Are You Gifted?

[Rick Collins]

For many who have played the steel guitar for a few years,
you may know by now if you have an "inate talent" for the instrument.

I feel I do not; because I must work hard for every accomplishment.

In truly gifted players like "Big E" it is quite apparent.
Do you feel almost everything about the instrument "comes easy" for you?

[Kevin Lichtsinn]

I've only been playing psg about a year or so. It has been uphill the whole way. Nothin' seems to come easy. Same thing with the dobro, only I have made it part way up the hill with that just because I have had a lot more practice time with that. Practice, practice, practice. I do have a good ear though, and that helps alot.

[Rockne Riddlebarger]

I don't know if I am "gifted" or not but after 40+ years of playing acoustic and electric steel guitar I am very comfortable and confident in what I can do. Being able to relax and have fun with it is a major plateau for anyone to reach. The hardest thing I have as a teacher is to get my students to loosen up enough to let the music happen. I do think I have some inate ability towards steel playing, it just seemed "right" from the first moment, that doesn't mean I haven't spent countless hours sitting at the steel or looking in books to refine the technique and understand music thoery and melody as it relates to my tunings. To play these guitars right is a hard thing to do and you have to try and learn something everyday about it.

[Bob Hickish]

Rick
interesting question , I’m not sure if it the ability to play the instrument or if its your ability to play music -- I think BE could play music - the steel is kinda like being a co-pilot , you know, one banana gear up - two bananas gear down -- you can use the tool but if you don’t have the music --- just a thought !!

[Cal Sharp]

I had a thought about this one time.

[Barry Blackwood]

I have heard stories over the years of BE's dedication, and the sacrifices made for his art, so It doesn't come that easy even for the best of them. Just keep at it and try not to set your goals unrealistically high, and you'll have a better chance of succeeding. Nobody becomes an "E" overnight..

[Bob Hickish]

I had a thought about this one time.

Cal
if i just see a banana I have to play some steel ,

[Les Anderson]

Some people can feel and hear musical notations at a different level than others. This goes for the people who can crunch mathematical numbers all day long and have that inner feeling of what number comes next the same as a person who feels and hears the next musical note even before its given to him or her.

Some people have it, some people don't. We are not all created equal in any respect.

[Sam Conomo]

well NO way,I am not.I have worked with muso.s with perfect pitch ,now thats a gift ,but these are not always good tasteful player,and yes i would have to let them tune my guitar, bass or steel for them to
to be happy enough with our imperfect world.
For most of us ,we just have to keep working hard at it,a little or a lot each day.I have always
found it a bit difficult,but that only makes me work harder,
The older you get ,the harder ya gotta work.
sam.

[Dave Mudgett]

I think 'unusually gifted in a particular area' generally implies 'unbelievably dedicated and focused on that particular area'. My opinion - such people usually stand out because most people aren't (and can't afford to be) hyper-dedicated and focused on anything in particular. In the modern multi-tasking culture (which has been going on for a long time now and is getting more prevalent decade-by-decade), it's pretty tough to just say, "Hey, I'm just gonna focus on this one thing for the next <x> years. To hell with school, job, family, friends, I'm just gonna immerse and play my guitar all the time."

[Mike Neer]

I believe I was gifted with good ears and a very good sense of rhythm. I realized it when I was very young and so did my grandfather. That said, when it came to more complex music, I really had to put in a lot of work.

The bottom line is: natural talent will only take you so far--the rest is hard work. But the head start that a natural gift gives you is invaluable. How much passion you have for it will determine how hard you are willing to work for the rest.

[Charles Davidson]

How did the Big E get so good.Heart,soul AND hard work. Someone asked him years ago[How can you play so fast ?]At the time he was working in Shereveport.He said I play ALL the time,I play 8 hours a night,six nights a week here,Then go across the river to Bossier City and jam all day Sunday. YOU BETCHA,DYK?BC.

[Donny Hinson]

You can't deny that talent is a special skill. We're not all born as healthy, as intelligent, as strong, as beautiful, as graceful, and so on, ad infinitum. We are all different, and all born with individual mixtures of traits and amounts of abilities. And, while it's true that dedicated practice will help most players, and that improvements can usually be expected, it would probably still be foolish to assume that:

EQUAL TIME IN = EQUAL RESULTS OUT

Study hard, work hard, and with perseverance, you will realize your own personal maximum. After all, it's not about being as good as so-and-so, but about being the best you can be!

