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Topic: E9 pedal steel instruction I'd like to see |
Karlis Abolins
From:
(near) Seattle, WA, USA
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Posted 29 Jul 2020 12:04 pm |
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I'm sometimes slow in getting started with something "new" (to me). Learning pedal steel is no different. I have purchased several instructional courses that address various aspects of the pedal steel but I find them all deficient in one way or another to me. I don't mean to imply that the course material isn't excellent - just that it doesn't suit my learning style.
After analyzing my needs, here is what would work for me. The course would consist of songs in various time signatures but all songs would be in the same key. Each song would have the pedal steel solo tabbed out along with the standard musical music notation. Each song would also have pedal steel accompaniment tabbed out as well on top of the lyrics. The course would also include audio as well consisting of bare backup, backup and vocal, backup and solo, and backup and accompaniment.
In addition to the above material there would be written material explaining the phrasing of the solo and offering alternative approaches that would be interesting. The same would be true for the accompaniment.
Video courses don't work well for me because they go too fast for my learning pace. They are also hard to rewind easily to go over a section in detail until I get it. Written material allows me to go at my own pace.
I think that the course would not require very many songs. It should hit the key signatures and feels that I would encounter in a live setting (2/4, 4/4 3/4, 6/8, etc.).
If this course exists, I have not found it.
Karlis |
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Doug Taylor
From:
Shelbyville, Kentucky, USA
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Posted 29 Jul 2020 12:22 pm
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| I would like to see that as well. Scottys back up steel book ticks some of those boxes but certainly not all of them. |
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Ben Lawson
From:
Brooksville Florida
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Posted 29 Jul 2020 12:24 pm
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Karlis, when I started in 1970 there wasn't much instructional material available. (at least none I knew about) If you have someone near you that plays steel you might want to pick their brain about tuning, pedals, the basic grips etc.
I had a friend that got me to the point of knowing at least enough to understand the Jeff Newman type courses that were becoming available at the time.
Good luck on your journey, it's worth the time and effort! |
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Karlis Abolins
From:
(near) Seattle, WA, USA
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Posted 29 Jul 2020 12:52 pm
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Ben, I have been a rank beginner for almost 50 years. I have the mechanical stuff down pat. I started out without knowing the first thing about music which really put a crimp in learning. It is only recently that I have gotten the understanding of what makes the music. What I need from a course is "show me what you are doing in detail and tell me WHY you are doing what you do".
Karlis |
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Jim Palenscar
From:
Oceanside, Calif, USA
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Posted 29 Jul 2020 7:18 pm
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| Reece Anderson had some of that in his approach called Smart Tab and had explanations for notes/chords etc in about 5-6 songs which I still have some copies of at the shop. He also had improvised versions which were, IMHO, wildly different. |
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John Spaulding
From:
Wisconsin, USA
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Dick Sexton
From:
Greenville, Ohio
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Posted 30 Jul 2020 6:34 am Interesting thoughts...
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Karlis, that is a very thought provoking observation. I too, have been frustrated with almost every piece of instructional material I have ever purchased. Like you I've played for a very long time and am still frustrated.
About the best material I've found past Newman, has been Billie Coopers. But I've found most instructional material leans itself toward instrumentals and that once learned, probably never would get played on a working bands stage.
What you've outlined is interesting and could be done as a collaboration, where no one part is shouldered by any one musician/instructor and then maybe assembled by a real computer savvy chap or chaps to get a finished product.
Interesting! |
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Fred Treece
From:
California, USA
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Posted 30 Jul 2020 9:00 am
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The links in John Spaulding’s post say it better than I could. “Musician’s Honey-Do List†is a great article. There is a lot of reference to the “why of how†in those words. Ear training is hugely important for learning the instrument and applying its capabilities to the music you want to play, with or without tab and musical notation. I think rhythm is treated like a 2nd class skill in a lot of method books too, when it should be at the top of the list.
The one thing NO instructional material can do is develop your feel for music - a soul, if you will. That has to come from inside, and from lots of applying the technical, theoretical, and mechanical skills you have learned to the music you are playing. And lots of listening to great players and analyzing what the heck they’re doing, not just copying from tab. |
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John Spaulding
From:
Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 30 Jul 2020 9:15 am
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A testimonial from another thread posted by a Paul Franklin Method student.
He is talking about the complete Paul Franklin Method, but much of what he discusses in this quote is covered in the $99 Foundations: E9 Pedal Steel Basics course:
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For me the Method is great. I realized a while back I needed a new philosophy, or rather add new, bright ideas to the philosophy I already have. Before starting the method I identified 2 problems with myself that needed immediate attention, music theory and my lack of 1st finger use.
I already had the chops and feel in my playing (apart from not using my first finger on picking), but my music theory was lacking and it was holding me back with bands that don't play Buck Owens tunes 24/7.
Within a few months I've started to understand the intermediate level theory that I skipped as a youngster. It's making my life a lot easier learning intervals and etc, and working with younger bands that play more minors and extended chords. The thing with the method is that it builds your knowledge from the bottom in a non patronizing way and also how to incorporate the theory onto steel.
When I was in my teens I tried to learn theory but gave up, because all the courses on YouTube were too complex and didn't have any relation of how to actually do it on steel. I did learn the major system and Nashville Numbers back then, 1,2m,3m,4,5,6m and etc but the minors were still alien to me because I never learned how to actually use the system on steel!
The method in its basic form shows you how to go to all these with ease and because you are going to numbers and not letters, you can play all these in any key.
I'm starting to speed up my right hand a bit by getting my 1st finger more efficient, I'm more of a middle and thumb person but the method gets you using all 3 for when it is needed through permutation practice. However, theory will always be on my mind and I'm sticking round the subject for a while until it is full ingrained.
There is something for everyone. Intonation, speed, theory, tabbed licks, how to use your equipment. It is well worth the money. |
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