The Steel Guitar Forum

Nope, that's not it.

I wish I could remember how to play that amazing thing and then I wouldn't.

Hey Joe. I see you on the RFD Show and you rock man. Plus I really admire your handicrats.

Guys, Joe Savage is a great player if ya don't already know and he makes everyone of the acts on Midwest Country sound as good as they are going to. A tremedous and versatile picker indeed...

Tq

Tony Glassman wrote:Ben: Mike already provided the link. For $12, how can you go wrong?

Mike Brinkmeyer wrote:Scotty's Music still sells the course . . .

The Amazing Speed Picking Course

Weldon Myrick & Hal Rugg

Cass, Tab and Rhythm Track

Item #WMHR01 $12.00

Ive gone wrong for less money than that.
okay, There is no lick, you guys are just having a good laugh at this newbs expense. No prob i can take it.

Ben
Once you learn the lick you're eligible for a diamond horseshoe ring... but that's another can of worms, entirely.

Ron, that is close but not quite the "Official Three-Stringed Two-Fingered Magic Lick." -L-

Joe Savage wrote:As far as it being overused in it's entire form, I've never heard it on a record... (Haven't heard them all, of course )

Well, if memory serves me correctly, Tommy Overstreet's song "If Love Was A Bottle of Wine" (back in the mid '70s) used a big piece of it! I think that was oug Jernigan on that record.

tab






strs
5--| 15 |15
6--| 15--15b 15b--15 15--15b| 15b--15 15 13
7--| 15 | 15 13

5 13--12 12 10 | 10
6 12b 12b 10b--10 |10--10b 10b--10 10
7 10| 10 8

5 8--7 |5 3 3 |
6 8 7b--5b 5b| 5b--3b 3b 3b--3 3--3b 3b--3 3 |
7 | 3 3 3--|

6 1
7 --1 1 1 Hope this is it

Sorry it didn't turn out like I wanted.

Well I have a different take. I still have the 45 and the tab from back then too. I viewed it as just a lick for 2 decades, now ? , NOT. If you only view it as a lick and never break it down into separate elements then it will be forever just a "lick" . If you do break it down, see where the stuff comes from and apply bits and pieces here and there , and listen for bits and pieces here and there , it will no longer be just a "lick" but rather a growing exercise. Forget the tab and listen to the connections of the I,IV and V chords and start to envision how just a few pieces can be used within your own work. Yes , I use many of the pieces often, but I do not consider it over kill or overuse. I know where the pockets are and how to connect the dots, which at the end of the day was the entire purpose of this little program. Thanks Hal and Weldon.

t

It's also in the Bruce Bouton instructional video.

Ahh yes, Bruce, there is one or two measures of the famous HWY40 solo that use descending elements of this little program. Perhaps not exactly the same but the elements of moving between the I,IV and V are significant.

t

Ben, I tabbed it exactly how Hal and Weldon had it, Bruce's version is slightly different and Bobbe's even more different.


(H means either "hammer on" or "pull off" the B pedal instead of picking).

It's still worth getting the course for the step-by-step and the backing track which goes through a whole series of chords. There is no other explanation however.

Tony can you give us another clue how the elements break up? Is there some essential bit of theory behind this because whenever I try to throw it in it sounds terrible! It's made out to be a lick you can play anywhere but that's clearly not the case (or not in my case ).

Jonathan, sure, for example,if you look half way into the 2nd measure above, the 13th fret stuff continuing down to the 10th fret, this is significant, it is taking you from the I chord directly to the V chord . A pocket so to speak. This is very similar to the pocket Bruce uses on HWY 40 blues, not exact, but in the same vein.

One thing that could really help with this particular tab is to identify the root chord in each of the positions.

lets see, measures 1 thru 3 as written above,15th fret to the 10th fret, start on the G chord end on the D chord.

measure marked 4, D chord working it's way to the 5th fret D chord ( Peds A and B in ) and then this little tag ending down to the 3rd fret G chord. So we just did a V to I. The measure marked 6 , 5th fret is probably the most commonly used speed phrase to get from a V to a I chord, or at least very close to it.There are several variations taking it down to the 3rd fret open position from the 5th fret AB pedals position. All of us play over V to I chords all the time.Knowing how to get to the root( I chord) I would think would be a good thing. Having a few ways to do it would be even better.

try this, from the above tab, play measure 1,2 3, skip 4 and 5, go right to measure 6. This is a I to V to I in a simple consistent move. I would play it a bit differently then tabbed out but basically it is the same. Smooth flow is the key, timing is paramount, these phrases played at meter must be in time with the basic structure of the song. It may require a pause here and a push there.

