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Author Topic:  Does anyone play classical music on pedal steel?
Anthony Parish


From:
Austin
Post  Posted 3 Oct 2020 6:29 pm    
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I have heard plenty of jazz players using pedal steel, but are there any artists who play classical? I haven't encountered any. I found a thread on this forum that's 15 years old. Wondering if more work has been done since then.
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Ian Worley


From:
Sacramento, CA
Post  Posted 3 Oct 2020 7:20 pm    
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I don't what thread you saw or what it contained, but check out forum members Doug Livingston (aka Earnest Bovine) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vz_1lC51z0 and Mike Perlowin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYNt-QUOhVo

David Phillips told me once that he had performed with the San Francisco Symphony on a Shastakovich suite that included a part for "Hawaiian guitar"
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Mike Auman


From:
North Texas, USA
Post  Posted 3 Oct 2020 8:55 pm    
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https://soundcloud.com/mike-perlowin
Mike Perlowin does, here's a recent comment by him on the topic: https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=2958114
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Marco Schouten


From:
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Post  Posted 4 Oct 2020 2:23 am    
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Lloyd did a classical piece on a steel guitar convention,
Buddy did a classical piece as well on his Rainbow album.
And we have Wally Murphy.
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Anthony Parish


From:
Austin
Post  Posted 4 Oct 2020 9:09 am    
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Thanks for the responses. Below are the posts I found on the topic from the early 2000s. They mention Mike Perlowin's work. I guess I'm wondering if other musicians have produced a body of classical material on the pedal steel guitar. At times the sound of pedal steel reminds me of the harp, and at times it reminds me of the harpsichord, both of which have been used over the centuries for classical music. I would love to hear more on pedal steel!

From 2002: https://steelguitarforum.com/Forum15/HTML/003101.html

From 2005: https://steelguitarforum.com/Forum10/HTML/200688.html
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Dennis Montgomery


From:
Western Washington
Post  Posted 4 Oct 2020 9:54 am    
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I'd highly recommend purchasing Mike Perlowin's albums. My favorite is his take on "West Side Story" but if you're only looking for classical his "Firebird Suite" album should hit the spot. Besides great listening, what he's done on these albums should be very inspirational to all of us who play this amazing instrument Winking
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John Sluszny

 

From:
Brussels, Belgium
Post  Posted 4 Oct 2020 10:14 am    
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Ian Worley wrote:


David Phillips told me once that he had performed with the San Francisco Symphony on a Shastakovich suite that included a part for "Hawaiian guitar"

Here it is, at 5'40'' Winking (it's not pedal steel tho')
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Thomas Stone


From:
San Francisco
Post  Posted 4 Oct 2020 12:41 pm    
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Does Baroque count?

Here's multi-instrumentalist Doug Livingston:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vz_1lC51z0
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Roy Thomson


From:
Wolfville, Nova Scotia,Canada
Post  Posted 4 Oct 2020 2:06 pm    
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Hi Anthony,

I have transcribed and played a few Classical pieces in the past. The link below has some of the smartest and beautiful chords. This is Chopin on E9th.

https://soundcloud.com/roy-thomson/chopin-classic-steel-e9
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Anthony Parish


From:
Austin
Post  Posted 4 Oct 2020 2:30 pm    
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Roy Thomson wrote:
I have transcribed and played a few Classical pieces in the past. The link below has some of the smartest and beautiful chords. This is Chopin on E9th. https://soundcloud.com/roy-thomson/chopin-classic-steel-e9

Beautiful work, Roy. Thank you for sharing it.
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Dave Mudgett


From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
Post  Posted 4 Oct 2020 5:00 pm    
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Amazingly, no pedals here - Bach Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D Minor by Bill Hatcher, who is a forum member. It is amazing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGIx2VTfidw

Here's the thread where Bill explains - https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=262752
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Nick Fryer


From:
Ohio, USA
Post  Posted 4 Oct 2020 8:07 pm    
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Susan Alcorn 100% !! Amazing

Lots on YouTube. The Oliver Messiaen stuff is incredible.
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Per Berner


From:
Skövde, Sweden
Post  Posted 4 Oct 2020 9:49 pm    
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Buddy E played a multitrack version of Pachelbel's Canon in D on a seventies album. Great stuff!
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Mike Perlowin


From:
Los Angeles CA
Post  Posted 5 Oct 2020 3:38 pm    
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The first guy to play classical music on the steel was Marshall Hall, who recorded an LP for Scotty's Midland Records back in the 70s.

As for my music, I feel that my flamenco influenced "Spanish Steel" CD is the best of the three.

You can hear selections from all 3 CDs on the 2 web sites in my signature.

The opening selection on my Soundcloud page "Capriccio Espagnol" by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, is 16 minutes long, and has to be heard in its entirety from beginning to end to be appreciated, as it builds to a grand finale. The last 3 minutes required 109 tracks to record.

