Doug Beaumier's books are wonderful!

Larry Lenhart · Post by **Larry Lenhart** » 3 Feb 2017 9:41 am

Just this morning, I was playing along with his courses and I know this has been stated before, but I think it is worth repeating. His 3 books of lap steel tabs are done amazingly well....clear to read, precise, and fun to play the tunes ! His playing of the tunes is a pleasure to listen to in their own right. His backing tracks that come with the books are so much fun to play along with. They have fun beats to the song and to my ears, sound perfect ! He obviously spent many hours working these books up...if you dont have them, you owe it to yourself to purchase them ! I cant say enough about them ! (BTW, his pedal steel book is great also, and he did a speed picking course and a course on using the B,C pedals) We are lucky to have such talent around helping guys like me out !

Brian Straub · Post by **Brian Straub** » 3 Feb 2017 10:25 am

I'll have to agree. I've been taking lessons off and on for 8 years from Doug and have all his books. Excellent courses including C6, A6 and B11 tunings for non pedal and a great E9 book. Books are easy to follow and precise. A must have.

Allen Hutchison · Post by **Allen Hutchison** » 3 Feb 2017 1:35 pm

Doug's the best!

Frank James Pracher · Post by **Frank James Pracher** » 3 Feb 2017 3:54 pm

I have to agree.. I have all three of his lap steel books and they're wonderful! Great tunes and something for all skill levels.

Nic Sanford · Post by **Nic Sanford** » 3 Feb 2017 6:06 pm

I agree. I have two of his books. I'm really enjoying them.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 4 Feb 2017 9:34 am

Thanks Larry and others for the kind words! I'm glad you like my books and recordings. I wrote most of those arrangements for my students over the years, and eventually I decided to put them into a book. When I got the TablEdit program I was finally able to create professional looking tab w/notation. Thanks again!

Jack Hanson · Post by **Jack Hanson** » 4 Feb 2017 9:58 am

Larry Lenhart wrote:Doug Beumier's books are wonderful!

I second that emotion.

Jim Smerk · Post by **Jim Smerk** » 4 Feb 2017 10:45 pm

Doug who??!

I have both C6 books, with the final one to be bought soon....I hope!

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 8 Feb 2017 6:55 pm

Thanks again for the kind comments.

Phillip Vaught · Post by **Phillip Vaught** » 9 Feb 2017 6:28 am

I have all three, really like the last one with a6 and b11 included..

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » 28 Mar 2017 1:34 pm

I can't ever pass up a post like this without commenting...Doug's books and arrangements are fantastic. Relatively simple, but they still sound great. I have the first two but need to pick up the third one. The thing that I have learned is that by playing these arrangements, you will learn where a lot of the common harmony notes are, and if you have a bit of an ear for music will soon find yourself "finding" your own arrangements on the steel. Worth every penny of the investment.

Tod Johnson · Post by **Tod Johnson** » 28 Mar 2017 3:05 pm

I got the B11 A6 C6 book first because I wanted to learn How D'Ya Do. I was dubious because before I got it I was trying to learn from videos and didn't know if only tab and CD would work for me without the visuals. After learning the song in one day I went ahead and bought the other two C6 books. There are at least 9 songs in the first C6 book that will be essential for my song list.The 25 more book has not as many for me but has at least 3 backing tracks that will be very helpful. Thanks Doug.

David M Brown · Post by **David M Brown** » 28 Mar 2017 3:08 pm

Well I am certainly not above learning more...I ordered the C6-A6-B11 book.

Randall Palmore · Post by **Randall Palmore** » 28 Mar 2017 4:41 pm

Agreed! Some of the first knowledge gained from Doug was his contributions to the SGW magazine, then the Forum.. all contributions by Doug.. I then decided to learn some C6 non pedal.. six string..His courses were the ticket! They are great! Thanks Doug! RP

Miles Lang · Post by **Miles Lang** » 28 Mar 2017 7:20 pm

Doug, do you ever take requests for your next books?

Like, On The Alamo?

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 28 Mar 2017 7:45 pm

Thanks David and others for your recent orders. The books are in the mail!
Miles, I'll listen to the song, although I have no plans to do any more books at this time.

Paul Miles · Post by **Paul Miles** » 6 Apr 2017 12:52 am

Couldn't agree more.Got me started and I've never looked back !

Jack Hanson · Post by **Jack Hanson** » 6 Apr 2017 7:20 am

Doug Beaumier wrote:...I have no plans to do any more books at this time.

If you ever do change your mind, I would like to nominate the following project for your consideration:

Convert the tunes from the classic Emmons Guitar Company BE-E9 course from E9 3x3 pedal steel to 6-string C6.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 6 Apr 2017 7:23 am

Doug is a great teacher and a forum treasure. Thanks for all you do for steel guitar, Doug!

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 6 Apr 2017 8:19 am

Thanks guys, Jack, I have that rare Emmons tab and audio. LP album with unbound sheets of tab, early 1970s. Great music, but the tablature is written in a strange, hard-to-read way. The pedals are labeled 1,2,3 instead of A,B,C and they are written Below the tab lines. And 1,2 are the fingerings and they are written into the tab where the pedals (A,B,C) should be. So it's kind of mind boggling. I have often thought of converting the tab to standard tab and binding it into a booklet. But there would likely be copyright issues. And the audio, the original Big E audio... there would certainly be some issues with copyright there.

As far as converting the music to lap steel, I've tried working out arrangements on 8-string, but something is lost in the translation. So many of those wonderful signature Buddy Emmons riffs with knee levers and pedals can't be duplicated on non-pedal. The songs can be played, the melodies are recognizable, but a lot of the classic Emmons moves are not there on non-pedal steel.

Stefan Robertson · Post by **Stefan Robertson** » 6 Apr 2017 8:43 am

Doug Beaumier wrote:..
As far as converting the music to lap steel, I've tried working out arrangements on 8-string, but something is lost in the translation. So many of those wonderful signature Buddy Emmons riffs with knee levers and pedals can't be duplicated on non-pedal. The songs can be played, the melodies are recognizable, but a lot of the classic Emmons moves are not there on non-pedal steel.

I refuse to accept defeat.

I must find a way.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 6 Apr 2017 8:52 am

It's true that any song can be played on any tuning, but some tunings offer certain licks, notes over sustained chords, etc. that are not available on other tunings. Only steel geeks like us notice the difference though!

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 6 Apr 2017 9:32 am

I'm working on a new book of C Diatonic arrangements (that will probably be an eBook only) and it's been an eye-opening reminder of how different tunings configurations offer advantages and disadvantages over one another. Your point is well taken about those Emmons moves that demand pedals, Doug. Early on in my lap steel playing I naively thought I could figure out some of what Ralph Mooney played on my 6th string lap steel. Ha! That was a colossal waste of time - especially when I saw Al Brisco's beautifully done teaching video where he demonstrated Moon's "dancing on the pedals" style.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 6 Apr 2017 9:46 am

a C diatonic book... sounds like a great idea!

Michael Hillman · Post by **Michael Hillman** » 6 Apr 2017 8:15 pm

I agree totally with what others have said about Doug and his courses - he is great to deal with, and, as a bass player that toys with way too many other instruments, I would have never known the joys of C6 six string lap steel without Doug's guidance.

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