New Learner -- Two months in

John Porcellino · Post by **John Porcellino** » 14 Mar 2019 8:35 am

Hi everyone, I started learning lap steel around New Years, and since you're all so friendly, I thought I'd share some of my earliest fumblings here.

I've been trying out a lot of different picks and bars and have settled for now on a Herco Flat/Thumbpick with ProPik Angled brass fingerpicks and a Dunlop Lap Dawg. As soon as I stumbled upon this combo I forgot I had picks on my hand, it just felt so natural. Obviously I still have a long way to go, but I'm enjoying the journey.

Aloha Blues -- wrote this one my second day on C6
https://soundcloud.com/johnporcellino/aloha-blues

Cold Snap Blues
https://soundcloud.com/johnporcellino/cold-snap-blues

Blues in Whatever -- this one is in Open E
https://soundcloud.com/johnporcellino/b ... jack-pingo

Wednesday Tune -- Proud of this one! My first using three strings!
https://soundcloud.com/johnporcellino/wednesday-tune

Thanks for being so open-minded and welcoming.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 14 Mar 2019 10:48 am

Kudos for posting your first recordings, John and welcome to the wonderful and maddening world of lap steel. As you progress, you'll find that one of the most critical aspects of steel playing is blocking. Good luck in the journey and feel free to ask questions here.

Jim Schofield · Post by **Jim Schofield** » 14 Mar 2019 3:23 pm

"From little things big things grow" Paul Kelly (1992).

John Porcellino · Post by **John Porcellino** » 15 Mar 2019 10:37 am

Andy Volk wrote:Kudos for posting your first recordings, John and welcome to the wonderful and maddening world of lap steel. As you progress, you'll find that one of the most critical aspects of steel playing is blocking. Good luck in the journey and feel free to ask questions here.

Thank you! I've gotten some good tips about blocking here and will be putting it up top of my list of techniques to develop. Digging around in the forum for advice has been very helpful!