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Topic: Pick Block Exercises |
Jim Hoke
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 22 Nov 2012 9:57 am |
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My Joe Wright exercises are coming along slowly. I need some different stuff to work on so can somebody please post a link to your favorite pick blocking exercises?
Thanks much. |
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Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 22 Nov 2012 1:37 pm
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I made the mistake of saving this as a PDF file instead of a word file, so the format is somewhat truncated, but it's a solid exercise in both pick blocking and bar control
_________________
Please visit my web site and Soundcloud page and listen to the music posted there.
http://www.mikeperlowin.com http://soundcloud.com/mike-perlowin |
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John Scanlon
From:
Jackson, Mississippi, USA
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Jim Hoke
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 22 Nov 2012 3:18 pm
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| Mike - I think I understand..... this exersise involves 4 notes- D, E, G and A. And the only time you hear D is the first note. After that, you're only going to hear E's, G's and A's, since you're going back and forth between hitting 5-no pedal at 5th Fr. and 5 w/ pedal at 3rd Fr. I'll work on it. Thanks. |
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Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 22 Nov 2012 5:42 pm
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| Jim Hoke wrote: |
| Mike - I think I understand..... this exersise involves 4 notes- D, E, G and A. And the only time you hear D is the first note. After that, you're only going to hear E's, G's and A's, since you're going back and forth between hitting 5-no pedal at 5th Fr. and 5 w/ pedal at 3rd Fr. I'll work on it. Thanks. |
That's not correct Jim. Look again. D note appears throughout the exercise every time the bar is on the 3rd fret, without the pedal.
The sequence is D (3rd fret no pedal, E (3rd fret w/ pedal,) G(4th string,3rd fret) E, (3rd fret w/pedal) D (3rd fret no pedal) then slide the bar to E (5th fret no pedal) A 4th string, 5th fret.
to continue, play the E on 5th string on the 5th fret, and slide the bar back to the D on the 3rd fret and then hit the pedal to go back to the E, then play the G on string 4, and repeat ad nauseum
_________________
Please visit my web site and Soundcloud page and listen to the music posted there.
http://www.mikeperlowin.com http://soundcloud.com/mike-perlowin |
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Jim Hoke
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 23 Nov 2012 6:47 am
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Thanks. I got it. One cycle is 8 eight-notes and the only time you pick the first note is at the beginning. After that it's a pedal move.
I'll work on that. |
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Jim Hoke
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 23 Nov 2012 6:50 am
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| John - thanks man. I'd forgotten about that great resource. I won't come out of cave for a while now. |
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James Morehead
From:
Prague, Oklahoma, USA - R.I.P.
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Posted 23 Nov 2012 9:04 am Re: Pick Block Exercises
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| Jim Hoke wrote: |
My Joe Wright exercises are coming along slowly. I need some different stuff to work on so can somebody please post a link to your favorite pick blocking exercises?
Thanks much. |
Wow, I've never seen it broken down easier than what Joe does. Stick with it until it becomes muscle memory, then take all of his excersises and palm block them. If your stuck, contact Joe and get some one on one through skype. Joe is a great teacher. The magic bullet is how much chair time you put in. Hope this helps.
_________________
"Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement"~old cowboy proverb.
shobud@windstream.net |
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Alex Cattaneo
From:
Quebec, Canada
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Posted 23 Nov 2012 10:37 am
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| Are Joe's pick blocking exercise available online? I really enjoy his videos on the Sierra website. |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 23 Nov 2012 12:43 pm
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If you've had much experience playing electric guitar at volume or playing classical guitar with some training, the transfer credits do apply... of course those four extra strings kinda have a mind of their own. 
The biggest single lesson is that the default setting for your fingers is resting on the strings, not up in the air.
Think crocodile, not vulture.... |
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Scott Swartz
From:
St. Louis, MO
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Posted 23 Nov 2012 9:50 pm
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Studying the Joe Wright pick blocking exercises was the single biggest progression in my playing over 30 years.
Play all possible 3 and 4 string (and beyond) patterns across the strings and you have the pattern for almost any musical passage.
Its similar to standard instruction on other long taught instruments - piano, violin, etc - start with the basic moves and then translate them to music. Violin teachers spend a lot of time on bowing technique before playing any complex tune, same principle.
This is oppposite of most steel instruction, ie heres the the lick from whatever.....
You can get to the same level from either direction I guess but if you put the time in on the basics it will pay huge dividends. I spent 4-5 months 2 hours a day on the exercises and at that point I could quickly learn any reasonable musical passsage quickly since the blocking was so natural, and it continues to this day. When I learn something new, I have options of how to play/block and I can pick the best one or play it different ways for a change/challenge.
For me I found that playing all the combinations with only pick blocking was possible but not always the best so I ended up practicing other blocking techinques as part of the study.
_________________
Scott Swartz
Steeltronics - Steel Guitar Pickups
www.steeltronics.com |
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John Alexander
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Posted 24 Nov 2012 2:53 am
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| Alex Cattaneo wrote: |
| Are Joe's pick blocking exercise available online? I really enjoy his videos on the Sierra website. |
Much of his teaching on picking and blocking, including some of the drills, can be found in the first couple lessons in the lap steel section of the lessons on the Sierra website. On Joe's own website you can buy inexpensive downloadable lessons and webcasts that cover the same and additional material in greater detail: www.pedalsteel.com. |
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