Forum Member Percentages Who Actually Play The Steel Guitar

[Mike Schwartzman]

Well Bill...I accidentally stumbled upon this last month when I was rearranging my music room:

I parked an S-10 PSG (fully set up) in the living room to move other stuff around. It has a particularly handsome faux maple mica finish. Everyone (musician or non-musician) who passed through the living room at that time made some positive comment about that PSG on it's looks alone. It was sort of a "furniture conversation piece" for the time it was there.

I had set up my double neck in the music room for C6th studies and eventually put the S-10 back in it's case. When I saw your topic here it struck me like a bolt of lightning: If I wasn't going to play it and I didn't want sell it...what would I do with it?? Well, I'd take the strings off, put a small lamp on it and set it up in the living room again.

The point is: Of the 13,000 members here, how many are just really interior designers??

[Dana Blodgett]

To answer Chris's question ...So True.

[Bill Hankey]

There are numerous musicians who play other instruments very well. Many express admiration for the pedal steel guitar during the course of conversations with members of their bands. They even make direct comments about wishing to have the ability to play the instrument, but regrettably in the end, good intentions all too often, don't pan out. These numbers account for members or otherwise who have taken a long range view, as if to say that time is not of the essence in mastering the instrument.

[Stuart Legg]

In order to ascertain an answer a person must understand the mathematics involved.
I would suggest Analectic Geometry as the mathematical tool to achieve the desired results.

This can be shown as a function of “X” or in mathematical terms f(x).

You must first know what functions are needed. . Simply put, f(x) is a term for a progression in a way that the equation will read the same backwards and forwards.

You can thank that famous Greek for the this equation which means in laymen’s terms the average functions of running to and running back again or to be more precise what goes up will most likely go slower than when it comes down etc..

This is going to be expensive because it is very difficult since your answer has to look the same in both directions as 3 to 5 number Palindromes. Boy those are beautiful and very helpful for those who don‘t know if they are coming or going.

[Kevin Hatton]

Bill Hankey, you continue to embarass yourself here. Bobby Lee has already given his definitive answer. Stop these ridiculous threads.

[Niels Andrews]

Has the drinking water in that part of Mass. been tested?

[b0b]

Bill's estimate is off by at least an order of magnitude. If he had said thousands instead of hundreds, I wouldn't have said anything. My estimate is not accurate or scientific, but at least it's "in the ball park".

[Bo Legg]

I think Stuart has formulated a figure within give or take 200 which is within the 5% acceptable tolerance.

This is as close as he could get given the fact that the latest mortality is not available at this time and other small variables such as the Jerry Garcia factor.

His 4 number Palindrome of 5005 is however accurate enough to be considered a bench mark as such.

[Bill Hankey]

Hinterland villages spread throughout The U.S.A. feature citizenries who are the least hippest in terms of steel guitar musicology. The average dweller situated between cities is totally ignorant about the workings of the steel guitar. There are towns here in BERKSHIRE COUNTY that feature numerous musicians.. guitarists, keyboardists, singers, etc... however, trying to locate a steel guitarist to fill a position is quite a different matter. The activities in places that hold yearly S.G. EVENTS have generated a wide range of interests over the past few decades. The percentages of attendances at various S.G. shows mock the efforts of various producers by record attendances at lesser shows. Still, any attempts to dumb down the steel guitar has proven to be a difficult task.

[Mike Lovell]

Define Actually Play. Does this run the range from Paul Franklin to the clammy hand, bar dropping, oops wrong knee, get back on the horse and try again eternal newbie?

[Joe Casey]

OK I'm guilty, I'm not really a player. But I have been to Scotty's shindig probably more times than a lot who come on here. I have MC'd and sung on many steel shows.I have owned 2 and still have the 10 string three pedal rusted string MSA. That I would say is (rough estimate)30+ years old and probably as out of tune as the day I bought it.I only try to play it in my little studio to records when no one is around to hear me.

[Bill Hankey]

Mike,

The first leg of the steel guitar journey will move you from home practicing to a band situation. Some players make the transition rather quickly, while others remain as closet players.

[b0b]

Hinterland villages spread throughout The U.S.A. feature citizenries who are the least hippest in terms of steel guitar musicology.

"Least hippest", Bill? I'm appalled at your abandonment of one of the basic precepts of English grammar.

A contest could determine which hinterland village has the most least hippest citizenry. Actually, they could just use the bottom of the list from "America's Coolest Small Town" and proclaim it "America's Least Hippest Hinterland Village".

[Jeff Garden]

To quote our fearless leader, b0b, (boldface added for emphasis)

"For many years, most of the world's steel guitarists were isolated from each other. Information about the instrument was hard to find. The Internet has changed all that. Today non-pedal and pedal steel guitarists of all skill levels share their knowledge with many other players every day.
Since January of 1997, The Steel Guitar Forum has been bringing all steel guitarists together in a spirit of friendship and a common love of the instrument."

