Teacher Vs learning on my own

Roger Pietz · From: Oregon, USA

I am new to the steel and have a good teacher, my problem I'm just not getting it. So I turn to you fellow players and ask did most of you learn on your own? Self motivated etc. I realize from the get go its not instant gratification and I have never been a quitter at anything in my life. Any Suggestions comments etc. Are Videos the best training tool for a 56 year old slow learner.

Kevin Hatton · From: Buffalo, N.Y.

Do you know any harmony and interval theory?

Ron Randall · From: Dallas, Texas, USA

oops

[This message was edited by Ron Randall on 25 September 2006 at 09:44 PM.]

Jody Sanders · From: Magnolia,Texas, R.I.P.

Roger, Learning to play pedal is a slow process. It takes awhile to co-ordinate two feet, two knees, and two hands. I suggest you stay with your teacher a while longer before you try it on your own. Hopefully you have a couple of hours a day to practice. Hang in there as it will get easier as you progress. Jody.

Brett Day · From: Pickens, SC

I mainly played along with records and taught myself by playing along with different country records. Brett, Emmons S-10, Morrell lapsteel, GFI Ultra D-10-aka "Redgold Beauty"

Al Terhune · From: Newcastle, WA

Roger, what is your teacher teaching you, and what don't you get?

Al

Calvin Walley · From: colorado city colorado, USA

Roger, please go back and read some of my posts from a couple of years ago, as you will see no one has been more frustrated than i have been trying to get a handle on the steel, i have cussed, fussed, threatened to pick it up and throw it in the yard , i even quit it a couple of times
....BUT then read my posts from the past
6-8 months and you will see that i have made progress...and so will you, it just takes lots of time and effort
one thing i can't stress enough is to start by getting a good steel and by this i mean one that you can adjust to fit you.
it needs to be the right hight , the knee levers need to be set to your leg not someone else's
the pedals need to be adjusted so that they work right for your foot . even your picks have to be adjusted to fit you
then and only then will you be ready to start learning
the steel is hard to learn and any little distraction will cause big problems learning

hope this helps

------------------
Mullen SD-10 3&5 / nashville 400

Twayn Williams · From: Portland, OR

There is no substitute for a qualified teacher. Except the bandstand! There's nothing like being in a band with the threat of up-coming gigs to clarify the mind

Billy Wilson · From: El Cerrito, California, USA

After having been through the frustrations described here I'd say that a good way of getting a toe in the door is to keep it simple for a good while. Take the most basic folk song and work up an easy litte version of it. Then hone it. A simple piece played well is vastly superior to fighting with something you're not ready for. I liken learning this instrument to polishing a rusty statue with a piece of steel wool. Look ma, his big toe is shiny!!

John Coffman · From: Wharton,Texas USA

Jody Sanders is right. Of course he's my teacher. Jody has been there and done that on more stuff than most of us will ever attempt. Give it time. Nothing that was great was created by man quickly. Keep practicing and work on finger and bar exercises. Be able to call out notes and go right to them.

Trust me I once was were you are now. The more practice the more you retain. Best of luck. God Bless

------------------
Thomas SD10 3/4,Thomas D10 8/5 and Desert Rose S10 3/4. Beginner Just Steelin on the Brazos river.

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

Roger, the prescription depends on a better diagnosis. What aspect(s) are you having difficulty with? Is it physical, e.g., coordinating hands and feet/knees? Or just getting a thin, crummy tone? Or mental, e.g., "seeing" the positions/patterns on the fretboard and knowing where to go? Also, have you played any other instrument before, such as guitar or piano? What is your musical experience? Tell us these things and perhaps we can make some helpful suggestions. In general, though, I would say it definitely pays to have a good teacher rather than just try to go it alone.

Bill Fall · From: Richmond, NH, USA

As a kid, I taught myself six-string guitar. After 30 years, I realized I'd had the worst guitar teacher in the world! So when I took up steel, I went to the best teachers available: Jeff Newman, Buddy Emmons, Buddy Charleton, and J.D. Walters, in order. Stick with an experienced teacher; you'll learn better, faster, and you'll thank yourself for it later.