[Joe Gall]

Unfortunately for me this seemed to only happened to me with the bass & drums. I would gladly trade all and or any of this talent for a quarter in return on the steel! LOL

[Jim Curtain]

When I was younger, I was gifted at Christmas time....

I've been playing the pedal steel for 10 months, nothing great, but very satisfied with my efforts. Been playing golf for 10 years, Bobby Jones has nothing to worry about.

[Quentin Hickey]

The most gifted steel players are the ones having the most fun at it!

[Bill L. Wilson]

Folks that don't play steel guitar, think I'm a fabulous player. Paul Franklin, would say, "and you still play like that, after 40yrs? Watch this! " As far as a gift is concerned, my wife putting up with my steel guitar playing, is a gift.

[Ray McCarthy]

I believe I have a natural gift for harmonies--that is, I can add appropriate harmonies to any song, 2nd, 3rd or 4th parts. It's all very easy for me, and I think it has helped me a great deal in learning the PSG which, after all, is a harmony machine.

[CrowBear Schmitt]

i'm not gifted & i'm still workin' on it
it's a ride !...

[Sam White R.I.P.]

I know I'm not gifted I never played a Instrument in my life until I got a Steel Guitar back in 1977 had it for a couple months did not know what to do so sold it. Got another one i 1984 and still did not know any thing about it and had a friend that had one and he did not know how to play either so we tryed to play together and it did not work so I sold it. I got a student model back in 1997 had it for a month had a heart attack could not try to play it for about 3 months until I felt better.I started to try to play again on my own.Traded the student model in to Jerry Fessenden for a new Fessenden SD-10.A friend John Jiacovelli who has now pass away a few years ago who I use to go over to his house and he would show me different things to play and the first song was Mansion on the hill.He knew all the cords and he knew that Steel guitar in side out of how to play.For him to sit and play it he could not play it. He said to me one day after I got over the heart attack why don't you bring your Steel Guitar over to Manny Escobar,s house when I go as he takes all the furniture out of his living room and 4 to 5 guys go over and play steels and Jams together. So I did that and I have learned to play some but I can play with a band as long as they tell me the key they are in. I have had a few lessons for a friend Tony Palmer and I have been doing the rest on my own. I have a problem hearing the cord changes. I now have hearing aids and I still don't hear the cord changes. I guess I don't know what I'm listening for.I can keep time with the music when it is played and I'm always keeping time with my hand or foot when we go and listen to music.
Sam White

[Joachim Kettner]

I guess it's impossible to judge your own self. It takes others to make an assesment.

[Jim Cohen]

Interesting subject. Some of you might find as fascinating as I did Dr. Oliver Sacks' book, Musicophilia. In it he details many, many documented cases of people who had some traumatic event (such as being struck by lightning and surviving, or a severe head injury) who, after recovery, suddenly had extraordinary musical abilities. Like suddenly having perfect pitch in someone who couldn't carry a tune beforehand. Or suddenly having the ability to hear a complex piece of classical music and recall every note after just one listening, or the guy who suddenly had a total obsession with playing the piano (never had played any instrument before the accident) and became a concert-level pianist. Lots more stories like those in the book.

The underlying point, of course, is that there are untapped - and potentially remarkable - abilities that perhaps all of us have (or at least some of us have) that, given the right provocation (could be practice, or could be a blunt mechanical or electrical trauma) can be "unmasked" producing a person who might then be described by others as "gifted". Presumably people go through all of life never having these abilities unmasked and never knowing what potential was locked inside us.

So does "practice" just scratch the surface of what these other traumas can achieve, or it is working a different pathway altogether and can never achieve the trauma-induced level of ability? (Of course, I'm not recommending that anyone go get shock therapy or get themselves hit upside their heads to find out, but it is food for thought!)

If this intrigues you, I suggest picking up a copy of the book. (And if you don't like it, just hit yourself in the head with it and report back to us here!)

[Ken Metcalf]

So Jim and I could start a Seminar where for a fee you come in and I hit you with a hammer and then Jim electrocutes you to see if we can bring out your inner talent?

[Jim Cohen]

Yeah, it's worth a try...

[Ken Metcalf]

$70 in Dallas come one come all...
How do we split the money?
Remember I am holding the hammer..