The Steel Guitar Forum

I am selling all of my stuff because I can not play like _____. I have heard this time and time again from players.

My comment is always the same, "so just play like you". Have some fun, make some friends, bring a smile to the faces of others, and call it a day. Selling your gear and quitting because you can not sound like Buddy is crazy. Find some personal joy and run towards it, not away from it.

What brought you to the steel in the first place? Ok then, learn to love the sounds you make. If you need help there are a lot of us out here to help you at every turn.

Most of the really good Players try to develop their own style.

So very true. In my experience, the biggest hurdle was getting accustomed to playing with a bar and finger picks, and making some kind of tolerable sound come out of the amplifier. Once you get past that point, progress is much more rapid. Still can't speed pick like the pros I look up to, but I'm developing my own style and enjoying the hell out of it!

Very true, Larry.

A few years ago I went to hear a small band and they were playing some 50-60's-style Country music. There was a steel player playing a double-neck Sierra guitar. While they were playing, he was doing whole-note padding for most of the songs. It caught my ear and was some of the most beautiful, impressive playing I heard.

Many times a steel player can really "fill in the holes" with band by just knowing simple chord placements, playing sustains.

The Wisconsin and Iowa shows are a testament to the friendships that are made among steel players. What a great catalyst the steel guitar is. During my set in Wisconsin, I've been having a guy play during my set, and while very nervous, he has a great time.

"Noodling In Triads" (SM) All Rights Reserved.

You can learn basics, but you have to be yourself.

one time at the sound check, sound man told me after we were done with the sound check "you can play pretty good" I said "I'm ok, I can get the job done, but I'm no Paul Franklin or Lloyd Green lol"...he looked at me, and said " why would you want to be Paul Franklin or Lloyd Green? we already have one of each" I thought about what he said, and ever since I just play what I feel, and enjoy music"...

When I hear even a half decent piano or trumpet player they seem to blow away even the best steel players in terms of coordination, dexterity, timing and memory. YouTube is loaded with players that can blow most of us away. For me I like the whole process of arranging and recording songs. Having a day job and keeping music as a hobby means I don't have to compete with anyone else musically. Music is a great hobby! Read Paul Yandell's recent biography for a lot or perspective on this.

What Damir said. At one point in one of my many steel chats with Mike Auldridge (I STILL miss him: what a great guy), we were talking about some album Buddy was all over, I'd said something like "I don't know if this seems egotistical, but I don't think I'd have put that lick there."
Mike said "not egotistical at all. It shows you're developing your own approach, and there's not a damn thing wrong with having ideas of your own."
Everything I play is made up of licks most of us have learned by the time we're five years in (in combination with snippets of melody; either part of the song we're playing or a similar song-I like dropping Girl From Ipanema into Heart Over Mind), the people that like what I play just like the way I arrange it.
The smart thing to do is mine other people's playing for licks you can use. I STILL go back to a thirty year old tape of Vern Collins and Cross Country and swipe some Larry Behm licks.

It's usually wrong to think you'll ever be able to play like Buddy, Paul, or Tommy. These guys have spent their entire lives doing what they do, and you shouldn't expect similar results unless you've invested similar time and made similar sacrifices. But, as long as you enjoy what you're doing, you should continue. Maybe you need a different approach, or a live teacher who'll teach you what you want to do. (Contrary to what you might hear sometimes, you can play a ton of good music without learning a lot of scales and theory.) Play what you like, do what you can do, and try to improve and refine it, even if it's just a little.

So...you can't play like Buddy, Paul, or Tommy? So what? I got news for 'ya, neither could Pete Drake or Ralph Mooney.

Quit because I can't play like someone else?
Hmmmm.
I don't even have a style of my own yet.
To me I sound a bit like two cats fighting in a garbage can.
I am thrilled to be able to play anything. This little slab of wood helps me keep my head on straight.
Sounding like someone else never entered my mind let alone make sense to me.
For me it's a hobby and a therapy of sorts. It is just fun. That's all I need.

Larry Carlson wrote: To me I sound a bit like two cats fighting in a garbage can.

Hey - that's MY style!

I almost gave up. Was about 7 years ago. From that point onward I was determined to play my way and not feel the need to fill anyone else's shoes.

Hang on there. I took up pedal steel partly because there were a million guitarists out there who could blow my socks off.
Are you telling me there's a million steel players out there, too?
Should I take up men-only quilting??

Reminds me of a story of watching the Jerry Douglas Band tear it up at a Bay Area show about 13 years ago. For context, this is during the time when Barry Bonds was still on the San Francisco Giants and hitting the crap out of a baseball on a regular basis.

There were a few of us dobro/steel players sharing a table. At the conclusion of the show one of the guys turns to me and says, "now I'm gonna go home and burn my dobros in the fireplace."

Obviously he was kidding, but as a basis for comparison I said to him, "if you play on an amateur hardball or softball team and you go to a Giants game and Bonds hits a couple out of the park, do you say to the guy next to you, 'when I get home I'm gonna use my bats for firewood?' Of course you don't - and this isn't really all that different."

