Compulsiveness - Is It Useful To A Steel Guitarist?

[Bill Hankey]

Termed to be an obsession, whom might I inquire, has not found a degree of compusiveness quite necessary, while attempting to polish a favorite melody?

[Joey Ace]

Being compulsive is the only way I can get the results I want.

I'll practice my favorite song so much, it ceases to be a favorite. Then I have to identify another favorite, and repeat the process.

[Bill Hankey]

Joey,

Merry Christmas and much Happiness in the New Year! The Steel Guitar Forum associates have provided a luciferous source of great energies and personages, including your esteemed dedication to a better understanding of the pedal steel guitar.

[Bob Simons]

"Luciferous" ??????????????

Of course obsession and compulsion are necessary ingredients of an artist's make-up!!! Ever try to explain to someone who is not an artist why it is important to spend 100 hours on a painting and then throw it in the garbage because something is just not right, or spend twenty years getting just that particular moan out of your steel guitar when you release a pedal?

Next question, Bill....

[Bo Legg]

Bill, I’m glad you brought this up.
I have long had an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
There are many effective treatments ranging from therapy to self-help and medication.
However, I have chosen Exposure and response prevention with no Cognitive therapy.
My self-treatment involves repeated exposure to the source of my obsession (Bill Hankey Topics).
Then I asked myself to refrain from the compulsive behavior I’d usually perform (replying to Bill Hankey Topics) to reduce my anxiety.
As you can plainly see it’s not working.
I’m going to medication

[Bill Hankey]

Bo Legg,

In reality, in spite of pretenses, actual pitfalls occur within a sphere of changing lifestyles. I believe that commonly associated with goal-setting musicians, is the individual who returns repeatedly to a familiar terrain, to follow a blueprint linked with articles of interest. We live in a society that invariably pays little attention to the trite expression: "He who goes borrowing, goes sorrowing." Run like the wind, dear friend, originality may lead you to great fortunes.

[Jack Dougherty]

I would be more apt to classify it as insanity.
As we all know, to be classified insane is to keep repeating the same thing over and over again each time hoping for a different result.
Sounds like practice to me.
I suppose it might be akin to compulsiveness.
Oh well, better living through chemistry.

Happy Holidays All


JD

[John Billings]

Actually, today, after the gigantic company Christmas fete, I'm feeling a bit more "propulsive!" And not in a beneficial way!

[Bill Hankey]

Jack,

Perhaps you would agree that we must avoid if possible, allowing others from inadvertently herding us into a classification set by their standards. The sizzle of the cruel branding iron is the equivalent of many of life's ordeals. The steel guitar will rescue you by remaining steadfast, always primed far beyond the most ambitious musician. When you enter the music room, it will always prove to be unchanged; with musical expressions to last a lifetime. Have a Happy Holiday Season, and a great New Year!

[Jerry Bull]

For the musician to achieve the greatness he/she so desires, one must ponder, what is good enough?

The obsession dictates our results. To some, we might already be great, but to the "insane" musician he will always be a far cry from gold. The road to our own self-content may appear to be extremely rough to others, but while on our quest to reach the level we so choose to grasp, the path has no lack of determination and unfortunately Bill, has no end.

[Mike Schwartzman]

Well Bill...I'm not sure I would use the word, "compulsive". Frequent and rigorous would describe it for me.

Ah, what the heck...if that's the same compulsive, so be it. I'd rather practice compulsively than... obsess about practicing when I'm not sitting at the steel.
I was warned 2 yrs. ago that taking up pedal steel requires a hefty level of committment. Ain't that the truth?

The problem is that I enjoy it so much that I'd be resistant to treatment. So bottom line is...I guess I'm just another nut bag with 3 funny looking things on one hand and a silvery looking cylinder in the other hand.

[Bill Hankey]

Jerry Bull,

While you seem to cast a determined glance at the outside world, I must confess that I'm a bit more dispensable than you may believe. I was introduced to this forum by a friend. It turned out to be a means of entertainment, especially in the early hours of the day. I detect that you may be willing to extend your comments into broader statements. If that is true, please let me hear from you.

[Bob Simons]

As this thread clearly elucidates, there are personality problems far more detrimental to steel guitar players than obsession and compulsive behavior!javascript:emoticon(':whoa:')

[Bill Hankey]

Mike,

Thanks for your cheerful response. Years ago, as a guitarist, I only admired players of the steel guitar, never thinking for one moment that someday I would be involved with learning to play the instrument. Who knows how kind the future will be?

Happy Holidays!

[Bill Hankey]

Bob,

What do you suggest beyond your observations? Would you go about painting unrealistic situations that do not exist? I'll try going into this positive mode that you seem to be suggesting, at some point further down the road. Let me hear from you in greater detail. Your inferences are of a serious note, at this point of exchanges.

[Jack Dougherty]

In any field of artistry, musical or otherwise, I'm sure there many sited cases of compulsiveness or insanity documented somewhere. As for the steel, I believe there are some genius's out there. Therein lies the the question. Does one strive to be adequate, good, better or continue a lifetime quest for perfection? As has been stated before, it's the journey and not the destination. So I think we should look at this as being driven more so than compulsive. So we all have to ask ourselves, does the the steel give us great pleasure or are we being driven to the brink of insanity. Think of Van Gough before you decide to cut your ears off.

