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Topic: Anybody play Pedal Steel with Flatpick? |
Sonny Miller
From:
Lino Lakes, Minnesota, USA
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Posted 26 Feb 2005 10:38 pm |
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Because of one thing or another i started using a straight pick , and gradually am getting better at it. . Does anyone else use a flatpick too?
I found that the bigger picks make the best steel picks for me.[This message was edited by Sonny Miller on 26 February 2005 at 10:40 PM.] |
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Kevin Hatton
From:
Buffalo, N.Y.
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Posted 27 Feb 2005 1:30 am
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| No. |
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Michael Johnstone
From:
Sylmar,Ca. USA
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Posted 27 Feb 2005 2:35 am
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| You're not gonna have much luck trying to play like that. |
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Rick Schmidt
From:
Prescott AZ, USA
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Posted 27 Feb 2005 2:37 am
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| Junior Brown and Dick Meiss |
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Gary Lee Gimble
From:
Fredericksburg, VA.
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Posted 27 Feb 2005 4:07 am
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| Sid Hudson |
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Joey Ace
From:
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 27 Feb 2005 4:15 am
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Dick Meiss played the main stage of the ISGC in 1999.
Scotty pointed out that he was using a flat pick.
Otherwise you couldn't tell. Very traditional sounding.
He uses the grip that is common among Tele players.
Flat Pick held between Index and Thumb.
There's a good photo of him at the Carter Site: http://www.steelguitar.com/webpix/showpix/isgc99px/isgc9907.htm [This message was edited by Joey Ace on 27 February 2005 at 04:22 AM.] |
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Earl Foote
From:
Houston, Tx, USA
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Posted 27 Feb 2005 5:57 am
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| I do when I'm playing guitar and I jump to the steel for a quick part. (Don't want to take the time to put on finger picks and then take them back off for guitar) |
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Jody Carver
From:
KNIGHT OF FENDER TWEED
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Posted 27 Feb 2005 6:06 am
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| The late and great Alvino Rey. |
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Bob Blair
From:
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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Posted 27 Feb 2005 8:39 am
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Using a flat pick as well as two fingerpicks like Dick does is one thing - it allows you do do the traditional thumb & two finger stuff, the difference being that the fingerpicks are on the middle and ring fingers. Works great for Dick, as anyone who's seen him play can attest to - fantastic player. But not for everyone that's for sure.
Just using a flatpick would be quite another thing - it would change everything about how the right hand works, and would be very limiting. I showed up at an afternoon soundcheck many years back without my picks, so I limped through with a flatpick. No one outside the band except the drummer's girlfriend seemed to notice (she noticed the different sound resulting from the different attack) but I sure as heck did. Not something I would do on purpose! |
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Al Marcus
From:
Cedar Springs,MI USA (deceased)
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Posted 27 Feb 2005 8:40 am
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Jody-Good to see you.You got it! I have seen Alvino Rey doing it going back and forth between the Steel and the guitar. He strummed chords a lot.......al  .
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My Website..... www.cmedic.net/~almarcus/
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 27 Feb 2005 9:37 am
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I play guitar the Dick Meis/Junior Brown way with a flatpick and two fingerpicks (middle, ring), which causes no end of problems when I play both guitar and steel (thumbpick + index, middle, ring fingerpicks) on the same tune. I'm just not gonna retread 38 years of guitar flatpicking, so I'm learning to play basic stuff on steel using flatpick + 2 fingerpicks.
Since I normally have 4 fingers available when I play steel, 3 feels limited, but then again, a lot if not most people play with 3. Another issue is that, for me at least, index and middle as a pair are innately stronger than middle and ring.
I thought about this when I started playing steel several years ago, and deliberately made the move to go to the thumbpick in spite of the fact that I already liked the flatpick/fingerpick thing. I haven't regretted that decision at all, but there are times I want to play both guitar and steel without switching. When I do this (not that often), I just use a normal Fender 351 - shaped pick. It feels awkward, but I'll probably get used to it.
I agree with Bob Blair, just a flatpick (no fingers at all) would be very limiting for me. |
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Mark van Allen
From:
Watkinsville, Ga. USA
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Posted 27 Feb 2005 9:58 am
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When I first started playing, I talked to Maurice Anderson about picks after a seminar he held and he implied that it was foolish not to use three fingerpicks, since we have so many fingers! I worked on that for a good year before deciding it just wasn't for me. Around that same time I saw a guy at a jam session playing a Maverick (barefoot, no shirt, and overalls) and just tearing it up using a flatpick. Somewhere in there I got the lesson about how personal the approach to playing is, and that what's valid is what works...
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Stop by the Steel Store at: www.markvanallen.com
[This message was edited by Mark van Allen on 27 February 2005 at 09:59 AM.] |
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Tom Stolaski
From:
Huntsville, AL, USA
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Posted 27 Feb 2005 10:25 am
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| Junior Brown is very good on pedal steel and he uses a flat pick & two finger picks... |
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John McGann
From:
Boston, Massachusetts, USA * R.I.P.
