Secondary Instrument

[Corbin Pratt]

What does everyone think is the best secondary instrument? Lap steel, dobro, keys, mando, banjo, etc. I play guitar as well, but most groups I play in already have guitar players so I'm exploring other options.

[Curt Trisko]

What does everyone think is the best secondary instrument? Lap steel, dobro, keys, mando, banjo, etc. I play guitar as well, but most groups I play in already have guitar players so I'm exploring other options.

For hobby bands, I am coming to learn more and more that it is percussion. For small acoustic folk/country music groups, percussion seems to be the afterthought and it is a great thing for a steel player to supply on songs that don't need steel guitar. For full electrified bands, finding a reliable drummer who is willing to play what the songs need seems to be constant struggle.

[Corbin Pratt]

Very interesting Curt. That never crossed my mind. I assume you mean shakers or tambourines?

[Mike Perlowin]

fiddle and/or mandolin.

[Curt Trisko]

Very interesting Curt. That never crossed my mind. I assume you mean shakers or tambourines?

For the quiet music, yes that and the assortment of other handheld percussion instruments. I think having a cajon and knowing how to play it would really come in handy for those situations too. For the rest, I'm talking about learning to drum enough to be able to hop behind a kit on the fly.

[Len Amaral]

Mandolin, I'm getting one very soon.

[Tom Dillon]

Fiddle

[Dom Franco]

Get a leslie/organ simulator... It's like a completely different instrument that is small and easy to carry.

A little bit of practice is required to play keyboard parts on the steel. (It's better not to mash the pedals) Just play backing chords and lines and all of a sudden you can be playing Jazz, Rock, blues etc.

I was able to get tons of gigs because I played through a leslie speaker and "could double on organ" when the song wasn't "country" or just didn't need pedal steel.

[Fred Treece]

Percussion is a good, interesting choice. Bongos or conga. I wish I had a set up I could just bang away on sometimes.

It’s kind of dangerous to say around here, but banjo is an excellent choice imo. The picking hand technique is very similar, and you could leave your picks on. I don’t play one, but a banjo picker friend of mine once said, “it’s just a funny-sounding, funny-tuned guitar”.

[Mike Perlowin]

It’s kind of dangerous to say around here, but banjo is an excellent choice imo. The picking hand technique is very similar, and you could leave your picks on. I don’t play one, but a banjo picker friend of mine once said, “it’s just a funny-sounding, funny-tuned guitar”.

You're misspelling it. Over here, the correct spelling is "bango."

[Ian Rae]

Trumpet. Let me explain. In our band the bass player sometimes changes to acoustic guitar and I go on to bass. When we do Roxanne, I do a 16-bar jazzy intro on trumpet before I pick up the bass. Apparently this is the best thing I do. But they still appreciate my steel playing. Apparently.

[Curt Trisko]

Percussion is a good, interesting choice. Bongos or conga. I wish I had a set up I could just bang away on sometimes.

The other responses appear to be focused on instruments involving transferable skills. My comment about percussion is strictly based on what I have found is most likely to make you useful and welcomed for more casual playing.

[Anthony Campbell]

While a secondary instrument sounds fun in theory, unless you're getting paid for two player's cuts, schlepping twice the amount of gear isn't very fun.

This is from personal experience.

I usually say "pick one" to people who say I should bring more than one thing to practice or a show, and it's always keys/organ.

[Dave Mudgett]

I think what has the highest "utility" depends on the playing context.

Of course, guitar is ubiquitous - but a lot of steel players play guitar. And if you play pedal steel, why not transfer some skills to the nonpedal context?

But for someone wanting to be more versatile and marketable in a country music context, I'd definitely say fiddle. Good country/bluegrass fiddle players are hard to find. I wish I played, but with everything else I do, it's too late for me to start. And if you play fiddle and guitar, you might as well play mandolin since it's laid out like a fiddle and uses picking technique similar to most guitar players. And banjo does frequently creep into even mainstream country music.

Style-independent, I'd say bass and drums. I play enough of both to function at a basic level if I need to, and I think I know enough to evaluate whether or not I'm really dealing with a good bass player or drummer. To me, bass and drums are the key to a good band, at least in the styles of music I prefer to play.

