The Steel Guitar Forum

Oh, yeah, I just remembered... that's what G.A.S. is for! Back in the day, when ladies got bored, they'd buy a new dress. When steel players got bored, they'd buy a new axe!

Jim Cohen wrote:Oh, yeah, I just remembered... that's what G.A.S. is for! Back in the day, when ladies got bored, they'd buy a new dress. When steel players got bored, they'd buy a new axe!

Yeah, and I just bought a brand new..........Strat

Is someone putting a gun to your head saying you MUST play the steel guitar? If not, let it rest till it wants to come back.

My PSG is packed up in the closet for the next couple of years till I reach the point I want to be with Gypsy Jazz guitar. All of my electrics languish and I might pick 'em up for a few minutes every week or two. My lap steels hardly get played and the only reason I bring my dobro (B6) to the Gyspy Jazz jams is I can actually play swing on it easier than I can my gypsy guitar!

Do what you love, but don't forget the value of both discipline and knowing when to walk away.

After all your practicing you need to get with a Band with some decent Musicians. That is when you start really to learn to play and love the instrument. IMHO from personal experience !

Twayn Williams wrote:Is someone putting a gun to your head saying you MUST play the steel guitar?

Guess that would be me......

My problem here isn't so much with the steel guitar in general, I just spent some time playing my weissenborn and was struck by a feeling of "Ahhh, the purity......."

Been playing 6-string, mostly major chord tuned, lap steel for 8 years now, on stage and in studio sessions, it's trying to get into the 8-string C6/A6/E13/B11/Xy9 experience that's thrown me off balance.
Some months ago I wanted to break out of my comfort zone and felt getting into 8-string was the next logical step, so that's why I started on this project. It's the third time I try, and maybe I'm just not wired for this, I don't know.. I've learned a lot, so no matter how this ends it's definitely not been a waste of time, that's for sure. But right now I guess I need to take a step back, have some fun, and remember why I got into steel playing in the first place; Those beautiful singing melody lines......

Steinar, I totally know what you're talking about and can relate 100%. It's one of those things--you don't know why you're doing it now, it doesn't seem to make any sense. But down the road you find out why. Its like something inside of you telling you to do it, and the other part of you fighting it. I went through it.

The tunings are a real struggle, I'll admit it. After struggling, you'll ask yourself why you're even bothering with it because you don't want to play that music anyway. It'll make sense in the end, you'll see. Some things happen for a reason.

You nailed it Mike. I'll never forget the feeling I got the first time I sat down with the 8-string after two weeks of "power trio" gigs; "Why the &%¤#&% am I doing this?!?!?!"

Steinar,

You do what you do on the 6 string lap better than most out there ! That's why I asked if you feel the same burn out playing the Asher / Oahu... the 8 string (for me still 6), but the C6, B11 tunings etc... don't really lend themselves to who YOU are... now if you're wanting to be someone new, that's a different story, and then the burnout / frustration is going to happen, just like when you first learned guitar or 6 string lap, or any new instrument... there are barriers to break through.

Picking up the weissenborn and feeling "ahhhhh"... says alot.. THAT'S YOU.. and what you're good...GREAT at !

Shoot us a new CD of that great 6 sring lap steel stuff ? ... it'll get you focused on the music, not the vehicle ?

Mitch Crane wrote: now if you're wanting to be someone new, that's a different story,

Not so much "someone new", but "someone more" if that makes sense...

As for a new CD... the direction I'm going in may, in lack of a better term, be called "Americana on acid" Don't know what else to call it, but it'll be cool. It'll probably take another couple of years before I have anything to offer, but that's just how I work...

...indeed 'someone more' is really what I meant to say... but do ya think Eric Clapton aspires to become a great banjo player ? (maybe he does and deals with what you are ?) .... that's all I meant.. I'm learning C6, B11 tunings and 6 strings is plenty enough for me at this stage....I'm a life-long guitar player with a few years of dobro, now on to lap steel...and I get frustrated alot more easily at 58 than I did at 13, or 20, or 30...

You're GREAT at what you do, so keep doing it.. and yer just gonna haveta put up with the frustration, barriers etc of that new fangled thing with extra strings and weird tunings !

I practiced for years, got into music school and practiced even harder, then hit a wall. I quit school, sold my gear, and spent a couple of years retraining my head and heart to love music again. I had to learn to be less critical, so that I could re-tap the sheer joy of music, whether it's listening or playing.

Twayn Williams wrote:I bring my dobro (B6)

Would you spell that tuning for us?.....thanks....

Jason Hull wrote:I practiced for years, got into music school and practiced even harder, then hit a wall. I quit school, sold my gear, and spent a couple of years retraining my head and heart to love music again. I had to learn to be less critical, so that I could re-tap the sheer joy of music, whether it's listening or playing.

