The Steel Guitar Forum

Who in your opinion is the fastest,cleanest
single note player in the world today?


S---K
Wayne Broyles

Sarah Chang

Tommy White,Mike Smith, Paul Franklin, Terry Crisp.

Larry

Tommy White !

Carl West
Emmons LaGrand lll

Since the speed limit for human repetative action is around 11 cycles per second, there is an upper limit to all of this. As an aside, this accounted for some of the fascination with early electronic music in so far as synthesizers could play notes faster than humans had heard, also credits to Conlon Nancarrow and his player piano rolls.

HUH ?????????????

What Larry said! plus Jay Dee!

Tommy White, hands down!!!!

How about Doug Jernigan?

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Steelin' Greetings
Marco Schouten
Sho-Bud Pro III Custom

Wally Murphy too !!!!!!!!!!!!

Joe Wright is a flash also !!!!!!!

No doubt all the above players might be.
Herbie Wallace came to mind first for me.

Now that I think it, about Joe Wright must have the edge, due to using 3 fingers and thumb.

Useless discussion, but not my first (or last).

<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Joey Ace on 28 April 2002 at 07:38 AM.]</p></FONT>

Paul Franklin!

And the cleanest IMO. Tommy White is a close second.

carl

WHO CARES?

All the players you mention use speed in composing a solo. It is a means to introduce tension and excitement. They play as fast as they need to. This ain't the old west, folks, this is artistic expression.

. . . at least that's what I THOUGHT.
(guess I could be wrong)

I would have to vote for Herby Wallace. He plays as clean as it gets.

Hey Slick, the way I interpret your question,
I can pick a single note as fast as anyone. But, on the other hand I'm only a half-fast picker. (You knew that was coming -- right?)<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Bob Farlow on 28 April 2002 at 09:10 AM.]</p></FONT>

For pickin fast the Chinese Pipa players are much faster than anybody.

here is the site of a player that has been tearing it up on the new music scene:
www.wumanpipa.org/wumanpipa/us/html/home.html

here is a quote from a Pipa site:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:</font><HR><SMALL>Plucking techniques involve every finger of the right hand, but most frequently the thumb and index finger. Standard strokes include tan, a rightwards pluck with the index finger, and tiao, a stroke in the opposite direction with the thumb. When these strokes are repeated in quick succession the resulting tremolo is termed gun, literally "roll." A second mode of producing a sustained tone is called lun, or "wheel." This technique involves plucking the string alternately and continuously with all the fingers in rapid and smooth succession.
</SMALL><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

the Chinese Barbara Mandrell?


Lets not forget Robert Randolph when it comes to fast playing.

Bob <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Bob Hoffnar on 28 April 2002 at 09:32 AM.]</p></FONT><FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Bob Hoffnar on 28 April 2002 at 09:35 AM.]</p></FONT>

Hey Bob,
I knew it was coming,just didnt know when.
I suppose it really doesn't matter who is the
fastest,cleanest picker on earth,i just wanted to hear some expert opinions.All the stellers mentioned above play at speeds that
to me seem humanly impossible.If i could only
learn to pick block.WHOOPS!!

Wayne Broyles

Well Duh! It's gotta be the guy playin' the BLACK steel right? Besides, if there's anyone who can play faster than Doug J. I don't want to know about it!

I wish I could play like that... and then I wouldn't.

I guess any good player could do somewhere between 12 and 18 notes/second if he was doing a 3-string roll...maybe even a little faster. Same thing for a single string roll using a thumb and 2 finger picks. There are many different picking techniques, and each has the edge somewhere. Playing small clusters of very fast notes for a second or two is far easier than keeping that pace up for longer periods. Lead players and banjo players just seem to be better than steel players at this. The picking techniques should transfer, but they normally don't. After a few bars, even the best steelers seem to have to "stop and re-group".

Speed has always been one of the benchmarks of an outstanding player, no matter what instrument he plays. Literally thousands can play the slow stuff really pretty. But when the tune calls for really "hot licks", that's where the exceptional players shine.

Also, before I get slammed by the cognoscenti, let me add that speed has very little to do with popularity or success. The really hot players are playing far above the heads of the average person. The only ones who recognize and appreciate these abilities are other musicians. (John Q. Public hasn't a clue.)
As I've said many times, style outsells sheer ability. In fact, a unique style is often the best ability.

<SMALL>Literally thousands can play the slow stuff really pretty. But when the tune calls for really "hot licks", that's where the exceptional players shine.</SMALL>

Donny, there's an opposite school of thought (isn't there always?) that says that lots of people can play fast, but when the tune calls for a ballad, that's where the exceptional players shine. I tend to subscribe to that.

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The "Master of Acceptable Tone"
www.jimcohen.com

<SMALL> After a few bars, even the best steelers seem to have to "stop and re-group".</SMALL>

What if that was because they noticed that they weren't being musical? I can't help but wonder about the quantity vs quality issues, if I paid a $10 admission and the steel player played 100 notes, then each note cost me 10 cents, but if he played 1000 notes, each cost me a penny and I really got my moneys worth.

Well, I didn't say a player had to play a gazillion notes in every song!

Sheesh!

But, when they have the ability, I sure like to see it once in awhile. Sure, a part of being a good musician is knowing what to play, and when to play it. We all start off playing slow, and then we accomplish the speed part after some years of practice...most of us, anyway. Then good ol' "Mother Nature" steps in (with old age), and says "Ah-ah-ah...you can't do that anymore!"

And that's why most of us old guys like the slow stuff. (LOL!)

<SMALL>Topic: FASTEST PICKER ??? </SMALL>

I'd say that the Latino lettuce pickers in the San Joaquin Valley of California are among the fastest, considering the size of some of those heads of lettuce;___don't know why anyone would want to pick a steel guitar extremely fast.

For my taste, anything ever played extremely fast on a steel guitar would have always sounded much better letting the lead guitarist play it. They can usually do it much faster anyway.

Rick