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Sonny Jenkins


From:
Texas Masonic Retirement Center,,,Arlington Tx
Post  Posted 6 Oct 2017 7:10 am    
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A while back I started a thread on teaching and learning,,,
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=321965

kinda got off track a little,,so I thought with the one consensus we all seem to agree on i.e. "the BEST place, and way to learn is by participating in a live environment as soon as possible",,,Agreed?

Then, more recently an Old thread was revived that illustrates the point

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=138790

That post was started 9 years ago, a noobie asking for advice on surviving his first experience doing what we all agree on,,,,participating in a live envirionment,,,,note all the advice given him,,,,and,,he had such a bad experience that he gave it up immediately,,,for many years. OBVIOUSLY he was not properly prepared! I wonder how many more "would be" steel players haven fallen by the wayside,,,by not having the basic essential tools to do what we all agree on,,,to participate in a live environment.

So the question is this,,,if you had just bought a PSG and wanted to play this thing, what would you feel like you would need,,,"to participate",,,with friends,,,or open mic,,,or jam???

Or, better still,,if you had the chance to take lessons,,,maybe from someone like Paul,,or some other VERY skilled player,,,,what would HOPE they would teach you,,,in order to get you started as quickly as possible "participating in a live environment",,,,so that you would NOT make a fool of yourself,,,or embarrass yourself to the point of putting that monster in the case and NEVER open that sucker again,,(like I'm sure has happened to other "would be" steel guitar players). As a matter of fact I think Franklin is starting a teaching program,,,what would you hope,,or expect his program to do to get a noobie "up and running",,,so that he can participate,,,and there by learn in a live environment?
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Richard Sinkler


From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
Post  Posted 6 Oct 2017 9:42 am    
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Playing with others is a great way to learn and apply anything you learn from lessons or just woodshedding and learning from Cd's. In the old days, before internet, we learned from records and watching others play on TV or live if you are old enough to get into clubs or lucky enough to see players outside of clubs. We had very few courses (which pretty much only taught you how to play songs, with very little instructions on what you are doing.) It's a whole different game now. There are so many instruction courses with video you can buy, and many free videos on YouTube etc...

Getting on a bandstand or just jamming with friends requires a certain amount of knowledge and technique. If a new player doesn't have the aptitude, and more importantly, THE DESIRE TO LEARN AND PUT IN THE TIME, he is going to fail. The unwillingness to shift things around in "your" life to allow some good amount of learning/practice time is a musical death sentence. How many of us have spent 6 hours or more sitting at our steel guitar learning? It's so much easier to learn nowadays. But, there are still no shortcuts. I gave a few lessons to a guy who wouldn't put in more than a couple hours a week practicing. It didn't take me long to see he really didn't want to learn and I quit giving him lessons. That was in maybe 2006 and he still doesn't play.

In a lesson program like Paul's, as a noobie I would expect to learn technique, and the chord positions and scales on the fretboard. Right hand and bar hand technique. I wouldn't necessarily want to learn songs, unless the instructor explained why he is playing certain things in a certain way in the song. I would want some insight to his thought process. I would want the knowledge to be able to sit at a CD and learn parts off the record. Even if I wasn't skilled enough (yet) to learn the exact parts, I could probably get close.

And to close out my short novel here, we have to remember that some people just don't have what it takes.
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Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, NV400, NV112 . Playing for 54 years and still counting.
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Sonny Jenkins


From:
Texas Masonic Retirement Center,,,Arlington Tx
Post  Posted 6 Oct 2017 10:10 am    
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Richard Sinkler wrote:


In a lesson program like Paul's, as a noobie I would expect to learn technique, and the chord positions and scales on the fretboard. Right hand and bar hand technique. I wouldn't necessarily want to learn songs, unless the instructor explained why he is playing certain things in a certain way in the song. I would want some insight to his thought process. I would want the knowledge to be able to sit at a CD and learn parts off the record. Even if I wasn't skilled enough (yet) to learn the exact parts, I could probably get close.



Very good "short novel" Richard,,,I certainly agree with all that (btw,,the guy that ask for advise 9 years ago said he was a lead guitar player,,,so I assume he was willing to put in time,,and was somewhat musically oriented to one degree or another). Regarding what you would expect,,,or hope to get from an instructor,,,,IF you acquired those things,,,would that be enough,,,or the thing that would give you the "tools" (if you will) to "hit the ground running",,,,to get with someone,,,WITH a good chance of NOT making a fool of yourself? I'm inclined to think it would be a very good start!!!

I started this thread for discussion,,,and I think this a great insight for a start. Thanks a million my friend!!!
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Gabriel Stutz

 

From:
Chicago, USA
Post  Posted 6 Oct 2017 10:56 am    
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No offense to the person who gave up after the bad gig, but I think whatever your skill level, you need to have enough resilience to move on after a failure. I don't know if it's a skill you can learn/teach or not, but my teacher reinforced this idea with me, which was lucky. I think it is pretty fundamental to learning any instrument. I've humiliated myself countless times, but I was able to move past it and hopefully, at least occasionally learn something from it or laugh about it eventually....
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Sonny Jenkins


From:
Texas Masonic Retirement Center,,,Arlington Tx
Post  Posted 6 Oct 2017 12:32 pm    
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Thanks a good perspective Gabe,,,,I think your teacher is to be commended.

I'm thinking more in terms of that first time of exposure for the potential steel guitar "player". I think that is the time that decides more than any other if the guy goes on.
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Bobby Nelson


From:
North Carolina, USA
Post  Posted 6 Oct 2017 3:34 pm    
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I think you guys are talking about me. I've said this before here: I picked it up (console) in May, and 10/29 I have a gig. I have practiced the song list as much as I can with a 65-70 hr a week job and, am pretty sure (half sure anyway) I'll be OK.

The one thing I know (having played for yrs as a lead guitarist/singer/bass/organ etc) is that, the stage is the greatest teacher. I plan on having a couple highlights (solos) and adding color to the rest of the evening.

There will be a good fiddle/guitar/and piano so, the heavy lifting (as was told to me) will be a shared effort with guys who can take over if I have to peter out.

I have a lot of musical knowledge and experience so, what I want in a teacher, is someone who will give me drills for the right hand that will create good muscle memory, and show me cool things with the pedals.

I'll repeat: I'm playing this gig on a 50's National Grand Console 8-string, as my MSA won't be ready till February - and I can't wait to get pedals under my feet! I only bought this as a way to get my right hand working till I came up with a PSG but, believe it or not, I already have people around the Charlotte area (where I'm pretty well known from yrs ago) trying to get me to play with them. I tell them, "ya know I can't play yet right?" ... they don't seem to care haha.
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