C6 Learning Material

Dave Bader · Post by **Dave Bader** » 17 Sep 2010 11:25 am

I'm looking for some C6 lap steel books with some slightly more modern material. Maybe some songs from the 50's or 60's.
Any suggestions?

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 17 Sep 2010 12:52 pm

check w: Doug Beaumier Dave
he's got a lot of tunes tabbed out

Dave Bader · Post by **Dave Bader** » 20 Sep 2010 2:31 pm

Thanks CrowBear, I will check out Doug's tabs.

I am thinking that if someone was to to put out a book of modern country and rock tunes for lap steel they might clean up in the younger player market. I actually don't even mean modern or new, just some thing grandmother wouldn't be interested in. Like the Stones or Dylan or Willie in book form aimed at beginners. Lap steel seems to be much more popular recently but the material thats out there is still kind of dated. Not that theres anything wrong with that.

Mike Harris · Post by **Mike Harris** » 21 Sep 2010 6:29 am

I think you'll find the older material comes from a time when lap steel was actually used in pop music, and that's the 30's, 40's and 50's. Personally, that's exactly what I'm interested in--old C&W and western swing. If I want to play Stones, Dylan or Willie I'll play standard guitar, but that's just me.

Ray Montee (RIP) · Post by **Ray Montee (RIP)** » 21 Sep 2010 9:03 am

You could NOT go wrong by purchasing the JERRY BYRD
instructional course. Educationally it is a gold mine. Investment-wise, you can always get a fair return on what you pay initially.

Scott's Music in St.Louis has them............

You get what you pay for........

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 21 Sep 2010 9:37 am

I'm a big fan of learning where the notes and chords are on the neck and then using standard jazz instruction. The Jamey Abersold stuff is great and worth checking out.

Transcribing can be very valuable also. All the frustrating hours of trying to figure out what others have done by using your ears will make you a better player in many ways.

Edward Meisse · Post by **Edward Meisse** » 21 Sep 2010 4:29 pm

If you use an 8 string C6 tuning, you'll get alot out of the edal steel C6 instruction by Jeff Newman and the Basic C6 book by Buddy Emmons. The Buddy Emmons may be hard to get right now. Mine is out on loan. But if you'd like, I can try to get it back. He's had it awhile.

George Piburn · Post by **George Piburn** » 21 Sep 2010 5:01 pm

Dave Bader · Post by **Dave Bader** » 21 Sep 2010 5:38 pm

George Piburn wrote:Dave ,

You propose a super valid interesting point of view.

Are you thinking Playing the Melodies

Or talking about Fills and Backup Sounds?

Perhaps Heavy Lead Sounds?

Pretty much all of the instructional material for steel guitars falls under one of these categories.

Please expand further on what more exactly you would like to see and learn in your proposed Instruction.

George MR.Boards

I guess I'm talking about complete song melodies. I am by no means am putting down the currently available material. I love old country and Hawaiian tunes myself and appreciate them as a source for learning.

Heres an example of what I was going for. I recently worked out the songs Crazy as sung by Patsy Cline and Honky Tonk Women by the Rolling Stones. I think they sound good but it's all hunt and peck for me. Meanwhile I feel pretty confident playing Steel Guitar Rag because it's well documented in several sources.

Dave Bader · Post by **Dave Bader** » 21 Sep 2010 5:51 pm

Thank you George, Edward, Bob, Ray and Mike for your replies. I'll be following your leads.

Bob noted transcribing which I've recently started doing. That definitely helps me when breaking down a song and also helps in visualizing the notes on the fretboard.

Andy Smith · Post by **Andy Smith** » 22 Sep 2010 3:42 am

Greg Cutshaw has some great C6 materials on his site - not Dylan or Stones, but great stuff to learn from all the same: http://www.gregcutshaw.com/Tab/LapTab.html

James Kerr · Post by **James Kerr** » 23 Sep 2010 2:03 pm

I think you will find that the reason why all the available instruction is old or very old is for reasons of Copyright, the old stuff has expired and costs nothing. If you want to include newish material you will have to pay each copyright holder a substancial fee which makes it near impossible to bring out a modern music book.

When Paul McCartney wanted to print the Lyrics of "Eleanor Rigby" in the program for his 1989 World Tour, he discovered he would need to pay a fat fee to Michael Jackson who owns the Copyright to all Beatles songs, he can't sing his own songs either without paying Michael (or his estate now)

This is also the reason why YouTube are ordered to take down certain pieces of music.

So I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a modern music Instruction Book.

James.

Lee Gillespie · Post by **Lee Gillespie** » 24 Sep 2010 3:06 am

Check out material presented by SGF member ROY THOMSON. I have most every thing he put together and can recommend them... Also he is easy to contact via E mail if you have a problem. Lee

Mike Harris · Post by **Mike Harris** » 24 Sep 2010 6:16 am

The Cindy Cashdollar DVD's have copyrighted tunes in the old C&W and Western swing styles. Also pointers on basic technique, effects, licks, slants, etc. I have both volumes and intend to re-visit them soon.