[Bill Hankey]

Jack D.,

Speaking of geniuses, (genii for short), in a gathering of steel guitarists, the range of aptitudes becomes more compelling, if a particular performance knocks our socks off. If we are among those who are trying on a day-to-day basis to reach levels of expertise, certain qualifications need to be addressed. Citing those differences that paved the way for performers to reach the genii stages, may prove to be less complicated than the first wave of impressionable oversights to reach our sensorineural sensibilia. Notes flying everywhere, sent lashing out as a precursor of what is yet to come, reinforces a negative impulse that reaching
such levels of masterliness may prove to be futile.

Intermediate players are baffled by the finesse of Curly, Doug, Paul, Buddy, Lloyd, and an impressive list of unmentioned others. Included in the masses of intermediates, are the few who recognize the fact that mediocrity once played a part in the lives of so-called genii. The perspicaciousness of those who go
on to become geniuses in their own right, are difficult to identify at gatherings, while focusing on the expertise of steel guitarists. A marked degree of unwavering determination is a prerequisite, long before reaching the outskirts of serious challenges.

[Rick Schmidt]

Steel players aren't the only ones. Some of the biggest nut cases I know are great musicians.

[Ray Montee (RIP)]

After another tour thro' YouTube and after grinding my teeth while I forced myself to listen to still another 'lap steeler' willing to show the entire world population that he, in reality, has no talent whatsoever for playing steel guitar in a melodious or professional manner..........

I have to ask: HOW DOES ONE DEFINE "good playing"? Lacking any obvious talent, does one need only an obsessive personality to succeed at playing steel guitar?

I realize I didn't 'have to listen'.......but I did choose to, in hope of finding some really new and exciting, special steel guitar talent out there.

But pounding on the strings of a steel guitar with one's right hand while sliding a loosely held, undampened bar up and down the strings of a too loud, too trebly, to 'reverbed' instrument playing over and over some non-musical phrase with no technique whatsoever.....doesn't seem to cut it, IMHO.

Doesn't one have to recognize at some point either they're doing it 'right'?.......or "WRONG?"

What standard are these guys using to measure their success? "NOISE?"

With all of the fabulous steel guitarist out there, both past and present, that we've all listened too, are these wanna-be players that I've just described merely 'new talent'?.........or have they quite simply missed the boat and don't know it?

[Jerry Bull]

I think many times the measure of ones talent comes in to play when determining the amount of people that find their playing abilities desirable to the ears. Although, there are many great players out there that have never been heard but only to a select few. If the forumites where to hear them, would also think they have achieved a certain level of greatness. I can only describe this type of player in this way..... Why? Why not share the talent. On a different angle of approach to that question, if ones playing ability is not desirable to the majority of ears, it may be best to hold hostage a pre-determined amount of their gift. But also brings to mind the age old adage, "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"

[Bill Hankey]

Jerry B.,

Finding acceptance from random listeners is a very difficult task. I really believe that there are many more critics than performers. Just wandering about finding fault, does not necessarily make that person a critic. A critic would be someone who has made the top..very knowledgeable, and quite reserved in matters that pertain to technical issues. One of the most interesting occasions that a steel player may rejoice in, is learning that another steel player has been seated with friends in a darkened room.

[Bill Hankey]

Ray Montee,

All this from a man so kind as you. There is a definite need for you to continue to expand on the matter. Could you be more specific?

[Jerry Bull]

I agree, that is an awkward, yet at the same time, exciting moment to find out that you may have been critiqued not knowing it. Wandering if in fact that person was really listening, and if what they heard was or was not disastrous to their listening pleasure. LOL

[Bill Hankey]

Jerry B.,

Back in the roaring eighties, my Fender 1000 was set up on Maple Avenue, in Great Barrington, MA, at the Berkshire Chalet. The Chalet featured a bar and dancing accomodations. I played through an entire set before noticing my visiting buddy "Chuck" Sherman seated at one of the tables. He has played the same 12 string Sho-Bud for years. The Boston based band he was playing for at the time, had appeared on Channel 2 television in Pittsfield, MA, earlier. Florida based vocalist, Hank Sohl, originally from the Berkshires introduced "Chuck" and the band that included "Russ" Bennett guitarist extraordinaire from Salem, MA. to friends in Pittsfield, MA. During my last set, an exceptionally tall "patron" lost his balance near the band, and fell on my Fender 1000. Mint originality suddenly vaporized as his weight separated the threaded plug on one of the back legs of the steel. I finished the set, and gathered my wits for the journey home. A few months later, at a remote club located opposite the largest cornfield in Berkshire's farm country, another bandleader almost swallowed his mike when too much alcohol delivered a direct patron hit into the center of the band. He drove the mike through our singer's lips, missed my steel by a fraction of an inch, and landed on the drum set. Now I believe that
some bands have taken steps to avoid fiascos involving damaged personal items.

[Joe Gretz]

I believe "thorough" would be a good word to add to "frequent and rigorous" Slim!

Bill, ever see "The Blues Brothers"? Sounds like y'all coulda used the chicken wire from "Bob's Country Bunker"!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Joe