The Steel Guitar Forum

What do you think about Single String Playing as a style of playing?

Look at the following clip and give your comments -

The Late Bud Tutmarc

Aloha,
Don

If it's done well I love it (but he's playing 2 strings . )

It's just like in any kind of steel playing, if you can do it very well, it'll sound fine.

Hard to convey an entire song this way, and Bud made it his forte, but the steel is all about expression, and a single string can get the point accross if in the right hands.

I can see how a player can incorporate that into his playing style. You would not necessarily have to play the whole song like that, but a verse or a chorus with just a single note approach is very nice.

That's the first I've seen/heard Bud play, altho' his name was a common household word, practically.
I enjoyed his leisurely, unhurried, un-busy playing, letting the pauses in the song carry much of the musical, audio impact to the listener. VERY NICE.

And Mike, I watched and listend very closely and while I wouldn't think of disagreeing with you for any reason......wasn't that three notes? (not just two?)

Very nice. It think it's more accurate to say "single note" playing than single string. I like his vibrato and his smooth approach. You gotta love the boom box into a mic for the backing track!

Personally I'm a dedicated single-note player and rarely use harmonized lines and fuller chords except when backing up singers.

But that's just me - I came from 30 years of playing rock and blues on Strats when I got into lap steel, and the thing that appealed most to me was the ability to play more fluid, 'vocal' lines than I could on a regular guitar. In a sense it became the sweet singing voice nature never equipped me with....

PS/Edit - Just listened to the clip with Tutmarc, and loved every second of it - that's exactly the 'singing voice' I was talking about. Beautiful!
To my ears single note playing like this feels more "up close and personal"....

To me, that is usually how sweet steel is best conveyed, by making it lyrically fluid as you suggest, Steinar.
Jerry Byrd told me the best way to initially map out a song on a single string is to hear it in your head as a great vocalist would sing it.
It's mostly in the left hand, and how you approach each note (and exit), especially between the frets.

Jerry Byrd, IMHO, did a fabulous solo in one of Red Kirk's olde Mercury records. The song, "Over an Ocean of Golden Dreams"........ It was played single string almost entirely, except when he was ending a phrase whereupon he'd toss in an additional string or two for emphasis.

Another: "Allen Towne Jail" by Kathy Linden. It was just a short solo but the impact of his single string expression, to me, was just short of fantabulous!

Another of his lengthy single string solo's that nearly makes me weap, is "South Sea.............something or another" I think it is.

Like you say, it's in the LEFT HAND bar movement where the mood is created.

worked ok for Bob Dunn not to mention every horn player and vocalist ever

It sounds very vocal and lyric and beautiful. There is a documentary out there about Sacred Steel, and in one scene Chuck Campbell is talking about the early pioneers, and how a player ignited the congregation with his singing single string style. I wish I could remember the name of the player, but apprarently his vocal-like style set the bar for what was to come in the Sacred Steel tradition.

The Bollywood style of playing (see other threads in this forum) is always single string. Like others say, this genre of steel guitar styling heavily depends on the left hand and the style is all about emulating the human voice. In addition, the Bollywood vocal styles have a lot of inflexions and nuances and this makes them a hard act to follow. However, artistes like Batuk Nandy have developed a great degree of mastery over the art.

Sacred steel guitar as played by Rupert Randolph and others are similar examples.

I had the good fortune of knowing Bud and Opal very well. They were our house guests for a week here in Edmonton many years ago. Must have been a real let-down as our home is very humble, whereas theirs was what dreams are made of. Nevertheless, Bud and I had many jam session during his time with us. Also, through the years we enjoyed playing together at a number of conventions. Bud always used the C#m tuning...never deviated from it. C#m lends itself to single string solo work along with the capability of playing the 'old' sounds often heard in days gone by in Hawaiian music, (Ho'opi'i, McIntire, et al), those beautiful minor, 6th and 9th chordal groups. Bud's style was always clean, each note had a meaning. He was a BIG man with a great sense of humour whom I truly miss. His son Greg is playing steel, 3rd generation, and from what Opal wrote, he is doing his (late) father proud!

To sum up, most instruments, (wind), are capable of playing only single notes...but just listen to the artistry of Paul Desmond, Miles Davis, et al. No reason why a steel guitarist cannot duplicate the great feeling which single notes portray. Wonderful instrument, isn't it? We have a choice, whereas those who play a wind instrument are not quite as fortunate.

worked ok for Bob Dunn not to mention every horn player and vocalist ever...

Yes, and it worked well for Santo Farina! Sleep Walk, the only steel guitar instrumental to ever reach #1 on the pop charts, and the most widely known steel instrumental of all time... played mostly in the single-note style. Tear Drop, S&Js follow up to Sleep Walk was another jewel of single note simplicity. Simple, yes... but try duplicating it.

Doug Beaumier wrote:

worked ok for Bob Dunn not to mention every horn player and vocalist ever...

Yes, and it worked well for Santo Farina! Sleep Walk, the only steel guitar instrumental to ever reach #1 on the pop charts, and the most widely known steel instrumental of all time... played mostly in the single-note style. Tear Drop, S&Js follow up to Sleep Walk was another jewel of single note simplicity. Simple, yes... but try duplicating it.

true that! simplicity is what makes a hit usually. A hummable melody beats out speedy, flashy technique every time.

George, Did you ever meet Bud's dad, Paul Tutmarc, builder of AudioVox lap steels and basses? Paul Tutmarc passed away in 1972. He is credited with building the first electric bass, solid body, 1940's, before Fender.

I enjoyed his leisurely, unhurried, un-busy playing, letting the pauses in the song carry much of the musical, audio impact to the listener. VERY NICE.

Ray's statement captures the essence of a lot of Bud's playing style. But he could rip it up with tunes like St. Louie Blues, Hilo March or a gospel tune like There's Within My Heart.

While it is true that the left hand set the tone, did you notice the nuance of the triplets that he used quite often in his playing. The triplets were formed by using his thumb, middle finger and index finger picking smoothly but rapidly in quick succession. That created a nice variation and approach to the song.

Aloha,
Don

This is the first time I have heard "Mapuana" played single string, mostly. Bud Tutmarc had a unique style and to my ears, a fresh breath of air in his playing style. Always very enjoyable.

This is the first time I have heard "Mapuana" played single string

I was told that this was single note playing, not single string playing.

Nice input from all of you.

Aloha,
Don

One of the most beauiful instrumentals Noel Boggs played was the waltz "Beautiful Ohio". He played it mostly with single notes. I used to watch him play it on Sunday nights at the old "Cow Town" in L.A. on Vermont Ave. He put so much "feeling" into it everyone in the club would stop and listen.

Doug...No, I never met Paul Sr. ("Bud's" name was also Paul). Bud was very proud of his father's inventive ability and in particular the 'invention' of the electric bass long before Leo Fender. I have little doubt the story is true.

It has it's place.

Paul Tutmarc was amazing! Look how cool his work is. I love his workshop.

Steinar Gregertsen wrote:... when I got into lap steel, and the thing that appealed most to me was the ability to play more fluid, 'vocal' lines than I could on a regular guitar. In a sense it became the sweet singing voice nature never equipped me with.... ...

For myself too, it is / was the expressive vocal quality's of the steel that got me hooked.
I'm a hack player, but thankfully I'm easily entertained with the simple stuff I play.

A lot of the sacred steel players do a lot on single strings...they love to do whole melodies on the highest string(High E in E)& I love that sound.