There are no keyboards on this, At times you will hear what sounds like a piano and a horn section. These were played on the steel, which was heavily processes to sound like the other instruments.

I hope will check it out, and that you like it.
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Anthony Parish


From:
Austin
Post  Posted 5 Oct 2020 5:10 pm    
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Mike Perlowin wrote:
The opening selection on my Soundcloud page "Capriccio Espagnol" by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, is 16 minutes long, and has to be heard in its entirety from beginning to end to be appreciated, as it builds to a grand finale.


Mike, I just listened to Capriccio Espagnol on the speakers of my home studio... It's incredible!

You have really done something special here. Unique. Very complex. it's a very determined piece of music from beginning to end. Lots of different voices. Lots of different emotions. Lots of coordinating lots of parts.

I can't believe I'm saying this but "the triangle is killer!" LOL

It really takes the listener on a journey. I closed my eyes and let the music wash over me. My mind began to wander. I began to envision this as the soundtrack to an animated movie like the classic Disney feature "Fantasia." Someone should make the music video!

It is so rich and layered with so many voicings. You're right, the pedal steel guitar sounds like several different instruments, from piano to horns to sitar.

Thank you for sharing this work. I will dive into other material on the sound cloud page.


Last edited by Anthony Parish on 5 Oct 2020 5:26 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Anthony Parish


From:
Austin
Post  Posted 5 Oct 2020 5:24 pm    
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[quote="Dave Mudgett"]Amazingly, no pedals here - Bach Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D Minor by Bill Hatcher, who is a forum member. It is amazing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGIx2VTfidw
Yes, I agree, this IS amazing. And no pedals. Sometimes I listen to a musician who reminds me, no matter how far or deep you go... you can always go farther and deeper. Bill Hatcher's Bach piece reminded me of that. Thanks.
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Mike Perlowin


From:
Los Angeles CA
Post  Posted 5 Oct 2020 7:10 pm    
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Thank you Anthony. I'm glad you like it. There is more material on the web site.
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Mike Perlowin


From:
Los Angeles CA
Post  Posted 5 Oct 2020 8:46 pm    
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[quote="Anthony Parish"]
Dave Mudgett wrote:
Amazingly, no pedals here - Bach Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D Minor by Bill Hatcher, who is a forum member. It is amazing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGIx2VTfidw
Yes, I agree, this IS amazing. And no pedals. Sometimes I listen to a musician who reminds me, no matter how far or deep you go... you can always go farther and deeper. Bill Hatcher's Bach piece reminded me of that. Thanks.


Bill recorded an excellent CD of Bach played on a Dobro.
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Douglas Schuch


From:
Valencia, Philippines
Post  Posted 6 Oct 2020 2:11 am    
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Mike, glad to see you back active on the forum, and recovering from your recent hospital visit.

As for classical, I heard the piece Leyenda (Asturias) on piano a while back, and started playing around with it on pedal steel - figured I'd surely be the first one to play it on psg - but NO! Turns out you've already done it! (OK, I also played around with it some on dobro - no one has done it on dobro yet as far as I can tell). It's fun on either instrument, although getting very far into it on reso is a bit of a challenge - hard enough on steel. Maybe I will stick to bluegrass for now!
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Bob Hoffnar


From:
Austin, Tx
Post  Posted 6 Oct 2020 5:36 am    
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BJ Cole has done some beautiful work in the classical genre.
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Mark Perrodin

 

From:
Tucson Arizona, USA
Post  Posted 7 Oct 2020 7:17 am     classical
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Doesn't Ed Bierly play classical on a B6 guitar? I'd like to get a chance to hear that.
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Mike Perlowin


From:
Los Angeles CA
Post  Posted 7 Oct 2020 8:43 am    
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Douglas Schuch wrote:
I heard the piece Leyenda (Asturias) on piano a while back, and started playing around with it on pedal steel - figured I'd surely be the first one to play it on psg - but NO! Turns out you've already done it!


Marshall Hall Recorded it back in the 70s on his Classical Steel Guitar LP.
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scott murray


From:
Asheville, NC
Post  Posted 7 Oct 2020 9:00 am    
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Mike Perlowin wrote:
The first guy to play classical music on the steel was Marshall Hall, who recorded an LP for Scotty's Midland Records back in the 70s.


Buddy Emmons was playing some classical stuff, by Bach I believe, as early as 1963.
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Mark Durante


From:
St. Pete Beach FL
Post  Posted 7 Oct 2020 12:43 pm    
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Mike, Bill, Roy, Susan, and of course Buddy and you other guys make me feel inadequate, which I am. Everyone has a contribution but some are more talented than others or they just practice more!
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Mark McCornack


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 9 Oct 2020 6:35 pm    
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Doug Livingston was mentioned above in reference to a Bach piece he does that's really nice. Another great piece by him that I am quite partial to his rendition of is Ave Maria (Schubert).
Very Happy Enjoy!
https://youtu.be/zJPDTrCkLzg
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