The Steel Guitar Forum

Howdy, I want to learn how to play "just the melody". I've been playing a year and a half, but I've always been a bass player, not really a "lead" player. I'm not use to picking out a melody on an instrument. Can Mr. Newman teach even a moron like me to pull the melody from a song when it's my turn to solo? Those of you who have ordered the course, please enlighten me!! Thanks in advance for your time everyone!!

Chris - You can't go wrong with any instructional material you buy from Jeff. Just Play The Melody is an excellent introduction to scales on the pedal steel. He introduces three different ways to play the C scale and offers several practice exercises. Obviously, he explains how to transpose this to other keys. As I remember, he also provides tab for several standards using the material he has covered.

You will find this course to be invaluable for playing melodies but also for developing or copying fills and licks. Everything we do on this lead instrument involves scales in some form or another. The sooner we learn them the better player we become (just MHO).

Mr. Smith, thank you kindly good sir. I'll give it a shot. Seeing as how I've been gigging for a year of the year and a half I've been playing, it's about time I learned how to find a melody!! The scales I probably know, but I suspect applying them is what I need practice on (hopefully Mr. Newman has some luck with with my thick scull).

I have said before that Newman has some good courses but don't get the "Just Jamin" until you understand chord structures. His "Jamin" course doesn't tell you what chord you are playing and therefore you need to understand music theory to know what chord you are playing.

Also, there was another thread on the forum concerning "playing the melody" as opposed to "playing around the melody". The singer I am with now insists that I play "around" the melody instead of playing the acutal meleody. When playing an instrumental, I of course do play the melody.

Chris:
I have the Newman course "Just Play the Melody" and it is a very good course, as are most all of his courses. Dave pretty well hit the nail on the head with what the course contains.

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Rebel™
ICQ 614585

http://users.interlinks.net/rebel/steel/steel.html

Just play the melody is a very good course...I learned a lot from it...

Thanks guys, I ordered it a couple days after my first post, it's already in my mail box!! Can't wait to dig in!!

Does anyone know the best Jeff Newman instruction for scales, fills, and or runs. New to steel and could use alot of fill help