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Post new topic Here is what I'm working on. How about you?
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Author Topic:  Here is what I'm working on. How about you?
Bill McCloskey


From:
Nanuet, NY
Post  Posted 20 Nov 2018 6:47 pm    
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So, what are we working on these days?

These days I'm playing the 10 string Eharp with the Alkire tuning exclusively. You can make 53 chords with more grips than that to learn. So grip practice is a big part of my practice routine.

I play exclusively by sheet music these days, no tab. So I spend a lot of time practicing my sight reading. I bought dozens of Eddie Alkire arrangements of Hawaiian Songs, so I'm going through those, and also working a few jazz standards.

Scale practice: I practice scales by going through the circle of 4ths and the diatonic circle of 4ths (thanks to a forum member who suggested it in a different thread). Main goal here is to get a compete understanding of the fretboard.

I also go through my collection of Eharp lessons which provide some great exercises.

And that is keeping me busy for now.

What are you working on?
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Mike Neer


From:
NJ
Post  Posted 21 Nov 2018 6:14 am    
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I work on all the things I need to get to the point where I sound the way I want to. It’s been a long road with many new surprises every day. Deep, honest listening is a big part of it. I try to evaluate and make necessary adjustments

I also work on trying to master the blues form and rhythm changes (think Oleo) in all their variations. They are the key to playing jazz IMO.

Sometimes I just work on something that catches my ear. This is one I learned Monday:

https://youtu.be/SHqt3nFIrrc

Mostly everything I do is by ear, but I try not to neglect reading music. Gotta keep the pencil a little sharp.
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Jack Hanson


From:
San Luis Valley, USA
Post  Posted 21 Nov 2018 8:22 am    
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An ongoing project I have been working on for years is the Paul Whiteman Orchestra's 1928 recording of Mississippi Mud -- possibly my favorite arrangement of all time.

Years ago I figured out the basic structure of the tune so I could flail away on rhythm guitar behind a vocalist. (Eb is not, never has been, and likely never will be my favorite guitar key.)

Since at this point the chord changes have finally become imbedded in my brain, I've been attempting to play the tune on my various steel guitars in the tunings in which they're set up:

Dobro -- standard G
Tri-cone -- high bass A
Weissenborn -- D tuning
6-string lap steel -- C6
7-string lap steel -- A6
Pedal steel -- E9

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUggD-VMl1w
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Joachim Kettner


From:
Germany
Post  Posted 21 Nov 2018 9:19 am    
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"Waterloo Sunset" by the Kinks. I finally got it right to blend it with my not so strong voice, when I transposed it down from E to D. It was a lot of fun to sing it in front of an audience.
I'm slowly working myself through a JD Maness course called "Get Inside".
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Jack Hanson


From:
San Luis Valley, USA
Post  Posted 21 Nov 2018 11:51 am    
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Joachim Kettner wrote:
"Waterloo Sunset" by the Kinks. I finally got it right to blend it with my not so strong voice, when I transposed it down from E to D. It was a lot of fun to sing it in front of an audience.
I'm slowly working myself through a JD Maness course called "Get Inside".

Even though we're separated by a couple of mountain ranges and a wide ocean, we must be kindred spirits, Joachim.

I, too, am slowly working my way through Jay Dee's Get Inside. To quote the late John Lennon: "Christ, you know it ain't easy..."

And I'm presently infatuated with the Ray Davies tune Sunny Afternoon, which contains one of the greatest verses of all time:

"My girlfriend's run off with my car and gone back to her ma and pa
Telling tales of drunkenness and cruelty
Now I'm sitting here sipping at my ice-cooled beer
Lazing on this sunny afternoon"
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Bob Hoffnar


From:
Austin, Tx
Post  Posted 21 Nov 2018 1:18 pm    
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I’ve been working on quintuplets. 5 over 4 in different ways and also phrases in groups of 5. It’s pretty fun and rewarding.
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J Fletcher

 

From:
London,Ont,Canada
Post  Posted 22 Nov 2018 7:48 am    
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Glad to hear I'm not alone in working on a particular tune for a long time. For me it is "Nobody knows you when you're down and out " in Eb. This is on the six string guitar , not steel. Working things out by ear , nobody's version , just getting familiar with where all the chords and licks are on the neck . Finding new stuff all the time , I like it.
Also , after about a 7 year layoff , a month ago I started practicing E9 pedal steel . Gradually feeling less clumsy .
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Joachim Kettner


From:
Germany
Post  Posted 22 Nov 2018 8:02 am    
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Quote:
I, too, am slowly working my way through Jay Dee's Get Inside. To quote the late John Lennon: "Christ, you know it ain't easy..."

