i am just a begginer

Jonathan Stephens III · Post by **Jonathan Stephens III** » 28 Nov 2004 11:02 am

first of all i would like to say that i give all of the steel guitar players in the world nothing but respect. i just purchased an artisan ea-1 6 string lap steel. i have the bar and picks and i have set it to the E7TH tuning. the thing is, i am a real begginer. any tips on just getting started on some chords,notes or whatever i need to know...thanks again.

Post by **Joey Ace** » 28 Nov 2004 12:29 pm

Welcome aboard Jonathan!

I'm moving your post to "No Peddlers".

There's a lot of good helpful folks there, and HowardR.

Alan Kirk · Post by **Alan Kirk** » 28 Nov 2004 1:06 pm

Jonathan,

One way to explore any new instrument is to sit down and teach yourself how to play a familiar melody on it. Learn how to do it well, not sloppily.

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Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 28 Nov 2004 2:39 pm

Welcome, Jonathan! Perhaps one of the Online Steelers located in New York State are near you. Lessons with a live teacher are absolutely the best way to start learning.
Otherwise there are a wide variety of good instructional books, tapes and DVDs. See my web site for some examples.

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Brad's Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars
[This message was edited by Brad Bechtel on 28 November 2004 at 02:41 PM.]

Don Joslin · Post by **Don Joslin** » 28 Nov 2004 4:18 pm

Welcome Jonathan - As Brad said, a couple of lessons to get you started is a good idea. If that's not an option I'd follow Alan's advice but make it your favorite song so you'll really enjoy working on it. There is a wealth of information here and on Brad's site if you search for it.

Don

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Country Music - (kun'tree myoo'zik) n. - Three chords and the
--------- truth.

Randy Reeves · Post by **Randy Reeves** » 29 Nov 2004 7:52 am

welcome to steeling. now you are in for it. hours will go by wthout you knowing it.

I agree with the above comments. using your ear to play a familiar tune is very helpful in understanding the instrument.

another thing that helped me alot was to make a chart (I used a small piece of scrap paper; it's more the exercise than a reference) write down the notes of the open strings then follow every string up the neck marking all those notes.

then look for the chords (triads). those three notes will appear up and down the neck. with that knowledge you will be able to get into the instrument quickly.[This message was edited by Randy Reeves on 29 November 2004 at 07:53 AM.]

Mike Ruffin · Post by **Mike Ruffin** » 30 Nov 2004 4:36 pm

Randy
Could you explain that exercise a little more for another beginner? Do you mean, for instance, find G on each open string, then E, etc?
Thanks