slants in new country?
Moderator: Shoshanah Marohn
-
- Posts: 188
- Joined: 20 Oct 2004 12:01 am
- Location: High Ridge, Missouri, USA
- Contact:
slants in new country?
I'm still pretty new at playing steel (1 1/2 years) but I just had this assumption since in the current age of steel guitar we have all these nifty pedals and levers that slants weren't really used. Just thought they were used when you didn't have the luxury of the bends.
But yesterday I was exploring new ideas and heard a Keith Urban instrumental (Rollercoaster) and the steel break only seemed to work with a bar slant between the G# and the B.
Is this an anomaly for new country stuff or do you often find a lot of slants still being used out there. This was my first real exposure to it. Just one more complexity I guess I'm going to have to make some sense out of.
But yesterday I was exploring new ideas and heard a Keith Urban instrumental (Rollercoaster) and the steel break only seemed to work with a bar slant between the G# and the B.
Is this an anomaly for new country stuff or do you often find a lot of slants still being used out there. This was my first real exposure to it. Just one more complexity I guess I'm going to have to make some sense out of.
- Tony Prior
- Posts: 14522
- Joined: 17 Oct 2001 12:01 am
- Location: Charlotte NC
- Contact:
- Gary Shepherd
- Posts: 2490
- Joined: 3 May 2004 12:01 am
- Location: Fox, Oklahoma, USA
- Contact:
I never use slants on my pedal steel. But I do on dobro and lap steel.
------------------
Gary Shepherd
Carter D-10
www.16tracks.com
------------------
Gary Shepherd
Carter D-10
www.16tracks.com
- Paddy Long
- Posts: 5462
- Joined: 19 Aug 2003 12:01 am
- Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
- Gareth Carthew
- Posts: 135
- Joined: 12 Apr 2006 12:01 am
- Location: West Sussex, UK
lol!
I'll second that. It does look good.
I've not started using slants yet. I've only been playing sporadically since Christmas (too many other instruments on the go at the same time - it's not good! lol)
but it's certainly something that I want to get used to. Any technique that can increase the possiblities in playing has got to be worth learning!
I'll second that. It does look good.
I've not started using slants yet. I've only been playing sporadically since Christmas (too many other instruments on the go at the same time - it's not good! lol)
but it's certainly something that I want to get used to. Any technique that can increase the possiblities in playing has got to be worth learning!
-
- Posts: 357
- Joined: 13 Dec 2004 1:01 am
- Location: New Market, Maryland, USA
Check out the forward and reverse slants Bobbee Seymour uses in the "Magnum" video.
http://www.steelguitar.net/ (scroll down)
I am also a novice but, it seems slants are not just for looks but an essential technique for a "sweet" sound.
http://www.steelguitar.net/ (scroll down)
I am also a novice but, it seems slants are not just for looks but an essential technique for a "sweet" sound.
- Jim Peters
- Posts: 1481
- Joined: 29 Dec 2003 1:01 am
- Location: St. Louis, Missouri, USA, R.I.P.
- Contact:
-
- Posts: 188
- Joined: 20 Oct 2004 12:01 am
- Location: High Ridge, Missouri, USA
- Contact:
Hey Jim,
It is a song of Keith Urban's first solo album (when he used to actually do some chickin picken). It is an instrumental called Rollercoaster. Great tune with a GREAT steel break. Very nice descending lick I was working with.
If you have some slant chops, could I borrow those from you like you let me borrow your Nashville 112?
It is a song of Keith Urban's first solo album (when he used to actually do some chickin picken). It is an instrumental called Rollercoaster. Great tune with a GREAT steel break. Very nice descending lick I was working with.
If you have some slant chops, could I borrow those from you like you let me borrow your Nashville 112?
- Gareth Carthew
- Posts: 135
- Joined: 12 Apr 2006 12:01 am
- Location: West Sussex, UK
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying it's done for looks.
If someone is learning a technique such as slants to "look good" then something is wrong. It's all about what sounds right.
The fact that the technique looks a bit clever is simply a happy bonus.
~Edit~
I've just watched the "Magnum" video.
I like Bobbe's string bending tequnique!
<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Gareth Carthew on 03 July 2006 at 09:59 AM.]</p></FONT>
If someone is learning a technique such as slants to "look good" then something is wrong. It's all about what sounds right.
The fact that the technique looks a bit clever is simply a happy bonus.
~Edit~
I've just watched the "Magnum" video.
I like Bobbe's string bending tequnique!
<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Gareth Carthew on 03 July 2006 at 09:59 AM.]</p></FONT>
- Joseph Meditz
- Posts: 345
- Joined: 14 Nov 2005 1:01 am
- Location: Sierra Vista, AZ
I bought a _pedal_ steel 6 months ago in part to avoid slants thinking them too hard. But after just a few weeks I tried playing them and found, _IF_ done well, they to sound better than pedals. In some cases the trajectory of the notes using slants is different than the same thing played by pressing pedals. Also, with a slant you can play a just interval without having to retune the axe, etc.
Of course I don't play slants well. But the irony is the very thing I tried to avoid is the very thing I now find appealing. Furthermore, regarding pedals, I have come to appreciate that there is quite a bit of feel and technique in pressing the pedals down smoothly. Why? To make it sound like a slant!
Joe
Of course I don't play slants well. But the irony is the very thing I tried to avoid is the very thing I now find appealing. Furthermore, regarding pedals, I have come to appreciate that there is quite a bit of feel and technique in pressing the pedals down smoothly. Why? To make it sound like a slant!
Joe
-
- Posts: 357
- Joined: 13 Dec 2004 1:01 am
- Location: New Market, Maryland, USA
I found "Rollercoaster" at iTunes. Are you referring to the steel break at 1:39 ? I don't hear any slants or half-pedals but could be wrong.
And, the reason I would think that slants are important is that I am lucky enough to live in an area where Buddy Charleton has taught a lot of students and they have told me so. In fact, the amp I bought from one of his friends still has a sticker on the front which says "THINK BAR SLANTS."
Slants might not be common or important in "new country" but, they could be.
And, the reason I would think that slants are important is that I am lucky enough to live in an area where Buddy Charleton has taught a lot of students and they have told me so. In fact, the amp I bought from one of his friends still has a sticker on the front which says "THINK BAR SLANTS."
Slants might not be common or important in "new country" but, they could be.