The Steel Guitar Forum

During this stay at home time I'm taking this opportunity to look through some old instructional material (I guess I probably have everything except woodshed stuff that Jeff put out),,,stuff that I'm sure I didn't give enough time to when I got it. Anyway,,,looking through "Just Play The Melody",,,first 4-5 pages of scales,(waaaay too boring to have spent much time on,,, LOL),,,then 3-4 pages of examples of how these scales are used to construct beautiful melodies of familiar songs,,,Jeff was amazing! Just the first 6-8 pages of this course would be a great foundation for someone to begin on PSG,,,,and take a person a long way down the road to being very proficient. KUDOS to Jeff,,,again!

I have been slowly going through that course during this shutdown. It has really opened my eyes to being able to play melodies. Jeff was the real deal!

I used the shutdown to try learning the back neck. I dug out 2 courses I had never used, Jeff Newman’s C6 Workshop and Buddy Emmons titled Basic C6.

Jeff’s DVD, he spends some time talking you out of being intimidated by the C6 tuning. “Those old boys didn’t know anything about chords...etc”. With in a short span he’s got you playing along with tracks and having fun with it. There is a pocket where you are free to improvise called “the boy am I lost scale” that works over any song. End result, he gets you over the hump and having fun on the C6 neck. Highly recommended.

Buddy’s course is great too, but completely different. “This tuning is harder to learn than the E9”. He’s very detail oriented and it is an in depth approach to understanding the tuning, the pedals, and there is tab for intros and solos. At first glance, it is intimidating.

I’m glad to have had the Jeff Newman course to warm me up to C6, before diving into Buddy’s detail oriented approach.
Now I like the back neck! Thank you Jeff.
John

Yes,,,PSG instruction materials may come and go,,,but for well thought out material that will help you become a player (maybe not a Nashville session man) it is hard to beat what ole Jeff did.
While going through some old stuff I came across an old,,,20-25 year old set list,,,just for fun I worked up,,in a very short period of time intro's for the first 12-15 songs on that list,,using ONLY the material covered in the first few pages of "Just Play The Melody". I must say they are some very tasteful intros,,,what more could you ask for.

You are correct Sonny, its hard to beat ANYTHING ole Jeff done.
He was a friend.

John Goux wrote: Now I like the back neck!

Welcome aboard, John.

WARNING! - it's even more addictive than the other one

Is there a 12 step program for necks?
J

I've had a lot of fortunate occasions that helped me grow as a player, but probably the two most significant were:
1. going to a club in Mansville New Jersey in 1975 and being introduced to Russ Powell, who even back then was just a super, pro level player.
2. Russ Powell saying to me that night "there's this guy from Nashville who goes around the country doing steel guitar seminars, he's doing one out in Pennsylvania next week and you should really go"
A week later and a 2 1/2 hour drive in a major rainstorm I was sitting in a music store in a town I can't even remember having my mind blown by Jeff Newman. Thankfully it was a straight up beginners course and I learned all the fundamentals that I still used to this day.
God bless Jeff Newman!

A big thanks to Jeff Newman. I had played a single neck and was on the fence trying to decide if I should get a double neck or consider the U-12. I sent for Jeff's VHS tape on the 12 string Universal and have been playing his basic U-12 set up with a few additions. Very good information and explanation on this tape. Cool!

I think it cost $350 for a week at Jeffran in 1980 plus the room and board. Best money I ever spent. Every so often even now, some aspect of his teaching will hit me over the head. I'm still learning from Jeff 40 yrs. later.

Besides the teaching, the association with other pro players that visited the classroom, the Nashville scene, the recording experience and general steel guitar atmosphere was and still is priceless.

All of that and just watching and listening to Jeff play further enhanced the experience.

Fred Justice wrote:You are correct Sonny, its hard to beat ANYTHING ole Jeff done.
He was a friend.

Newman's tab is the greatest: large, emphatic, clean . . . the only one I enjoy using. He explains things clearly and thoroughly too.

Is it safe to test the water again with Jeffran? I'm getting mailers with specials every week and am tempted.

(My order a couple of years ago worked out well, but I've read horror storied on the Forum since then.)

I've had no problems what so ever with ordering,,in fact she has bent over backwards to accommodate. I've had several very frank discussions with her,,mainly because I personally want to see Jeff's legacy and contribution to the PSG world live on honorably. I wouldn't hesitate to order something.

She got me for about $200.00 last year on two orders plus I pre*paid for some picks (3 pair), I wont be back

She got me for about $200.00 last year on two orders plus I pre*paid for some picks (3 pair), I wont be back

I got a hold of his old course, Music To Steel By.

I feel like, if a person can play each of these songs well, he is then able to play a decent part on any traditional country song. These are songs, not licks but the positions are all there along with excellent phrasing.

These kinds of things, to me are more valuable than his videos, even though his videos are very good.