The Steel Guitar Forum

I was wondering if anyone else didn't play the Nashville way or use their established tunings? I was raised on the west coast and listened to Ralph Mooney, Noel Boggs, Tom Brumley, Joaquin Murphy, Billy Mize (Town Hall Party), Sneaky Pete Kleinow among others on the coast. I've alway liked the west coast sound better and the way the non pedal players on the WC did their thing. I played the U-12 for many years and last year went to a simple 12 string tuning with some basic changes and couldn't be happier. A lot of the players out there did it different. I've lived in Virginia for 16 years now and most of the players I've heard on the east coast are rubber stamps of each other with different degrees of proficiency......(:


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Livin' in the Past and the Future with a 12 string Mooney tuning.

I agree with you 100%. God bless those that walk to a different beat and god bless Ralph Mooney!

If you told any guitar player, or any other instrument player, that they needed two separate necks, or two separate horns or whatever, to play country or swing/jazz, they'd think you were... (I don't know, I'll tell a few guitarist that and see what they say).

This instrument is less than 100 years old and still in developement.

That's the beauty of it!
You can do whatever you want with it!!!

From Sneaky Pete to BE or PF or strictly a tab player.

It's all good Jerry (Springer).

I don't think it's as much tuning as it is approach. Though a particular tuning will allow you to find some characteristic phrases right under your fingers, the music that pleases you has a stronger part in shaping how you play.

If all you listen to for inspiration is steel guitar, I think that you run the risk of developing an "inbred" style. The fewer the players that inspire you, the more inbred it can be.

Recently, I've played a couple of gigs with the Deadbeats, a Grateful Dead-style band. I approach the music much like Garcia would play the _guitar_, and I play the _song_. I listen to the whole band and play what might fit, contrast, amuse, or inspire. I take a phrase and develop it and turn it inside out. It's a very freeing framework to be playing in, and a pleasant contrast to the 4-bar kickoff and splitting a solo with the guitar player. I really do love, though, kicking off a Buck Owens shuffle and doing my best to sound like Ralph on those early records.

I play a 12-string extended E9. It doesn't necessarily make me play Nashville style--though that style _is_ right under my fingers any time I please, after years in the honky-tonks. But, when I play country, I draw from all the players that have inspired me, and though you can probably tell by listening to me who some my heroes have been along the way, I think I sound like me.

I use the same approach that Pete describes, and I also play Extended E9th.

I hear a big difference between players who have taken the Jeff Newman courses and players (like me) who have not. I really don't know the standard Nashville style very well. My fingers play different patterns. I think that players who came up through Jeff's lessons have a much better handle on the Nashville style.

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<small><img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (F Diatonic) Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6)<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Bobby Lee on 02 May 2002 at 08:50 AM.]</p></FONT>

What is the "standard Nashville style" anyway? One might say that from a technical point of view it started about 40 years ago with two pedals (AB)and one knee lever (E to Eb); everything else was added later. I don´t think it depends that much on the tuning; even on a fairly standard, let´s say, 3 and 4 setup there are a lot of things that can be done that sound very un-Nashville. I have nothing unusual either, except maybe the high E to F#, and my listening background (mostly country rock and West coast) kind of steered me into a different direction right from the start.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Joe Henry on 02 May 2002 at 02:57 PM.]</p></FONT>

Let me say this...I've been told I have a very unique approach in my playing. However, if I had to classify my own style, I'd say it's 1/3 Nashville, 1/3 WestCoast, and 1/3 me! Most people who have heard Ralph Mooney play the style that he played behind Haggard (his "signature" style) have no idea what the man was capable of! This style is what made him famous, but he was far better at just "playing it straight" (IMHO). I have a record by Gary Dean that he cut on back about 1961 (that probably <u>nobody</u> else has) that still knocks me out when I listen to it. The "Bakersfield Sound" is still one of my big influences. Too bad more people don't appreciate it.

