The Steel Guitar Forum

Just a note..Herby if your reading..thanks...

For the past almost two years after taking off 12 years I have been basically just playing on the E9th neck. I do have past experinece playing on the C6 tuning but I think it was bad experience.Actually I know it was bad experinece and habits.

My approach for the C6 tuning has been very similar to my guitar playing for the past 40 years or so.., scales ,scales and more scales. This can be and is real boring to say the least. I hate it..but..

Many months ago I did purchase some C6 material from Herby after a discussion about what it is I wanted to do. herby's material is based on scales, chord positions etc..not learn a song and away you go.

I have been playing scales on the C6 neck up and down the fret board in the same practice manner that I do on guitar. Start at the third fret go up to the 12th in half step increments then back down to the 3rd. IF I make a mistake, I start all over at the 3rd fret and start again. Discipline I call it..maybe torture.

So whats my point today ? A recent thread asked when it all sunk in..well I'm not saying I arrived but this past week I started soloing over chords on the C6 neck as part of a normal practice seesion....things just stated happening..there they were right in front of me. Playing out of the scales and using the 5,6 and 7 pedals has become extremely fun !

I played a gig last night and started playing some of these things and ..yipes..it was happening..almost in tune..but happening still the same.

Whats my point..I'm sure many have already zoomed in on it.

Basics and rudimentery elements. Scales, scales and more scales, then chord positions up and down the neck.

The picking and blocking still have a long way to go but I think thats on the other side of the curve..

This C6 thing is really fun...

Thanks Herby..and I haven't even got half way thru the study material..I'm gonna save the other half for next year !

tp

Hey Tony,
Which course did you get that put it all together for you? I have 2 of Herbie's, but I haven't gotten on the ball with them yet.
Always glad to here of someone "seeing the light" after the hard work. It encourages those of us who ain't quite there.

Pat

Herby's material is excellent. I have both of his C6th courses. And can he ever rip it up on the C6th! He was at the gospel show in Indy this weekend and you should have heard him! wow!

Patrick, I believe Herby has two offerings, #1 and #2..pretty simple I guess..

I'm not saying that the other offerings from the other PROS's that are out there are not good, I'm sure they are. But what I was looking for appeared to be just what Herby had available. Herby even mailed me some extra stuff that he had prepared for these study programs.

One other obvious feature was the price, which I think is very reasonable for what it
offers.

PS, I was asked where I start my scales, I currently play them in two positions, with the root starting on the 8th string (A) and the 7th String (C) . My top sting is a D
( #1 ). Boy the power of that little puppy sure comes to life right about now...( Herby's material uses a G on top but thats not an issue at all ) Quite honestly, the way I see it now it really doesn't matter where you start your scales from the root, this tuning offers countless positions which all make sense..now...but for now, two will work as a general starting point for me..

And I do alternate pick with the thumb and 2nd finger.( thanks Uncle Doug for setting me straight here.) ( Actually he's Bobbe Seymour's Uncle, not mine )

I really hate all you accpmplished C6th players..you guys have know this stuff and been doing it for years..you dogs...and you said it made sense and was really quite simple..and you were right...

tp<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 05 May 2003 at 04:16 AM.]</p></FONT>

Thanks, Tony, Wish you & my daughter & family weren't so far away in NC. I must be gettin' old! I have to say that it was Jeff Newman (at Jim Thomson's workshop in Washington PA 1979) who insisted we all alternate thumb & second finger. Up til then no one had ever told me I wasn't doing it right??! The greatest C6th thing I ever learned (it seems) was when Bobbe showed me the 4 pick grips! (adding the 3rd finger pick for C6th modern chords) He'd sent a tape
to his Dad back in 1962, when I was still trying to be a dairy farmer. Brother Bob knew
I'd love it & forwarded it on to me. It had some of the greatest steel & lead guitar stuff on it I've ever heard! Many years later I asked Bobbe how to get that stuff. He took away my old Stevens bar, gave me one I thought I might be able to play with, added the 3rd pick, dropped the 8th string G on my Fender 400 to F! & showed me where to start! I'm gettin as long winded as that other guy from NY! Sorry 'bout that, but it's like Jack Dunnigan told me about a WWVA singer who was asked one time to cut his song shorter.....You cain't! It tells a story! You cain't stop in the middle! (You guys remember the sad ballads w/7 or 8 verses?)