The Steel Guitar Forum

Bill said[David Hartley's Style is a fine example of what I'm seeking in terms of progressive perfection]Be sure to let everyone know when you realize that aspiration . YOU BETCHA,DYK?BC.

Rosson wrote:" Some have talent and some don't...pretty simple..."

Well it ain't that simple. Being a good picker on anything is about 10 percent talent and 90 percent hard work. If you can hear pitch and have some fingers you can play anything if you have the guts to try...

Charles,

That is to say that levels of attainment reaching high standards, depends on the individual's abilility to absorb the full circle of harmonic blendings relative to a given melody. Most importantly, speed of execution, not a problem, with absolute perfection of measures and timing. All the best to those who attain these specified goals.

Practice Bill, practice...

Bill, just go back to page one,count down to the 12th post,still says it all .No need to drag out Klein's comprehensive etymology dictionary of the English language again. YOU BETCHA,DYK?BC.

Charles,

You seem to have acquired a knack for making small talk concerning basic issues that others may deem mountainous tasks. Attempting to overtake, or close with key players is a serious mountain of hard work. I can't envision how corny jokes strengthen a deliberate intent to attain a more serious approach to better methodologies. The pedal steel guitar is a serious challenge for whomever is in tune with reality. There are multiples of rewards awaiting the serious minded musicians.

Since not a word of this makes sense,Again go to page one,post 12. YOU BETCHA,DYK?BC.

"Precarious Energy Levels Related To Faltering Practice"... Just sitting here reading the posts, a few points occur. Practice is more then pick to string, I've woken in the middle of the night, a particular passage or tune running through my mind. I surmise, being tired, even to the point of sleep, still leaves room for the mind to run over what data it has been exposed to. I long have thought, if you have a problem and are capable of giving your brain the data it needs to solve it, it will work on the problem without very much more help from you. I believe it is the physical to mental interconnect that really needs the most work. So that, difficult becomes near subconscious. I've read time and again, of well known and looked up to steel players, having to go back to a recording, to recall what was played in the moment. Meaning that, it could have been an automatic or near unconscious movement. In that moment, they became the instrument that made the music. From Zen, "It played"! Thinking in passage direction and not in individual note execution. Becoming one with the instrument, must be the goal, or at least mine... And, therein lies the journey.

Enjoy it...

Thanks Dick for opening a series of new thoughts that tend to remind the readers of the many different options that become unique to the individual who readily gains insight, musically, by exploring new avenues of approaches to specified goals.

I practice a lot. Sometimes it's just scales to keep rigor from setting into my hands. Sometimes it's extensive, as in learning a difficult tune. I try to memorize tunes, even tho' I KNOW that I will never be called to play some of them. However, I am starting to notice that my capacity for memorization seems to be diminishing. Not severely, but enuff to be aggravating. Sometimes I just can't find "that chord" and have to find a source to look it up. Then when I find what it is, I can't believe I had either forgotten it, or else couldn't "hear" it. Irritating at times....

You want to be a better picker? Okay, get the "Amazing Slowdowner" program and start learning solos not-for-note. It is the only way to break out of the so-called practice most people do which is to spend 10 or 15 minutes noodling licks in a half-baked way. Put on some slow George Jones or anyone from Bakersfield. Once you get that stuff down note-for-note, you can start messing with it to suit your needs.

Most people are too lazy to do that on any instrument. It's hard work that pays off...

Yall are full of sheet.Thats funny stuff,hahaha

Wassup Elton, yer cousin out of town again?

Disreguard my post.It was for another topic and I can't delete it.Hummmm

Elton,

We are roasting here in Western Massachusetts. Have you ever noticed other particulars such as how very accurate Weather Bureaus are about the heat wave, and all the other predictions usually fail to occur as predicted. If only they could be wrong about this excessive heat, we could get relief. I'll have much more to say about the lull in practice sessions, when my steel cools down.

It is roasting EVERY July and August here in my neck of the woods[By the way I love long hot summers] BUT what does that have to do with the steel guitar.You still need to go to page one,post 12. What is that again I have a knack for ? And those corny jokes you mock lasted how long on Hee Haw ? seems they are still going strong even today. YOU BETCHA,DYK?BC.

Tom Quinn wrote:Rosson wrote:" Some have talent and some don't...pretty simple..."

Well it ain't that simple. Being a good picker on anything is about 10 percent talent and 90 percent hard work. If you can hear pitch and have some fingers you can play anything if you have the guts to try...

I agree totally with u it takes all of the aforementioned efforts but I was merely stating what I thought Bill was gettin at.................................., why some folks practice their rear off diligently get the mechanics down cold, yet only a few make that elusive and much sought after mark on time as one of the few peer considered "masters" on any instrument(talent or voodoo u pick)....jmho....longest paragraph in huistory also...heheh...Stormy

Whether physical or mental exercise, most energy occurs in the AM. By late afternoon its all downhill. Especially during a heatwave. Stay cool, its time for a siesta.

Clete

Bo Legg,

There are shows on TV currently depicting clever balancing acts, extreme physical output of energies, risking severe injuries, etc., all to gain some monetary rewards. It would be virtually impossible to perform some of the clever acts that have been viewed on evening television. My point is related to how some individuals are able to accomplish much more in a less demanding way on the pedal steel guitar. Without a doubt, it takes a type of energy that doesn't waver with each difficult assignment. Good health, energy, and extreme enthusiasm make up the necessary requirements to ease into the upper echelon of skillful players. I might add that a personal subtle determination to master a mechanized musical instrument may unlock new inroads that have not been traveled to that extent, and precisely so by others. Posterity will be holding the keys to the future of the pedal steel... we are clueless as to where it will wind its way in future decades of precious time.

Where does this idea come from [Good health,energy,and extreme enthusiasm that results into the upper echelon of players]That's chicken poop.I have been playing pro for 56 years[since 55] Have worked with or been around literally dozens of monster players that their only goal in life was chasing skirts,popping pills,being a pot head,or a drunk.Sad to say a lot of them did'nt make it to 40 years old. Living a clean healthy life [is wonderful] BUT has nothing to do with how well that two pack a day ,pill popping,drunk,that spends a huge part of his life in a smoke-filled honky tonk plays his instrument.I'm not condoning this life style,just stateing a FACT. YOU BETCHA,DYK?BC.

Precarious Energy Levels Related To Faltering Diction.

Stuart,

Every cognizant individual should be aware of the reasons for submitting faulty diction. That would include you Stuart, as I'm certain that you must have experienced the slow climb at one point, to using proper English, while speaking. Actually, the language is similar to playing the pedal steel guitar. You'll find good, better, and the best!

Perk up Stuart seems you are being accused of being knowledgeable about something through personal experiences . But on the other hand it may have been implied you are a little slow. Maybe you can decipher or break the code.Of course as usual don't have a clue where the steel guitar fits in here. YOU BETCHA,DYK?BC.

Charles,

I can't help noticing how much improved your grammar has become in just a few sentences. The kicker is that I could see into your writings long ago as some sort of deliberate posturing of our language.