GuitarMap - A free computer program for the Steel Guitarist

Sam White R.I.P. · Post by **Sam White R.I.P.** » 9 Dec 2003 6:05 am

I copyed it on my printer . It does not make any sence to me . I do not know what it is or what it is supose to do. By the looks I will never be able to learn to play my steel with this. I'll stick to the tab and by ear. Thanks
Sam White
IF IT SOUNDS GOOD PLAY IT

Fred Shannon · Post by **Fred Shannon** » 9 Dec 2003 6:17 am

Samuel W. if you'll go to the website again, and read the instructions from Karlis and follow them step by step I think that this program will help you in chord recognition very much. I'll be glad to help via email if I can.

Happy Holidays.

Fred

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The spirit be with you!
If it aint got a steel, it aint real

Ben Slaughter · Post by **Ben Slaughter** » 9 Dec 2003 9:59 am

WAY, WAY COOL!!

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Ben
Zum D10, NV400, POD, G&L Guitars, etc, etc.

Steve Alonzo Walker · Post by **Steve Alonzo Walker** » 9 Dec 2003 10:50 am

I Do Not Understand How To Start This Program. It Says To Go To File\Open But What Do I Look For Then?

Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 9 Dec 2003 12:29 pm

Karlis, just for my own edification, what programming environment did you write this in? Visual Basic? Visual C++? Borland?
Just wondering... Thanks...

Karlis Abolins · Post by **Karlis Abolins** » 9 Dec 2003 2:29 pm

Ray, I used Visual Basic 6, professional edition, to create this application.

Karlis

Joey Ace · Post by **Joey Ace** » 9 Dec 2003 2:34 pm

The "Announcement" part of this post is over a year old. The discussion now probably belongs in "Pedal Steel" so I'm moving it.

Nice work Karlis!

Nate LaPointe · Post by **Nate LaPointe** » 9 Dec 2003 3:51 pm

Karlis, I have joined the forum since your original post and I'm glad it was re-posted. I downloaded your program and just with the half hour I've spent playing with your it, I can already tell it will help me tremendously in the future. Thank you for contributing to the forum. Great work!!

Tom Mortensen · Post by **Tom Mortensen** » 10 Dec 2003 3:05 pm

Karlis,
Great program and tool.
Here are some pictures of my version of the Guitar Map.
I built this slide rule in 1978.
www.tombleu.com/chordchart1.jpg

www.tombleu.com/chordchart2.jpg [This message was edited by Tom Mortensen on 10 December 2003 at 03:06 PM.]

Karlis Abolins · Post by **Karlis Abolins** » 10 Dec 2003 6:21 pm

Tom, That is so cool.

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Karlis Abolins
"That was then"

Remington S12 Extended E9

Fred Shannon · Post by **Fred Shannon** » 11 Nov 2004 3:04 am

Well, it's been nearly a year and the Forum has many new folks added. This thread was started by a super guy, Karlis Abolins, who has put forth a tremendous effort for the benefit of everyone in the steel guitar community. This guitar map program, available for free download in the initial post of this thread, is a tremendous learning and teaching tool for the Pedal Steel Guitar, especially for those neophytes who are just learning. I use this website for all students who are really serious about learning to play psg. This site along with Larry Bell's site is a tremendous teaching aid for new students. Both sites are also useful for us older guys who need a refresher course in fundamentals. Larry's site can be found at: http://www.larrybell.org/

Hope you find both helpful.
edited: Here are a couple more websites I recommend to my students: http://www.steelguitarinfo.com/infoindex.html http://www.torvund.net/guitar/harmscale.asp

fred

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The spirit be with you!
If it aint got a steel, it aint real

[This message was edited by Fred Shannon on 11 November 2004 at 03:10 AM.][This message was edited by Fred Shannon on 11 November 2004 at 03:13 AM.]

Cory Dolinsky · Post by **Cory Dolinsky** » 11 Nov 2004 1:54 pm

does this work with a MAC i tried but it said it couldnt open exe files only for p.c.s

Phil Sikes · Post by **Phil Sikes** » 16 Nov 2004 9:34 pm

As a real newbie I can't thank you enough for this program. It really helped me to start making sense of teh fretboard/pedal layout on my guitar. Only one question so far, I did change the E9 layout to reflect my E9B6 MSA, saved it and can reload it but it still comes up as E9 in the description. Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks - Phil

PS - If you ever get out to Whidbey Island please let me know you are coming, it would be a pleasure to meet you.

