I recall, many years ago, speaking with (the late) Benny Kalama on this subject during an intermission at the Halekulani. You will recall he did the arranging for the latter 20 year series of the "Hawai'i Calls" shows. (This radio show ran from 1935 - 1974. It was briefly revived in the '80's under the direction of Bill Bigelow however, it didn't last very long). Not all the music was written or arranged for the two steel guitars. Benny, from what I could gather in our short converstaion, did indicate he wrote occasional parts here and there.(Presumebly mostly intro's and/or endings, etc.) I am not sure if Jules could read music however, being the extraordinary musician he was, it follows he would have had a fairly good knowledge and ability towards reading. I never met the man. As for Barney, I am reasonably certain he too, was familiar with reading music.
The steel guitar in it's many forms is probably the most difficult and complicated instrument for any arranger to score. It has never been "standardized" as has for example, the plectrum guitar. I am doubtful it will ever reach that point. There are just too many complications, tunings and styles of interpretation, etc., which makes our instrument so unique.
If you analyse the pitch of the instrument, in reality it should be written utilizing both the treble and bass clefs. That would be totally impractical, of course. To offset using the bass clef where the majority of the strings are actually pitched, steel guitar methods and teachers over the years usually wrote the steel charts in the treble clef...(8va)...which means one octive above the actual pitch. This puts everything in the upper leger lines. Confusing ? Sure is! But that's the precise method by which I commenced reading music ... (as did so many steel guitarists, especially back in the forties). However being around brass, reeds, etc., soon made me realize reading music at actual pitch was the sensible and obvious way to go. My students, (those who show a desire to learn notation), are taught to read actual pitch. The rest of my students depend solely upon tablature. Here again, can you just imagine any professional orchestral arranger attempting to write a "chart" using tablature, or even having any conception or comprehension about what tabs, tunings, and/or pedals, etc., are all about? Not very likely. Which is probably the reason "Speedy plays" was inserted in the chart as CC mentioned above.
On gigs, when necessary, I usually read the vocal chart line, while glancing at the accompanying chord symbols to determine the proper harmony. <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by George Keoki Lake on 29 December 2002 at 01:44 PM.]</p></FONT>