Here is a YouTube of a program I did ( shameless plug) of a speed project which uses some of these elements and a few more but written and tabbed with a more pointed focus. You will hear some of the elements.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3PQR-wDluQ

here's another YouTube clip where I use one of the above phrases almost note for note in one section!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0LN0EH5 ... re=related

and yet here is another, I had to go back and listen to see what was played. The 3rd Steel Solo. The descending phrase is right out of this little program. Overkill ? Maybe to some, but not to me. Think "tool"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STaqjsRo ... re=channel

This stuff isn't magic, but it's also not just licks.There is some method to all this madness !

there is a lot going on in this little program but I think all of us too many times just take things for perceived value and not realize what gems we may have right in front of us. I remember when this program first came out, a few of my Steel buddies in Ct. deemed it useless ! Well here we are over 30 years later and we are still talking about it !

Hope this helps

tp

Thanks guys. I feel like Im in the club now

jonathan, thank you especially for that tab.

I'll have to look at and work with this later as Im late for work right now. I have the bouton dvd and know it backwards and forwards. great dvd for beginners.

Ben, you're welcome (I could feel your pain! ). If you know Bruce's DVD you know the pattern - there's just a subtle difference at the beginning and end. I'd also recommend the audio tape where Bruce talks you through Highway 40 Blues - seeing a variation of the lick work in context is a great help.

Tony, thank you so much, your info is invaluable, I wish this had come with the Weldon/Rugg tab! The emphasis there was on being able to play the lick over virtually any chord progression, like some sort of magic trick, but I can see how it's more helpful to understand how each section works individually. Thanks for breaking it down, I'll give this some serious study.

Granted, "Hot Foot" may not be exactly the "lick" as presented in the "Course", but it uses the patterns the "lick" uses. And, as Tony says, that's really the point of the "Course"--not to memorize the exact long "lick", but to learn the "pockets". I always thought it would have been more useful, and more accurately called a "course", if it had gone into that.

I agree with much of what has been said and I'll say in addition that the musicality of this thing is in the musicality of the player. Blow it off if you wish but the problem is not with the 'lick'.

First time it made sense to me, beyond just being a way to get from here to there, was when I broke out the rigidity of starting on the down beat of one. It came to life when applied over a broader metric scope, crossing bar lines etc.

Just fwiw.

That was Weldon Myrick on the Tommy overstreet song,I drove all the way to Weldons house just outside Nashville and we sit down and he showed me the lick,I learned it from its source ,i went home and got it down smooth and fast and we did it next week at the club.Weldon and Hal came up with some great stuff .

okay, from watching Tony's videos and from looking at the tab and your descriptions...I know this lick and play the long descending pattern each and every day as a pick blocking excercise. Ive also used it in real time with a band succesfully a couple times by greatly modfying the ending. I wouldnt say i can drop it at will tho and would very much welcome new ways to incorporate it and tonight when i get home and sit down at the guitar I will take what ever I can from this thread and maybe gain some more insight and more possible ways to incorporate it so that I too can overuse and abuse this lick

wish I could play that fast and then I .........WOULD!!

Ive played that thing every single day but tonight I was finally able to understand it, relate it to other things I had been working on, and use bits and chunks of it effectively. The "pockets" made some sense and i began to recognize parts of that lick that i had been playing all along but just hadnt related back to what i thought was primarily a simple excercise lick.
I want to thank you all for opening my eyes. Tony P that was especailly helpful, thanks man!

Brint, of 'course'. That's what I was saying all along. Endless possibilities.

Donny, you nailed it! I remembered that Tommy Overstreet recorded the song, but the title was nowhere to be found in the memory bank:)

My work is done here... -L-

Tq