Mark Edwards · From: Weatherford,Texas, USA

Roger - I have taken alot of lessons since I have been playing, there are some teachers that are great steel players and great teachers, and there are steel players that have no business teaching. It has been my experience that I tape each lesson, so I can refer to it when I get home.

I find I am more comfortable at trying something at home by myself from what I have learned from a teacher instead of him sitting right in front of me watching me butcher what he has just shown me, and with practice and repetition at my own pace, I can finally see it come together, and here exactly what was taught to me. Also I have found that some of the licks or tricks I have been taught I'm just not ready for those right now, and have to go back to the fundamentals, but find that after I have some experience under my belt, I can go back to those lessons where at first I found it difficult, now find it eaiser to play.

As stated before, it's a long drawn out process, and it won't come overnight, and once I finally realized I couldn't do this thing in a couple of weeks or months, I resided to the fact, that this will be a lifetime lesson.

I have also found that I am teaching myself more and more than relying on an instructor today, as I learn more and more about my guitar and the music I want to play, but if I run into a problem, I have the resources to help my out as my instructors are eager to help most anyone out that wants to learn.

Good Luck on you Steel Guitar journey, it will be a fun and sometimes frustrating road, but in the end it will all come together.

I got a chance to meet J.D. Manness at a Dallas steel show a couple of years ago, (my first year of playing) and I asked him what advise he could give a guy starting out learning to play steel, these were his exact words. "Buddy Emmons told me, that first you will always have a level of frustration, it may be high (because you just can't seem to even hit the right strings), it may be low (you just hit something just right you have been working on, but as you get up you think to yourself, I could have done better), or you'll just walk away and curse yourself and the guitar, because ain't nothing working out, but there will always be a level of frustration. Second, practice, practice, practice everyday even if it's 30 minutes or 4 hours, practice everyday.

Roger I have found that practicing has had it's rewards, now I'm not a Buddy Emmons or Lloyd Green, I'm not even an okay steel player, but I see progress, and I'm starting to really enjoy playing, and all those worries about not being able to get this or that has gone by the wayside, and now I'm just enjoying what I'm doing. I am currently playing with a band that is patient and tolerant of me, and have allowed me to grow at my own pace. Hang in there Roger it gets better.

Terry Wood · From: Lebanon, MO

For the most part I was self taught. Yet, I did breifly have a couple of teachers, guys who helped steer me in the right directions.

I suggest you do both. Teach yourself but study too. Here's why, a teacher has a different viewpoint. THey see and hear things different from you. I teach school and I teach, but I also learn from my students. I point them to be self directed learners and problem solvers.

Next, you are never to old to learn. I believe that learning is eternal. I think we continue to learn forever.

May GOD bless you!

Terry Wood

Pete Young · From: Quebec, Canada

Roger The one great thing about having a teacher that is good, is the fact that you don't learn bad habits. I was self taught and when I started with a teacher later, he had a hell of a job to break those habits You don't hear them but your teacher does, and will set you stright right away. There is nothing harder than breaking a bad habit

James Morehead · From: Prague, Oklahoma, USA - R.I.P.

There's some great advice here already, but I'd like to add that if, for instance, you might take a 30 minute lesson, it may take you thirty days just to work out that particular lesson into muscle memory and for you to absorb that much information and "make it your own". So if you are doing a lesson a WEEK, you can easily OVERWELM yourself, and become frustrated. At least that's what I found when I started lessons a few years ago. What ever you do, give strick attention to your body position and right hand position. If you learn "wrong position", you will create a HUGE obstacle to fix later on, and you will stop your progress. A good teacher will help keep your posititon correct, but an average teacher will teach you his bad habits. If you decide to go the dvd route, Joe Wright is fantastic IMHO.

[This message was edited by James Morehead on 26 September 2006 at 07:26 AM.]

Dirk B · From: Harrisburg, MO, USA

I remember when I learned fly casting I tried to learn the "roll cast" from a book. Something didn't seem quite right. I took a class with a teacher and soon saw how far off I'd been trying to follow the picturebook instructions on my own.

The few lessons I took from Don Curtis at Scotty's probably saved me years of frustration. Blocking techniques, picking techniques, harmonics... why not profit from the years of trial and error that went into steel history by getting it from an expert? Pete Young is right. With an instrument as complex as this, a teacher can save you years of trouble by getting you started on the right "foot."

