The Steel Guitar Forum

I firmly believe the best instruction you will ever get is in using your ears to figure pieces out. It is not easy for some people, I know, but the more you do it, the better you become at it and the easier it gets.

Start with some recordings that are known to be in C6 tuning. A search of the archives here will definitely point one in the right direction.

Mike's advice is gold! Using your ears and eyes is true musical freedom. The earliest players had nothing close to the plethora of resources we have today. While these can be very helpful, nothing beats the things we discover through our own grunt work.

I also agree. But the elementary level of instruction shows you what you're looking for. You want to get enough of that to have the basic idea of how songs are constructed.

Playing and learning by ear is excellent, but keep in mind that people vary widely in musical ability. Some people can listen, play along, copy what they hear... on any instrument. Then they can put it all together and create music. But a lot of people don't have that skill and they need written material and direction. I think for most of us it's a combination, ear & book learning. I've been teaching steel and guitar since 1977 and I discovered a long time ago that one size does not fit all. People learn in different ways. They take in and process information in different ways. Add to that... some have more natural musical ability than others. It's hard to recommend a study method to a newbie without sitting down with that person and playing the guitars and getting an idea of how that person learns, what he needs to concentrate on, and what will work best for him or her. Just my opinion.

....and I think you're right, Doug.

I totally agree with Doug...as a retired high school math teacher, and the subject doesnt really matter, there are different "learning styles" and you have to teach that way. Of course, in those situations you were dealing with a class of 25-30 students and had to gear things differently than one-on-one, but some of the same ideas still apply. I also taught guitar for 50 years before I retired from that and found that every student learns in his/her own way and you have to discover that, both as an educator and as a student.

Back to the original post and question, I think you would find troy brenningmeyer's steel guitar instruction to be helpful. You can download his lessons, watch them over and over, they come with tabs and lots of them have rhythm tracks...so whether you are a visual learner or more of an oral learner,or a little of each, you can have both.
lessonswithtroy.com

just my 2c worth

There is a lot of truth in what you say, guys. I will admit that I am a terrible teacher to beginners.

When I started playing guitar as a kid, it seemed like years before anything clicked. I tried to learn everything on my own, and it seemed like years of nothingness until one day I woke up and could play really well.

I know the only reason things clicked for me is because I learned to recognize major and minor by ear, and from there I supplemented that with the knowledge of scales and simple harmony. that little bit of info took me very far, and in learning my scales and the relationships of chords, I could even predict what was going to happen in a song.

But that is just half of the story. Rhythm is the essential element that no book is going to teach you. If you play all the right notes, but don't have a solid sense of time, it is almost like playing the wrong notes. This is the kind of thing that listening deeply is going to teach you.

I wish there was an easy answer. But in the meantime, Andy and Doug have written some awesome books, and there is a whole long history of music to dive into. How bad do you want it? Only you can determine that.

I should add some steel related context. It took me forever to warm up to C6. Now, it is pretty much the only tuning I base everything off of. I am still learning extremely cool things every day. If you are a visual type person, it really helps to formulate your own maps of the fretboard in C6, which is really quite easy to do. C6 tuning is pretty miraculous in that way.

Mike
I agree with what you said about learning it yourself..and another benefit is that there is a great satisfaction that comes from that as well ! Back in my beginning guitar days I used to play "drop the needle" on the Ventures recordings and learned so much from them, that like many, I feel that Nokie Edwards taught me how to play guitar !

I listened to your "Sunny Side of the STreet"...man that is great ! I want to order that tab from you...is that electronic download or regular mail. Thanks !

Mike Neer wrote: But that is just half of the story. Rhythm is the essential element that no book is going to teach you. If you play all the right notes, but don't have a solid sense of time, it is almost like playing the wrong notes. This is the kind of thing that listening deeply is going to teach you.

Ah yes, TIMING and RHYTHM. Often neglected early on.

IMHO, concurrent with learning the first note, etc....the ability to keep time by using one's foot should be stressed.

An internal metronome, if you please.

Embedding the Rudiments and using a Rhythm Track is a very effective beginning to lap steel playing.

Knowing music theory or having played another instrument previously adds general experience that can be drawn from.

I've dedicated my teaching to beginners and leave the intermediate to advanced to folks like Doug - Troy , Mike and many others.

Most of my students have never worn a finger pick, ever placed lap steel on their lap or have any previous musical knowledge what so ever.

A huge majority, have some sort of reason , like - injury - arthritis - age - can't play my guitar/bass any more but want to keep playing an instrument, etc.

The Number One question a beginner asks me is "How do you get that Sound" ?

Answer - It is all about teaching your hands what to do.

I stick with the Late Rick Alexanders speech , -- There are so few instructions and tutorials on steel guitar playing, Get All of Them.

This is a very illuminating thread. Thanks for your insights, guys!

Larry Lenhart wrote:Back in my beginning guitar days I used to play "drop the needle" on the Ventures recordings and learned so much from them...

Me too! That's how I started on guitar... playing along with Ventures records. When I got my first steel guitar I would play along with Hank Williams records. I was an "ear player" for many years before I could read a note of music.

I wish I could play by ear and I am going to follow you guys advice and try to recognize sounds and tones. This week, as an abject beginner, I have been working on Georgeboards Hawaiian Wedding Song and Blue Hawaii in C6th - I have rewritten his 6-string tabs onto blank 10-string tabs from this forum - I figured out that my strings 2-7 are the 6-string used. I also put on the lyrics so that I can follow the song as I know it and it makes more sense to me.

I also spend half an hour each day on Troy Benninger's pedal steel lessons in E9th learning chords, grips and the songs Amazing Grace and Silent Night. The odd time when using the A-B pedals I think that sounds so cool and I've heard that before in a song.

I think I like the C6th tuning a lot - maybe because it's the closest neck to me and I don't have to reach as far. I will persevere on the E9th, though, until I get it right as well. I think Tony Browne and David Hartley both play in E9th on their videos and I love the way they play. If I'm wrong please let me know.

There are also great lessons for free by Joe Wright at Sierra Steel Guitars:

http://www.sierrasteels.com/lessons/lessons-index.html