The Steel Guitar Forum

I’ve been at this thing for a couple of years now and it feels like my weak link, other than everything, is the left foot. I’m either accidentally leaving a bit of pressure on a pedal pulling a string sharp, or pressing A or B and leaking over to the other pedal a bit. Or not quite getting one all the way pushed.

I’ve thought up some exercises where I’ll press A, then roll B in, then roll A off, then no pedals. There’s a lot of things like that I can do.

Oddly one of my hobbies is riding bicycles, and I wonder if that has taken some flexibility away.

Anyway I don’t seem to see many folks here with that issue. Does anyone else struggle there? Do those types of exercises seem like the right approach to you experienced guys?

I would say only about 100% of everyone who’s ever played has had the difficulty you describe. It really is a matter of correct repetition, but it is contingent on properly positioning your foot and having the pedals set at the best operable height for you. Rolling the ankle on and off A and B (or B and C) is a great exercise, so keep it up. Wear the same shoes every time you practice too. And don’t bump into those knee levers.

I have a problem when trying to use the A pedal alone with the LKR lever.

I'm an old timer but my left foot pedaling of A and B has deteriorated over the last 10 years. But mine is medical, as I have chemo caused neuropathy. Sometimes I don't fully press the pedals as sometimes I'm going on instinct rather than feel.

I'VE ALWAYS PIAYED EMMONS SINCE STARTING. HAVE NOW PLAY KIND OF THE DAY SYSTEM. A IS NOW THE THIRD PEDAL WITH F IS DIRECTLY ABOVE IT OR LKR. LKL IS NOW Eb. 2 left foot ankle surgeries and diabetes causes a lot of playing problems. this system really helps. adj the pedal travel too little travel also helps. Being 75 does not help much. GOOD LUCK.

I keep looking for the best shoe for the pedals. Starting about 2.5 years ago I was having pedal trouble using my big foot running shoes (e.g., Skecher running shoes, 13-Wide). Just too much shoe sole was present and this interfered with the adjacent pedal. I then moved to my slippers which were narrow and started to feel much more comfortable and offered me 'better pedal aiming'. This really helped. But now after about 2-years of using slippers, I was finding that I was not always depressing the pedal fully, although my aiming accuracy was much better. Recently I tried going back to an actual shoe that has more support (firmer) on the sole, as compared to the softer slipper base. There was a big improvement in fully depressing the pedal. That, along with my 'pedal aiming' accuracy now being more acceptable from learning with the slippers, I feel more comfortable. This progression just happened to work for me. Try some different shoes. Some people go barefoot (I can't do that). Ultimately it is practice and muscle learning. Being firm with your pedals. This is a very physical instrument to play. (Just my $.02).

You need to get you a pair of these genuine woose moccasins.:

Richard Stoops wrote:I have a problem when trying to use the A pedal alone with the LKR lever.

That move is in the Winnie book, followed with a resolve to A+B while sustaining. This means that the left foot must be in position to engage B while staying off it. There is no instruction on how to do it. Guess that’s what teachers are for. It is not possible for me to roll my ankle left and lean my knee right in this circumstance. If somebody could do a video on how to do that one I would be very happy.

The only way I can lean my knee to the right while engaging A without mashing onto B is to go up on tiptoe with my left foot and turn my heel outward (away from B). Then I resolve it to A+B one fret down by angling the foot back toward B enough so that part of my shoe hits the pedal while dropping the heel back down, if that makes sense.