The Steel Guitar Forum

Aloha. I just got my password for the forum. I'm a 61 yrs young beginner. Ray Montee wanted to know if the frets on my lap steel are in Chinese! No, they're in Roman, but either way, it's "steel" Greek to me. Maybe in time, I'll be able to translate it into something close to music.
Anyway, I'm proud to be here. Aloha 'oe.

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Return to Paradise! Visit Island Song Lyrics

Hi Larry! Welcome to the coolest forum on the planet.

Hi Larry!

Greetings Rick and Jeff. Thanks. I've learned a lot already. This forum is great!

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Return to Paradise! Visit Island Song Lyrics

Welcome Larry. You are not the only silver haired steeler to start at a late age. It's a great instrument.

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(I am not right all of the time but I sure like to think I am!)

Hi Larry and welcome,

I joined in December and it is a blast.

I too started late at the age of 52. But I think that it is never too late, so keep it up. I have been playing now for about 17 years.

The Hawaii Steel Guitar Assn and the Aloha International Steel Guitar Club holds annual conventions that helped me to develop and you might want to consider them.

It helped me by going to the conventions and now I play regularly at them. These are people with kind hearts and they encourage you. They put up with my early playing with grace. Now I play with a lot more confidence because of the support of these people.

Best of luck in your adventure.

Aloha,
Don

<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Don Kona Woods on 31 May 2005 at 12:04 AM.]</p></FONT>

Howdy Les and Don. Thanks for responding. I visit the HSGA site often. It's great to be able to listen to all the MP3's from the members. Gordon Freitas, Hawaii's folk troubador, recently encouraged me to join the HSGA too, so I'll be a member of it soon. The primary reason I got my lap steel was to learn to play Hawaiian. I love the "wafting back to paradise" sound. Maybe I'll even put some music to a few of the meles on Island Song Lyrics. But right now I'm working on "Sleepwalk".

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Return to Paradise! Visit Island Song Lyrics

Hi Larry & welcome to another nice segment of the "Big Orange",so to speak. I'm one of the rookies at 52 & a newbie to steel & the forum.Ever since I was a kid I was fooling around with making "musical sounds"out of odds & ends.I once did a kazoo thing with about 10 nails in the bottom of a tin can & just hummed my tune into it like talking into a phone.My dad thought I was nuts at first, but after a 10 min. polite listen,acknowledged that it actually sounded like a saxophone!(The secret was to hum in falseto.) I can still remember the thrill of this small discovery...To This Day,these small discoveries still thrill me as much if not more!!I think most of you know that in your own ways. I want to thank Don K Woods for his encouraging words on starting at 52, that means there's 17 yrs in front of me.(give or take a little) Soundhound.

Hello Jan. Sounds like you are one creative type guy. The steel guitar lends itself to a lot of improvizations. Unfortunately, most of mine, so far, sound like nothing but that. I'm gonna get "sleepwalk" down yet, even if does take a month. At least you have 9 years head start on me. Great to hear from you.

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Return to Paradise! Visit Island Song Lyrics

Welcome Larry.

Your lyrics, songs and links library is one of the very best I've ever seen. Thank You MUCH for making so much good material available.

Word of caution: Watch out for HowardR; He is entirely too serious about things. I didn't listen to similar warnings when I first joined a couple years ago; ...and before I knew it Howard had me shopping around for a can of prop wash to clean my strings.

Aloha,
DT~

Aloha Denny. As an aviation consultant, you should have known where to get the "prop wash"! Believe it or not, when I worked for Delta, I got sent on that same chase next door to AAL for a gallon of it. I still get red in the face thinking about it.
Mahalo for your post. You've got an impressive website. I'll add a link on mine. I'd like to get links to all the island entertainers I can, to add to the growing list. Since you're on the North Shore, you may know Tofa Soifuathe Samoan. I'll be adding his link today. He's looking for new material among the meles. I don't know if he plays steel, but most hapa haole meles seem to be meant for Hawaiian steel guitar. Mahalo and A hui hou!

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Return to Paradise! Visit Island Song Lyrics

Hi Larry; I just checked out your website...very impressive indeed! It took me a while just to absorb some of the first page.You'll get your "Sleepwalk" down with more work on your "muscle memory".While it's connected to the brain obviously,the manipulation of fingers has a lot to do with the repitition of muscle movements in conjunction with the brain. I learned to play Bagpipes in the late 60's.I would practice on the Chanter at home, but at school I literally practiced on a PENCIL!! I would sit with my elbows on my knees under my desk (during the boring classes )and while the tune played in my head I practiced my "muscle memory" on that pencil. I just did it instinctively then, but now I can verbilize it much better. In 7 weeks time I was helping to teach the 2 "Scottish guys" I started with! I was the only non-Scot in the band.I came to Canada from Copenhagen, Denmark in '58 with my parents.So...if a Danish kid can learn bagpipes,I'm sure you'll get to where you want to go! Aloha my friend...Soundhound

Thanks Jan. That sounds like a good technique and drill for all of us newbies. Since I'm still learning music theory, I depend mostly on reading and memorizing the tab and fret positions. I can already stumble through the chorous of "Sidewalks of Nashville", "Mary Ann" and "Banks of The Ohio" (what a decrepit song!). I'm still sleeping on "Sleepwalk".

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Return to Paradise! Visit Island Song Lyrics

Welcome, Larry!
I'm boggled at the number of links on your pages. Gonna take a while to check them all out.
This is the greatest forum ever!

-paul

Aloha Paul, I already feel at home on the forum, but I also feel like I'm over-doing or hogging the entries. I'd rather be a wallflower and read everybody else's posts. Thanks for the comment on my website. I built that thing manually page by page with simple basic HTML. I just got through checking, correcting, deleting and adding to all the links at the bottom of the pages. One thing I wanted to do with my site was to promote as many island musicians and entertainers as I can. There are still many more I don't have or don't know about. I'll add them as I discover them.

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hi Larry ,

I `m from the old school , I play an accoustic steel ,, some call it a Do -Bro , but mine aint ,Mine is a Benoit , I was lucky rnough to buy the second one he built , I dont like to bragg , but I have the best accoustic hawiian steel , ever built . boy dont that sound good

any way Larry welcome to the braggers club , you have found a second home here. Good luck and good to meet you

R. L. Jones .

in Lake Charles , La.

Hello RLJ. I had to look up a Benoit to see what it looks like. Here's a couple links:
Benoitguitars.com

By the way, RLJ, are you kin to the Jones clan who meet every year in Hornbeck? Do you know a relative of mine, Phillip J. Jones? He was director of tourism in Louisiana for a long time. He's now President & CEO, Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau. I met him and his wife Denise, and their kids Phillip Jr. and Laura at a gathering a few years back. He had to leave early to be a judge at a musical competition venue that included dobro, steel guitar and a fiddle contest. He said he didn't know anything about what he was going to be a judge of, but, as director of tourism, it would be fun anyway.


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<marquee direction="up" scrolldelay="400"> <center><font face="arial" size="2">It ain't got that <font color="red">FEELIN'</font> if it ain't got that <b><font color="blue">STEELIN'</font>!</font></center></marquee>

Larry , I know who you are talking about Phillip jones , not any kin though I live about an hour from the Benoits , long time friends they play every Saturday night at aplace called Tuffys , in Maurtceville Tex.

R L