Playing backup

[James Jewell]

I am trying to acquire the "feel" for when and how to play back up. I would be playing behind vocals and instrumentals (southern gospel). I know that I am not supposed to play non stop, but how do you get that sound just at the right times with the right emotion?

[Rich Upright]

Best way? Listen A LOT. YouTube country music, go see bands with steel players. It'll come naturally.

[Bruce Derr]

Yep, and it also helps to record your own gigs and listen back to see what worked and what didn't.

Also think of the lyrics of the song and the mood they invoke. A ballad might need something simple, respectful and understated, or something more florid and weepy, or maybe even something a little blues-tinged... the words can give the cues. Listen to how other players that you admire do this.

As for when to play, a rule of thumb is to play long notes (or lay out) during singing and something more figured during spaces between singing. The goal is to make it sound natural and complementary without sounding choppy, abrupt or competitive with the singer. You're trying to enhance the vocal without distracting from it. And you don't have to fill every little gap. Of course if someone else in the band has the fills for that verse, lay out, or at most, comp or pad a little with something that blends in largely unnoticed.

The fact that you asked this question means you have the right attitude! I have known people who have played for many years that still don't fully get this stuff.

[Don R Brown]

James, all the advice here is good, and I'll offer one song which I like for working on this very task. Hit YouTube and find various versions of "My Shoes Keep Walking Back To You".

I find there is just a bit more of a pause between lines of vocal in that, than in some other songs, and it seems easier for me to pick out where to add something and where to sit back.

By no means is this the only such song, and maybe for someone else it would not be what they need. Your mileage may vary but give it a try.

[Ben Lawson]

Here's something we did some years ago in Pa. at a Firemens Fair. Guitar player couldn't make it and we had a semi-regular fill in drummer. Mostly keyboard fills, I tried to stay out of the way for the most part.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4OCIAnJfc8
Let me know if it helps any.

[Jerry Overstreet]

If you got a few bucks to spend, you might want to check out the Bandstand Backup course @ www.Jeffran.com

[Lane Gray]

James, think of it either:
as a sermon in a raucous church, where you play the role of person who hollers "amen!" or "Preach it, brother!" or feeds back the last line or;
A barroom discussion, where you get to be the cat who interjects with a "yeah, but what about?" or "right on!"

But unless you're playing behind a Frank or Willie impersonator, you know when the cat with the floor is gonna open up his/her mouth. Your job is to recognize the hole (sometimes you can start just in front of the hole), say something that makes the song better/prettier/more effective than if you had stayed silent, then either shut up before they start again, or tail off as they start up.

I apologize for the stammer, but here's a video I did trying to illustrate my approach: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bLmRycbOHiU

[Robert Parent]

+1 on the recording your gigs. I did that for years and found it to be one of the best tools for learning what NOT to play. You will be very surprised at times, what sounds great and what totally sucks!

Robert

[Howard Steinberg]

For some time, William Litaker, on his weekly broadcast, has been teaching fills to back up a singer. Similar to Bandstand Backup, but more detailed and a lot of different tunes, styles and licks. Good hands-on experience in the art of playing tastefully. $5.00 a week and you become a better player (if you practice). www.pedalsteeler.com

[Jack Stoner]

The temptation is to play a lot or all the time, not just the fills. One of Jeff Newman's sayings, when teaching or talking about backup is "show me what you can't play". When playing back up you are there to showcase the singer. Less is better in many cases.

[Ricky Davis]

Something Lloyd Green told me years ago.
"Playing a song with other members playing other instruments and singer...is like having a "Conversation".
So think of it like that; you have a group of guys standing around talking; a good conversation is everyone letting each other talk; say what they think and feel and listening and nobody is yelling over someone else and nobody all the sudden changes the subject to like "aliens"..ha...and so there are songs that sound like a very good conversation and there are those that DON'T....(ya'll know what that sounds like..ha.).
Here's a sample of my contribution to a song conversation>

https://youtu.be/scaGSh9LxTA

Ricky

[Bob Hoffnar]

One thing you might try is playing with no vibrato,slides or pedal bends at all while the focus is on another instrument or vocal.

If there is no steel on recordings of the tunes you are learning listen to what the organ or violin is doing and learn those licks.

[James Jewell]

Is it ok to say "Yah, but how!" Seriously, thanks for all the great advice. Are there resources for learning common phrasing for such fills and chord progressions?

