The Steel Guitar Forum

THANKS to Bob Muller, Wilsonville, Oregon, steel guitarists living in the greater Portland-Metro area now have a rare opportunity to participate in a musical group without any membership fees or other hidden costs.

Bob has opened his one-of-a-kind music room to all of us that might be interested in participating. This loosely knit group is in the formative stage and consists of beginners, intermediate and professional, working musicians.

Tentatively, Monday and Tuesday evenings appear to be the prefered days of the week......7-10 PM. These gatherings could occur once per week or twice per month, depending on the participating musicians' preferences.

Initial thinking suggests that the first hour could be devoted to answering participants' questions relating to picking, bar technique, back-up and/fills, solo's, instrumentals, etc. No need to fear embarassment or humiliating pressures.

These meetings could be divided up into beginners only with less than a years experience; or,
the next week catering to mid-level players; and/or pro-players that are also interested in expanding their current level of 'tools'.

Each session could be followed with BIAB jamming in order to improve one's orchestral confidence.

Someone could volunteer to bring Coke/Pepsi and someone else, Dunkin Donuts or an 8-layered German Chocolate cake or whatever.

This truly is one of the nicest facilities I've ever played in and Bob is sharing it with all of us for "FREE"!!

ANYONE interested in participating in this gathering, should check daily in the SGF Events Section for updates, etc.

This is a long term project, subject to many changes.

Emails are always welcome at either Bob's place or
Rays. Let's hear from you..............

We really want to get this project rolling at the first of the year.

Yeah, Bob has a sweet set up. I missed the last one, but plan on attending the next. I'd like to know what songs we'll be playing, ahead of time, so I can be more than a spectator. It'll motivate me to do my homework.

Hey James, a great deal of the challenge in playing steel guitar is sitting down and hammering out an acceptable tune on the spot.

You're NEVER going to know all the songs that are going to be played in a given set.

You'll gain confidence in simply jumping in and will be learning the neck much better as well.

Hope to see you at the next gathering. WE DID MISS YOU!

I hope to see more steel players over at Bobs "Candyland" of steel guitar.
Sorry I missed you guys this month, but I'll see you all soon, in January 2012. Lookin forward to it, of course.
Chris

happy holidays!

Ray Montee wrote:Hey James, a great deal of the challenge in playing steel guitar is sitting down and hammering out an acceptable tune on the spot.

You're NEVER going to know all the songs that are going to be played in a given set.

You'll gain confidence in simply jumping in and will be learning the neck much better as well.

Ray, that's a challenge, regardless of the instrument. I understand that I'm never going to know all the songs, but I'm looking for direction here. I need homework. I've never been interested in the "steel guitar repertoire" but every song that I can remember being played at the first meeting fits in that category. I'm going out of my way to try to, at least, familiarize myself with the tunes.

Is this purely improvisation practice? If that the case, what's the point in stating that it's for all levels? I know that you know that improvisation is more than looking at a chord progression and going at it. Being familiar with the melody is key. If I knew two songs to work on, ahead of time, I could have something to aim for. But it if it's just "sink or swim", I can do that at home with band-in-a-box, have more than a minute to solo, and at least pull up the song on youtube to get a sense of the melody.

If the meetings are only meant to be jam sessions for experience players who are familiar with "steel guitar music", with no set goals and no direction to get others up to speed, then I misunderstood what I was participating in.

There were two players, myself and Steve, that sat out of the first meeting and just watched. We both perform on a regular basis and are not beginners to music nor playing with other musicians. What do we have now that we didn't have at the first meeting? How many times am I going to drive 30+ miles in commuter traffic to sit and try to absorb by osmosis? If you want to broaden the circle, you have throw some bones OR be open to others bringing in completely disparate music (in my case, originals). I'd rather learn what you know, because I don't know much.

I don't mean to complain, just trying to make plans. I've got other, non-steel related musical projects to work on as well as trying to learn the pedal steel for another band. Both of those efforts provide measurable progress. Non-pedal C6 will be on the back burner until I have a reason to make it a priority.

James, you bring up some great points for discussion.

If what I posted above offended you, let me apologize. In no way was that MY intention.

As I stated earlier, my vision of these get togethers was so that every particpant could go home with something of value. Not a teaching session or merely a jam session. The points you bring up are valid.

I sincerely hope you'll continue to participate with Bob's group and that YOU too.......will make contributions, as you have here, to make the meetings more beneficial to all concerned.

This is Bob's project. I'm merely a participant like yourself. Hope to see you next time around.

Ray Montee wrote:James, you bring up some great points for discussion.

If what I posted above offended you, let me apologize. In no way was that MY intention.

As I stated earlier, my vision of these get togethers was so that every particpant could go home with something of value. Not a teaching session or merely a jam session. The points you bring up are valid.

I sincerely hope you'll continue to participate with Bob's group and that YOU too.......will make contributions, as you have here, to make the meetings more beneficial to all concerned.

This is Bob's project. I'm merely a participant like yourself. Hope to see you next time around.

