Tunings & Instructional Materials for Beginner?

Anita Merritt · Post by **Anita Merritt** » 24 Aug 2004 8:28 pm

I'm a guitar player that's got the lap steel bug! To save my steel string acoustic guitar from further tone bar dings, I've ordered one of the new production Melobar 6-string Rattlers. (Yeah, I know...I posted about wanting a Fouke Industrial Steel. What can I say?...I changed my mind.) While I eagerly anticipate its arrival, I'm looking for instructional materials and resources for rock, blues, and country rock tablature. I purchased the C6 book/cd by Dewitt Scott thinking that would be a good place to start, but it was suggested that I might be better off learning other tunings first, such as A6, E7, C#m, etc. before learning C6.

HELP!

If someone could recommend which tuning would be the best starting point, suggest instructional materials for it, and point me to some tablature resources, I'd sure appreciate it.

Hmmmm, I don't ask for much, do I

Thanks!
Anita

Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 24 Aug 2004 8:47 pm

I think you have a fine book and a great way to start. The C6 tuning will reward you with a bit of work and is a very versatile tuning. See my web site for other recommendations if you don't feel this book is going to teach you what you want to learn.

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Brad's Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars

Anita Merritt · Post by **Anita Merritt** » 24 Aug 2004 9:15 pm

Thanks! I've been to your website several times since I started my quest. Don't know how I overlooked the page with the blues scale in C6.

[This message was edited by Anita Merritt on 24 August 2004 at 10:15 PM.]

Andy Sandoval · Post by **Andy Sandoval** » 25 Aug 2004 8:38 am

Hi Anita, I play a 40's Oahu Tonemaster and started out with Cindy Cashdollars two C6 videos which are great, very informative and fun to learn from. Of course they might not be the style your wantin to learn but they do contain some pretty licks that could be transferred to blues or rock. Good luck with your lap steel.

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loveridehd@aol.com
Carter D-10/C6 & E9, Oahu Tonemaster 6 string lap/C6, and two Resonators/open G

[This message was edited by Andy Sandoval on 25 August 2004 at 09:41 AM.]

Travis Bernhardt · Post by **Travis Bernhardt** » 25 Aug 2004 5:16 pm

Doesn't really matter where you start. I don't think that one tuning can really be considered "more advanced" than another--so C6 is fine. I would only say that open D (low to high: DADF#AD) or E might be preferable for blues and rock, if only because you've got that DAD power chord on the bottom. Also, open C (low to high: CGCGCE) really gets the third out of the way, which is nice for rock/blues playing (plus you've got that really low C).

Of course, C6 makes playing certain melody lines easier, and I find it easier to play certain fast single note blues licks in C6. You've got a few more chord options, too (although keep in mind that in a non 6th tuning like open D, you can still get the essential notes (third and seventh, plus one other note) from a variety of different chords (9th, #9th, 13th, etc.) using slants. So a "simpler" tuning like open D won't limit you that much chordally, especially if you're doing the rock/blues thing).

Do you have any particular player who inspires you? If so, you might consider starting out with their tuning, so that you can more easily copy what they're doing. Listening to and trying to copy something that you like is a good way to learn, IMO.

Anyways, the main thing is (of course) always going to be practice. There's nothing wrong with experimenting with different tunings, just don't let it dominate. If you know your basic music theory, and get the basic ideas behind how your tuning (whatever it is) works, and you know the techniques, you can transfer that to any other tuning with ease.

For example, if I learn to play "open style"--like a bluegrass dobro player, with a lot of hammer-ons and pull-offs, mostly in the key of the tuning (usually G)--then I can play in the open position of any tuning with a minimal mental adjustment. Similarly, if I learn to play "closed"--meaning in any key, with less use of the open strings--in C6 tuning (for example), I can also apply apply that to any tuning with minimal adjustment.

My point being, there are fundamentals to steel guitar playing that matter more than which tuning you use. So that C6 book you've got will get you going just fine (besides, A6 is the same as C6 except lower, and C#m is the same as E6, so they wouldn't be an easier place to start anyways...).

-Travis

Roger Shackelton · Post by **Roger Shackelton** » 25 Aug 2004 6:17 pm

Did anyone try to play something on the (high to low)B,A,G,D,A,D tuning.

