The Steel Guitar Forum

It blows my mind what a player can do with an instrument when He (or she) is able to control every aspect of it's sound. Like how Brian May would play clearly distinctive string, brass, flute, and clarinet parts on his guitar and make arrangements using only the guitar that mimic an entire orchestra. Kayton Roberts is a great example of a steel player who does this. maybe not to the extent that Brian May did but he can make that steel sound like anything he wants. there's a track on the album he did with Hank III where at first you can't tell if it's a muted trumpet or a steel.

I'm facing this challenge right now. I've got a wedding gig where I have to play the Beatles "when I'm sixty four" and I have to be the clarinet with my steel.. I've got all the parts down, they're pretty simple but actually sounding the part is really difficult! One thing I've been doing is practicing unplugged. it makes it way easier to hear imperfections in my playing and figure out how to smooth them out. What disciplines do you use to hone your touch?

Add a little extra bass to your tone and play with you right hand further up on the neck. If you playing from frets 1 thru 12 play with your right hand on the 12th or 13th fret. I draw a lot of my non peal type licks from clarinet movements. Playing up on the neck gives me that "horn" sound. You're looking for a sound that kind sounds like you dumped all the mids out of your eq. (big smiley face eq!!!) Hope that helps.