quite mean I need more pedals and levers to make me a better player. That part was only a semi-serious bit about getting a D-10, and justifying it to Ms. Wonderful by saying it had more bells and whistles and would let me learn new things. Truth is she is behind me 100% and whatever I got would be OK with her.
Also, while I would, at some point, like to experiment a bit with C6, I have WAY more room for improvement on E9 and although if I came across a good deal on a nice D-10 I might be tempted, I'm not actively looking.
So my "more is better" applied to a sales pitch for the wife rather than actually saying I need it. |
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Ken Pippus
From:
Langford, BC, Canada
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Posted 3 Mar 2015 9:56 pm
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I recently acquired a guitar with more levers than I've ever had before. It has all the changes I'm used to, plus a couple, but many of the usuals are in completely different places. I played it for a couple of weeks set up that way, and I think it was very instructive: it made me think about what the changes were, and where they were going musically, rather than just playing licks from muscle memory.
Thank heavens, it's out getting set up to my standard copedent: wouldn't want to actually be able to think! |
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Marc Friedland
From:
Fort Collins, CO
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Posted 7 Mar 2015 8:49 am
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| YES - the few times in my life I ever played a different steel, I learned I'm not as comfortable and don't sound as good on those other steels. I also learned that I never want to "try" a new steel if there's anyone else listening, because the impression made will most likely not be a positive one! I admit if the "different" steel was set up exactly like mine I would be able to get comfortable rather quickly, though not an aid in learning anything. I found I can learn new things by treating my own guitar differently. For example, play along to songs but not use any pedals or levers, or limit which pedals I can use, say I won't engage the A pedal on this next song. Difficult - sure, but would also be a learning tool. And if my A pedal ever happened to break in the middle of a song on a gig, I'd be semi-prepared... |
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