Roger

Bill Blacklock · Post by **Bill Blacklock** » 25 Aug 2004 6:26 pm

I find that different tunings fit different types of music and instruments.Some of the tunings I use from Low to high. Bluegrass/dobro G(GBDGBD),Blues/tricone D(DADF#AD)G6(EGDGBD)6th out of way,
Weissenborn C (CGCGCE)the 3rd is out of the way for minors. Swing/lapsteel C6 minor
(E-flat GCACE) Hawaian C#min(EC#EG#C#E)and yes some times I forget which tuning I'm in. Bill

Steinar Gregertsen · Post by **Steinar Gregertsen** » 25 Aug 2004 6:41 pm

After going through the usual tuning confusion I find myself relying mostly on the good old major tunings. I do most of my playing in open-D these days, sometimes highbass-G for another flavor, and if I want to get really 'sophisticated' I pull out the 8-string in A6 or E13.
The three lap steel tunes on my website are played in open D.

Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com

Anita Merritt · Post by **Anita Merritt** » 25 Aug 2004 9:55 pm

Thanks everyone for putting this in perspective for me. I think the fog is beginning to clear.

Seems that certain tunings are selected for lap steel due to the number of chords that can be played on a single fret or that can be accomplished by slanting. Matching the tuning to a particular style would then be determined by which chords those are. If that logic is correct and I play rock and blues, then it would follow that the typical tunings I would use for playing slide guitar, such as open D, would be appropriate. Besides, if it works for Steinar, then it's certainly good enough for me!

That was a long-winded path to the point that I think what I need most is to learn technique. There's some technique covered in the C6 book I purchased, but not enough.

Which of the following would have the greatest emphasis on technique and get me playing the quickest? Are there others that would be better?

Jerry Byrd Instruction Course for Steel Guitar
Cindy Cashdollar's DVDs on Western Swing Steel Guitar
GeorgeBoards DVD Lap Steel Courses

For anyone that's interested, I found an excellent alternate tunings book (strictly 6-string) that can be downloaded for free. It covers more tunings that I'll ever use in a lifetime and has diagrams for each tuning that illustrate the fretboard layout, major, minor, and pentatonic scales, and some common chords. You can find a link to download it at the bottom of this page:
http://eceserv0.ece.wisc.edu/~sethares/alternatetunings/alternatetunings.html

Patrick Newbery · Post by **Patrick Newbery** » 26 Aug 2004 6:48 am

I too made the switch from standard six to steel recently.

I have used both the Jerry Byrd Course and the George Board DVDs. I think Jerry's course is well worth the money, and is a very comprehensive set of information. The GB DVDs are helpful, but I think you'll pick up that info easily along the way.

Probably the most useful thing I have found was to do what Bob, who runs this forum, suggested. Plot out the neck for any tuning you want to lean and write in the notes. Then start circling notes that make up 1,3,5 (or any other chord structure you want) that are within 1-2 frets. What you have is a neat way to find straight and slant chords, alternate voicings, etc. I have made these charts for C6, B11 and E13 and use them for practice.

But perhaps the best way to learn is toget music that uses the tuning you want to learn, listen and try to figure out what they are doing.

(edited for spelling)
[This message was edited by Patrick Newbery on 26 August 2004 at 07:51 AM.][This message was edited by Patrick Newbery on 26 August 2004 at 07:51 AM.]

Tony Harris · Post by **Tony Harris** » 26 Aug 2004 8:31 am

Another thing to try on the C6 tuning, is raising the bottom string to C#. While you lose the big major chord on the bottom, you do gain a major in other positions (strings 6,5 and 3), the bottom 3 strings give a diminished chord (if you play music that needs 'em), and you get a big 7th on the bottom 4.

Travis Bernhardt · Post by **Travis Bernhardt** » 26 Aug 2004 11:37 am

I haven't seen the Jerry Byrd course or the Cashdollar course. I'll bet they're both pretty good. The video that got me started was Bob Brozman's Hawaiian Guitar video. If you're looking for technique I think you could do a lot worse. He demonstrates pretty much every technique in the steel guitar arsenal from picking and sliding to slants to clean single note runs to artificial harmonics. He even demonstrates that tricky technique where you hit the 2nd string as a harmonic and the first string as normal at the same time. He doesn't cover the bluegrass side of things, so no specific instruction on rolls and hammer-ons/pull-offs, and no specific instruction on alternating bass fingerpicking. The songs he teaches use those techniques in places, though, so you'll at least see them demonstrated.

Again, I haven't seen the other stuff, but I can definitely recommend Brozman's tape if it's technique you're looking for (keeping in mind that it's focused on acoustic playing--electric playing is slightly different in places).

Of course, if you can find a teacher (preferably one with good technique!) then that's probably the best way to go.

-Travis