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Topic: What next? |
David Hausner
From:
Oregon, USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2020 6:13 am |
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| Finished the Paul Franklin E9 Steel basics. Not sure I want to spend the $450 for the next course. Is it worth it? I have been checking out Dave Andersons site and I like what I see and I can get a 3 month membership for $60. Any other suggestions? |
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Larry Baker
From:
Columbia, Mo. U.S.A.
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Posted 11 Apr 2020 8:14 am
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Mickey Adams
_________________
Mullen G2 SD10 3 & 5 The Eagle
NV112 amp===Earnie Ball V.P. |
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Michael Lester
From:
Illinois, USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2020 8:31 am What next?
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In the last year I have re-started playing pedal steel after a hiatus of almost 30 years. Many of the tricks and techniques were long forgotten over that time so, other than knowing about tuning, bars and pedals, I needed to re-learn.
Candidly, I found the sheer number of on-line courses, videos and instructors overwhelming. There are great steel players out there - but for my purposes not all of them are great teachers. I did not want to learn licks. I needed to get back to 'feeling' melodies with the bar and pedals. What combinations of strings bar and pedals produce the song's melody? How far ahead can I think of the next note? What physical moves do I need to make to get there?
My logic was, and is, if I know how to create the melody, I'll be able to create my own licks (or copy most of the licks on a recording) to make a tune work with the Classic Country band I play with.
After a couple months of physically 'noodling' the pedals, levers, volume pedal and bar a friend mentioned Irv Niehaus - a long time Member of this Forum. Irv tabs out a song's melody note-for-note using a wide variety of pedal, lever and string combinations with each note combination named.
Using Irv's tab method for tunes that I already mentally knew the melody gave me a bunch of 'ah-hah' moments. Will I ever be a 'Pro' steel player? Nah. But I can back a singer and usually come up with an intro and turn that makes the singer sound good.
You may want to try this method of learning. It certainly flattened the learning curve for me. Get Irv's list of tabbed songs (he has a thousand of them) from him. He's very reasonably priced and will snail mail them to you. BTW, I don't know Irv except as a customer of his work.
As Jeff Newman used to say "...play the melody". |
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Jon Voth
From:
Virginia, USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2020 6:53 pm
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A good question.
I bit, and my plan is blow through it and then start over and spend time on parts that I need or challenge me. I'm about a third through, and having a music degree, much of it was rudimentary. So far there were a couple of licks he showed that opened my eyes to things. And some good practice techniques. But also plenty of things I had hoped would be fleshed out more.
Ahead of me there seems to be a large section regarding backing, licks, and also looking forward to the C6 part. And he promotes the facebook part which should be a great resource (haven't gone there yet, not on facebook). And every now and then there is an addition.
I think I'm glad I did, and probably more so after I get through it, and Mr. Franklin is the best, a friend of the forum, and a gentleman. But on the other hand, $600 is a huge chunk of change so again, it's a good question. |
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James Sission
From:
Sugar Land,Texas USA
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Posted 12 Apr 2020 8:59 am
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| I'm about 60 per cent through the Franklin E9 course. Theres an incredible amount of information in it. It was worth every penny just for the intervals lesson. I think for the money, especially since it can be paid monthly, I'm going to move on to the longer course at some point. Its 50 bucks for an in person lesson around here plus the drive and moving equipment to get there. I haven't ever tried a Skype lesson, but with Paul's lessons I dont have to commit to a time frame and I can revisit the lesson online anytime I want to. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 13 Apr 2020 6:57 am
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Michael,
Thank you SO much for the recommendation.
Yes, I try to make my tabs as close to a lesson as you can get, they are very comprehensive. 
Erv |
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Tom Campbell
From:
Houston, Texas, USA
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Posted 13 Apr 2020 7:18 am
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| A "bow and tip-of-the-hat" to Erv's tabs. They are a lesson in chord construction! |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 13 Apr 2020 7:23 am
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Bless your heart!
Erv |
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John McClung
From:
Olympia WA, USA
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Posted 13 Apr 2020 10:28 am
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My teaching approach, via Skype, is pretty holistic, with the main goal of teaching you how to teach yourself just about anything you want to learn. See if some of these comments from past students, many now active players in clubs, churches, studio sessions, etc., don't ring a bell for you!
