The Steel Guitar Forum

I heard this on NPR this morning.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =127116452
How is it that lap steel isn't having a similar resurgence?

Because you need more equipment and more talent.

As a guitar player for the best part of 40 years, who has in the last 12 months acquired both a ukulele and a lap steel - all I can say, Bill, is that you are absolutely right.

Don't get me wrong - I love playing them both, but the lap steel is *way* more challenging, and as a result, way more satisfying when something resembling music comes out of it.

IMHO, of course.

Bill McCloskey wrote:Because you need more equipment and more talent.

I'm sure you were joking, but that talent part just wasn't fair!

-- a disgruntled some-time uke player

Bill McCloskey wrote:Because you need more equipment and more talent.

One can play an acoustic square neck and not need more equipment. Perhaps it takes more work to become as proficient.
Talent, no matter how great, still requires practice.

Just a joke folks.

I have many Uke friends and I can tell you it DOES take talent because I've certainly heard what it sounds like when you don't have any.

Sorry Bill,
I missed the smiley face, but you're right.
You have to learn to use a tone bar.
That is more equipment.

Yeah... and that amp.

and volume pedal.

and fight between 6 ..or 8 ...or 10 ...or 12 strings.

and don't get me started on tunings.....

But this I will guarantee you: No Uke player ever had an argument about just intonation!!

My daughter Katie, who is into all things 20's, and likes to dress up like a flapper and dance at the Circada Club in Los Angeles, is fascinated with the ukulele and is learning to play it. I gave her one of my ukuleles to keep her enthusiasm going. After all, once she gets into playing one type of string instrument (she already plays the clarinet), the steel guitar can't be far behind.

That having been said I think the ukulele is a very limited instrument, and I wouldn't use it personally for anything other than a background plunketty-plunk rhythm. I've yet to see one in a concert orchestra...

Then obviously, you haven't heard these guys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfK-UzQ48JE

There are a number of uke based acts all over the world and they have talent. As for equipment, well generally it costs less to get started but my B6 cost less than my Jean Larrivee Style 10 soprano uke though I actually sell very good beginners' ukes for £22.

There are number of reasons that the uke has taken off in recent years. On this side of the Atlantic the club scene has been very important. Here in the UK alone we have over twenty clubs and for about £1 a night you get music and tuition and we have emphasised the fun side of playing so many of the club members have never played any other instrument in their lives making it a new and enjoyable experience for most of them. The versatility of the uke due to some of the exponents has also contributed to its popularity. Today you can hear hapa haole, rock, folk, classical, jazz etc. all being played on uke both in the States and Europe whilst lap steel still seems to cling to Hawaiian and C & W in the main (though I think this is beginning to change).

There are obvious differences between learning to play uke and lap steel to a reasonable standard. The uke is frequently used as an accompanying instrument whilst lap steel players tend to want to be soloists and that always demands more. The uke world has got its act together on how to tune the instrument and finally most material is free. There is no real need to spend anything once you have a uke.

I don't think that lap steel can ever be as popular as the accompanying type of instruments but it could be more popular than it is, and there may be things that could be learned from the uke fraternity but that is perhaps something for a different thread.

Ray

http://www.ukuke.co.uk/

The first time I went to Waikiki about ten years ago, Herb Ohta San was playing by himself at the hotel, on a stage in the dining room, with an electric uke. He can play anything, including Broadway show tunes as well as pop and Hawaiian. He didn't seem to need any back-up.! He is on some of the Barney Issacs/Jerry Byrd collaborations on CDs also.

The ukulele has been berry berry good to me.

Look at my upcoming and recent calendar of gigs.

I've played guitar since the age of 14. I had my first paying gig at 15. I've gigged ever since.

It wasn't until I picked up BOTH the uke and the steel that I've gotten the level of gigs I now enjoy.

Don't knock the uke.

"I've yet to see one in a concert orchestra...":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syBIyW5i ... re=related

Also a great solo instrument for campagnella style:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAgMqbsK ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYmvqkQ1 ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3VRLB1N ... re=related

Ever watch a newbie try to manipulate a steel bar?

Ever known ANYBODY to put fingerpicks on the right way the first time?

Compared to a first step of some simple one- or-two-finger chords, steel guitar has a relatively steep learning curve.

With the esoteric and specific exception of "Panda," is there anything in the steel guitar world that can even remotely compete with "jumping flea" for cute?

We're fated to remain an obscure mystery cult of the devoted faithful.

The steel guitar is a boring instrument in the performance sense. The musician stares at their hands. They can't jump around, play the steel behind their neck or use it as a phallic symbol slung low on their waist. From the audience perspective - it's like watching someone type.

And quite frankly you can't sing while you play it - it looks really dumb, just like when a drummer sings.

Sorry guys, it's not a sexy instrument.

Don't start talking Robert Randolph now.

And quite frankly you can't sing while you play it

Got to disagree with you there. Kelly Joe Phelps is the obvious example, but I've been replacing all the songs I used to sing with guitar, and replacing them with lap steel.

Gerald Ross wrote:They can't jump around...

The steels that can be played with a strap like a dobro would be an exception. Then you can do almost anything a guitar player could

I've always found Jerry Douglas to be fun to watch on stage.

What about a pedal steel player or a non-pedal player sitting behind three necks. Boring.

Not boring for us here on this forum. But boring for the general population.

Well if you do play sitting down you dont have to frown at the fretboard the whole time. Big E is fun to watch...

Gerald Ross wrote: Sorry guys, it's not a sexy instrument.

C'mon Gerald, you're going to tell me the uke is a sexy instrument?

Maybe to a hamster!

Taking the above photo as an example, the fig leaf must be a sexy instrument.

Bill Leff writes:

C'mon Gerald, you're going to tell me the uke is a sexy instrument?

Maybe to a hamster!

I don't know about the sexiness quotient but ukulele festivals typically have a 50/50 male/female audience.

What is the usual attendance pattern at a steel show? Can you say Testosterone, sausage fest?