There was some heated discussion on the Forum prior to the workshop, comparing Jerry Byrd's use of the 3rd on top to Reece's preference for the 5th on top. Having now seen Reece's presentation, I can now say that difference is trivial compared to all the other differences Between Reece's style and JB's style. It's like the differences between say Lloyd Green and Curly Chalker on pedal steel - both masters, but of completely different parts of the musical spectrum.
Reece plays a 12-string C6 tuning with 4 picks, and he uses all the strings and all the picks. He uses the traditional lap-style 2-string harmony and slants expertly, but sparingly. He mostly uses very fat 3- and 4-string jazz chords, and even strums 5 or more strings. He does not play much single-string melody with an occasional 2- or 3-string harmony below. Instead he plays 3- and 4-string chords below almost every melody note. He does not play alot of bebop horn lines like you hear in the 6th-neck jazz of Buddy Emmons, Doug Jernigan, and Jim Cohen; rather he plays a big-band derived style much like a jazz piano or organ player would - one thick chord blending into another. In the pedal steel world, it is closest to Bill Stafford - lots of beautiful low-string jazz chords.
So the debate about whether JBs 6- and 8-string style is better is completely irrelevant and moot - they are totally different styles. Neither JB nor anyone else could play Reece's style on a 6- or 8-string instrument. And Although theoretically it could be done, Reece does not attempt to duplicate JB's style on his 12-string instrument. Reece dummed down most of his presentation so those of us on 6- and 8-string instruments could participate. But he made it clear that he wants what is essentially an 8-string high C6 tuning (5th on top), with two additional out-of-sequence high strings (similar to the two "chromatic" strings of a pedal steel; D and B I believe), and two additional low strings (F and D I believe). When asked about playing with fewer strings, he was quite honest that his heart was in the 12-string style. Even when asked what his tuning recommendation would be for a 10-string lap steel, he said, "Git a 12-string."
One of the contentious issues in the JB v Reece debate was that JB apparently considered the high C6 tuning (G or 5th on top) was too thin, and he preferred the more mellow and full sound with E (3rd) on top, giving an additional low string. This debate is only relevant for 6- and 8-string instruments, and really has nothing to do with Reece's style. He only uses the top strings for occasional melody notes and chimes. He mostly plays on the middle strings, with lots of thick low harmonies and strums – his playing is anything but thin. In spite of Reece himself recommending a G on top, at least for the workshop, for my money, if you want to stay with C6, you could get closer to his style on an 8-string with an E on top, and an F on bottom (a 6-string is virtually hopeless for his style). And actually what Reece mentioned was going to a lower tuning, still with the 5th on top; that is, an A6 with an E on top.
Okay, now to get to what his workshop was really about - substitutions and passing chords. It took me awhile to figure out what the heck he was talking about (okay, I got there late with a hangover – you cannot believe how many clubs and bars there are in New Yawk City, and everyone of them packed with gorgeous women on Saturday night). But here’s the gist of it, as best I can tell. He calls the chords a rhythm guitar player would play, the ones charted above standard notation in sheet music and fake books, “primary chords.” So a rhythm guitar (or a steel comping in the background) might play one or two chords in a bar (the musical measure kind, not one of those Saturday night NYC bars). Now you know all the single melody notes played over those one or two chords? Well, theoretically there is a full harmony chord for each one of those melody notes (we’re not talking fast bebop here, we’re talking more like vocal jazz standards and ballads). You don’t always have time to play those chords, but Reece plays all of them possible, and gets damn near most of them. He occasionally slacks off to two-string straight-bar or slant harmony, which he calls “suggested” chords, but he mostly plays big fat 3- and 4-string full chords like a piano player would. All those extra chords, that are played over the one or two chords the band is playing in a given measure, Reece calls “substitutions” or “passing” chords.
Most of us, on either pedal or lap steel, try to keep the harmony going along underneath the melody, but we use lots of single-string and 2-string stuff to work our way through a melody – not so Reece. In his “smart tab” he lays out a full chord with every melody note, and labels them below the tab in the number system and as either a primary, substitution or passing chord. Any experienced musician who tries to work out a song by ear is familiar with the dilemma of deciding which chord goes with which melody notes, and how often to change the chord. Reece just goes a little deeper than I think most people would, and he has tried to systematize it. The way he really wants you to learn from his smart tab is to go through and list out all the substitution and passing chords that are used with a particular primary chord (all in the number system). This allows you to build up a memory of number system substitution and passing chords that will work with particular primary chords as you work your way through the melody. And Reece is very efficient about getting those sub and passing chords with unique grips, to minimize having to jump all up and down the neck – and of course, that’s what all those extra strings are about. But even without the extra strings, myself and others sitting around me were discovering lots of new grips that had never occurred to us. Reece has some fret counting rules that help locate sub and passing chords. Of course, all the primary, sub and passing chords are the same, what you call it depends on the context, and how long you intend to stay on it.
Well, that’s what I got out of it. The neat thing is that it is all applicable to all songs, in almost any genre, and on any instrument that plays chords. You get the chords different ways, but it’s the same chords. So it is all applicable to both non-pedal, pedal steel, regular guitar, and keyboards. In Reece’s hands and system, a steel guitar is not merely a lead instrument, but it is also a chord machine.
Thanks, Reece. I got lots to work on.
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<font size="1">Student of the Steel: Zum uni, Fender tube amps, squareneck and roundneck resos, tenor sax, keyboards
<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by HowardR on 28 February 2006 at 07:45 AM.]</p></FONT>