[Lane Gray]

Are you asking for licks ideas, or the mental process of choosing what to play?
If the former, most of the common standard fills can be found in the solos from the various courses. You slice up solos into one or two bar chunks.
If you're asking for the latter, learn more and more and more licks. Choose one.
Also listen to the songs you like, learn the fills you hear.

[James Jewell]

All the above. I have a lot of work to do now; thanks for the direction & and I'de give about anything for a good coach in my neighborhood.

[Ned McIntosh]

James, all the previous posts have given great advice. But I'm going to add a few observations which may help on a slightly different level.

First, the pedal steel-guitar is a "declarative" instument - it has great authority when it speaks and it is noticed. This is due to the unique tone of the instrument and due to the fact it mixes itself in and out of the music in a way no other guitar does because of the volume-pedal. The fact it is not always there also helps it stand out. Use those qualities to advantage.

There is a mental approach to playing backup, but it requires a particular mindset. It is the mindset of a musician who doesn't need to play all the time, who is listening for the "hole", the musical space, where he can contribute in a meanigful way. A steel-guitarists plays a lot of "rests" - and knowing when to play (and when not to play) is critical to placing this instrument in its musical context to best advantage.

It is the mindset of a musician who knows less is more, and though he might only play a few notes in an entire piece, if they are the right notes and played properly, they are all he needs to play. For some odd reason, musicians who have this mindset seem to be attracted to the pedal steel-guitar, probably because the instrument suits their musical temprament.

Here's an analogy which I made whilst having dinner with the great Al Brisco and his wife Betty during a visit they made to Australia a couple of years ago:-

"Think of the song as a beautiful woman in an evening-gown. The bass and drums (the rhythm section)give her the womanly shape and form. The guitars (lead and rhythm) give her the beautiful outfit, flowing and elegant. The steel-guitar just puts the jewellery on her."

Al liked that analogy so much he asked if he could use it and I said of course he could.

So when you play backup, remember you're just putting the jewellery on an already beautiful entity. Make each note a jewel - and don't over-do it!

[Lane Gray]

James, in probably 80 percent of the places to drop a fill in a ballad, you can make the song better by playing strings 4 and 5 and squeezing the A pedal. The trick is knowing where to put the bar, and how fast to squeeze the pedal.
In one respect, we're like Bob Ross painters. Sure, it's easy to make a happy tree with a pallet knife, but you have to learn where to put them.
Here's how Mike Auldridge told me to get started: learn all the solos you can. Then slice them up, and play along with the radio, adding your own fills. Then keep learning more rides, intros, turnarounds and outros.
Because in another respect, we're like Toastmasters speaking students: Jimmy, Lloyd, Buddy, Buddy, Buddy, Bud, Weldon and Hal have been laying down lines we can use as vocabulary. The more cool phrases you have in your head, the more likely you are to be able to put the right phrase in the right place.
Forgive me for getting long-winded, but this is one of my favorite aspects of music, but it's about the hardest to impart.
Another thing to bear in mind is that the steel can be INCREDIBLY emotive, and it helps to LISTEN to the lyrics, and feel the feelings portrayed in the lyric.
The thing I just said will always fit? It can be sad, angry, frustrated, nostalgic, happy, or anything else.
Some of us are better than at portraying the emotions than others.
One of the most famous of us, to my mind, was amazingly adept at effectively saying "man, this song is sad" while also expressing the joy of the artist depicting the sad, but not actually evoking/enhancing the emotion. He could play sad, wistful or whatever, but not actually make you feel he was feeling it.
In short, if you have the feeling, you will be able to put something simple in any hole that works, even before you have a lot of licks in your bag of licks.

[Bobby D. Jones]

There is 2 statements made by passed on steel players I always remember.
1. Jimmy Crawford: "Knowing how to Play is Important, Knowing when to Play is more important". If you have other Lead Instruments (Say Lead Guitar, Fiddle) you will need to work out in the band who will play where.

2. Jimmy Day: "Hook your Heart to the Bar, And Your Soul To the pedals". He was a player with great feeling. When I played in a gospel group. I thought of this one all the time.
In this adventure, Good Luck and Happy Steelin

[Roger Kelly]

James, take the advice of the many players that has posted on your thread...they're all correct.

I think that if you will listen and watch this video you will understand better how backing up the singer is done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFNvL0gr-kM