The Steel Guitar Forum

New member here with a few questions.
After wanting to learn for 60 years (I'm 69), I went out and picked up a lap steel. Started with a Rogue RLS-1, GHS C6 strings, Line 6 Spider IV amp, and Dunlap picks / tone bar. Also, a tuning meter. I know I have an OK start on gear but here's the thing... I 've never played a musical instrument in my life and haven't a clue how or where to start.
Has anyone out there tried The Troy'sLessons or other programs out there? Do any of the online programs/videos actually teach anything? Do I need to learn how to read music right away? I figured if there's people who could advise, I'd find them here. Any help would be appreciated.

I would suggest you get some of Andy's Books to start.

I'd recommend "Explorings C6th"

https://www.volkmediabooks.com

It covers everything from how to hold the bar, picks to use, tunings, examples, players, history and has all the info you need to make some start with clear guidance.

His book has the time to cover everything you need to know that videos can't. Then when you watch a video it will click and make sense much more easily.
Eventually you will be able to along to pretty much play along to your standard songs.

C6th - 6 string is a start and it will guide you through how to approach the instrument easily.

I finished the book and still refer to it for common steel approaches.

Disclaimer - there are 2 approaches to steel like guitar
One of grabbing what is easy and works by ear and constantly re-tuning for different songs vs actually knowing what to play.

Andy's books, as there are many others will give you some insight into playing and knowing what you are playing.

You don't need to know music to play an instrument but if you do learn along the way you will be a far better player than those who can't in a much shorter space of time but it will be a much slower start.

I followed a similar path, only I had some flat-top experience and knowledge of open tunings. I'm still a beginner, so keep that in mind.

I learned a lot from the Lessons With Troy products and I think it's a good start. I recommend picking one tuning and sticking to it until you can actually play a tune. The earlier "basics" lessons that include jam tracks and tablature helped me the most; the later lessons without the tab were much less helpful for me in the early stages.

Whatever tuning you pick, study the fretboard layout early on: learn where the root, III, IV, and V reside on every string.

Also experiment with steels and picks, I discovered that my predetermined preferences weren't always the best.

have fun though.

Thanks guys. I appreciate the advice.

I also highly recommend Lessons with Troy. Great place to begin as well as listen to examples of different tunings to see where you want to start. There are three main tunings to choose from at the beginning: G Tuning, D Tuning and C6. (there are others of course, but those have the most teaching materials). Troy provides examples of each and you can determine where you want to go from there. G tuning is a great first tuning. I played it on a Dobro for years before going electric. D tuning is great for blues, rock, David Lindley type playing. C6 for hawaiian and country generally (there are no hard and fast rules here. You can literally play any genre on any tuning, but some tunings lend themselves to one tuning over another).

Second decision is what type of bar: you have the choice of a Steven type dobro bar or a round nose bar. A round nose bar is great for moving across the strings (while the stevens bar can easily become stuck when moving across the fretboard), but isn't easy to lift off the strings and do fast hammer on and pull offs that you find in bluegrass music. A stevens bar lets you easily lift the bar and do fast hammer ons and pull offs, but is not very fluid with it comes to moving smoothly across the strings. Again, your music choice will determine which bar is best.

As has been said: learn to play with fingerpicks. You can always learn to play without them later, but you want to be able to do both.

That should get you started.

Lessons with Troy will get you playing songs and licks with no prior musical knowledge. I have musical skills but still used this source as a means to start.

Another vote for Troy for "day one" lap steel lessons.

I started with Dewitt Scott, Rob Haines' and Andy Volk's books, but it would be easier if you could have somebody local to you let you borrow a few different bars, i think some new players like I was buy a bunch and end up not using a lot of them (I like the grey Latch lake tho it's very frictiony and Shubb's SP2.

The forum shop has a good selection of DVD's books etc

https://www.steelguitarshopper.com/lap-steel-dobro/

When you buy a new device of any kind do you;
a) sit down with the manual, read it cover to cover, and only then start working on it,
or
b) put the manual aside, figure things out on your own, and only refer to the manual or the Internet, when you run into trouble?

If you are an “a”, then follow the lesson plans step by step, (probably use C6 tuning) and make slow but steady progress. The learning curve is steeper, but you will likely be proficient sooner. The downside is that it might be a while before you feel like you’re making music.

If you are a “b” and tend to lose patience when you get frustrated, learn an open tuning like G or D. Feel free to take shortcuts and do things your own way, as you will be playing music much sooner. HOWEVER, you will eventually want to learn all the stuff that you skipped over.

Most people here will tell you to “do it right the first time”. Get a teacher. Follow the lesson plans. Those people are right… the exception being if you’re the kind of person who will just stash your lap steel in a closet, and forget that it’s even there, if the road to learning looks too bumpy. In which case learning whatever way feels easier is still infinitely preferable to not learning at all.

Either way, you won’t go wrong with Andy Volk’s books or Troy’s online lessons.

Allan Revich wrote:When you buy a new device of any kind do you;
a) sit down with the manual, read it cover to cover, and only then start working on it,
or
b) put the manual aside, figure things out on your own, and only refer to the manual or the Internet, when you run into trouble?

If you are an “a”, then follow the lesson plans step by step, (probably use C6 tuning) and make slow but steady progress. The learning curve is steeper, but you will likely be proficient sooner. The downside is that it might be a while before you feel like you’re making music.

If you are a “b” and tend to lose patience when you get frustrated, learn an open tuning like G or D. Feel free to take shortcuts and do things your own way, as you will be playing music much sooner. HOWEVER, you will eventually want to learn all the stuff that you skipped over.

Most people here will tell you to “do it right the first time”. Get a teacher. Follow the lesson plans. Those people are right… the exception being if you’re the kind of person who will just stash your lap steel in a closet, and forget that it’s even there, if the road to learning looks too bumpy. In which case learning whatever way feels easier is still infinitely preferable to not learning at all.

Either way, you won’t go wrong with Andy Volk’s books or Troy’s online lessons.

Allan hit the nail on the head. Bump this. Well said

A "word" on bullet bars: yes, you will drop it when you first try to play with one, but after a while, you will notice that you haven't dropped it lately. It's an "Oh, I get it moment."
The thing is, with a Stevens bar, you grip the bar between middle finger and thumb, like tongs. Do that with a bullet bar and it will pop out like a melon seed.
With the bullet bar, you have to get contact, and when your hands are dry in winter, traction becomes an issue.
However, there is no reason why you cannot lift the bar off the strings without changing grip. Here's a post I wrote about the method, a relaxed, good contact grip.


https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtop ... levitation

Another new member here but I’ll add my endorsement of Troy’s lessons and Andy Volk’s book and I’d add Doug Beaumier’s two tune books for C6 tuning. I always find it helps to have some familiar tunes in straightforward arrangements to work on to help make sense of the theory. Doug’s books do that nicely especially if you’re a type b (great post by Allan!).

I’ve been playing some type of instrument for almost 60 years. I picked up dobro in G tuning last year and added lap steel in C6 this summer. Arthritis in my left hand has restricted my guitar playing but dobro, lap steel, and the banjo will keep me going as long as the right hand holds up. I started with Troy for dobro and his videos gave me the bug for a lap steel. At first I played it in open D but got the itch to try C6. It’s definitely harder but I’m having a blast with it.

Wallace, what kind of music do you want to play? Knowing what music you might play will help to narrow down what tuning to start with.