Larry, seeing the title of this thread with your name next to it gave me a scare! I thought you were giving up...definitely not the Larry I know But you're so right - steel guitar is a personal journey that takes time and SHOULD lead to "you being you." Anyway, even if you could succeed in learning to imitate another player exactly, what's the point of that? Now, I will sit down and transcribe a song I like from time to time in order to learn the steel parts, but the idea is to take the sounds I heard & liked and integrate them into MY playing style...not to become the other player!

Bryan Daste wrote: Anyway, even if you could succeed in learning to imitate another player exactly, what's the point of that?

If the devil whispered into my ear, "okay buddy - give me a portion of your soul and I will give you the ability to play like Lloyd Green" - I'd be thinking real hard about it.

But since it's not going to happen and it's a moot point, then I'll just do the best I can with what I've got. And it will never sound like Lloyd Green.

The guy Larry speaks of should quit. I don't know that person, or Larry for that matter, but I think the guy should quit. If playing the steel is not bringing him/her some happy sauce, then take up some other hobby, like golf or something. See how easy it is to play golf like Arnold Palmer.
Another thing. Playing steel is not easy. Yes, some take to it better than others, but it's not easy. You got both sides of the brain & body working, plus music theory if thats your bag, plus electronics, plus loud bandmates if thats your thing, there is alot going on as we all well know.
Play like Buddy? He made it look easy, like... Arnold Palmer.
So, you want to play the steel,? Give it your best shot! Just remember, it aint' easy like lifting a fork.
Oh yeah one more thing. It's not about me. It's about Larry's friend.

Anyway, even if you could succeed in learning to imitate another player exactly, what's the point of that?

There is alot to that point Bryan.
Does anyone get started because they want to sound like Buddy Angelotti ? I'd be flattered if they did but there's a better chance of .. you get the point. Does anyone get started because they want to sound like Buddy Emmons ? Much more likely. Again golf as an example. Lotsa folks started golf because they wanted to play like _____.
So, IMHOP, give the guy a break Larry. He tried, but for whatever reason, it didn't get him satisfaction.
Hey - I think there's a song in there! Maybe I'll try songwriting!

On second thought, were I to make a deal with the devil to be able to play like Lloyd Green, I think he would require my entire soul - not just a portion - as well as that of my first born son.

this a good post needed to be said

I cant play like buddy I just play like myself

ive done well the last 36 years that way

as said above develop your own style...

mike

There are some good answers here that make sense.
A while back I had a long detailed conversation with Buddy about what Greg just said..we had agreed on several things that horn guys cannot do like going into single note mode, then chords,,, just for openers. Also, sustain, and for some , feeling.
Buddy also said when asked about playing some types of music, "it's not where I live".
I think there are many steel players and guitar players that are equal to these horn guys .

Donny Hinson wrote:It's usually wrong to think you'll ever be able to play like Buddy, Paul, or Tommy. These guys have spent their entire lives doing what they do, and you shouldn't expect similar results unless you've invested similar time and made similar sacrifices. But, as long as you enjoy what you're doing, you should continue. Maybe you need a different approach, or a live teacher who'll teach you what you want to do. (Contrary to what you might hear sometimes, you can play a ton of good music without learning a lot of scales and theory.) Play what you like, do what you can do, and try to improve and refine it, even if it's just a little.

So...you can't play like Buddy, Paul, or Tommy? So what? I got news for 'ya, neither could Pete Drake or Ralph Mooney.

I really thank Donny for this post. Dale

Donny - great post.

I trust that Ernie Renn will not mind me sharing this email Buddy Emmons sent to me back in 2010. These are questions Ernie asked Buddy; Big E sent me these answers in jest the next day:


Q: What's it like being considered the BEST in the world?
A: Pretty damned good for somebody who doesn't play.

Q: What did it take?
A: All it took was quitting. I'm getting more recognition now than I did
when I was playing.

Q: Any regrets?
A: None at all. I wish I would have quit sooner.

I wanted to play like the Great Jack Smith's cousin, Jerry Hall. He played an Emmons Push-Pull just as good as any steel player I've ever heard. To watch him record in the studio, double and triple tracking with harmonies at lightning speed absolutely blew me away. Sometimes between sessions, he would have me set my MSA S-10, 3&1 up next to him and show me licks that I still use today. Jack Smith told me in an email once, that Jerry encouraged him to get a pedal steel and taught him to play. I love all the great players, Weldon, Buddy, Sneaky, Drake, Cage, Perkins, even Garcia, but JERRY HALL was and always will be my favorite. R.I.P. my friend, I wanted to burn my steel, but I'm sure glad I didn't.

If everybody sounded like Buddy Emmons or any other great you care to name,there would be no one else to reference their greatness with.Usain Bolt's greatness lies in the fact that the sprinters he competes with are great too.I know this is an inexact analogy because music appreciation is more subjective.All good musicians appreciate others because they know what's required to get there as in any field of endeavor.Somebody said don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Satchel Paige advised to not look over your shoulder as somebody might be gaining on you.Most likely the greats won't be playing in your town,but you will be.There are plenty of greats nobody ever heard of.[/u]