Do you ever over-slant?

admin · Post by **b0b** » 11 Jul 2015 7:43 am

Slant is one of the hardest techniques of lap steel. I feel lucky to have learned it long ago - it's engrained in the muscle memory of my hands. I don't miss the target notes too often, but when I do it's cringe-worthy, and it's always because I didn't slant far enough.

Does anyone have the opposite problem? Do you ever over-slant?

C. E. Jackson · Post by **C. E. Jackson** » 11 Jul 2015 8:05 am

b0b, I began playing lap steel in 1949, and still practice forward and reverse slants regularly, mostly from 1st to 15th fret. I find the hardest slants to make accurately are on old 6+ string lap steels where the string spacing narrows more for the first 5-7 frets.

C. E.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 11 Jul 2015 8:17 am

What's tricky is to change guitars with different string spacing. My first electric guitar was a Gibson and then I went to a T-8 Fender Stringmaster. The spaciang on the Fender was so much tighter that is was nigh impossible to go back to the Gibson.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 11 Jul 2015 8:35 am

Never over slant, sometimes under slant. It seems to take a smidgen more rotation than my brain expects so need to have my ears on.

Robert Allen · Post by **Robert Allen** » 11 Jul 2015 10:23 am

I mastered slants before the age of 10 and have been playing 68 years so I never avoided slants. I am primarily a dobro player. I find I'm not quite on with slants when I change to an 8 or 10 string lap steel with narrower spacing and a different scale length. A little under or over for the first few bars with a different instrument, then my brain seems to click and recognize the difference. Never any problem changing back to the dobro. By now, that must be indelibly burned into my brain.

admin · Post by **b0b** » 11 Jul 2015 10:48 am

Most of my slants aren't on adjacent strings, so they aren't radical on the low frets even with close string spacing. I do slants on pedal steel, too. Often there's not a pedal or knee lever available to get the note I want.

Most of the time I'm right on the money, but when I make a mistake it's because I didn't slant enough. I don't think I've ever over-slanted.

Quentin Hickey · Post by **Quentin Hickey** » 11 Jul 2015 11:16 am

Would like to learn some more types of slantz. Its a great technique. I find if I do not do it often than I am all over the place with my landings but usally its an underslant.

Michael James · Post by **Michael James** » 11 Jul 2015 11:40 am

Are you all talking about two or three note slants?

Clyde Mattocks · Post by **Clyde Mattocks** » 11 Jul 2015 11:55 am

If you have to err one way or the other, over slanting is more desirable. That way, you go past the pitch on the way up AND on the way back. With under slanting, you never reach the pitch. The ear forgives over slanting more so than under slanting.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 11 Jul 2015 12:13 pm

Another issue in slanting... is keeping the "unslanted note" in tune when doing a two string slant. The note (the string) that is supposed to remain constant throughout the slant tends to drift sharp sometimes when a player does the slant. Keeping that note constant and in tune during the slant is an important part of the equation. When practicing slants, it's helpful to place a tuner on your guitar, do the slant, and then check each of the slanted notes separately on the tuner to see how close (or how far off) you are.

Bill Brunt · Post by **Bill Brunt** » 11 Jul 2015 3:25 pm

C. E. Jackson wrote:b0b, I began playing lap steel in 1949, and still practice forward and reverse slants regularly, mostly from 1st to 15th fret.
C. E.

Hmmm...
My tone bar is not long enough to reach from the first to the fifteenth fretðŸ˜ˆ

C. E. Jackson · Post by **C. E. Jackson** » 11 Jul 2015 4:00 pm

Bill, my description was slightly off. I will try to do better in the future.

While I don't have a bar that will reach from the 1st to the 15th fret, I do have the longest bar I have ever seen. While in Indianapolis in 2004, I visited Arthur's Music Store looking for vintage steels, and purchased the largest steel guitar bar I have ever seen. The bar is 13/16" x 4 1/2" with bullet nose on both ends. Kinda hard to play with on small steels.

C. E.

admin · Post by **b0b** » 11 Jul 2015 7:39 pm

Michael James wrote:Are you all talking about two or three note slants?

I rarely attempt 3-note slants, except for this one:
[tab] C7
E ___________
C ______7____
A ______7____
G _____/_____
E ____6______
C ___________ [/tab]
I don't really have a problem with that one. As for 3-note slants that span 2 frets - I can't get them to sound right except for the forward slant on the top 3 strings (C6), and even that is touch and go.

Joe Burke · Post by **Joe Burke** » 12 Jul 2015 3:57 am

To me, slants are the whole reason for playing - forward and reverse. I play in G, and use 3 note slats often. Lately I've been doing a reverse slant on strings 2, 3 & 4 (major triad) and adding a string pull on string 1, adding a flat 7th. So a four string slant.

A7
D --5--
B --5---
G ---6--
D ----7-
B -------
G -------

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 12 Jul 2015 6:32 am

Is there any instruction for slants? I have good bar control but slats have elude me.

C. E. Jackson · Post by **C. E. Jackson** » 12 Jul 2015 8:27 am

Len, both Jerry Byrd and Herb Remington made excellent steel guitar instruction videos which included proper slanting techniques. Jerry's video came from Scotty's, and Herbs from his web site. Jerry's "Instruction Course for Steel Guitar", is available from Scotty's, and includes instruction on Slant Bar Technique.

C. E.

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 12 Jul 2015 12:20 pm

Just practicing a lot on the same guitar and tuning has got me to where I can hit it more times than not. This is A6 with a 7th on the bottom like Junior Brown's tuning except in A. I use a pedal steel bar for added reach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqYJKYWtbVw

Stefan Robertson · Post by **Stefan Robertson** » 13 Jul 2015 3:05 pm

I slant sometimes. Based on proximity technique and if it serves the mood. But the more I am studying Jazz the less time there is for full note slant chords. I prefer straight bar voicing a now.

On that note voicing a are doing my head in. So many to choose from where to begin. Seems endless.

However slanting in and out gives that pedal sound. But I'm finding I use slants only if there is a need for a specific voicing.

With that being said as always the more you know the more options you have. This instrument truly takes a lifetime to master.

Johnie King · Post by **Johnie King** » 14 Jul 2015 7:47 am

Seems like Billy Robinson can slant both ways in one motion. He may slant an pull a string at the same time. He is the slant king IMOA.

Johnie King · Post by **Johnie King** » 14 Jul 2015 7:55 am

Man Michael that some very good playing I likes it!

Greg Moynihan · Post by **Greg Moynihan** » 14 Jul 2015 8:29 am

I think I do over-slant sometimes. It usually happens when I start from a slanted position at a lower fret, and move up quite a bit higher, like an octave, without reducing my slant angle enough. When this happens, I know pretty quick because it sounds truly bad. It's also hard for me to nail the backward-slant, 3-note dom-7 chord quickly and accurately. G7, for example:

13
x
14
x
15
x

I've only been working hard at the lap steel guitar for a couple years, I still consider myself a bit green.

Stephen Cowell · Post by **Stephen Cowell** » 14 Jul 2015 11:07 am

There's no substitute... you have to go where the wood is. The wood is out in the shed.

Rick Collins · Post by **Rick Collins** » 15 Jul 2015 10:25 am

When practicing slants, if at first it seems you have the angle about right, give the angle a "tad" more toward the extreme __ you will be closer to being "on the note".
After a while, it will be "automatic" to keep this in mind when playing these positions.

In C6th tuning I play a lot of backward slants on strings one and four (E & G). Hold the note on the E string and move the back of the bar on the G string.
It adds a lot to the Hawaiian sound when playing these tunes. The more "gliss." the better, if it's in good taste.