If You Don't Use It You Lose It :(

Alan Brookes · From: Brummy living in Southern California

Anyone who knows me knows that I play dozens of different instruments, and I'm a Jack-of-all-trades, master of none. Over the last few months I've been playing steel exclusively. Yesterday I picked up a 12-string guitar and I found myself rattling on the strings. The muscles of my left hand didn't seem so strong as they used to me, and the skin on my otherwise calloused fingertips was getting cut up, like it did when I first started playing guitar all those decades ago. Shocked

Horrors, Horrors ! Crying or Very sad

The lesson is to keep up the hand flexibility on the regular guitar, because if you play nothing but steel you'll lose the ability to hold down chords. Sad

Jerry Hayes · From: Virginia Beach, Va.

Alan, that goes in reverse also. A while back I worked in a local band called the Legends on lead guitar as they already had a steel player. I didn't play my steel much at all as at that time I was living where I really didn't have any room to set it up at home. At one point I hadn't even taken it out of the case for over a year. I went with a friend of mine to the Saluday Show and due to a cancellation was asked to play one of the morning half hour sets. I was totally embarrassed and couldn't hit anything I tried. I sounded worse that I did when I first started and the more I flubbed it, the worse things went. I was glad when the set was over. What's bad is the soundman gave me a cassette tape of my set so I could be further humiliated! Since then I've made sure I always have a place to set up my steel and if I don't have a steel gig I still pick a little on it just to keep up the "feel" of a steel....JH in Va.
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Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!!

Charles Davidson · From: Phenix City Alabama, USA

IF YOU DON'T USE IT,YOU LOSE IT.TRUE,TRUE,TRUE!!!!For about maybe 40 years I was a guitar player,Never a great one,but good enough to raise a family.About 15 years ago started devoting 100 percent of my time on steel,have not played guitar on stage since.If I pick up a guitar now I can play maybe 5 percent of what I used to.But I don't regret it,The steel is my first love.
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Hard headed, opinionated old geezer. BAMA CHARLIE. GOD BLESS AMERICA. ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST. SUPPORT LIVE MUSIC !

Tom Campbell · From: Houston, Texas, USA

I layed off playing any instrument for about 20 some years. Five years ago I started playing lead guitar again in a praise band. GADS what frustration...it took me months to get my hand in shape again, even thou my mind knew what I wanted to play. The biggest heart break are the lost years and the improvement I could potentially have made. Best advice is to never stop...even if you play only ten minutes a day (or week)!

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

I've surely found it true.

I had played guitar for my early years, and just did cafe background gigs, recitals etc, and then all but quit after starting PSG in 77.

About two years ago I started devoting all my waking hours to telecaster, probably spurred by the loss of a couple close tele friends, and just my left hand getting bored to tears, and not ever being challenged to "think musically" like I had remembered with guitar.

I first of course got the raw ends, a deep cut from bending a .014 a whole tone at the second fret, and I put on some liquid skin and kept going. Everything I could devour from slowed down BM and BP CDs, and then Brent/Albert/Doug7 lessons.

Doing PSG gigs the whole time, I find that my guitar practice instead of PSG keeps my right hand up on things, ( I play with a thumbpick and no fingerpicks (or nails)) and my left hand doesn't seem to club up my intonation like it used to when I was first starting out. In fact, I am employing a lot of things I'm learning on guitar to the steel.

Gradually I went from playing on "Workin Man" and "Ramblin Fever" to about a dozen songs, and FINALLY got a real gig where I ONLY played tele.

Muscle memory and fingering ability is funny.

After a gig on Fri-Sat, and playing 3-5 hrs on tele Sat and Sun, I'm pretty much at the top of things I have been working on.

Monday.

I rollout with either a lowboy and equipment,a 105,500 lb transfer dump, or a tilt deck with a cat or roller on it, and I'm down for a 10-14 hr day.

Monday nite, I wash, eat, news, and pick up the tele by the couch. Things are still pretty fresh, but the speed thing is down a little. Right and Left don't automatically connect.

Tues same, but even less connection.

Finally by thursday, I"m having to turn down the tempo 10 clicks and play with pained deliberation, and sometimes I'm frustrated. Its like my right and left hands belong to two different tired people.

Friday, Gig Nite, the adrenaline or "gall" kicks in and after 5 hours, I'm drained all the way around.

Sat morning, after 3 coffees, I'm right back up to where I was last weekend, and maybe even a little faster. My face is swollen I guess, but I do some chores and practice til naptime.

Sat nite gig, it's all back and even better than the last week.

Sunday everything's up about 5 bpm from where it was last week.

Then, Monday, and the process starts all over again.

I guess my points are:

Guitar is a lot easier to lose abilty for since there's a lot of left hand and finger strenuousness. Ibuprofen helps a little, but you lose things fast if you don't keep on it.

Steel seems to be more ingrained and easier to keep up on, but I suppose 30 years of playing without a break gives me a false sense of that.

Funny that as I go through my old Carcassi, Fernando Sor and even Micky Baker books, now that I'm doing it more regularly, even old things come back that were there before I dropped it in the 70s.

I don't notice tele messing up my steel intonation like I did when I was starting out and with guitar you have to move and fret your left hand before you play a note. (Maybe that's where my difficulty comes in the "right / left coordination" when I'm tired.)

Maybe that's where there is a difficulty between the two. With PSG it's done exactly when you play a note.

Hmm..

Anyhow, it's sure enjoyable, even with the up and down cycles, to pick up an instrument and learn new things with some enthusiasm.

When I'm doing it, I forget how old I am, among other things.

Wink

EJL

Ray Minich · From: Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra

If I lay off the steel for more than a couple of days, when I get back, I might as well have my picks on backwards...

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