I had a similar experience after years of studying literature and starting out teaching college English. After a while I read everything analytically, thinking, "How can I explain this to a group of 19 year olds?" It pretty well ruined the experience of reading a novel for me, and I actually stopped reading for quite some time. My answer, eventually, was to move to other areas for my "day work" (technology, to be precise), and after a while I could enjoy reading again. With any art form, keeping the passion for it alive can be elusive. I doubt there is any single answer, but hearing how others have handled it is really useful. This is a terrific discussion, if only for the reminder that we all go through these periods.

HowardR wrote:
Would you spell that tuning for us?.....thanks....

"B-S-I-X"

(Always glad to help out, Howard.)

I can completely relate. My steels sit in the closet, untouched for months.

In my case it was because

1. I didn't like hauling around all the equipment.
2. I'm not a fan of country, hawaiian, or western swing so much as I'm a huge fan of jazz.
3. In the end, I decided I couldn't play the kind of jazz I wanted on a steel.

I switched to the Flugelhorn and have been playing out and love it to death. It hits home in a way the steel didn't for me and it lets me play the kind of music I like, the way I like it.

I haven't regretted the decision.

HowardR wrote:

Twayn Williams wrote:I bring my dobro (B6)

Would you spell that tuning for us?.....thanks....

Heh, it's a guitar player trick, I tune standard C6 down a half step so the root is on a B string, which my guitar player brain automatically understands.

Low to high:

C6 - C-E-G-A-C-E
B6 - B-D#-F#-G#-B-D#

On a E9 PSG it's the same thing (relatively!) as when you push in the E lower lever (i.e. lowering the E strings to Eb/D#.)

By tuning to B6 I can instantly find any major chord because I know where all the notes are on the B (2nd) string, ex: Cmaj is on the 1st fret, Dmaj is the 3rd, Emaj on the 5th, etc.

Then finding the minor chords is a matter of knowing the relative minor, i.e. Am7=C6, Bm7=D6, C#m7=E6, etc. OR I can find the minor chord by going a minor 3rd up from the major chord position. OR I get the minor chord partial by slanting back a 1/2 step on the 5th/2nd strings, ex:

Dmaj = 5th string 3nd fret, 2nd string 3rd fret.
Dm = 5th string 2nd fret, 2nd string 3rd fret.

I know I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, just an explanation of why I use B6 instead of C6

Thanks.....I was wondering if intervalwise (is that a word?.....guess it is now) it was the same.....

I was stagnating. I always played at the end of the day when I was tired. One morning I got up early, sat there in my office/studio and had this uncontrollable desire to play. I picked up my dobro and played it like I hadn't played it in years. I think what happened is that my brain defragmented over night. Since then, I've been getting up early to play and it has transformed my creativity. I'm a much better musician for it. I still suck late at night though.

Steinar, I believe you are experiencing what all accomplished artists feel at one or more times in their life. it is some sort of ennui, artist block, writers block. as a visual artist I go through this all the time. it is hard to explain.
it is similar to the platteau we all experience as musicians.
I have a feeling it comes from not be excited by the challenge of something new. for example, we purchase a new guitar, can't wait to get home and play it for hours. it is so new, exciting, we hear all kinds of things and see Potential.
it was the same with me, I would stretch a new canvas and get so excited about starting a new idea.
year after year of this, at times or cycles, I would get a little bored with the process. it was so familiar. the was a lack of reward.
these cycles recur and I have gotten use to them.
same with the guitar.
keep at it. one day you will hear a note that will trigger the avalanche of excitement again.

Hey Steiner, remember that saying "anything worth having is worth working for?" Well, it really doesn't work for me when it comes to music because If I force myself I lose interest. If I keep forcing myself I just start to suck. I actually like to practice so when it becomes undesirable I switch gears. The upside is that when I'm over it I come back with a fury.

There are reasons why people become Multi instrumentalist.

I've posted about this very same problem myself. When I'm on, I practice almost every spare minute. But times come when I have to put the guitar away because I just can't even stand to look at it. And at those times, I can't stand even to hear music. Sometimes they last for weeks. And I'm going through one right now. If I remember right, in answer to my thread, someone posted a link to a sight dealing with brain science. The suggestion was that your brain really does suffer from overload at a certain point and needs to process what you have put into it. So it refuses to accept any more input until it is damned good and ready. My experience, as well as some of the experiences noted in this thread, are consistent with that assessment.

Just a little update; I've been having a blast playing the steel the past couple of days, just not the 8-string with the X-rated tunings. 6 strings, dobro G, and a few cold beers in the sun.....

What I've noticed is that my playing is a lot better than it's ever been, more 'free flowing' and intuitive, so I feel I've gained a lot from the time I spent woodshedding on the 8-string (and I'm not saying I've given it up, just taking a break and then I'll see what happens...).

Yes, that is what is supposed to happen, according to this article. It happens that way to me, too.