The Steel Guitar Forum

Few questions, The video I was watching was showing me doing the whole scale with my thumb. Is that a good idea or should I be using my other fingers?

How do you "kill" the string after you played it so it's clean?

Sounds silly I know, but I really have no clue.

It's NOT SILLY. Playing with precision is a critical skill.

Never rule anything out. There are a multitude of ways to play most anything. If the tempo is right, there may be times that any way that produces the right notes will work fine. When the tempo gets 'hairy' you may need to choose a RH fingering that is conducive to the pace of the tune.

I very rarely play more than 2 notes in a row with the thumb. You can almost always play a passage better with either a three finger (T I M) approach or a crossover (T F T F T F) approach.

"Killing" the string is known as blocking. Every steel guitarist from the get-go has realized that one of the most difficult challenges is preventing those 'stray' notes from sounding when you don't want them to be heard. Most early players -- and many today -- use the fleshy heel of the right hand to block unwanted notes or 'kill' them when they have sounded for long enough. That's called palm blocking.

Another way of blocking is pick blocking where the note is picked and either the same pick or a different one is used to dampen the vibration.

A third way that is crucial for either pick- or palm-blocking is left hand technique. Never cover more strings that necessary -- learn to play with the nose of the bar over the highest note you're playing -- extend the LH middle finger beyond the end of the bar and block with that on descending patterns -- going from higher to lower strings. Stuff like that.

YOU NEED A TEACHER. You need to watch someone and ask these questions in person. Forming and 'unlearning' bad habits early on will only spin your wheels.

For palm blocking, the Right Hand Alpha series by Jeff Newman is good (but won't substitute for watching a skilled player in person). For pick blocking, Paul Franklin and Joe Wright come to mind. Visit their websites and check out their material.

MANY books have been (and will be) written on picking technique and blocking. It is an important thing to address early in your learning experience.

Good luck.

what was the video David? which one?

I'd have to sit down at my guitar to see what i actually do when I play a scale. I suspect I dont play it all with just my thumb but maybe I do? I guess most often when I am playing a major scale its part of a lick or run and requires alternate finger picking.

on the other hand.....

a good dobro player once told me to use the thumb as much as possible . His reasoning was that because your thumb provides downstrokes, it is your most powerful digit for picking and gives you better attack and control. I try and remeber his advice when i am playing single string runs that dont require speed. so he would play the entire scale on a single string using only his thumb for example.

one thing about the steel, even tho there is "correct technique", you will find that people do things alot of different ways with great success. Good to try and learn the 'proper" way first tho before you go rogue

i been playin four years so I bow to the greater expertise of almost everyone else here.

i do this lil' major scale excercise in a cycle of 4ths to warm up before playing anything
C to F to Bb to Eb to Ab to C# to F# to B to E to A to D to G & back to C
you'll get to know & play in all the keys !
pick that cycle 10 times everyday !
( there's more if you want too )
what's important is to dig in w: your picks first & then pick the notes, using the thumb as the pivot
this will help you improve : bar control, pick blocking, use of the 2nd string - anticipating your next move
fingers : t = thumb - i = index - m = middle
start on fret 8 then 1 then 6 then 11 then 4 then 9 then 2 then 7 then 12 then 5 then 10 then 3 & back to 8 ( play it 10 times)
[tab]
2-----------------------8m-----/-----8m-------------------/
3------------------------------/--------------------------/
4---------------------------8i-/--8i----------------------/
5-----------------8t--8A-------/--------8At--8------------/
6----------8m--8B--------------/----------------8Bm--8----/
7-------8i---------------------/------------------------8i/
8---8t-------------------------/--------------------------/ *1t Blam ! yer in F on 1 !
[/tab]
* don't play that C again (root note) but move up to the 4th position (which in turn becomes the root note)

C Major Scale in Thirds picked in a forward pattern at the 8th fret.
AB = 1st and 2nd pedals
NP = No Pedals

I appreciate the feedback. I'm thinking that lessons are probably the way to go for me. I'd learn much more that way. Does anyone give lessons around the Minneapolis area?

Thumb and second finger all the way across.
Starting on string 8 with thumb.