How many playing hours in a steeler's life?

Bill Llewellyn · Post by **Bill Llewellyn** » 19 Jan 2002 8:23 pm

How many hours does a steeler spend behind his/her PSG in their lifetime?

Let's take Sam Steelplayer as an example. He's about 47, and started at age 9. Let's say he's a studio pro and averaged 4 hours a day. That's 55,480 hours of playing. There are 8,760 hours in a year, so that's equivalent to 6-1/3 years of continuous playing. Sheesh!

I'm personally at about 500 hours total playing so far. That's a bit less that 1% of Mr. Steelplayer's total. Is that why I'm not getting called into Nashville sessions?

Paul Graupp · Post by **Paul Graupp** » 20 Jan 2002 8:17 am

Bill; I've never thought about keeping a tab on how many I've played but now that you mention it, I'd like to know. Always Late should be my theme song since there is no way I could figure it out now.

I was joking with Jody Carver the other day and said I'd probably die playing my steel. I though that would make a headline on the Forum: STEEL PLAYER DIES AT GUITAR !! I could think of better ways to go but what else can you do with an obsession like this ?

Regards, Paul

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 20 Jan 2002 9:14 am

From 1975 to 1995 I played over 3000 4 hour gigs... that's 12,000 hours. Add to that a couple hundred recent gigs, recording, lessons, and practicing and it adds up to too much time!

I wonder how many computer hours in a steel players life?

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[This message was edited by Doug Beaumier on 20 January 2002 at 09:17 AM.]

Cal Sharp · Post by **Cal Sharp** » 20 Jan 2002 10:27 am

I played w/Faron for about 10 yrs., averaging about 100 dates a year, usually two shows. Some songs, like "Hello Walls" we would do on both shows. So I've played "Hello Walls" abut 2000 times, or 100 hours. Imagine playing the same for 4 days! But I never got tired of it - it's a great song.

I shudder to think how many times I've played "Just Stay Here and Drink" in bars during the last 20 or 30 years, however long it's been out. I could have rebuilt an engine or written (another) book or climbed the Matterhorn if I had back the time I've spent on that song. Or maybe even learned the ending to "Dickens". Wait a minute, the Matterhorn might be easier...

C#[This message was edited by Cal Sharp on 20 January 2002 at 10:32 AM.]

Ray Montee · Post by **Ray Montee** » 20 Jan 2002 10:53 am

Well I don't how many hours I've been playing since age 7, but it sure has adversely affected my vision! I don't know what to expect next?

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 20 Jan 2002 11:19 am

I don't know how many hours I've spent playing, but as of last weekend I've been married 438,000 hours!

JamesMCross · Post by **JamesMCross** » 20 Jan 2002 12:35 pm

However many hours I've spent behind this thing, it ain't gonna be near enough.

I played on 90 gigs last year, say 3 hours of playing time each, and I practice an hour or two, 3 or 4 times a week.

If I played a gig every night for the rest of my life (I am now 46), and practiced 4 hours a day every day, I think I would still feel like I needed just one more hour.

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 20 Jan 2002 6:39 pm

I've been playing for 28 years, and I probably average 10 hours a week. That's 14,560 hours, or the equivalent of a full-time job for 7 years.

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