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=2468417#2468417
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=283937&highlight=
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=300753
All best,
John McClung
Pedal Steel Lessons, Casuals, Sessions
Olympia, WA 98512
Email – steelguitarlessons@earthlink.net
Website – http://steelguitarlessons.com
Skype name: professortwang
Cell & text: 310-480-0717
_________________
E9 INSTRUCTION
▪️ If you want to have an ongoing discussion, please email me, don't use the Forum messaging which I detest! steelguitarlessons@earthlink.net |
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K Maul
From:
Hadley, NY/Hobe Sound, FL
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Posted 13 Apr 2020 1:18 pm
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All those instruction courses are good and you should continue with one or more of them. Are you now or are you planning to play with other other people? If not, you should do so. It will teach you a lot.
_________________
Kevin Maul: Airline, Beard, Clinesmith, Decophonic, Evans, Excel, Fender, Fluger, Gibson, Hilton, Ibanez, Justice, K+K, Live Strings, MOYO, National, Oahu, Peterson, Quilter, Rickenbacher, Sho~Bud, Supro, TC, Ultimate, VHT, Williams, X-otic, Yamaha, ZKing. |
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Michael Lester
From:
Illinois, USA
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Posted 13 Apr 2020 2:07 pm
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Are you now or are you planning to play with other other people? If not, you should do so. It will teach you a lot.
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...some of the best advice offered here. It's surprising how much it helps to have other musicians around. |
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Jon Schimek
From:
Lyons, Co - USA
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Posted 16 Apr 2020 11:15 am tough call
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There are lots of answers here and none are really wrong.
I'll offer a few of my thoughts:
-The Franklin Course: I think there is a ton of information here and a good support community. I'm not sure where the e9 portion starts or ends, but the community and feedback are really a big part of this. IF you want to learn fast, are able to really commit timewise (like a few hours a day), and are willing to post videos to facebook I really think this is worth it. You'll lean a lot about musicianship and will come out great.
Micky Adams Book/Youtube videos:
The book is super cool and can take you a long way.. so can the videos. I'd say here your on your own a bit, which can be good if you have time restrictions to how regularly you can play. The exercises and explanations are really well laid out. The graphics are super cool, but you gotta spend some time thinking with his material...You can obviously get good with this alone but this is a good cost effective/time flexible option.
Newman Material/Winnie Winston's Pedal Steel book:
Very good.
Private lessons:
I've wanted to take lessons again... I suspect this is the best way to get good and learn what you want to learn. I took a few when I started and it really REALLY helped.
Tabs:
If your self motivated and have a good musical background and ear this is an awesome approach.
Join a band:
The fear of sucking and embarrassment of playing bad is the strongest motivator.
Sorry for the long notes. In reading my thoughts I can safely say all these options are great. To me its a matter of how much guidance you want and how much time you can spend. The PSG community is small and supportive. Everybody learns differently and has different restrictions.
-Jon
_________________
MSA Vintage-XL, Pre-RP Mullen
Nashville 400 w/blackbox, Space Echo. |
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Tal Herbsman
From:
Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 16 Apr 2020 1:12 pm Re: tough call
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| Jon Schimek wrote: |
Join a band:
The fear of sucking and embarrassment of playing bad is the strongest motivator.
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hear, hear. only problem is that the fear never seems to dissipate. |
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Franklin
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Posted 16 Apr 2020 6:05 pm
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David,
This is a performance from Greg Turner who as of now is 20 months into his pedal steel journey....As well as learning where things are, for a few months Greg has worked on synching up the emotional elements as I advised him to work on in our FaceBook group.. He can now coordinate his vibrato, pedal squeezes, he keeps the volume pedal breathing so we can feel what he plays. All of those skills have to be one singular thoughtless process.. For the answer to your question I will let this performance speak.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhsfnWv-sew
In the PFM everyone gets access to me everyday through the FaceBook private group....Ask me for a review of your video and I will evaluate where you are and guide you towards what will give you the most satisfaction...Get clarification on lessons or I often teach farther into an issue until students get to the place where a switch flips.....So the PFM is essentially like a skype lesson hands on approach with 24/7 access to instruction. It can be accessed from all of your devices. And you do not have to practice hours a day...I teach everyone how to learn away from the guitar...Gaining a mental picture for what you can play is the same as learning with the guitar in front....Anything that can be seen can be played.
Thanks for taking the fundamentals...
And please keep yourself and family safe!
Paul |
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