And I'm presently infatuated with the Ray Davies tune Sunny Afternoon...

The Byrds and the Kinks. Aren't they in the same time frame, Jack?
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Steve Hitsman


From:
Waterloo, IL
Post  Posted 23 Nov 2018 6:33 am    
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Enigmatic scale.
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Garry Vanderlinde


From:
CA
Post  Posted 23 Nov 2018 4:57 pm    
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Christmas tunes...ho ho ho Exclamation
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Fred Treece


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 23 Nov 2018 7:41 pm    
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I won’t bore you with everything I’m working on, but I am working on everything I have time for.

One thing in particular, I’m trying to start using pedals and levers as means of expression, just like a tone bar and picks are. I think I have been treating them more like a truck driver trainee learning to shift gears...
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Tony Prior


From:
Charlotte NC
Post  Posted 26 Dec 2018 1:30 am    
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I'm much more simplistic, I'm working this week on the stuff I messed up last week ! Sad

I am talking about things that should be smooth as silk. We record each gig now ( bi-monthly ) looking to capture 8 to 10 songs for a CD . What I am hearing is good but I am also hearing too many simple transitions which are bugging me. Perfection ? Maybe not perfection but certainly not consistency especially on no-brainer songs.

Apparently I take it for granted that I am very consistent week to week, show to show, and maybe I am up to a point, but to my ears I hear things which make me say "What the heck" I think passive or sloppy may be the word.

As far as new phrasing, yes I add new phrasing, twists and turns very often to what I already do. "A" Ped with the 2nd string full tone drop unison lead ins. more phrasing off the 9th string etc...I'm not relearning anything, I'm probably applying more phrases that I have known but never became comfortable with at ANY TIME durng a song.

Like the old saying, I know that stuff, why am I not playing it ?

So for me, its adding new turn around's, lead in's, and key change transitions.
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Last edited by Tony Prior on 30 Dec 2018 1:20 am; edited 3 times in total
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Bob Bestor


From:
Ashland, OR
Post  Posted 27 Dec 2018 10:12 pm     What am I working on?
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Been at it for a little over two years and that's a big question. Picking exercises? Bar exercises? Scales? My licks? Other folks licks? Intros? Transcribing? I try to work on all of it and fear I'm not giving any of it enough attention. Not enough hours in the day.
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Bill McCloskey


From:
Nanuet, NY
Post  Posted 28 Dec 2018 8:34 pm    
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I've moved into a new phase with the eharp. I've been making good progress but because of the sheer number of harmonic choices, I realized I wasn't going to progress far until I really knew the neck.

The big change is I'm moved from scales to chords as my main study method.

There are 53 unique chords (or inversions) you can make on each fret of the eharp. As I begin working from sheet music, knowing exactly where to play each chord, and the notes within the chords and where they lay out on the neck becomes essential.

I've started creating flashcards (on my Ipad) for every possible chord, grip, inversion, and I include up to the 17th fret. That makes about 900 or so flashcards. On one side I put the chord and all the notes for that chord. On the other side the fret and string numbers.

When I go through them, I first try and visualize how the chord looks like on the music staff. Then try and play the right strings and fret number. I also put the octave number on the front of the card. So instead of Amaj: A C# E, I'd write A3 C#4 E4.

That way it is not just a chord but a very specific chord that can only be played in one spot on the neck and one visualization of the staff to remember.
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Brett Day


From:
Pickens, SC
Post  Posted 9 Jan 2019 1:13 pm    
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Been doing a lot with the Dobro lately(Gretsch G9210 Boxcar-tuned to G. I've been playing a lot of acoustic jam sessions lately as well as playing Dobro in my church's band on Sunday nights. Starting Thursday nights, I play an acoustic jam session in Piedmont, South Carolina, and Friday nights, I play at a place called Oolenoy Community House in Pickens, South Carolina, and Sunday nights, I play at my church with their band-I became their Dobro guitarist on February 25, 2018. I still love playing pedal steel, and I just wanted to add Dobro to it.
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Jim Pollard

 

From:
Cedar Park, Texas, USA
Post  Posted 10 Jan 2019 7:41 am    
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Learning, learning, learning. Recently got the Georgeboards Lap Steel 101 DVD set and working through that. Also trying to do a good job on a collaboration on Bandhub of "Seven Spanish Angels". Actually writing out parts instead of just winging it.
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