Confessions of a new PSG player

[Del Ogren]

Friends,

I've been playing musical instuments for decades; 6-string guitar, banjo, fiddle... Heck, I even spent some time playing the balalika. So I thought I'd pick up the PSG in no time.

Boy howdy was I wrong. This thing is like playing two bluegrass banjos at once, while dancing, and working on your Senior Paper in mechanical engineering.

To make matters worse, the used PSG I got had been hacked by folks who didn't seem to have a clue about how it was supposed to work. But, slowly, I pressed on through the mechanical and electronic problems. Those, at least were things I could deal with; being an engineer at heart.

With the mechanical problems mostly behind me, I still faced the problem of playing the beast. Bruce Bouton's DVD from Homespun was some help. And so was the Mel Bay E9 chord chart. But neither filled my need for a basic place to start. I needed fundamentals.

So, I went to work. I wanted major chords with only pedals involved. The result was a one page chord chart for C and G, with 7'th's tossed in. The chart has changed my life. Over the past few days I've gone from being a terrible player to being a slightly better, but still terrible, player. But, at least its progress. And it feels good...

You can find the chord chart at:

http://n-lemma.com/psg/major.jpg

You folks out there who know what you're doing, let me know if the chart is correct. Fellow beginners, let me know if it helped. Just drawing it up helped me a bunch, just to see patterns in strings, bar positions, and pedals.

When we stop learning, we're dead.
Which ever happens first..

--del

[Al Terhune]

Hi Del,

You did about what I did when I first started playing. I went up the first 12 frets to see what was "in" with the major keys I played in. And, yes, Bruce's video helped me immensely over ten years ago when I bought it (and it still hasn't aged), and I passed it on not long ago. I still play Bruce's version of "Mansion on the Hill" to warm up every time I sit down at the steel, but I like to add the 8th string, using my knee lever.

[Rainer Hackstaette]

Del,

I think there's a typo in you "D" chord diagram: the 3rd fret D major shouldn't have the A pedal engaged. The A pedal should be used on the 1st fret D chord.
The A pedal on the 3rd fret would give you an E note (9th) instead of the D root.
On all the chords where you hold just the A pedal you can add the E to F raise (strings 4 and 8 E-F) on the lever (if you have that change). Using just that lever without the A pedal gives you yet another 7th chord (e.g. D7 on fret 1).

Have fun,
Rainer

[Wayne D. Clark]

Hay Del Try Jeff Newman's Material. "Up from the top"
Jeff is no longer with us but Fran his wife still Sells his material. Phone number is 704 543 6059. It is all on DVD with rhythm tracks on a CD. "Up from the top" has three DVD's (Sold Seperately) A&B pedals, The D Lever, and The F Lever. There is a Ton of other material ask Fran to ssend you a a listing of abaliable material. Oh here is the toll free number. 1 800 373 3418.

Have Fun!

Desert Rose S10 3/5
Goodrich 120
Nashville 400

[Bruce Etter]

Del:

Try Jeff Newman's website at: www.jeffran.com

The "Up From The Top" series is the best and well worth the investment .

[Joe Butcher]

I agree about "Up From The Top"

It gets you up and running, and shows you how you can really play just about ANYTHING using only the A+B pedals.

[Del Ogren]

Thanks for taking a close look at the chord charts, Ranier. That effort is much appreciated. And, of course, you are correct. I will fix that.

Thank you very much!!!

For better or worse, my current PSG has only one knee lever. And I have yet to get it working perfectly . (It was horribly hacked by a previous owner.)

The good news is that I have a small machine shop in my basement, so I can fix it, and add more levers..
But, for now, I think that I just need to spend some time working with what I have.

Thanks again,
--del

Del,

I think there's a typo in you "D" chord diagram: the 3rd fret D major shouldn't have the A pedal engaged. The A pedal should be used on the 1st fret D chord.
The A pedal on the 3rd fret would give you an E note (9th) instead of the D root.
On all the chords where you hold just the A pedal you can add the E to F raise (strings 4 and 8 E-F) on the lever (if you have that change). Using just that lever without the A pedal gives you yet another 7th chord (e.g. D7 on fret 1).

Have fun,
Rainer

[Del Ogren]

Howdy, Al,

It's good to hear that I am going down the same path others have gone down before.

