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Topic: Played my first lap steel gig today |
Loren Tilley
From:
Maui, Hawaii
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Posted 22 Oct 2016 10:37 pm |
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| So after a year or so trying to learn, I played my first real lap steel gig today. Played a 1930s Rick bakelite through a little Roland amp, along with a bass player and a guitarist (who is also a great steel guitar player himself). All Hawaiian style songs plus Sleepwalk. I loved it, although I brought my sheet music with so I feel like I cheated a bit on that. I can remember not really that long ago having a tough time holding the round bar, and the finger picks seeming impossible--glad to be through that stage of the learning process! I've gotten a lot of information, tips, and even instruments from forum members, so thanks everybody for the information and encouragement that all your posts have provided. Mahalo! |
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Jeff Mead
From:
London, England
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Posted 22 Oct 2016 11:50 pm Re: Played my first lap steel gig today
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| Loren Tilley wrote: |
| So after a year or so trying to learn, I played my first real lap steel gig today. Played a 1930s Rick bakelite through a little Roland amp, along with a bass player and a guitarist (who is also a great steel guitar player himself). All Hawaiian style songs plus Sleepwalk. I loved it, although I brought my sheet music with so I feel like I cheated a bit on that. I can remember not really that long ago having a tough time holding the round bar, and the finger picks seeming impossible--glad to be through that stage of the learning process! I've gotten a lot of information, tips, and even instruments from forum members, so thanks everybody for the information and encouragement that all your posts have provided. Mahalo! |
Congratulations. First gig a year after learning is pretty good going. I think my first lap steel gig was a bit sooner than that but I only used it on one song so it doesn't really count 
The more you play live, the better you'll get and it won't be long before you can leave the sheet music at home (try to play without it as soon as possible or it could get to be a crutch that is hard to get rid of). I gig is easily worth 10 practice sessions - for starters, you can't stop and start again if you make a mistake and getting out of tight corners is an important lesson to learn. |
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Paul Honeycutt
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 23 Oct 2016 10:04 am
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Congrats. That's a big step.
I'm working on a set for next year's HSGA convention. While I've played Dobro & Lap Steel in other tunings, I haven't played C6 in public, especially in front of some people who can actually play real well! |
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George Keoki Lake
From:
Edmonton, AB., Canada
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Posted 23 Oct 2016 8:01 pm
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I guess (at 88+) I'm from the old school as I still prefer the E13th over the C6th. If I do use the C6th on rare occasions, I tune it one-half step lower to B6th which puts the chord of C on the first fret, etc. Great for songs like "Steelin' the Blues" as the rest of the gang are playing in the easy key of C instead of Db.
Amazing the progress you have made in such a short time ! Also, I can read music (notation), but I do prefer to wing-it without the burden of written music. Just train your ear and you'll get it ! |
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Steven Tekulsky
From:
New York, USA
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Posted 27 Oct 2016 6:04 am Lap Steel
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Congratulations! I have also been playing lap steel, a little less than a year, and while I have played it a few times at some open mics......and very quietly.....sat in with a local band (2 guitars, bass, fiddle and drummer) at a fall festival and played on 4 songs....."Blues Stay Away From Me", "Abilene", "Mind Your Own Business" and "Jambalaya"....some simple solos. Played a Peavey Powerslide with a reverb pedal through the PA system......I'm 63, have played guitar (though not exceptionally well) since I was 8...and only started performing in public the past year.....loving the lap steel, and have been teaching myself an E9 pedal steel....not quite ready for public performance yet, but perhaps next summer.
Any suggestions for a small, light amp to play the lap steel through at gigs? |
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Loren Tilley
From:
Maui, Hawaii
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Posted 29 Oct 2016 12:47 pm
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| For the amp, it seems like many here in Hawaii have taken to the small Roland amps. It seems the ideal here is small and light, and most players I've talked to like small speakers. Some really good players here just have a direct in box and just plug into the PA. I guess I still prefer some tubes and I have a fender Princeton reissue that I like best, although carrying a Roland micro cube is tough to beat. |
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