Ray, I wasn't offended in any way. I didn't mean to come off that way. Maybe my use of quotations were read as sarcasm? I was just trying to explain where I'm coming from as best as I could.

I want to contribute, but am not sure how just yet. I can take charge of a mailing list or some other organizational task.

Ok, here's my first contribution. I'm going to start a list of standards that are obligatory, inescapable "must know" songs that any newbie should know for a steel jam.

1) Sleepwalk - key of C
2) Steel Guitar Rag - key of ?

Your two suggestions, I do believe, can be easily put at the top o'the list of "THINGS to do together".

This little group is in its most basic START-UP mode.

Neither BOB nor I have any clear-cut direction for the group to travel. NOTHING has been set in concrete. The entire format is flexible and for the majority to benefit from, even if it's only getting together a group of musicians that truly enjoy each others company.

THAT's what we're BOTH very much interested in determining at this time.

I'm certainly NOT THERE to give lessons.
I too, am not interested in a grande-circle jam session. Been there, done that.

It's an opportunity to accomplish SOMETHING that is otherwise not available to any of us, anywhere else.

Keep your ideas coming in.

I also want to thank Bob Muller for hosting this educational and fun jam at his house. Ray Montee has contributed a lot to the gathering and told many fascinating stories from the golden era of steel. Players of all abilities have shown up and it is a real eye opener to see how a really polished player approaches a melody and the level of sophistication they have in their playing. I hope listening to us newbies isn't too painful for them. I think fun was had by all and any steel player in the Portland area would enjoy this gathering. I feel lucky to be a part of it and have a place to play and talk steel with some real players. My neighbors don't even know what a pedal steel guitar is!

Mike Eisler

Hello to everyone who has attended, or plans to attend our steel guitar jam nights. We plan to meet about every two weeks, working around holidays etc. So far we've had two successful get-togethers. I would like to stress that we are only in a formative phase of this project. The first night was attended by primarily non-pedal steel players. The second get-together we had several pedal steel players, and some very experienced players at that. I want to thank everyone who has attended so far, and contributed ideas and skills for the betterment of all.

Some of the things I would like to see accomplished are as follows:
1. Everyone gets a chance to meet one-on-one with other players in the area to share ideas, skills, and stories.
I believe we all learned something at every meeting, I know I have certainly enjoyed doing this.

2. I would like comments and ideas from all who have attended, and anyone else who would like to attend these gatherings. We would like suggestions on songs to play, and a format to follow at each gathering.

3. I would like to invite all players in the area, no matter what skill level you play at. We have had some discussion about working with different interests on separate nights. If there are enough people we can possibly do this kind of thing, those are some of the ideas I would like to get additional input about from all players.

4. If You have ideas to contribute please do them on this posting so that all can see them. Please also refer to this posting for dates and times of upcoming gatherings.

Our next scheduled PSG gathering will be on December 27,at 7:00 PM. Please feel free to contact me anytime if you have questions.

I gotta make it to one of these next ones that's cool you're doing this Bob.

Keep posting dates and times and I will eventually make it out to join you all

Just a reminder we are playing again this tuesday dec. 27th at 7:00 pm. Any questions just give me a call.

Hope you guys had a good session. I'm still in Arizona, but will be back tomorrow, just in case you forgot, or didn't know, I'm playing my little six string lap steel at Ivories Jazz club(14th and NW Flanders) Thursday night, at 8:30. Jim Templeton, the owner, plays with me on, well, the Ivories. I think I may be the first steeler to play with Jim, a little anxious, but psyched.

Come on down! In any case I'll see y'all at the next Jam over at Bobs. Happy new year buddies,
Chris

Hey, if there's a mailing list for these, please put me on it! My first and last name (no spaces or punctuation) at gmail.

That was a fun time, cool getting to hang with y'all! Bob, thanks for the hospitality!

Last nights PSG gathering was another great event. We had a couple new attendees, Pete Burak, and Scott Hay. So along with the regular players we had a very good group.Our next scheduled event will be Jan 10 at 7:00 pm, please try to attend if at all possible.

January 10 Tuesday night at 7 PM be playing again, just a reminder everyone please try to attend.

Bob, Russ and I are going to come tomorrow night.

I'm going to try to make it out as well. I might be a little late.

Gonna have to miss tonight.

I was supposed to get my car repaired by today but the part wasn't readily available so it had to stay in the shop overnight.

It's the modeule on the transmission that had failed.

I've been driving around in the 'limp-in' setting on the transmission........not to exceed 25 mph, however having felt no jerking, seeing no leakage, etc., etc., I've been driving 65 mph on the freeway for several months. WHEW!

Hope you all had a great, fun filled experience.
Sorry I missed those in attendance. Perhaps next time, eh?

A good time was had by all, but we still missed seeing you Ray! Next time for sure!

And it was certainly nice to see ALL of you guys again, and to hear you all play. A great steel guitar party! I feel like there was a nice format to the playing and just appreciate everyone's positive energy, can't wait to see the photos. Well, Ray glad the car's getting fixed, and glad all is well, see you all again soon, at Bob's wonder-palace of steel, dobro, and multi-kord delight. Chris

Ray we missed you!