But almost any mainstream instrument is worthy. Keyboards are the key to understanding music theory IMO. I did 8 years of piano before I switched to guitar. I can still play some, but have never really worked on it since. Woodwinds/brass like sax and trumpet (and many others) are generally welcome in many musical contexts. If I want to think about how to compose melodic solos, I listen to horn players. And to me, that's a good enough reason to learn an instrument - to let it channel you.

But I, personally, can only take on so many varied instruments without becoming a total dilettante. So for me it's guitar, steel, banjo, bass, and drums. I started to play mandolin in the 90s, but in the end, I prefer the others.

[Paul Sutherland]

Lap steel is a piece of cake. It may force you to work on slants, but that's not a bad thing. The rest of the techniques are virtually the same. It can be amplified to whatever volume is needed without feedback issues. And you can probably use the same amp. I just use the second channel on a Fender amp. It also doesn't take up much stage space. I just lean it against whatever is handy. My lap is not a high value instrument so a little road wear is not much of an issue for me.

Dobro requires more techniques that are unique to the instrument. Simple stuff is no problem, but if you want to sound like Jerry Douglas, good luck. The main problem I encountered with dobro is feedback. If the stage volume of the band is too high the cone starts oscillating and you're done. I've spent a lot of money buying the best equipment available and still can't use the instrument except with acoustic instrument oriented bands. Plus it's a lot of extra gear to haul.

As has been mentioned before, Banjo uses a lot of the same right hand technique as PSG, and you already have your picks on. I can get my banjo very loud and can keep up with almost any band. But it does involve bringing more gear to the gig. Banjo is heard in a lot of modern country music, if that's what you want to, or have to play. The power guitar still plays all the solos, etc., but the banjo is in the background providing texture.

[Greg Forsyth]

I like Fred's suggestion - congas and bongos. Add the Irish Bodhran to that.

[Chris Willingham]

Another vote for fiddle! I'm biased tho I'm usually playing at least three instruments on a gig. Lotta fun for the show. Sucks to haul everything, but I've gotten used to it.

It's really fun to take steel licks and move them to another instrument and vice versa. Sometimes it works well and sometimes it doesn't, but it's opened up new, different ways of thinking, musically, for me at least.

[Asa Brosius]

I think it's pretty genre dependent- often steel is the secondary instrument. In my world, there's an assumption that if you're a steel guy, you can operate a dobro/lap steel as well, and probably strum an acoustic.
Generally, for utility person stuff- I'd say the ubiquitous Nord keyboard would be a smart move- synth/string pads, EP sounds, piano/organ, maybe percussion triggers.

[Fred Treece]

Curt mentioned the term “transferable skills”. Fiddle...? It is not an instrument a guitar or steel player can just pick up and start playing - at least not this one. Unless you already play, and play well, please don’t subject your band mates to the horrors of bad fiddle. “Bango” is definitely the much simpler choice.

[Glenn Suchan]

I'd have to say, harmonica. Easy to carry enough 'harps' to cover all keys plus a good mic to plug into the house mains. Besides, everyone enjoys a harmonica player, right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSQvsb2sFdE


Keep on pickin'!
Glenn

[Rick Barnhart]

Don’t we all play bass?

[Dave Mudgett]

Don’t we all play bass?

Maybe - but most guitar players don't play bass well. My experience, anyway. Dear Lord, please spare me from the guitar players who play lead bass in the context where a real bass player is needed.

[Fred Treece]

Plus, shouldn’t there already be a bass player in the band if you’re playing steel?

[Dave Mudgett]

Plus, shouldn’t there already be a bass player in the band if you’re playing steel?

Not always. Sometimes I'll do a semi-acoustic thing with a singer/guitarist and no bass player, but there might be songs on which a bass is needed more than guitar or steel. And I sometimes need to play bass when the bass player doesn't show up - mostly rehearsals but not always. My take is that bass is sometimes more important than steel.

There was a blues duo around here - harp and guitar - who actually preferred to call me to play drums than a real drummer. I'm not good enough to overplay. Ha! But I can keep time, and it was usually just snare and hat. I keep a bop kit set up in my garage.

[Rick Barnhart]

This particular forum is home to such talent, someone once joked that there are guys on here who play lefty bass, as a hobby.