Everything I play sounds good...

[Jacek Jakubek]

Everything I play sounds good...Until I play along with some backing tracks or recorded songs

Me playing by myself: "...Just playing some licks and scales in G, Alright! Sounds good...Woo-hoo...Great Job...You're awesome!"

Me playing with backing tracks: "Ummm...that's not G...That's still not G. OK...finally G, but now the harmony note sounds off from G. Finally, harmonized G sounds good, but the rhythm's off now! ...And the vibrato sounds "Hawaiian" 'cause I'm rushing and can't keep up with the rhythm...and so on."

I wish I would have made it priority to practice with backing tracks from day one over a decade ago. I've had Band in a Box for years and only used it like 3 times.

From now on I'm going to need to practice with backing tracks WAY more, or even ALL the time. Band in a Box is going to be my new best friend. I'm going to call him "Bib." Bib and I are going to have so much fun from now on starting tomorrow.

If you're a beginner reading this, don't be like me! Start playing with backing tracks (or even with other people if you know any players) right away, even if you only know how to use the B pedal and got your guitar just yesterday. Noodling unaccompanied on the steel by yourself gives you a false sense of accomplishment: You think you can play but really can't...Essentially just wasting time.

Jeff Newman is right once again. Is there anything that guy is wrong about ever?

[Fred Treece]

It’s true, playing along with tracks or a metronome can be a crash course in true enlightenment. There are also lower levels of practice that can only be done correctly with backing tracks and metronome going at very slow speed or turned off altogether. Jamie Andreas describes this process in her guitar method book. I follow it whenever I am learning something new. Which, for me on steel, is just about everything.

[Bobby D. Jones]

I hate to say it, But you may have dug a hole it will take some work to get out of.
If you have sat around and practice with nothing to set the tempo, You have set your own tempo, As you play, You do the licks and phrases at your own speed. Then when you play with a CD, Backing Tracks or a live band the problem comes to light. You are either ahead of the beat or behind the beat.
You may want to take a short break from playing your steel, Then when you go back to practice, Tune your guitar, Then only practice with Backing Tracks or CD's.
Good Practice and Good Luck.

[Paul Sutherland]

I always practice with a metronome and a drone CD. The only exception is if I'm working on a new tune off YouTube, and then that's like having a backing track. Intonation and tempo are critical to playing decent PSG, or most any other instrument.

[Bill Terry]

All good advice.. I would add that recording yourself as you play/or practice and then listening back is a great tool.

I'm not sure what happens in the brain, but when you're detached from actually playing and just listening, you hear things quite differently, or at least I do. It's amazing that what seemed so 'great' when you played it can be 'extremely mediocre' when you listen back.

[Steve Huddleston]

Another big thumbs up for recording yourself. I consider myself pretty sub-mediocre but every now and then when I listen to myself recorded I think “say, that sounds like a real steel”. That’s pretty fun.

[Ian Rae]

Intonation and tempo are critical to playing decent PSG, or most any other instrument.

Most any other?
A list of exceptions would be informative

[Fred Treece]

I want to learn a new song. The song has chords and changes in it that I am not familiar with. It has a tricky but cool lick that I want to do, and modulates a step and a half for the bridge. Do I start right off playing to backing tracks, at tempo? I don’t think so.

There are a jillion video lessons out there on YouTube. Many of them start off with a lick or tune played at tempo, with or without backing tracks. Then they are meticulously detailed phrase by phrase by the instructor, with no backing track or metronome. There is a good reason for this, just as there is a good reason to practice toward playing the lick or tune at tempo with tracks and recording it. If you are a pro and can already play by ear right from the start, then your practice routine may differ greatly from those of us here mucking our way around the shallow end of the pool.

[Erv Niehaus]

I remember the 1st time I got invited to join a group of musicians. They had a program over a local radio station.
The 1st time I sat in with them was a disaster!
My timing was SO rough I didn't think I'd ever get it right.
But with some practice and perseverance it all came together!
Erv

[Curt Trisko]

It's especially a bummer when you're noodling around behind your steel and you come up with a lick or phrase that blows your mind... only to hear it turn into crap once you try to integrate it into the actual flow, rhythm, and balance of the song.

[Billy Dickson]

As Jeff would say, the music will not wait on you

[Andy Henriksen]

Intonation and tempo are critical to playing decent PSG, or most any other instrument.

Most any other?
A list of exceptions would be informative

Theramin? Bar chimes? Didgeridoo?

[Donny Hinson]

I started off by playing records that had little or no pedal steel, and then playing backup to that music. That not only helped my intonation tremendously, but it allowed me to experiment with what works best in the song. My goal, always, was to make it sound like what I was playing was part of the recording. That exercise helped me with dynamics and timing as well. Because what we do as pedal steelers (most of the time) is back up singers, this affords what I think is the fastest route to learning to play in a band.

[David Gertschen]

Intonation and tempo are critical to playing decent PSG, or most any other instrument.

Most any other?
A list of exceptions would be informative

Theramin? Bar chimes? Didgeridoo?

Lol, bagpipes was the first thing I thought of!

[Jacek Jakubek]

All good advice.. I would add that recording yourself as you play/or practice and then listening back is a great tool.

Yes, that too. Thanks for the reminder. Time to dust off that old Tascam digital Portastudio and mic. I remember recording myself some years ago and was shocked by how annoying my volume pedal technique was due to the excessive swells. Ended up ditching the VP for months.

Donny, what you described is what I should have been doing from the start.

Thanks for all the advice, guys. Knowing the problem and facing it head on can only result in improvement.

[Bobby D. Jones]

What I was suggesting in my previous post, Was to get the licks and phrases you already know to work into the songs properly timed.
If you want to learn a New Lick, Phrase or Chord Change or Turn Around. Turn the backing off. But as soon as you learn the physical moves, Strings to pick, pedals and knee levers to move and bar movement. Now it becomes a Lick, Phrase or Chord Change or Turn Around. But when you get the timing right, Now it is music.

With Violin(Fiddle), Do-Bro, Harmonica and Steel Guitars passing through notes, They must stay with the beat of the song to add to the music.