Fred Shannon · Post by **Fred Shannon** » 17 Nov 2004 6:46 am

Phil open up the layout, hit "save as" and type in "E9/B6 MSA" and that should do it. fred

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The spirit be with you!
If it aint got a steel, it aint real

Mike Wheeler · Post by **Mike Wheeler** » 13 Mar 2005 3:27 pm

Just wanted to bump this back to the top because it's a terrific little FREE program and the new members may have never heard of it.

Try it out. I love it and use it to analyze copedents and their functionality....not to mention investigating various pedal and knee combos.

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Every day is a Great day,
Mike
(aka Sideman)

Jim Dempsey · Post by **Jim Dempsey** » 13 Mar 2005 6:58 pm

Karlis, Excellant program!! I use it all the time to find those hard to find chord locations.----Jim

Wayne Cox · Post by **Wayne Cox** » 13 Mar 2005 7:19 pm

A big THANKS! to Fred and Mike for resurecting this whole thread,and another big THANKS to KARLIS for being so generous with his "other" talents!
~~W.C.~~

Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 13 Mar 2005 8:42 pm

A big thanks ,Fred, for bringing this up again. And thanks Karlis for offering the program on the Forum.I had it loaded last year, but didn't understand how to work it.

Fred , kindly called me on the phone and walked me through it. Now I can see the possibilities for learning and teaching .It can be a good tool for many younger players.....al

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My Website..... www.cmedic.net/~almarcus/

Mike Wheeler · Post by **Mike Wheeler** » 14 Mar 2005 5:57 am

Phil,

The text in the "Description" box is not the filename, it's just a description box.

Open your layout and in the upper left corner where it says "Description", re-type the description you want....THEN do a "save". The file selector will pop up with the Filename showing, so just click Save. The currrent layout will be updated. Next time you open that layout, it will display the text you typed, but the Filename wil be the same (unless you changed it too).

Happy computing.

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Every day is a Great day,
Mike
(aka Sideman)

Sonny Jenkins · Post by **Sonny Jenkins** » 20 Jan 2006 8:34 am

I had this on my computer but when it crashed a few months ago I lost it. Now I've re installed it (I think) but can't get it to work. It has E9 and C6 but I would like to put my E9/B6 universal copedent on there,,,HOW??????

Gil Berry · Post by **Gil Berry** » 12 Nov 2006 8:35 am

Just found this thing after being on the forum for two or three years at least. It's wonderful. Karlis, my hat is off to you. With a couple strokes of the keyboard I can find chords I could never find without this help. Great job. Thanks again.

Sherman Willden · Post by **Sherman Willden** » 12 Nov 2006 8:55 am

Sonny;

I have version 1.1.0 and I was able to set Guitar Map up to my Carter S-12
most requested tuning

I may be mistaken but I have all the notes but they may be the wrong octave or something. Maybe I don't have what I think I have.

Sherman

[This message was edited by Sherman Willden on 12 November 2006 at 08:56 AM.]

Bob Snelgrove · Post by **Bob Snelgrove** » 12 Nov 2006 2:05 pm

I can't change the strings to the proper gauge. 10th B defaults at .017 and won't change to a .034. It will change to an incorrect note, tho :-O.

bob

Fred Shannon · Post by **Fred Shannon** » 12 Nov 2006 2:45 pm

Karlis is a genius when it comes to chord structures and guitar maps. I liked his first version of the guitar map program better than the new one. The old one was not as fancy with the gauges etc. but IMO it was a much better "teaching tool" than this one. Of course this one gives a lot more informatiion than the normal student would require. In any case, Karlis, thanks for the efforts. Youse is a good guy.

Edited to add: Karlis I wish you would put the original back up so that those of us that want it could access it. Thanks in advance.

Phred

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"From Truth, Justice is Born"--Quanah Parker-1904

[This message was edited by Fred Shannon on 12 November 2006 at 02:46 PM.]

Karlis Abolins · Post by **Karlis Abolins** » 12 Nov 2006 5:30 pm

Hi guys, Setting up the strings with this version is simpler than it looks. In the left column, click on the string you want to change. Select the the note that is closest to the note you want with an approximate gauge (exact is not required - it is important that the relative gauges are used) and click. On the lower strings, you have to scroll down to the note and gauge combination. Repeat until all of the notes are done.
Here is where the confusion starts. If you click on a note that you have already selected to check on it, it will revert to the note with the highest gauge. You will have to select it again to correct it. My advice is to not check the notes after you have selected them, it will just confuse you. Take my word for it, If you select the lower gauges they will be correct.

Karlis