Also, let me add that Buddy Charleton was <u>always</u> one of my favorite players, and he's only about an hour away. As much as I'd like to take some one-on-one lessons from him (to learn what everyone else is doing), I'm also afraid that it might cause me to lose some of my own unique style. <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Donny Hinson on 02 May 2002 at 06:03 PM.]</p></FONT>

donny!!
charleton CAN & WILL teach you anything you wanna know about PSG dont be afraid you might just learn the old school from him. he is and always will be one of the best . with his own style not nashburg or bakersfield CHARLTONVILLE my frend !!!!

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AL (BOO) Miller
mullen D10
65 EMMONS P/P D-10

Donny H. .... Would you be speaking of Gary Dean on Liberty # 55455 ?
The Right Kind Of Love or Old Standby?
I've got about 400 tunes that the Moon cut.
A friend ask me the other day " do you like that music because Moon is your friend?"
I said I love that sound! I really enjoy 99.5 % of the singers from that era! (W.Coast)
just ramblin, regards, fred

<SMALL>What is the "standard Nashville style" anyway?</SMALL>

I know it when I hear it! I think it has a lot to do with the way that the first two strings are used, and with grips. It's not about pedals, because I have the same pedals as everyone else but I can't seem to get that that style.

I really think that Jeff Newman holds the key here. People who learned from Jeff have no problem playing Nashville style. I sort of taught myself most of what I know, and my picking patterns and grips are sort of different somehow.

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<small><img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (F Diatonic) Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6)<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Bobby Lee on 02 May 2002 at 07:47 PM.]</p></FONT>

My $.02:

Although I play E9th tuning, frequently I don't approach it in the "Nashville way". A lot of my playing sounds like "old style C6th" because I use the B6th component of the E9th tuning more than many players do. I just enjoy that sound so I like to work it into my playing. As a matter of fact I've set my guitars up to lower string 9 a half-tone on the same knee lever that lowers strings 4 and 8 just because it gives me a quick B6th. And I certainly don't just play country music; I enjoy playing swing, blues, old pop tunes, standards, hymns, and an occasional rock oldie. There are many non-country, non-Nashville songs that seem to fall into place rather handily on the E9th tuning.

Tim R.

I'm like b0b in the fact that I sort of taught myself what I know.....I always tried to be able to play anything on steel that I could on guitar and vice versa. I learned some Ventures instrumentals on steel and do some steel stuff on guitar. I just miss the diversity in the players back home. It just seems to be more standardized back here and not as much experimentation. I think there's always been a rivalry between Nashville and the Left Coast and that's a good healthy thing. The only thing I've ever tried to play like the record was "Together Again" because it's perfect! My bottom two strings on my steel are just like the bottom two on my lead guitar, A & E..............Have a good 'un..

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Livin' in the Past and the Future with a 12 string Mooney tuning.

I took the C6th tuning and related pull rods off my back neck last year and now use it strictly for experimental purposes.
After deciding on a new tuning I start from scratch forgetting the Nashville sound entirely. I bought a t&d set so that I can customize pull rods for my changes.
The particular tuning on there now is one I came up with over the past month and it shows great promise for classical and fingerstyle.
There is a link to my tuning samples. Look for Classical and Flamenco Steel Guitar thread under Steel Players if you care to have a listen.
Having said all this I should note that I have my top neck D9th for the Nashville Sound because I still love to play it and always will.
I admire and respect those who really dare to be different ie Mike Perlowin, bOb to name a few. I would not be playing if I couldn't do my own thing although it has not always been that way with me.
Steel Guitar and Music mean more to me now than ever before.

Roy
"To Slide or Not To Slide" <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Roy Thomson on 03 May 2002 at 07:56 AM.]</p></FONT><FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Roy Thomson on 03 May 2002 at 07:56 AM.]</p></FONT>

Personaly, I think the Nashville way was lost in Nashville about ten years ago. Do your own thing!