The Steel Guitar Forum

I've been checking out SGF for over a year and finally decided to join up. My main reason for joining is that I've come up with something that has made it easy for me to learn to play my lappy, as well as give me some insight into how notes and chords work. I'm surprised that nobody else has mentioned this method to relate written music to the lap steel as well as making it easy for improvisations. Coming from a guitar background, I found it too time consuming and difficult to find the notes and chords on my lappy (I have a BR-9) until I came up with this idea. It's really an old idea that now, due to technology that was not available in the old days, anybody can do as long as you can find the materials. I call it Uncle Theo's Lap Map. It's simply a clear vinly layover denoting exactly where the notes and chords in any tuning can be found. I've made them for different tunings and found it to be very helpful in learning as well as keeping my fretboard clean. You can make one yourself or I can send you a kit (for a small fee)and instructions on how to make and use the Lap Map.

Theo,

Can you post a pic or other example of how this works?

E7th Tuning


Hope this works. Shown is a layout of how it would look with the lap map applied. Notice how the chords almost pop out at you both straight bar and slanted. You will need to know which notes make up which chords. for instance, C-E-G makes a C chord (fret 8 -add the B-flat for a C7, or slanted from 1st fret to 4th) F-A-C makes an F, A-C-E = Am etc. Sharps and flats are not noted to avoid confusion. More info?

Theo

Very cool Theo, I like it. To help myself through the transision from std. guitar I have gotten familiar with the string the root is on, in your case/example the high E and worked from there. My method is kinda like moving bar or power cords with a standard guitar tuning with everything basesd on the low E for the roots.

Nice to see it layed out in a graphic, makes perfect sense.

RH

Theo, do you make them for custom tunings?
Can you offer a paper version instead of the vinyl, to simply have nearby or with other paperwork?
Do you have a website to show others off this forum a link?

Ron: Any tuning is possible. This idea has gone through a few incarnations before it ended up with the vinyl. I can make you one on paper, for which I would charge you about $20, but it is pretty easy to do yourself. I've made them in open G, C6, E13 and even Am7 (basically the same as C6). All you have to do is start with your root strings and space the notes up the fretboard. I don't have a separate web page for this and my myspace page (Theogoodtimemusic) is just for my regular music stuff. I use E7 because it's easy for blues, rock, and reading from notation. I would like to make a few bucks on the idea, which is why I'm offering a kit wich includes the clear vinyl base sheet, a clear cover (so the letters don't rub off) and enough press on letters to cover at least 20 frets (specify 6 or 8 strings). I was going to offer ready made Maps but due to differences in scale lengths and fretboard widths it is impractical. I did put together a little booklet that explains everything in more detail. I would send a photo but I'm using my old computer with win98 and all my photo stuff works only on my XP computer which is waiting to be fixed.
Theo

An absolutely wonderful idea. I'm using food wrap taped onto my lap fretboard with the notes done with a sharpie. For those of us with guitar or other musical background I'm finding it's a great way to speed up the learning process. I've also done a bit of modeling with microsoft Excel to see which tuning I plan on using etc etc. A little ingenuity goes a long way sometimes Good Stuff Theo! Regards, Eldon

If you had a templet and clear overhead plastic sheets you can print them on any printer, all one would need to do is measure the width of the neck and the frets and make a templet and start laying out the stings. What do you charge just for the infomation on the stings and tuning I could do the layout of the templet on my lap top and print them on my printer. thanks
Phill

Thanx, Theo, I do have my own quickly drawn up for my glorified E major, but it's rather..., ugly.

"for my glorified E major"

Ron,

I'm fooling around with E major tuning also. So, what is your glorified E major tuning?

Paul

Paul, it's (hi to lo) G# E C# B G# E B E
It's got (most of) the Don Helms E13 on top, so you can get all that and more country stylings, and the E maj is perfect for old style Hawaiian, and gives a nice full & partial strum or you can easily skip the C#.
That about covers enuf territory for me right now.

Phil: There may be problems with running plastic through your printer, especially if there is any heat involved, I learned the hard way. Also some printers won't print something that long. With the press on letters you can fix any misplacements and (for Ron) it looks almost natural. I do busk with mine once in a while so looks are important. Eldon has the right idea with the plastic and sharpie, I've taken it a step farther. I know some people may have a hard time finding the materials so I offer the kit for $30. If you'd like just the booklet ($20 s/h included, sounds good), email me off forum. As far as tuning info goes, there are several places online to find different tunings.

Theo I would us a copier from work one that they make overheads all the time. I could even print them in color. I would use a standard 8x11 which I could easily print the neck in two parts. The necks are 2.5" by 22 inches that would make two necks per sheet of overhead sheets.

Phil: More power to you. My first ones were done on paper putting two halves together. I did have to contend with matching them up so the frets were correctly spaced (my method eliminates that), but it looks like you're on the right track. So carry on young man.

Theo