The Steel Guitar Forum

I'm looking for a good speed picking course to buy for friend for christmas. What it needs most is details and examples regarding which fingers to use. I know some guys use thumb and 1st, some use thumb and 2nd.
I'm looking for material that will dictate which one and give plenty of examples and exercises. It can be tab with cassette or CD. I don't think he has DVD but I guess If I bought him a course with DVD I could by him a DVD Player to.

Any suggestions would be appreciated,

Thanks in advance,

Dan (BMI)

Hi Dan, I can only give you advise about Jeff Newman's speed picking courses. I have both courses and they are very good, really easy to follow the tab and the fingering is marked at the bottom of each note comes with video and rhythm tracks. Part three is also really good and dimenstrats how to do hammer ons and it has Cotton Eyed Joe for the song. Shows close-ups of all moves, very good stuff. Just my opinion theres others. Stay safe Bill

William,
I appreciate your input,

Dan

My friend plays E9/C6 would it be for the standard tuning?

Dan

Dan, when you mention speed, are you looking for something that helps to play rapid picking on runs or, are you looking for just plain high speed picking for solo work.

My personal interpretation of those who try play as fast as possible is that they rarely play a recognizable melody. I find their high speed picking has little to do with the tune they are supposed to be playing. I have heard many steelers who get into high speed picking with the Orange Blossom Special and their picking has nothing to do with the song at all.

Now chord phrasing using all four fingers like so many of the greats do, that’s speed picking in my mind.

Les,
My friend is fairly new to picking. He needs to learn proper technique of doing the runs. I myself play Thumb and first finger. He is wanting something that will teach him proper technique that he can build on.

Dan

[quote="Dan Burnham"]Les,
My friend is fairly new to picking. He needs to learn proper technique of doing the runs. I myself play Thumb and first finger. He is wanting something that will teach him proper technique that he can build on.

Maybe this would be too simple for your friend--I don't know, but it sounds like Jeff Newman's "Right Hand Alpha" would be perfect. It goes heavily into hand position, wearing the picks, and many picking exercises for techniques like thumb middle crossover/crossunder and such. It is devoted to palm blocking with split view close ups all the way through. By the time you master the material on that DVD, you'll, in Jeffs words, "be able to play just about any run you want to play". It took several months of regular persistent practice for me to be able to play the finale exercise which is a little tune called "All Hands Down". By that time, your right hand is in fairly good shape and you can move onto making up your own picking patterns. The exercises are fairly quick--around 120bpm which is a respectable speed in my view.

Phil,
I appreciate it. I'll be sure to visit the site and see about getting this material.

Dan

Les Anderson wrote:
My personal interpretation of those who try play as fast as possible is that they rarely play a recognizable melody. I find their high speed picking has little to do with the tune they are supposed to be playing. I have heard many steelers who get into high speed picking with the Orange Blossom Special and their picking has nothing to do with the song at all.

True. Jimmy Day once said of such a player "Boy, I really wish I could do that and then I wouldn't."

But there is a difference between being able to play fast, and not knowing when and when not to do so. The fastest 6 string guitar player I'm aware of is jazz guitarist Johnny Smith. (Is he still alive?) Smith could play so fast that you can't hear the individual notes. The reason I know this is that he does this on ONE passage of ONE song on ONE of his albums. And IMO, the lightning fast passage is musically appropriate in the place where he does it. The rest of the time (on the 5 albums I have of his anyway) he plays very economically and tastefully.

Having the technique doesn't mean you have to use it all the time.

Mike, if you "can't hear the individual notes," does it sound then like a gliss?

Mike Johnny Smith is still alive and lives in Colorado Springs. As far as I know he does not play anymore as least that was the last report that I have heard. He sold him music store a number of years ago. I last saw him at a concert at the Fine Arts Center quite a few years ago. I was playing a gig back in the 70's in an airport hanger showing off new private planes and looked up to see him standing at the front of the bandstand. During that time he flew quite a bit.

Barry Blackwood wrote:Mike, if you "can't hear the individual notes," does it sound then like a gliss?

Hi Barry. In the specific recording I was referring to, they sound more like a cluster.

The point though is that here is a man with the technique to play fast, and the taste to refrain from doing that unless there was a specific musical reason to do so.

I'm a big fan of Joe Wright's method:

http://pedalsteel.com/joe/

Also Paul Franklin has some great stuff:

http://www.paul-franklin.com/instruction.html

I'm not much of a speed picker but I improve when I spend time practicing slowly and carefully.

Joe Wright gets your thumb, 1st and 2nd finger going in any combination you can imagine. When you get that down, then you can add your ring finger in as well. Then Joe helps you connect it all with your left hand. I'm not any sort of a speed picker myself, but Joe's material has laid down a very strong foundation for me to go from. The rest is up to me.

I have not tried the other above mentioned courses.YMMV

You can have all my courses. They didn't work

Chris,
So they didn't work, which ones do you have and which ones do you want to sell?

Dan

I would recommend "Speed Picking E9, Pick Blocking Improvisation" by Don E. Curtis. I may be a little biased because I've been his student for years but it's really helpful. All of his teaching material is fantastic. Of course, it's all available through scottysmusic.com

What Chris said!!!!!!