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Posted 27 Feb 2005 11:13 am
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3 fingerpicks allow you to get grips otherwise unattainable on steel- C6th strings 8 6 5 3 for an open Am7 chord being one of my bread and butter voicings...and can morph from there into m7b5, m7 11, etc. etc. I couldn't go back to two picks because I hear chord voicings that I need three picks for...on the other hand, two are enough for most of the great players, so whaddo I know anyway. MMMV
A flatpick seems logical for single note and strums, but if you didn't use the other fingers as well your choices would be pretty limited IMHO.
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http://www.johnmcgann.com
Info for musicians, transcribers, technique tips and fun stuff. Joaquin Murphey transcription book, Rhythm Tuneup DVD and more...
[This message was edited by John McGann on 27 February 2005 at 11:17 AM.] |
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Chris Bauer
From:
Nashville, TN USA
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Posted 27 Feb 2005 11:16 am
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| And, of course, Tut Taylor killed on Dobro using a flatpick. |
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Bob Blair
From:
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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Posted 27 Feb 2005 11:20 am
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| What Dave is saying has always made sense to me - if a person is moving back and forth between six-string and steel and uses a flatpick and two fingerpicks to play six-string the reasons for playing steel that way too are pretty clear. I don't like fingerpicks for six-string, try as I might, but if I did, given that I like a flatpick, I'd be open to trying steel that way. I'm a big admirer of both Dick Meis and Junior Brown, and if I could move back and forth between steel and guitar seamlessly the way they do I'd be pretty happy. |
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Sonny Miller
From:
Lino Lakes, Minnesota, USA
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Posted 27 Feb 2005 11:44 am
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I am trying to add a finger pick to the flatpick as i go along.
Anyway , i am glad i am not alone, as the Classic Country comes thru really nice with that flatpick.
Thanks for the good information as i now feel alot better about using a flatpick. |
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Rick Schmidt
From:
Prescott AZ, USA
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 27 Feb 2005 5:23 pm
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"Junior Brown is very good on pedal steel and he uses a flat pick & two finger picks..."
Yes, the man can play, can't he?
Rick, I guess I need to check those Sharktooth picks out, thanks. I have some of these Fred Kelly Bumblebee picks, which are pretty good, tight-fitting fingerpick/flatpicks. The only issue I have with any of these is that it's awkard to grab onto the pick for flatpicking with an index fingerpick on. But I'll probably get used to it. |
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Jerry Erickson
From:
Atlanta,IL 61723
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Posted 27 Feb 2005 8:19 pm
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| Penn Pennington, who plays guitar with Jack Green, uses a thumb pick and four finger picks. |
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Leslie Ehrlich
From:
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
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Posted 27 Feb 2005 11:13 pm
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| I've used a flatpick for single note solos and power chords, but I find that picks of any kind make PSG sound too 'tinny'. I usually just play with my bare fingers. |
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Jerry Hayes
From:
Virginia Beach, Va.
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Posted 28 Feb 2005 4:43 am
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I can't remember his name but a very good player who used to work with Eddie Rabbitt played steel with a thumbpick and finger picks on his middle and ring fingers. It seems like he was originally a guitar player who used a flatpick and two fingerpicks and when he learned steel he just dropped the flatpick in favor of a thumbpick but left the finger picks where they were. He can be seen on Eddie's video of "On Second Thought" playing an old Bigsby but I've seen him on TNN with Eddie and someone else. Personally I have always played both guitar and steel with a thumb and fingerpicks. As far as the 3rd fingerpick. In the late 70's Deckley Steels came to LA for the NAMM show and had the late great Tommy Roots as their company rep and player. He came to the club I was working and played some using 3 finger picks. He was really talking about how great it was using three picks but the next time I saw Tommy at Scotty's a few years later he was only using two fingerpicks like everyone else....JH in Va.
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Livin' in the Past and Future with a 12 string Mooney Universal tuning.
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Sonny Priddy
From:
Elizabethtown, Kentucky, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 28 Feb 2005 6:52 pm
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Boogie Sherrard Plays Steel with A Flat pick And Does A Great Job. SONNY.
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Jay Jessup
From:
Charlottesville, VA, USA
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Posted 1 Mar 2005 6:48 am
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| Danny Gatton |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 1 Mar 2005 10:51 am
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When this thread started a few days ago, I decided to give it a try. I don't mind switching from flatpick to thumbpick and three fingerpicks when I change instruments, but I've got to have that flatpick for standard guitar. I've always used my (naked) middle and ring fingers sort of half-assed on standard guitar, but I had never really tried to get that Brent Mason/Albert Lee thing going.
The first thing I noticed was that while holding a flatpick, the angle of the blades of my regular middle and ring finger steel guitar fingerpicks seemed wrong (I use both Kysers and reissue Nationals). I had to hold my hand really oddly to hit the strings straight on without a gruesome scraping noise. I had some extra Kysers, so I bent two up especially for use with a flatpick and it really helps - the blades are both curved up like Newmans, and tilted way over towards my thumb (when looking at my palm), so that they hit the strings flat.
I haven't got organized about practicing patterns yet, but it already seems as though I can pick every note on a few things I used to just hammer and pull. Those guys must have got to where they are by starting somewhere.... It's hard for me to see how it would be any advantage on steel though, except as a way to play both instruments onstage in the same song. |
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