The Steel Guitar Forum

Been trying to play this thing for loong time still have trouble blocking my notes cleanly. Might be old age now. Anybody got any suggestions to help? Appreciate any help.

Joe Wrights 32 moves video made a huge difference for me. The Sierra site has a video on it for free and he sells a video in his site.

Thanks Doug

Terry, I've been at this a few years now and I've learnt two things:-

1. pick-blocking and palm-blocking are both necessary skills so you need to work on both. I would look at Jeff Newman for the palm and (yes) Joe Wright for the fingers. Although the two men's hand positions are very different, you can still combine the principles.

2. rather than thinking of blocking as a separate action at the end of a note or chord, think of it as the preparation for the next - a rest position.

This all takes time and I'm not totally reliable yet. I'll be 70 this year but I still think I'm improving slowly. Keep up the good work!

Thanks Ian.

Hi Terry,

Joe Wright has great material on learning pick-blocking.

If you're trying to learn palm-blocking, I can send you (at no charge) a written step-by-step explanation and a series of exercises I wrote years ago for a couple of students.

If you're interested, send me an email via the SGF so I have your email address.

- Dave

Hi Terry!

I am a newbie and been playing PSG for about a year and a half. I had the same issues you are having. I could not block worth a ----. Came across Joe Wright's technique bundle and worked on his 32 moves, and other techniques he teaches, and nothing else for about 2 hours a day for about 3-4 months. Very very slowly first, as Joe emphasizes, and then gradually increasing the speed. Please find the most comfortable/relaxed position of your hand. I found that for me Joe's hand position works best with a little change for both pick and palm blocking.

Hand shape is personal - you can only copy a successful player if your hand is exactly the same shape and size as theirs.
You have to absorb the principles and then adapt them to what works for you.

You might want to look at the Paul Franklin course for E9. He not only teaches blocking but the exercises he provides, Permutations, are uses in actual music (songs) and are VERY helpful for improvising. He does a pretty slow demonstration of blocking that's very easy to follow.

Thanks guys, I ran across Zane Kings free courses on speed picking. He explains his palm and pick blocking, with very good exercises. Is there anyone any faster picking that Zane? If I can just get up to a 1/4 of his speed I'll be a happy camper Yes sir re.

I'm not so bothered about speed. What I strive for is cleanliness and accuracy. As with other instruments, speed will follow at its own - er - speed.