Why Isn't Pedal Steel More Popular?

[Carl Mesrobian]

The saying about taking 2 years to "suck" on it is not far from the truth if you've never done pick and palm blocking and using a bar.

[Jamie Mitchell]

I doubt that the Sarangi is as difficult to play as pedal steel. For a start, the strings don't have their pitch altered whilst it's being played.

look at their fingers, then tell me it's not as difficult. their cutlicles... brutal.

either way, i think the whole mostly single finger aspect of sarangi, sarod, etc. would make them more of a challenge to play than pedal steel. there's a hell of a lot less bar movement w/ pedal steel that the Hindustani stuff, which is non-pedal.

oh, and you're playing with a bow...

j

[Tony Prior]

I would think that the Sarangi is just as easy to play poorly as the Pedal Steel !

I recall that late great jokester Bobbe Seymour once said as I entered his store, here comes Tony Prior, he has always wanted to play Steel Guitar in the worst way and now he does ...

uhmmm..now that I think about it...was he joking ?

the issue with any instrument is exactly the same, learn how to play any instrument in it's basic form, then what ? The music begins upstairs and exits the instrument.

[Henry Matthews]

I play fiddle and steel and don't think either one is difficult to play. The difficulty is making them sound good.

[Rick Schacter]

Try playing one of these:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ImvrPNHVTl8

[Charlie McDonald]

That was masterful. Plenty going on there.
(It seems that even cherry blossoms were sad in old Japan.)

[Mark Eaton]

Some instruments are easier at the beginning to get one's foot in the door. A six string lap steel or dobro is certainly easier to wrap one's head around as a novice than a pedal steel. But there's nothing easy about becoming a highly proficient lap steel or dobro player.

No instrument is more logical when you sit down in front of it than the piano. It's all right there in front of you, 88 keys, low to high. Hence the popularity of the instrument in so many genres of music. Many of us as kids could knock out a pretty decent version of Heart and Soul. Wow - you're making music!

But I'm no less blown away by a great pianist than I am by Buddy Emmons.

"The piano is the easiest instrument to play in the beginning, and the hardest to master in the end." - Vladimir Horowitz

[Rick Schacter]

That was masterful. Plenty going on there.
(It seems that even cherry blossoms were sad in old Japan.)

Now why aren't they more popular?
Dang it!!

[Donny Hinson]

If pedal steel were easy to play, a lot more people would play one! Much as I would like to see more players around, I wouldn't want to see it become as ubiquitous as electric guitar or piano. But, I would like to see more players who had distinctive styles and sounds. The vast majority seem to mold themselves around the same two or three players, and only one or two sounds (tones).

[Bobby Hearn]

Because most people are ignorant to music and hear but don't listen.

[Ronnie Riley]

Pedal steel is the easiest instrument in the world to play badly.