That said, at a certain point we all have to sit down and spend time with an instrument on our own as well (and there are some people who never seem to be able to sit down and and learn an instrument without someone "teaching" them).

Ben Jones · From: Seattle, Washington, USA

I think you need it all. A good teacher, pursuit on your own, and the bandstand. But then i wouldnt know...I am not a good player yet and havent made it to the bandstand yet. Thats my immediate goal..start playing with other people. Now if i can just find someone who will put up with a stone fingered beginner. 9 months on this thing 5 with a teacher, four without, and i am no where near where I need to be. I now when I started the guitar I tried to play with other people the first WEEK, but that was three chord punk rock...not this sophisticted country stuff

seriously! this stuff takes musicianship, and y'all make it look so easy from afar
hehehe....

Kyle Everson · From: Nashville, Tennessee

Spending a couple hours practice a day by yourself really helps.

Also, when learning chords, I referred to b0b's E9th theory page http://www.b0b.com/infoedu/e9theory.htm . That really explains the basic positions to start off with.

------------------
Kyle Everson
Sho-Bud Pro-II
Fender Twin Reverb
Goodrich 120

Gord Cole · From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Roger:

I started when I was 58. Now after 8 years at it I agree totally with what Mark Edwards has said above.

I know my first 3 years were especially frustrating. Keep on plugging away!

Cheers
Gord Cole

Don Barnhardt · From: North Carolina, USA

Roger, You didn't mention your musical back ground. If you don't have amusical background thats your first step, then you need to learn the mechanics of your instrument. You can learn these on your own or with an instructor. Once you have taken the first two steps you would do well to find an accomplished steel picker to show you the tricks that will take you months or years to pick up on your own.

Stan Paxton · Posted 28 Sep 2006 3:59 pm

Roger, I'm just another word of encouragement; can't add anything to the what all these other good pickers have said. I started at age 58, took 2 years lessons, and over the years have been fortunate to get to PSG seminars with Jeff, Doug, Herby, where I was able to pick up a little of it. That is a great experience if you are close enough to go to them. Hang in!

Mike Winter · From: Portland, OR

Roger -- some great advice above. I am fortunate to have some great players in my area to hang with, ask questions, pick their brains, etc.

What has helped me alot, aside from "picking brains," is learning the different chord positions up and down the neck. In other words, play a G at 3, go up two frets and play the same chord with F/A, then slide up to fret 10 with A&B, etc. Pick a really simple song with three chords...like Neil Young's "Helpless" off the CSN&Y brown album. Play along, playing the three chords in different positions...also work your volume pedal to make swells. It's simple stuff, but will sound great to you. It's simple enough that some people might miss it. Try it. Once you get this down, you'll feel like you're making progress.

Also, I would encourage you to come up to the steel guitar jam in October. You'll get to hang with some of the nicest, most gracious players around. The steel guitar players up here are super helpful. I think you will benefit a lot if you come up.

Just my two cents.

------------------
Mike
------------------
Blue Moon Highway
(Country Music...and then some.)
www.bluemoonhighway.com

ZB Custom S-10 (#0509)

[This message was edited by Mike Winter on 28 September 2006 at 08:03 PM.]

A. Roncetti · From: Toronto,Ontario, Canada

I say if you're lucky to have found a good teacher,hold on to it. They aren't always easy to find. Even a lesson once amonth pays off.If you have someone who's willing to show you anything from chord theory to lifting tunes off albums you have it made. It's good to watch them play to get good blocking techniques etc,also to help with proper tuning which can take time to master for a newbie to steel. I find it helpful to watch as many live gigs as possible too.

------------------
Purple Fessenden SD-10 4X5

Eric West · From: Portland, Oregon, USA, R.I.P.

Roger. Larry Behm gives lessons I believe locally, and there are lots of us playing out and around that will show you what we can on breaks etc. I don't teach, but I do the latter.

I'll be at the Vancouver Moose from 830 on Fri-Sat for a couple weeks, a private gig and then the Spinning Wheel for a couple weeks.

RJL

[This message was edited by Eric West on 29 September 2006 at 07:25 PM.]

Forum Index > Steel Players	Goto page 1, 2 Next	Next oldest topic :: Next newest topic