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Dan Sawyer · From: Studio City, California, USA

As i've been lurking here for a while and recently started posting, i thought i'd introduce myself. I've been musician all my life and always made a living in music. I started on woodwinds (sax/flute) and then played guitar throughout the 1970's and 80s. In those days, i got to work with many great pedal steelers including: Doug Livingston, Jadee Maness, Ethan Reilly, Al Vescovo, Danny Dugmore, John Bidasio and John Kurnick. I always loved the sound of steel and listened to lots of Buddy E and C in the Texas troubadors, etc. Sonny Garish was another favorite. Every time i tried to play steel, it was just too foreign and i would give up.

Lately, i've been getting into steel again and bought a few nice guitars. I'm working on the traditional tunings like C6 and A high bass, but also trying to invent some of my own. I have a lot of admiration for you guys because this is one difficult axe. It requires total concentration to play. Listening to Joaquin is an inspiration. Jerry byrd, too. It's amazing how clean he plays and how in tune his slants are.

Anyway, since the late 1980s, i've been involved with composing and producing music for television and film. That's been the bread and butter, but my heart still lies in playing. The latest project is a ukulele CD. I've been playing the uke seriously for a while now and it's been a barrel of fun! You can click on my website link to hear some samples and read more about it.

Finally, what do you folks recommend as the best way to learn steel guitar technique? Original steel, not pedal. Is there a good DVD or video you recommend? I don't care about learning songs; just technique, like blocking, picking, slants, etc.

Thanks again. I dig this forum.

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Dan Sawyer
Fender Deluxe 8® (stringmaster), Fender Deluxe 8 (trap), Gibson EH-150, Wayne Lap Steel, Fender "White" 6-string w legs.

Earnest Bovine · From: Los Angeles CA USA

Dan is one of the very best all-around musicians (and guitar players) that I have met here in Los Angeles. If anybody can get music out of the ukulele, it's Dan.

As for technique, great minds seem not to think alike. I think it's best to try everything until you find what works for you.

Dave Mayes · From: Oakland, Ca.

Welcome Dan !

For technique instuction I'd go with Jerry's
video. It's all there. Is it on DVD yet ? ... I don't know.

George Keoki Lake · From: Edmonton, AB., Canada

Hi Dan and welcome....something I'd like to ask you (as the former wind player you are)....which did you find to be the more difficult to play, the wind instruments or the steel guitar and moreso, why ? I have never played any wind instrument and have no desire to. I have been curious about the comparison of challenge, etc. Thanx.

Don Joslin · From: St. Paul, MN

Welcome Dan!

I'm a new steel player too and many recommended the Cindy Cashdollar videos - Homespun Tapes. I have found them very informative. She doesn't spend a lot of time on technique but if you watch her hands she has a wonderful touch.

Also, the Jerry Byrd course and video. Spendy but well worth it. Scotty's has 'em.

Good luck...

Don

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My favorite baseball team is the Minnesota Twins...
-------- ...my second favorite is whoever is playing the Yankees!

Rick Alexander · From: Florida, USA, R.I.P.

Dan, welcome to the best forum in the galaxy! Cindy's videos are great (C6 tuning),a good place to start. Jerry Byrd's video (A, E7, C6 tuning)is wonderful - he really breaks it down and shows how it's done, plus he talks about the philosophy of playing in a way that really makes you think. Bobbe Seymour's C6 videos contain some real good stuff as well. But the instructional nobody mentioned which really has all the the meat is Herb Remington's 2 videos course - beginner & intermediate. I hope he makes the advanced tape soon - I'm ready. Herb teaches mainly A6 tuning, but also demos other tunings such as C#m. If you're going to get just one, I'd say go with Herb. But they're all excellent each in their own way, and each one has stuff the others don't. So get all 4 - you'll be glad you did!

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Rick Alexander
57 Fender Stringmaster T8, 57 Fender Champ, 59 Valco D8, 47 National New Yorker . .

Travis Bernhardt · From: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

EB is right, everybody's got a slightly different take. I haven't seen most of the stuff out there, but I would recommend Bob Brozman's Hawaiian Guitar Techniques. Watch the sample video at: Homespun Tapes. If you like the Joaquin Murphey stuff, Brozman uses a similar bar technique--fretting with just the nose of the bar--and he also covers harmonics, slants and a few techniques idiomatic to early Hawaiian style playing. The songs taught are pre-electric Hawaiian songs (in the Sol Hoopii "hot" style), but the techniques are universal. The tuning used is low-bass G.

-Travis

[This message was edited by Travis Bernhardt on 04 October 2004 at 02:49 PM.]

Loni Specter · From: West Hills, CA, USA

Hold up with those recommendations boys. With talent as big as Dan's, he'll be making his own lesson DVDs in a year or two!
BTW Playing the Uke is still a hangin' ofense in some states. :-}

Dan Sawyer · From: Studio City, California, USA

Wow, there's some great recommendations here. This really is the best place in the universe. Ernest and Loni, you guys are much too nice. This steel thing is a bear! I don't expect to get much beyond the hobby phase, but I'm sure having fun. I figured out how to play sleepwalk and Misty in a Dma9 tuning. The difficulty is in playing clean. The next step is to get some good fingerpicks.

George, after playing many instruments over the years, i would have to say that steel guitar and regular guitar are harder than sax, flute, piano, bass, drums. This surprises a lot of folks because it's pretty easy to pick up a guitar, learn 4 chords and sing a tune. But, to truly master the guitar is much more difficult. By "master" i mean to be freely creative in any situation, improvise in all keys and many styles, read written music with a relaxed and natural feel. This stuff is pretty easy on, say, a sax after one has played for a number of years. I still remember asking Dean Parks (who also plays guitar, steel and saxophone) what he thought of the guitar as an instrument. He described it as the "ultimate puzzle" meaning it can never really be mastered. Of course, this can describe the steel and pedal steel as well.

Dan Sawyer · From: Studio City, California, USA

Loni, get the rope ready.

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