PSG vs. Banjo........can't decide.

[Jim Fogarty]

Confession time..........

For the last month or so, I've pretty much put the pedal steel aside and have been spending all my "extra" practice time with a new ::gulp:: 5-string banjo, working on 3-finger Scruggs/Bluegrass style. I've come to the point where I absolutely realize I won't be able to do both and do either any justice. I also absolutely believe I CAN play either at an ok level, given the time and effort. So, I think one's gotta go......but, each has plusses and minuses. Can't decide.

Banjo - Plus: Once I learn a wee bit more, I could drag it out to my solo gigs right away for some tunes.
Minus: I'll probably start losing solo gigs if I do that.

Pedal steel - Minus: It's a real bear to haul around and set-up....and there are limited gigs where it'll fit.
Plus: People will be real impressed that I play keyboards when I do bring it out.

Banjo - Pretty soon, I can teach kids beginner lessons on it.
Steel - Pretty soon, I can warn kids away from the life of poverty, mind-numbing frustration and lack of recognition.

Steel - It's so complex, I feel a real sense of accomplishment when I learn a tune on it.
Banjo - I feel kind of dirty and ashamed when I learn a tune on it.

Finally, there's the communities.......
The various steel playing forums are filled with ultra-conservative, stubborn old men who bitch and moan a lot.
The banjo playing community doesn't have these issues......since none of them actually can read or write.

See? Decisions, decisions.

[Jeff Garden]

It may affect which bathroom you're allowed to use, Jim, but I think you should come out of the closet and openly live a life of bi-instrumentalism I find working on banjo rolls and picking is a plus for right hand skills on pedal steel.

[Rick Barnhart]

[Don R Brown]

Finally, there's the communities.......
The various steel playing forums are filled with ultra-conservative, stubborn old men who bitch and moan a lot.

Hey - I resemble that remark!

[Donny Hinson]

IMHO, if you don't "love it", you'll never learn it. You may master banjo, eventually, but the odds of mastering pedal steel are infinitely less...as you pointed out, it's a hard one to conquer. If I had learned keyboard when I was young, I don't think I'd ever have had the desire to learn steel. Keyboard and straight guitar are what I would refer to as the two universal instruments, meaning they're found practically everywhere, and they are both in regular demand in most all types of music. Both steel and banjo are "niche" instruments, each with a much reduced audience, and sometimes limited demand.

[Lyle Dent]

Jim:
It takes longer and more work to play pedal steel poorly than it does to play banjo poorly but nothing is better than good pedal steel!

[David Mason]

You could always weave an old squirrel or a little cat through your pedal steel strings and it'll SOUND like a banjo (once the squirrel dies).

[Jim Fogarty]

You could always weave an old squirrel or a little cat through your pedal steel strings and it'll SOUND like a banjo (once the squirrel dies).

I tried that. While they were still alive, I couldn't tell the difference between them yowling and my steel playing!

[Donny Hinson]

You could always weave an old squirrel or a little cat through your pedal steel strings and it'll SOUND like a banjo (once the squirrel dies).

That's far too much time, trouble, and stink. Just use a Sharpie instead of a bar. Cheap, easy, and it works!

[b0b]

Have you considered bagpipes instead?

[Clyde Mattocks]

Q. How can you tell which steel players also play banjo?

A. We're the ones who are working

(encore presentation)

[Tony Prior]

Q. How can you tell which steel players also play banjo?

A. We're the ones who are working

(encore presentation)

LOL

You mean working , like at Home Depot ?

I don't play Banjo but I work a lot, 4 to 6 gigs /month.
But I do also sing and play guitars on at least 4 songs per set. Double duty has always been an asset.

[Frank Agliata]

You forgot to mention you could march with the Mummers too!

Try that with a steel!

[Douglas Schuch]

I realize your pluses and minuses are somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but I find it interesting that you state that "there are limited gigs where [steel] will fit in." I think it is an amazingly versatile instrument, and am constantly surprised, now that I can recognize it instantly, at how many non-country songs I hear with pedal steel all over them. Now, admittedly, other musicians tend to think it only can play country. But I can not think of a more limited instrument than banjo played Scruggs-style; it is far more locked into a particular genre than steel (ok, Bela Fleck has done a good job of genre-busting, but he's more the exception that proves the rule).

