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Topic: New Guitar and a gig |
Bobby Nelson
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 29 Aug 2017 2:15 pm |
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I Ordered a new MSA Legend XL on the 24th. 9 pedals and 5 knee levers - 6 months down the road. Meanwhile, My old old buddy and band-mate (since teen years) has offered me a gig with a honkytonk thing he wants to put together in Oct or Nov. I took this up in May after more than 10 yrs off-stage. I can ear stuff out pretty well but, when I start the play-a-long, I completely loose almost every bit of it and start trying to do two note stuff that at least keeps up with the chord structure haha. I know I am going to suck out loud, But! I also know that the stage is the greatest teacher. I'll be playing the gig on the D8 National console as the pedal steel won't be ready until Feb or so. Any advice That may lessen the suckiness haha? I know he only offered this to me because he knows that
I know this stuff better than anyone else he can find around here for this kind of gig (a street level baroom). |
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Bill Terry
From:
Bastrop, TX
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Posted 30 Aug 2017 4:50 am
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I did basically the same thing. I was playing guitar in a country band and the steel guitar bug bit. After about a month or so, I'd learned to mash A-B and play I-IV-V so I started gigging with it. I just played what I knew how to play; simple songs, but I tried very hard to play in tune and stay off the vocals. The band thought I was great..  |
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Bryan Daste
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Fred Treece
From:
California, USA
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Posted 31 Aug 2017 9:03 am
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Good advice from the other posters. I have a couple cents to add.
Don't pretend you are playing a mini MSA Legend. Just play lap steel like it was meant to be played - tasteful use of slides and volume pedal, pick hand blocking, mix double and triple stops in with your single notes, throw in a slant here and there. If the key of the song allows for some open strings, use them with hammer-ons and pull-offs.
Work with your amp to get the tone that will make your National sound its best.
Practice up for the gig with a metronome or backing tracks.
If you are going to play both necks, have an idea for which songs will work out better on one or the other, and stay on it for the whole song. At least until you can switch necks without missing a beat.
Best advice I can give is don't be shy with your pick attack - play like you mean it. Keep it simple and play the song. |
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Gary Cosden
From:
Florida, USA
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Posted 31 Aug 2017 9:35 am
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| A simple thing I know but I would recommend doing all your practicing at volume through an amp. The closer you come to the way you're going to sound live the better. |
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Bobby Nelson
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 1 Sep 2017 1:57 am
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All great advice fellas! Thanks. I told him where I'm at w/it so, if he here's a little steel here and there, he'll be happy. He said he's got fiddle, guitar and piano to help with the "heavy lifting" so, that's a relief.
I particularly like the "It's not a mini MSA Legend" Fred. I've always approached this like a pedal steel because that's where I was headed from the start. So, I started off right from the bat w/bar slants and have found some neat stuff - but it is a non-pedal after all. The biggest challenge in the stuff he sent me is going to be Invitation To The Blues, which I believe was Jimmy Day But, most of the other things are obviously E9 pedal stuff - and very heavy on the pedals. I'll work something simple for them.
The biggest challenge is going to be keeping my ADD at bay haha! He sent me about 5 songs to work on and There Stands The Glass is the only one that was played on lap, but I find myself wanting to throw C6 chord stuff in it haha. I still haven't really found a tuning I'm using much for the front neck as I can do almost all of it with the C6 - I'm still looking. I'm gonna chant the best piece of advice here from you guys: Keep it simple; Keep it simple Keep it simple haha!Thanks again ya'll |
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Bobby Nelson
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 1 Sep 2017 2:01 am
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| Gary, I am doing it at volume when I can but, my wife is sensitive to loudness and I have to keep it quiet when she's here. I have a few nights while she is at work but sometimes, it's kinda hard to get into it after 12 hrs hard work. Thanks. |
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Bobby Nelson
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 1 Sep 2017 12:56 pm
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| Been doing a little thinking and practicing today and have come up with an idea that may seem a little wacky to some of you: I have tuned my front neck specifically to get some dominant 7th & 9th chords I was having a hard time finding on C6. This problem I'm sure will be solved when I receive the pedal steel but, for the moment, what I'm doing is toggling back and forth from the C6 (where I do most of my playing) and the front neck with the extended, 7th variety of chords when I need them. I don't know exactly what the specific tuning is because I just started this today but, strings 1-4 are tuned like a 1st position (or inversion, if you like) 9th chord on a 6-string guitar: 1=9th, 2=7th, 3=3rd, 4=root. Anyone do this before? It has given me some room to work with the chord building. I'm sure if I had more time, I could learn a new tuning but, it wasn't really happening to fast for me and I'm very comfortable (for the most part) w/C6. |
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Bobby Nelson
From:
North Carolina, USA
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Posted 1 Sep 2017 1:54 pm
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| Been doing a little thinking and practicing today and have come up with an idea that may seem a little wacky to some of you: I have tuned my front neck specifically to get some dominant 7th & 9th chords I was having a hard time finding on C6. This problem I'm sure will be solved when I receive the pedal steel but, for the moment, what I'm doing is toggling back and forth from the C6 (where I do most of my playing) and the front neck with the extended, 7th variety of chords when I need them. I don't know exactly what the specific tuning is because I just started this today but, strings 1-4 are tuned like a 1st position (or inversion, if you like) 9th chord on a 6-string guitar: 1=9th, 2=7th, 3=3rd, 4=root. Anyone do this before? It has given me some room to work with the chord building. I'm sure if I had more time, I could learn a new tuning but, it wasn't really happening to fast for me and I'm very comfortable (for the most part) w/C6. |
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