The Steel Guitar Forum

to Wayne Clark I have a Alfreds Teach yourself to play steel guitar from Joe STOEBENAU even has a CD to help me out so I think I'm set I won't be getting my Wiiliams till around May 26 now and I have been going to this older man who is teaching me charts and what to do with this pedal and that . But man I really need my Steel here. Thanks for the information I'll stay in touch.

Roger, the Alfred's book is as good a place as any to start, but personally I've found the music and exercises on the CD uninspiring. A big part of this is keeping yourself inspired enough to practice on a daily basis.

As well as the Bruce Bouton DVD, the course I found I really stuck with in the beginning is called "the Nashville setup" from Sho-Bud (by Paul Franklin and Duane Marrs). Amazingly for $20 you can still get the mint condition 1970's book and record from Gretsch guitars here

Best to transfer it onto CD if you can. The sounds on it are more classic Nashville and just make you want to dig in and learn. (Ignore the Maverick book on the same site, it's a waste of time.) If you spend several weeks really learning this course you will get your basic chord grips down as well some excellent licks and songs.

At that point you will want to know more about the How and Why and this is where the Jeff Newman courses and the Winnie Winston book come in as recommended by Wayne and Mike above. Also Mike himself wrote an invaluable book called "Music Theory in the Real World". (As a six string player, I never wanted to learn this stuff. Thanks to the pedal steel I'm starting to see some of the benefits and the fascination of knowing theory. It's a new world.)

That lot should keep you going for about 2 years! There's a lot of information there but part of the fun of it is putting it all together yourself, in your own head, hands and feet, in a way that makes sense to you.<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Jonathan Shacklock on 01 May 2006 at 06:08 AM.]</p></FONT>

DeWitt Scott has 2 Mel Bay books - a pedal
steel guitar course and an anthology. Both are
really excellent! The W. Winston book is also
excellent. (There is a wealth of other instructional material by Jeff Newmann, Herby Wallace, Buddy Emmons, Doug Jernigan, John Hughey, and MANY others. See the "Instruction"
link on this site.)

get that guy to show you some stuff, personal instructionis the best.

then as others mentioned i will second:
Bouton DVD
Winston Book
This forum and the chat room.
Playing to records, just dive in there and see what you can fiugure out on your own or play along with...so much fun.

The one that did it for me was from Mel Bay, and I think it was call "The Easiest Steel Guitar Book, Ever". I think it was written by DeWitt, also. It is so easy, and has you playing simple and recognizable steel licks right from the start.

Les

Roger, I'm in my seventies and I was never really serious about the psg until four years ago when I bought my Emmons from Ron Jr. The good thing is today there is a lot of information available that wasn't around when I first started to play. I think that some great tab can be found here by Doug Boumier in the Tablature Section. I've remarked before that a lot of things have waned in my life but my desire to play the psg. Even today when I get a "musical lick" running in my mind i can usually find it on the steel and who knows, the combinations are so many I may be the only one doing it a certain way. It keeps my mind active and the results are ususally equal to the work spent. Like Chet Atkins said about the guitar, "you get out of it what you put into it". My opinion only....Incidentally Bobbe Seymour has some excellent tab books available with his CDs.

Get Winnie Winstons book and read it cover to cover, then start again!
JE:-)>

Roger, Charles mentioned Bobby Seymour, If you want to get inspired and entertained as well go to the "Steel on the Webb" here on the FORUM, The item listed as 24 hour streamin.... Great Playing, No FANTASTIC PLAYING. I listened to it this morning while paying bills, took some of the pain away.

Wayne
MSA D10 8/2

Some one mentioned fiddle/violin being the most difficult instrument to master.As i play both fiddle and steel i can attest fiddle is the most difficult instrument made to master.
It sure surprised me when i mastered the violin.

Hope this is not a double post.
As i play fiddle and steel both i can attest the violin is the most difficult instrument made to master.
Sure surprised me when i mastered the violin.

Roger,

One of the best players in the southwest, John Rickard, has owned just about every kind of steel and he thinks his Williams is one of the best.

There's also a guy in Cloverdale, CA, named Bobby Lee who has one.

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"Drinking up the future, and living down the past"--unknown singer in Phoenix

welcome Roger.
I started late to pedal steel as you did. Im 55, and have played guitar for 40 years.

I picked up lap steel before pedal.
I do fine on lap and now resonator, but pedal steel is a bit more complex.
there's an understatement.

as for being too old to start this complex instrument...nope , I dont think so. the years behind guitar has helped.

one thing that really helped me to get 'a hold' of PSG is the Mel Bay chord chart.
it revelas the secrets of this amazing instrument.