Ever play off "Top of your head" on steel?

Billy Carr · Post by **Billy Carr** » 16 Jun 2005 11:43 pm

By "Top of your head", what I mean is, do you ever play something without actually planning in advance or knowing what your going to play. I play the steel shows in Mississippi every chance I get and this is one of the things I enjoy the most. For example let's say, your playing a set with two other steel players and they've both played "Farewell Party". Both of them played it pretty close to the original record. Ok, here comes your time to start: Where will you start from? This is what I call "Top of your head" playing. Quick, spur of the moment. I'm going with strings 4,5 &6 at the 13th fret w/ped-1 & F KL to start and working my way down. Might even use 3,8 & 10 to start with at the 1st fret w/ped-1 & F-KL and play it all the way down to the high end at the 22nd fret. Starting position? This is just fun guys, don't anybody take it the wrong way!

Jim Phelps · Post by **Jim Phelps** » 16 Jun 2005 11:47 pm

Except when playing parts that have to be a certain way every time, like signature licks or some leads that I (or someone else) prefer to be the same or close to it, "off the top of my head" is my preferred mode. [This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 17 June 2005 at 01:24 AM.]

Smiley Roberts · Post by **Smiley Roberts** » 17 Jun 2005 1:04 am

As far as the instrumental break goes,I,probably,never play the same "lick" twice,in a song. I'll just stay within the chord structure of it,& play whatever I feel like playin' at the time. If I happen to come up with a "lick" that I'm happy with,I'll,usually stick with it.

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c c johnson · Post by **c c johnson** » 17 Jun 2005 2:44 am

Are there people that don't?

Klaus Caprani · Post by **Klaus Caprani** » 17 Jun 2005 2:54 am

Mostly, and until now it's actually quite limited what's accumulated up there

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Bob Carlucci · Post by **Bob Carlucci** » 17 Jun 2005 3:50 am

Thats the ONLY way I know how to play, and I consider it a detriment.

I wish I could play stuff that I had thought out and arranged.. never was able to get a handle on it, and I give a lot of credit to players that have that ability.... bob

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 17 Jun 2005 4:03 am

Except for the limited "road" gigs, everything I do is unrehearsed.

I've never played in a band where everything was planned. I wouldn't know what to do if I had to.

Mark Metdker · Post by **Mark Metdker** » 17 Jun 2005 4:13 am

It's the only way I know how to play.

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Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 17 Jun 2005 5:27 am

There are those people who can sit down to the axe and play the same sequences of notes/chords/runs/fills twice in a row (or even twice in a week). I'm not one of them.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 17 Jun 2005 5:30 am

is this the same as Over Your Head ?

t

John Daugherty · Post by **John Daugherty** » 17 Jun 2005 5:40 am

I have spent my life playing like this. The exceptions were when playing with a band that did the same show everytime. This would be a traveling band or a theater show that had a different audience every show.

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 17 Jun 2005 6:23 am

......"Is this the same as "Over Your Head"?....

Tony, I don't know if it's the same, but I've sure done a lot of it while hoping to get through it at the same time as everyone else!

www.genejones.com [This message was edited by Gene Jones on 17 June 2005 at 07:33 AM.]

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 17 Jun 2005 6:44 am

I play 'off the top of my head' most of the time, unless there's a signature lick or one of mine that my bandmates have come to expect from me.

'Over my head', yeah, that too. A big part of the pleasure of music is walking out to the end of a limb and trying to get back without it breaking off.

Stephen LeBlanc · Post by **Stephen LeBlanc** » 17 Jun 2005 7:29 am

always

Marty Pollard · Post by **Marty Pollard** » 17 Jun 2005 7:33 am

I'm just now, after almost 30 years starting to care about being able to play the melody the 'right' way.

Daryl Stogner · Post by **Daryl Stogner** » 17 Jun 2005 7:51 am

I'm so new at this thing, that everything I play on it is off the top of my head, just staying with the chord progression and doing fills. As for playing a melody, hah! Not even close. Tabs are great to learn main licks and I use them when I remember them, but I can get so wrapped up in playing that I forget to work and just have fun playing.

Probably never amount to anything on PSG, but I'll have fun not getting there.

Dave Van Allen · Post by **Dave Van Allen** » 17 Jun 2005 7:59 am

Stream of consciousness playing is what I prefer...
I have played highly arranged pieces (and like that too) but for most instances being in the moment and interacting with live musicians is where it's at...

which is not to say I refuse to play the same riff in the same place in a tune if it makes sense... or to pre-arrange a part to then "take off" from...

I'm just now, after almost 30 years starting to care about being able to play the melody the 'right' way.

Good point...
Boy, can I relate to that MP!

John De Maille · Post by **John De Maille** » 17 Jun 2005 10:02 am

Except for playing signature licks, (i.e.- intro's, instrumental parts, outro's), all of the music I play is off the top of my head. Most of the tunes my band does are older tunes anyway and nobody remembers exactly how they go anyway, so, as long as I play the intro correctly it doesn't really matter. It only matters to me whether I play it right or not. And I'm my worst critic. I usually find it more fun to play around with a melody, when I can. That way the tune never gets too boring to play, and I get to improvise with different parts.

John Daugherty · Post by **John Daugherty** » 17 Jun 2005 10:59 am

"as long as I play the intro correctly it doesn't really matter."
That's a good point. The first decent bandleader I worked for, used a lot of Bob Wills quotes. One of them was "If you start together and end together, the middle will take care of its self".

JW Day · Post by **JW Day** » 17 Jun 2005 11:08 am

I THOUGHT THIS WAS WHAT MADE THE STEEL GUITAR PRETTY. NOT KNOWING ON NOTE FROM THE OTHER, IT WOULDN'T DO ME ANY GOOD TO HAVE THE MUSIC WRITTEN OUT.

Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 17 Jun 2005 11:15 am

A big part of the pleasure of music is walking out to the end of a limb and trying to get back without it breaking off.

If there's any other musical instrument that gives you as much opportunity to fall off a cliff (or want to jump off a cliff) I don't know of it.

[This message was edited by Ray Minich on 17 June 2005 at 12:16 PM.]

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 17 Jun 2005 1:05 pm

Yes, Ray - it's amazing more lemmings don't play this instrument.

Now I haven't been at this pedal steel business long. So I must be gettin' a lot of pleasure, since almost anything really interesting is at the end of a limb for me. But isn't the end of the tallest limb where the ripest fruit is?

Joerg Hennig · Post by **Joerg Hennig** » 17 Jun 2005 1:14 pm

It´s weird, there are certain songs that we do that I will play almost exactly the same way each time. On others I really don´t know in advance what I´m going to do. It doesn´t even depend on if it´s a country tune or a rock tune, or a cover or an original song. Maybe on some I can´t make up my mind and on others I´m too lazy to make changes or just like them the way they are...

Regards, JH

Larry Strawn · Post by **Larry Strawn** » 17 Jun 2005 4:14 pm

Everytime I rehearse a tune and get it one certain way,,when I get to the gig it usually goes South on me, then I just have to play my way out of it like I usually do any way..

Larry

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Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 17 Jun 2005 4:19 pm

My goal is to compose good, musical lines that work well in a tune. These evolve in time. In newer tunes I'm often searching for the right part. On tunes that I've played for a long time, I concentrate more on tone and technique and play the part I know.

In an unfamiliar band I wing it a lot. "Top of my head" - yeah, I guess that's what scared the hair away!