Sadly the original rod that drops the 8'th string is no more. It was lost by a previous owner. I found a piece of hobby shop music wire in the case; but found it a poor substitute.

The fctory copedant on this beast uses the single kneelever to also drop the 2'nd string to a D. That rod is still there. Any thoughts?

For now, I'm gonna ignore my desires to do some serious mechanical hacks and just play. But all ideas are appreciated.

--del

Hi Del,

You did about what I did when I first started playing. I went up the first 12 frets to see what was "in" with the major keys I played in. And, yes, Bruce's video helped me immensely over ten years ago when I bought it (and it still hasn't aged), and I passed it on not long ago. I still play Bruce's version of "Mansion on the Hill" to warm up every time I sit down at the steel, but I like to add the 8th string, using my knee lever.

[Del Ogren]

Wayne, Bruce, and Joe.

Thanks for the vector to Jeff's work. I'll check it out.

A learning curve is exists to be climbed, because it's there...

--del

[steve takacs]

Rainer Hackstaette = German precision. Good job noticing that, Rainer. Thanks a bunch for the chart, Del. steve t

[b0b]

Making your own fretboard charts is a great way to get the instrument into your head.

[Brian McGaughey]

Del,

What a great idea! This is exactly what I need to do. Although I roughly know my way around the neck, I can't recall it quickly. And I never want to take the time to do any learning exercises that don't involve actually PLAYING the guitar.

I can see that by drawing a chord chart myself (especially the style like you did, my brain gets that) I can get it. This is exactly what I need to do next in my learning progression. I've been trying to figure out what to work on...now I know! Love this forum!

Hey Al Terhune, thanks for the Bruce Bouton video.

Brian

[Del Ogren]

Yep, bOb, It helped me a bunch.

Though I still practice playing outside. Just to bug those neighbors with all the screaming children...

--del

Making your own fretboard charts is a great way to get the instrument into your head.

[Del Ogren]

Yes, yes, and yes, Brian,

When I first got this beast, like you, I immediately started trying to play songs. Once in a while I'd get close, but never quite close enough. And even when I did get close, I couldn't repeat it. I couldn't see the patterns. It got frustrating as all get-out. So I stopped for a while to work on other projects.

My long-suffering wife, who also plays musical instruments, tuned me out during that initial process. She was kind enough not to critisize, but paid no attention to what I was trying to play.

This afternoon I did my 4'th practice session with the chord charts. Mostly, I messed around with finding easy transitions from one chord to another.
But, of course, I couldn't keep myself from trying a song or two.

My wife was working on watering flower beds and such during the process. When I reached a saturation point, I said, "Enough of this for now. Mostly I was working on chord changes."

She said, "Yea, you are starting to sound a bit better."

"And I tried to do a couple of songs," I said.

"I heard 'Your Cheatin' Heart'," she responded.

Dang, that did me good... There ain't nothing like a good map to get you on the right track...

So, Brian, feel free to use my chord chart. I've fixed the typo that Ranier found.

But making your own is still something I'd recommend for newbees like us. It only took a couple of hours, and the learning process was a big part of taking me one tiny step up the PSG learning escarpment....

--del

Del,

What a great idea! This is exactly what I need to do. Although I roughly know my way around the neck, I can't recall it quickly. And I never want to take the time to do any learning exercises that don't involve actually PLAYING the guitar.

I can see that by drawing a chord chart myself (especially the style like you did, my brain gets that) I can get it. This is exactly what I need to do next in my learning progression. I've been trying to figure out what to work on...now I know! Love this forum!

Hey Al Terhune, thanks for the Bruce Bouton video.

Brian

[Richard Durrer]

I found that the Mel Bay Chord Chart available from many Steel Guitar dealers was very valuable and also saved me many hours of trying to figure it all out.
It retails for about $4.95.

[Ray Minich]

The senior paper in Mechanical Engineering is definitely much easier....

[Del Ogren]

The senior paper in Mechanical Engineering is definitely much easier....

Hee, hee, Ray...

But not if you're dancing and playing two bluegrass banjo's at the same time..

In other news: Today I drove from north of Chicago to Indianapolis to pick up a Peavey Nashville 400 amp. I know full well that it won't make me play any better. But just moving it around presents an opportunity to design and weld up a dolly. And, given the Watts it puts out, I can overwhelm the screaming children and yelling parents from the house down the street....

--del