They use high C6 8-string tuning (ACEGACEG, lo-to-hi))

Dave Bader · Post by **Dave Bader** » 29 Sep 2010 7:09 am

I just want to say thank you to all that replied. I'm well aware of the material that can be found through this web site. I've been through a lot it including the Cindy Cashdollar DVDs and Greg Cutshaw's great site. All of it still leads me to my original point. You can find endless amounts of new material for guitar. All the latest songs are available somewhere but not for lap steel. It seems a shame to limit the use of such a great instrument to songs from the past that may not interest all those who want to play.

George Piburn · Post by **George Piburn** » 29 Sep 2010 9:51 am

Dave Bader · Post by **Dave Bader** » 29 Sep 2010 10:26 am

George Piburn wrote:Dave--

The 3 Songs you mentioned are 40 - 50 years old. Most of the people who grew up with them are Grandma's and Grandpa's.

Can you offer more suggestions of tunes you feel are in the time line of your inquiry?

GeorgeBoards is interested in creating a more Modern song instruction.

From what I can see in this discussion is: many excellent instructions on how to play a steel guitar, with the final conclusion that you or whomever learn to play what ever they like and then create your own arrangements to suit your desired tunes.

A Song List would help instructors know what is wanted in Modern Songs.

Hope makes since

MR.Boards

George

I'm almost 50 myself and I'm not looking for Justin Beber arraignments or anything like that. Take a look at the Lap Steel books that are available on this sight and tell me if most of those songs would be of interest someone in their 20's lets say. All I'm saying is if someone where to put out some books of something more current it would appeal to a younger group of musicians and help keep lap steel alive for future generations.

Ray Montee (RIP) · Post by **Ray Montee (RIP)** » 29 Sep 2010 10:42 am

and..........you look so much older!

Carl McLaughlin · Post by **Carl McLaughlin** » 2 Oct 2010 10:14 am

Hey Dave ,What kind of guitar is that in your pic and where would i get one.???
Carl McLaughlin

Dave Bader · Post by **Dave Bader** » 2 Oct 2010 5:07 pm

Ray Montee wrote:and..........you look so much older!

I feel so much older thats for sure. Everyday is some new ach or pain.

Dave Bader · Post by **Dave Bader** » 2 Oct 2010 5:17 pm

Carl McLaughlin wrote:Hey Dave ,What kind of guitar is that in your pic and where would i get one.???
Carl McLaughlin

Hi Carl

I built it myself from a hacked up stringmaster body from ebay. Someone had tried to convert it to a pedal steel. It had a chanel routed out of the back that was filled with bondo and holes through the key head. Most of the parts are ebay and some I made myself from an old street sign.

Ray Shakeshaft · Post by **Ray Shakeshaft** » 3 Oct 2010 6:43 am

I am not sure why it is important to have more modern material in a teaching book. Surely the idea of such a book should be to teach you how to play and not just teach you how to play the material in the book.

It is a bit like tabs that teach you what notes and chords are being played but not why. Is there any book that shows the student how to create a chord solo (or even back up) and how to tackle any song that gets thrown at them? Okay I know that it sometimes comes with time but I am convinced life could be made much easier for the student.

There is the presumption that all student lap steel players come from a guitar back ground and even that they were proficient players and you only have to read some of the threads on this forum to see that it is not so.

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 3 Oct 2010 8:11 am

Ray Shakeshaft wrote:....
It is a bit like tabs that teach you what notes and chords are being played but not why. Is there any book that shows the student how to create a chord solo (or even back up) and how to tackle any song that gets thrown at them? Okay I know that it sometimes comes with time but I am convinced life could be made much easier for the student.

There is the presumption that all student lap steel players come from a guitar back ground and even that they were proficient players and you only have to read some of the threads on this forum to see that it is not so.

Apart from learning the basics of harmony, which one can find in any piano book, the really aren't any shortcuts except maybe to learn a few tunes. I think if you follow along with tab/notation you begin to see familiar patterns emerge in terms of how certain chords are approached, depending on their harmonic function. I've started doing some chord melody arrangements on my blog, but I can't possibly break it down to the most basic level because it would just be too time consuming and there are already a lot of books available on the subject of Harmony. What I am doing is offering up basic versions and then expanding upon them, using different rhythmic and harmonic treatments.

The purpose of learning the older materials is much like the old guitar books did it--did we all really want to play Oh! Susannah or Jimmy Cracks Corn? Probably not, but they are exercises to get you on the right track and they were melodies that everyone was already familiar with. The same with Tin Pan Alley standards. Once you are on track, then it is up to you to figure out where you want to go. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy to do.

Dave Bader · Post by **Dave Bader** » 3 Oct 2010 5:20 pm

Mike

You touched on what I think my original point was. I remember learning to play viola as a kid and not having any interest in the songs like Old Susanna.
At 46 my tastes run from Hank Williams to the White Stripes and everything in between. I don't mind figuring out a song on my own but sometimes I just want to see it on print. It's like a starting point that you can build off of.
There are tons of easy tab books available for guitar and a lot of it is for what ever is currently on the charts.

Mike Harris · Post by **Mike Harris** » 4 Oct 2010 6:45 am

Dave,

sorry I minsunderstood earlier...

You're more likely to find stuff posted online than commercially available. Copyright problems aside, there's no money to be made in return for the time invested. You might find something somewhere done by someone who did it just for the fun of it.

Which brings up the next point--if you already are familiar with the layout of your tuning, why not just transcribe and arrange stuff yourself by ear? It's a lot of fun and you'll learn a lot about your particular tuning in the process.

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