Reflections on pedal steel tabs or methods in 2012

Mat Davallet · Post by **Mat Davallet** » 15 Mar 2012 1:24 pm

Why all pedal steel methods or licks for sale are only avaiable in book or cd (when the'r not in VHS or K7 or other older materials...). I think, i very strange in 2012 that we can't get it though downloading with secure payment. For us in europe it's very hard to get stuff without waiting several weeks to get it (when there not lost damaged) plus the fact that CD or DVD are not compatible and must be dezoned or ripped before using. Sure it will be a good idea to have a little reflection on it for all the books buyers.

Alex Cattaneo · Post by **Alex Cattaneo** » 15 Mar 2012 3:32 pm

I completely agree! Mike Neer has a great system for his non-pedal instruction. You get your lesson right away, on your computer, no packaging, no delivering, no physical object, no environmental footprint. Doug Seven (sizzling guitar licks) is another guy who's has a really good system for instructional material.

Mark van Allen · Post by **Mark van Allen** » 15 Mar 2012 6:36 pm

In my case responses have been running at least 10-1 in favor of lessons on CD, the way I currently offer them. Many of my students say they keep the CD on rotation in their car player, take it to the gig to play through their rig on breaks, etc.
I collect instructional material myself and while some of the guitar material I have purchased works well in download versions, I honestly don't appreciate having to print tablature myself, and I live in some fear of losing the downloaded lessons when my computer eventually takes a dump. I know, multiple backups... I'd rather have a hard copy CD.

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 16 Mar 2012 12:42 am

i use a usb key in my player while ridin'

Mat Davallet · Post by **Mat Davallet** » 16 Mar 2012 1:58 am

Every Crowbear's contribution is a gift for us...

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 16 Mar 2012 6:49 am

When I started doing my lessons, the only thought I had was that it would be all digital downloads. However, it was such a monumental task for me to get it all set up (I did it all myself and still do) that I went ahead and had DVD-Rs made of my first lesson. By the time I had gotten the download thing together, I sold out of DVD-r copies.

Even with my eBook, I had to have some hard copies printed for those who are not comfortable with the computer.

There is no problem with the download business and customers have nothing to worry about. If they have a computer crash or anything like that, my policy is they can download it as many times as they need. I have records of all purchases. The other thing is, I can charge less money for my products because I don't have the expenses that tangible goods have.

Nic du Toit · Post by **Nic du Toit** » 18 Mar 2012 11:21 am

my site at [ http://musicshop.etsga.org ] offers steel tracks, backtracks and steel tablature as downloads.

Bo Legg · Post by **Bo Legg** » 18 Mar 2012 1:23 pm

One single TablEdit file downloaded to your free Tef TablEdit is all you need to learn from any given tab.
You don't need a CD of a steel player playing the tab.
The reason most folks don't learn the tab is because they can't synchronize the tab to the CD and just give up. DVDs are not much better and certainly not worth the extra cost not to mention the time to produce them.
Where as with TablEdit a line moves from note to note in the notation and the tab as it plays the tab. Can't miss
The only reason I can see this is not done is because there seems to be IMHO an attitude of those few who produce and sell standard tab that the Icons of PSG will come down on them for teaching using tab (paint by numbers). So it is of no surprise that there is no trying to use anything that would improve tab or a change in attitude from “well I only produce this stuff because there are newbie’s out there who just insist”.

Stuart Legg · Post by **Stuart Legg** » 18 Mar 2012 1:55 pm

Here is a TablEdit file to download
"Bo's Steel Guitar Rag"
and here is the free Tefview TablEdit download.
Tefview

Bo Legg · Post by **Bo Legg** » 18 Mar 2012 2:12 pm

Don't get me wrong. I appreciate people who take time to produce tab.
I was just trying to say you get no appreciation from Icons of PSG and you certainly are not making money at it, so I don't blame you for not wanting to spend more time with it to produce something like TablEdit.

Fred Rushing · Post by **Fred Rushing** » 18 Mar 2012 3:31 pm

Bo what do you mean by a person can't sync the tab to the Cd?

Thanks Fred

Bo Legg · Post by **Bo Legg** » 18 Mar 2012 8:09 pm

synchronize: match phrasing note for note with the the CD.
You listen to the CD and then you look at the tab and try to repeat what you heard on the CD only to discover your PSG sounds like something totally different than what's on the CD.
This is because your phrasing is not right or you went too far ahead of the CD in the tab or or not far enough. So you try again to match what you are looking at on the tab with what you hear on the CD. Sometime you get on the second try sometime it may take a lot of tries and some time you just can't get it and you make up your own version.

The folks that really learn from tab are the ones that listen and try so many times to match the CD to the tab that they know the song so well they just give up and play it without the tab.

Wouldn't it be great if the tab had a line that moved along the tab note for note with the CD.
Boy oh Boy wouldn't that be a useful tool.

Fred Rushing · Post by **Fred Rushing** » 19 Mar 2012 10:26 am

Thanks Bo. That would be a great tool. I just never had the problem of syncing with the cd. Tab gave me the ability to see it while listening. I found it to be a very quick process but that is just my experience.

joe wright · Post by **joe wright** » 29 Apr 2012 9:26 am

There are plenty of downloads at www.pedalsteel.com.

The only thing that can't be downloaded are the multi-angle DVDs that I create. These allow you to hit you angle button on your remote and actually change the video you are looking at on the fly. I also use multiple audio tracks that allow you to hear the band and steel, just the steel, or just the band.

Everything else is available as digital downloads....joe

Mark van Allen · Post by **Mark van Allen** » 29 Apr 2012 10:15 am

I've posted about this before, but this looks like a good thread for a revisit, in answer to Bo mostly.

People learn, take in information and process it, in entirely different ways. Some learn best by having someone play where they can watch, and copy the movements (visual, and DVD friendly). Others must hear a phrase, match it by finding it themselves by ear (auditory, and probably good at the old-school style of record-copying). Still others must (kinesthetically) associate notes or chord positions with their own physical location on the guitar. (ever notice how many old used instruments have masking tape with chord/note names on the fingerboard? This is also the principal behind the popular "Fretlight" 6 string guitar system with lights embedded in the fingerboard).
Many of us learn through combinations of these approaches.

I have tried to study how students best learn and my conclusion is that the best stimulus for real bandstand application is to "load" our brains in the same ways we will perform live- using our "ear" to ascertain the chord progression and our place within it, and our "lick and pattern" memory to access phrases that fit the chords of the moment.

Learning entire songs from tab or memory is a recipe for disaster if someone gets lost, an extra solo is added, or any of the myriad occurrences that enliven bandstand playing ensue. Tab is great for loading the "lick memory" if the user understands the theory, usage, and placement of the individual ideas or licks within the larger structure of musical potential.

Of course this part of musical study is completely distinct from technique development, where Joe's foot, ankle, and fingering studies or Newman's "right Hand Alpha" address specific technical needs.

To sum up; apparently people desire different forms of content and delivery, and it's going to be pretty hard to please everyone.

I'm still getting orders from a large number of players who don't like computer transactions and want to pay via Postal Money order... digital delivery would not be an option for them.