Bottom line, who really cares about individual skill levels or lack thereof...life is too short to always worry about what the other guy (or gal) is doing and to spend your time critiquing them. Enjoy the instrument whether you play professionally, entertain your pets musically in the privacy of your own home, or simply enjoy listening to other people play it.

[Fred Glave]

Bill,
I am practically without a doubt, very likely at most, partially among some of the most least hippest owners of a pedal steel in my Hinterland Village. And I am a member.

[Storm Rosson]

Bill, could u teach us how to be the MOST hippest hinterland village in all of Oz?...Pleez......

[Bill Hankey]

Storm,

Most hinterland villages were built along rivers or small streams. Horses were used to farm the bottomlands in remote locations. Early settlers were crop oriented and as a result knew very little about the importance of a dedicated career in music. Their hog heaven musically featured fiddler and caller once or twice annually at square dances. You haven't lived until you've played rhythm guitar for one of those gatherings. Imagine riding in a horse-and-buggy to get to the event, and returning home in the wee hours of dawn. Automobiles were unheard of in those days. It would take 200 more years before various individuals commenced toying with devices that would generate the slide guitar effect. Electronics hastened the pleasing tones produced by the modern steel guitar. Perhaps some catchy reward would instill a wider range of interest in the P.S.G. by the American public.

[Storm Rosson]

Hinterland was from German, where it means literally "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar),[with the English cognate hind land. In English, the term was first used in 1888 by George Chisholm in his work Handbook of Commercial Geography. In German this word sometimes also describes the part of a country where there are only a few people and where the infrastructure is underdeveloped; although Provinz (equal to "province") is more common. The direct analogy in English is "backcountry" or "the countryside". See also the Bush of Alaskan and the Outback of Australian usage.

Hinterland means a rural area surrounding the urban catchment of large cities or agglomerations. It is characterized by a less dense population and infrastructure. In shipping usage, a port's hinterland is the area that it serves, both for imports and for exports. The size of a hinterland can depend on geography, but also on the ease, speed, and cost of transportation between the port and the hinterland.

By analogy, it is the area surrounding a service from which customers are attracted, also called the market area.

Hinterland was applied also to the surrounding areas of former European colonies in Africa, which, although not part of the colony itself, were influenced by the colony.

A further sense in which the term is commonly applied, especially of British politicians, is in talking about an individual's depth and breadth of knowledge of other matters (or lack thereof), specifically of cultural, academic, artistic, literary and scientific pursuits. For instance, one could say, "X has a vast hinterland", or "Y has no hinterland". The spread of this usage is usually credited to Denis Healey (British Defence Secretary 1964-1970 and Chancellor of the Exchequer 1974-1979) and his wife Edna Healey, initially in the context of the supposed lack of hinterland of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

[Bill Hankey]

Storm,

We no longer depend on SMOKE SIGNALS, MIRRORS, or other antiquated means to tune into current news events. Newscasters can't wait to broadcast information learned through modern electronics. For that reason, it shouldn't be that difficult to attain an accurate figure denoting who's who in the STEEL GUITAR FORUM'S membership. A bit of honest answers to a few simple questions concerning one's abilities on an assumed fact sheet would place most of the "sheep" where they can be counted.

[Tony Glassman]

I seldom agree with Bill Hankey's hypotheses or verbiage, but am truly glad that he is feeling well enough to be back on the forum.

[Les Anderson]

I think I have proven that I actually play the steel guitar. It is not a pedal steel; however, I can sure make it sound like a pedal steel. I had two YouTube videos online but removed them because of the racial remarks and insults because I was playing a Japanese built steel guitar (Guya).

Also, I am not sure what qualifies one to be termed "a genuine, pedal steel guitar player". Because the player does not get the chance to participate in a band setting; however, is clearly accomplished enough to do so if given the chance, does this mean the person cannot call him/herself a steel guitar player?

[Bo Legg]

Bill I'm glad you're back but I miss your ability to wield a vast vocabulary and other consideration of a perceived well-educated person.
Your topics were engaging and applied the extended vocabulary to sentences in a way that would infuriate a few and confound the rest.
But your unique delivery can and did increase the efforts of folks to research and not just take your big words for it.
It also helped my understanding and use of new words exponentially.
Brings me tooooo why have you abandoned your vocabulary?

[Stuart Legg]

Cloverdale is a village isn't it.....

[Bill Hankey]

Les,

Every player is subject to learning something new. All players have that much in common. Even the most proficient players are constantly listening for certain note patterns that have eluded them over time. As for beginners knowing their levels of playing ability, it becomes a simple matter simply by attempting to play what the accomplished players are playing.

[chris ivey]

yes, but it's not the leastest hippest village by far. it's much morer hipperer than most!