Ultimately, though, for me, it would come down to this: would I have to listen to myself when I practiced banjo, or could I put on headphones and play some nice Buddy Emmons while practicing?

[Jeff Garden]

You forgot to mention you could march with the Mummers too!
Try that with a steel!

Jim thinks we're all too old and cranky...but if we could get a little help transporting the steels we could march in the "Gummers" Parade, Frank

[Bill Moore]

It sounds like you have already made the decision, how much do you want for the steel?

[Dick Wood]

I predict that when CB's come back Banjo's will be big again 10-4.

[Jeff Harbour]

Just the title of this thread alone suggests to me that this is a trap... I don't think I'll bite... yet...

[Bill Sinclair]

Sell the banjo and buy another lap steel. Just a single neck six string will do. Put it in an E tuning that has some of the same combinations as the E9 on your pedal. (I like the E over A tuning that b0b turned me on to: A,C#,E,G#,B,E low to high). On the gigs that you can't set up the pedal steel, just bring along the tiny little lap steel. At least your jazz buddies won't be terrified when you pull it out of the case. It's not as good a rhythm instrument as a banjo but will be a nice sweetener to switch out with your standard guitar.

I get a decent amount of work locally as a weekend warrior on sax and harmonica. I'm still not very good on lap steel but all of the musicians I play with, including pickup gigs, have started insisting that I bring along a lap steel "for that sound".

[Donny Hinson]

I realize your pluses and minuses are somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but I find it interesting that you state that "there are limited gigs where [steel] will fit in." I think it is an amazingly versatile instrument, and am constantly surprised, now that I can recognize it instantly, at how many non-country songs I hear with pedal steel all over them.

I don't think it's so much a question of "fitting in" as it is who will accept pedal steel consistently in their music. You have to realize that there are two things in the equation, here - the versatility of the instrument, and the versatility of the player! Of course, if you're a really stellar player, you can probably handle just about anything that's thrown at you. But how many of us here are at that level? While those of us who love the instrument can be quick to point out certain recordings in non-country genres that feature a pedal steel, and IMHO this is usually a one-in-a-hundred happenstance.

When it comes to well known non-country artists, groups, and bands that presently feature pedal steel regularly in their performances and recordings, I'm hard pressed to come up with even a half-dozen. That's not "dissing" the instrument, that's just the reality of the situation as I see it. When you're on a forum like this, among so many other kindred spirits, it becomes easy to be jaded. But when you talk to the rest of the world, it's quite a different story.

[Bud Angelotti]

You really should be able to do both Jim.
Let's look at the facts:
You really should be able to learn the banjo in say, 90 seconds. Pretty much master it. Like this guy did>>


Try to keep in mind the old saying, "A real man, knows how to play the banjo, but chooses not to"
Also, it's a known fact that it's impossible to play jazz on a banjo. This saves a lot of time studying & such.
90 seconds, 2 minutes tops.
This leaves you with the entire rest of your life to learn steel.
I understand it takes about 37 years to master the steel, I guess thats' with pedals.
So, that puts it at about 2053. I'll have to check my math.
Also, it gets easier as you get older so it also depends on how old you are.
Yeah, it is complicated, but you really should be able to do both.

[Zeke Cory]

I play banjo as well on a couple country bluegrass songs a night. Picking up the banjo and going thru some rolls does help keep my fingers limbered up somewhat for those times when I cant set down to my steel. So, in that regard, it does help to play both. I just couldn't stand four hours of it. Maybe just Rocky Top and Rollin' In My Sweet Baby's Arms and that's enough, on a job anyhow. I must say that the crowds do seem to enjoy a couple hot banjo tunes as well. jmho

[Darrell Criswell]

I don't know why but almost all of what 99% of banjo musicians play sounds exactly the same, and that's what I have been told by some banjo players. Now that doesn't apply to Scruggs, Grandpaw Jones and some others.

[George Seymour]

Bill Keith, Winnie Winston, get off the banjo steel debate, both are magnificent instruments that make music. If music is your passion it tends to not be one or the other.

[Scott Duckworth]

Steel... and that's all I have to say about that...