Jeff Newman, again

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

I have not said this in a while.

He was a genius.

I met Jeff several times thru the years, even attended a few seminars. He was quite the character !

Now I didn't start my PSG journey with Jeff , his material or his seminars, but what he has done for me over the long haul was to connect the dots with things I never thought about.

Jeff had a very soft approach for beginners, no doubt, but what he also possessed was the ability to take what someone may already know and rework it , connect the dots so to speak.

For ex, (paraphrase) I see you already know how to do X ,Y and Z, why not try it this way because the relationships are the same.

He was quite witty as well.

I recall one time , along with John Fabian, I attend a Jeff Seminar for the afternoon. Jeff had the entire class playing in A, some nice rudiments . I decided to play in the OPEN A position,( AB PEDS down ).

He came out from behind his Steel, stopped the class and picked on me , he said ' Now T you can't play in A at the open fret because Steel guitars are not in true tune at the open fret with the AB Peds". John F laughed and said , "now you've done it".

But, I looked at Jeff and said, "but I'm tuned to 442".

Jeff quickly said " "If you're tuned to 442 don't forget to use the open A Position with the AB Peds in "

Then he looked at me and said, "You, ( pause) can go home now ".

Huge loss to the SG community.

John as well.
_________________
Emmons L-II , Fender Telecasters, B-Benders
Pro Tools 12 on WIN 7 !
jobless- but not homeless- now retired 9 years

CURRENT MUSIC TRACKS AT > https://tprior2241.wixsite.com/website

Sonny Jenkins · From: Texas Masonic Retirement Center,,,Arlington Tx

Jeff was a great,,,if not the greatest steel guitar teacher,,,very analytical and precise, a natural born teacher!!! While he encouraged asking questions, he was expert at making you feel like a fool.

I'm proud to be the owner of the Kline he owned and played on the 1983 convention in St Louis

RIP Jeff

Richard Tipple · From: Ohio, USA

Jeff was my mentor. I remember at one of his seminars the 1st thing Jeff did was, put a trash can on his desk, told all of us to wad up a piece of paper & try to make the can from our desk. Very Happy

I have almost all of Jeffs teaching materials to this day, from over 30 years ago & would not part with any of it.

I remember having talks with Jeff after some of his seminars about flying ultra light planes as I was flying ultra lights too. Soon after Jeffs terrible accident, I sold my planes & gave up ultra light flying for good.

Jeff had a way of teaching that was never done by others. He taught what was going to happen before even trying to learn it Smile

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steelguitarguy.com

Mike Archer · From: church hill tn

he was tops in every way to me

and he was smart and funny and has taught so many the proper way to play he is so missed by all

my fav line was "don't hit the second string

there your guitar will self destruct"

so funny and true mike Very Happy

_________________
Mullen sd10
Nashville 400 amp
Tele/ fender deluxe

Jeff Garden · From: Center Sandwich, New Hampshire, USA

I took a week with Jeff back in the 1980's and had a great time. I was flying military helicopters at the time...on our breaks he wanted to know everything about flying a helicopter and I wanted to know everything about pedal steel. We were never at a loss for things to talk about.
And another great Jeff line, "you paid a lot of money for those pedals and knee levers - don't be afraid to use them and get your money's worth!"
Yes, RIP Jeff, I'm a better person for knowing you.

John De Maille · From: On a Mountain in Upstate Halcottsville, N.Y.

I probably wouldn't be the steel player I am today, if it wasn't for Jeff. As Tony said, he showed me how to connect the dots. Kind of like opening up all the shades in the house and letting the sun shine in. The first time I met him, I was in awe of him, actually intimidated by him. But, that soon passed as his wit showed itself. I attended several of his seminars, but, sadly never went to his school. Honestly, I couldn't afford to take the time off. Jeff berated me for not shaping my right hand like his, but, I told him, after many years of playing finger style guitar and some banjo, it was really, really uncomfortable for me to do that. He always singled me out at a seminar and told the others, that, if they can't play like me, then he wants them do as he did and ignore me. Ha! Ha! Ha!
I loved the man! Such a shame.... He passed to early. I miss him and think of him every time I play my steel.

Eric Philippsen · From: Central Florida USA

I went to his school as well as several of his road seminars. Buddy Emmons taught a day at the school and also taught with him at one of those seminars.

Jeff Newman was an incredible teacher, player and person. I know he was deeply committed as a Christian, too.

I miss him. I can still recall that voice and wonderful sense of humor.

DG Whitley · Posted 24 Mar 2017 4:55 am

Much like Richard, I have almost all of Jeff's teaching materials, including the C6th stuff that I will probably never get around to, but loved his teaching and his wit. The world is a little less bright to me because of his passing. I feel he still had some video lessons to go.

Rest in peace Jeff, you are missed.

Mike Archer · From: church hill tn

yeah I got Jeffs c6 and other stuff

ive worked a lot on his c6 stuff it is pure

genius !! I'm still learning from it even after all these years

yeah he was the best...

mike
_________________
Mullen sd10
Nashville 400 amp
Tele/ fender deluxe

Mark Greenway · From: Lake Kiowa, Texas

Jeff was awesome. I ran across one of my old lessons from one of his classes in Dallas. Check out the notes that I took that day. He had a way of simplifying things.

When we played it with a rhythm track, it all made sense. A 6 Minor is the same as a 1 chord. 2 Minor is the same as a 4 chord, and a 3 Minor is the same as a 5 chord.

Joe Goldmark · From: San Francisco, CA 94131

Hey Tony, I love that story. I remember when Jeff was pushing tuning to 442 or even 443, and he used to say that Lloyd Green did it like that. He also recommended, playing sharp in the E-F position. Jeff was a big help to me and introduced me to the narrow springy thumb picks that I use.

Also, I learned C6, or what little I know of C6, mostly from his "Music to Get C6th By" (or something similar to that). If anyone still has the tab to that I'd love to buy it or buy a zeroxed copy. It's the one with "Hold It" and "Girl From Ipanema," etc. on it.

Thanks,
Joe

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