The Steel Guitar Forum

Roy Thomson's excellent thread on speedpicking on lap steel inspired me to record this short demo, C6 tuning, 6 string.

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UPDATE: Forum member Craig Prior has tabbed out my speed solo, and he did a great job! Thanks Craig!

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Clean and tasty. I like that.

Yeah, sounds great, very clean and fast but still plenty of feeling on the slides and sustained notes. And only 6 strings!

Golly durn Doug. Thats great. I've got Roy's speedpickin... and I'm gonna add yours to the folder.
(if you dont mind). Roy and you need to give SGF more, I'm know everybody enjoys it, and it will help everyone who wants to better their pickin. Thanks a million... Lee

Nice! Great job, Doug. Any chance we'll see tab and the backing track on your website any time soon? It'd be fun to try to work on that.

Nice pickin'!

Heck yeah, Doug!

Thanks for the positive comments! I'm glad y’all like it.

UPDATE: Forum member Craig Prior has tabbed out my speed solo, and he did a great job! Thanks Craig!

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---> Click for AUDIO

Hi Doug,

Pretty job ! ("très bon travail" in french)

Thank you both (Craig and you).

Have a nice day !

From one steel guitar lover to another one.

"PapaYellowSteel".

Great pickin' and a stupendous recording.

Ron

Wow how good is that,bloody great Doug.

Wow how good is that,bloody great Doug.

Doug and Craig, You two are Great. Its people like you and the many others that contribute material like this... that makes SGF the most time honored web page for the steel Guitar player, that it is. Thank you for your treasured efforts. Lee

Awesome Job Doug, that's some mighty fine playing, and if I didn't know it, I might have thought it was played with pedals!!!

Thanks for sharing that fun sample.

Best wishes,


Josh

Thanks Josh, yes, that style of picking sounds a lot like a pedal steel.

Beautifully done Doug!

Best,

Bob

Thanks, Bob! I'm glad you like it.

why is it called speedpicking or maybe: what makes it speedpicking?

(other that responding: because it's fast...)



U.

why is it called speedpicking or maybe: what makes it speedpicking?

That's a good question! Here's my take on it: I think of speedpicking as a flowing stream of notes, based on a scale (usually the major scale). It usually involves patterns that move up and down the fretboard. "Fast licks" are not necessarily speedpicking. Speedpicking implies a more continuous pattern of notes. The scale notes blend with the relative chords in the key (I, IIm, IIIm chords, etc) so some interesting sounds can be had by playing speed patterns over various chord progressions in a given key.

On 6-string lap steel there are fewer patterns available than on a pedal steel guitar, so speedpicking is rather limited on lap steel... but it Is possible. Pick blocking is also part of the sound, and it's important to study that.

Doug, this makes me want to rip all these pedals and knee levers off this old ShoBud, melt 'em down and make a '54 Corvette! Mighty pretty!

Thanks Wade, but don't destroy your Sho-Bud! There's magic in that guitar.

Hey Doug, I somehow missed this completely till today. Awesome picking and feel! I really enjoyed that.

Thanks, Andy. I'm glad you like it. I had a lot of fun with this one.

Bravo Doug...

I'm on the 'midnight shift', and just now came upon your post.

That is super picking, my friend.

A long way from "Sleepwalk"; but as Jerry Seinfeld would say...."but that's not a bad thing".

In all sincerity....just a brilliant slice.

Thanks, Doug