The Steel Guitar Forum

I have recently started playing lap steel so I put in a fair amount of practice but after about 90 minutes the fore finger of my left hand (the one that rests on the top of my SP2 bar) aches like hell. Am I doing something wrong or do others have the same problem?

Can you still get those old fashioned tablet shaped bars because I just do not seem to be able to control a bullet (I cannot pick it up off the strings easily)

Thanks,

Ray

Hi Ray,

I was wondering when you would venture over here from the uke world.

Glad to see you diving into the fray.

Hang around for awhile someone will have some advice for you.

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Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'



CEO, CIO, CFO - UkeTone Records
Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website
Board of Directors Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association

Ray,
Hang in there it will get easier to control and you will get use to it. I remember when i had the same problem and from time to time i still have it.I think you need to relax more.
Just hang in there.

Personally, I'd put the guitar back in the case and concentrate for a couple of hours over a couple of days, the simple manipulation of the bullet bar. DON'T WASH YOUR HANDS or have any kind of shaving lotion or other oily substances on your left hand.
Place the bar in your hand then pick it up and move it all over; you'll learn to handle it in time. To do otherwise might be short changing yourself in the long run.

After you've mastered that, move on to placing it on the strings etc.,

Ray S., are you an older guy with arthritic problems? If not, I would recommend that you wash your hands with soap and keep at it until the pain goes away. Brads page of steel has a nice version of "Aloha Oe" by Mr. Tipkin in the tab section, great song to work out beginning slants. Everyone has a hard time at first, practice makes perfect. Don't forget to use a tuner to tune up; you'll develop a good point of reference to judge pitch. When playing in a bar with lots of noise, a tuner gets rid of all the hassles of hearing the notes over the crowd.

Re: Washing your hands.

I find that the bar "sticks" to my left hand much better and I have more control after I wash my hands (this is good).

Skin oils also transfer to the bar making it more slippery. I would also wash the bar with soap and water to remove accumulated oils.

Also, relax... feel the weight of the bar against the strings. Let gravity work for you, not against you. Don't grip the bar too hard. The left hand should guide the bar, not strangle it. Soft hands, soft hands, soft hands.

And finally, you are just going to have to put in the time getting used to the damn thing just like the rest of us have.

And Ray... doing anything for 90 minutes straight will hurt.

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Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'



CEO, CIO, CFO - UkeTone Records
Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website
Board of Directors Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association

<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Gerald Ross on 28 February 2006 at 07:03 PM.]</p></FONT>

Ray .. you can 'phone me anytime on 0781-687-2166 and we'll chat about 'workarounds' for your difficulties.
BTW ever hear of "Po Mahina" Ukes?. I bought the wife one.

Ray,I take my bar right to the sink and wash my hands and the bar at the same time with soap and water... washes away skin oils and butter from the popcorn to make the bar a lot easier to hold on to. Just don't drop it in the sink or you'll be buying a new sink. and don't carry the bar in your breast pocket. I did that and then bent over to pick up the cat's food dish- split the dish right in two! It will get easier as you get more used to it and start to relax more. Keep at it!
Don

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GFI Ultra D-10, Airline 6-string lap steel
steelsanta@aol.com
steelsanta@aol.com

Your hand hurts because you are using certain muscles in new ways in repetitive movements that are causing muscle fatigue. (I'm not a doctor but I play one on the forum). The most important thing is to stop when it hurts! Take a break for a few hours or even a few days. It takes time to train your hand to use a steel guitar bar. Warming your hands in water before playing may help. Take it slow and you'll get over the hump and enjoy this great instrument.

Here's an article by John Ely on the perils of bad steel guitar techinque ....
http://www.hawaiiansteel.com/learning/injury_prev.html <font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center"><font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Andy Volk on 01 March 2006 at 06:46 AM.]</p></FONT>

Andy is so right, go easy. I played standard guitar 10hrs plus a day..
Trashed my left hand so bad that I ended up playing lapsteel! wont make that mistake again.. Happy accident I suppose.

Adam.<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Adam Camster on 01 March 2006 at 06:02 AM.]</p></FONT>

Many thanks for the helpful comments and reading between the lines a number of you seem to be suggesting returning to the bullet bar but I have no problems with the SP2 for the first hour or so, I will give your suggestions a try though because i do have both styles of bars.

Whilst I do come into the 'older' bracket I am extremely active and I do not suffer with any kind of arthiritic/rheumatoid disorder. My latest thoughts were that having the guitar close to the body on my lap then it forced the fore finger on the top of the SP2 into an un-natural position. I was toying with the idea of having a stand for the guitar so that I could put a little more distance between me and the playing surface. Does that make sense?

Hi Basil,

Generally Pomahinas are a nice uke but not everything that comes out of Hawaiia is that marvellous and quality control does not figure too highly in some island factories' scheme of things (even the wellknown brands) so it can be difficult to make judgments without playing the uke.

Ray

<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Ray Shakeshaft on 01 March 2006 at 06:13 AM.]</p></FONT>