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Topic: Is lap steel your primary instrument? |
William Gausman
From:
Minnesota, USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2021 8:55 am |
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| Tommy Martin Young wrote: |
Allen, I've wanted to find another person whose main instrument was blues harp to ask if the thought process of playing in 1st, 2nd or 3rd position (the only 3 I play in) helps with switching between lap steel tunings? |
Tommy, I'm just getting into lap steel, so this is likely to be a rookie answer. Many years ago, I did play pedal steel, and besides bends, those pedals and levers really just put you into different tunings. Harmonica is my main instrument, though. There are some similarities with the positions. What I have to do is get my head shifted into the same modality as the instrument. If I'm a little out of practice, I just play a few scales, or play a very familiar run that uses all of the notes in that position, to get my head wrapped around that mode. (rookie answer warning:) I think the same process would help get shifted into a different steel tuning.(\rookie answer)
One good harmonica exercise that might work on a double neck steel as well, is practicing songs that switch modes, such as using your C harp to play a song in E minor (5th position) that has a bridge in the relative major (G, in the far more familiar second position)
For what it is worth,
Bill |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2021 9:38 am
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| Like many of you, I come from an extensive background in 10-hole harmonica. I was (and still am) a big-time fan of the Lovin' Spoonful, and purchased all of their singles upon release. When I flipped over the Daydream 45, and heard the first few measures of Night Owl Blues, it literally changed my life. For decades I played blues harp in various bands -- some exclusively, but usually in addition to other string instruments. 25+ years of hitting the heaters hard eventually caught up with me when I moved from 900 feet above sea level to 7700 feet. I rarely (if ever) suck on a Hohner (some might opine I most definitely suck on a Hohner) anymore, but those harp lines are forever embedded in my thick Scandihoovian skull. My solution? Play 'em on a lap steel! It's not too big a stretch to connect the dots between the Sonny Boys, the Walters, the Sebastians and the Butterfields, et al, to the Allmans and the Cooders and especially the genuine steelers like the Black Ace, Hop Wilson, and Freddie Roulette. I love the sound of my '58 humbucker-equipped Ultratone into my dimed (or nearly so) silverface Champ for postwar Chicago-style electric blues. A killer combo. |
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William Gausman
From:
Minnesota, USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2021 11:36 am
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| Jack, I totally agree.When people ask who my influences were, they expect to hear about various vintages of Sonny Boys, Walters of various sizes, as well as the more contemporary players like Paul Butterfield, Jonathan Edwards, James Montgomery and Taj Mahal, they are often surprised to hear how far up the list are names like like Bonnie Raitt, Duane Allman and Ry Cooder. |
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William Gausman
From:
Minnesota, USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2021 11:56 am Re: Harmonica Positions and Lap Steel Tunings
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| Tommy Martin Young wrote: |
One of those things that makes sense in your head but sounds horrible! 
Cheers! |
Tommy, try a Suzuki Promaster. Thick, round covers with heavy chrome, and aluminum comb. LOL |
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Allan Revich
From:
Victoria, BC
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Posted 11 Apr 2021 12:10 pm
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Really interesting to see that other harmonica players feel a close connection between playing harp and lap steel. If it wasn’t for this forum, I would still think that I was the only one!
I would have though that these two instruments seem as unrelated as any two instruments could be.
An interesting side note for me is that I also play blues on flute. I feel a strong connection between the harmonica and the flute; but feel almost NO connection between the lap steel and the flute. They sound fine together, but they’re not “connected†in the same way.
_________________
Current Tunings:
6 String | G – D G D G B D
7 String | G9 – D G B D F A D
https://papadafoe.com/lap-steel-tuning-database |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2021 1:41 pm
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(Sorry, moderator, for veering so far off topic -- dump this post at your discretion.)
Paul Butterfield was originally a flautist.
The old Herbie Mann album Push Push features some fine, bluesy flute playing.
Not to mention the stellar slide work of Duane Allman as well.
Highly recommended. |
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