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Topic: Mike Ihde |
Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 11 Dec 2023 4:23 pm |
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On Facebook, Kurt Kowalski reported that Mike Ihde, Berklee professor and a proponent of the Leavitt tuning for lap steel, died of unspecified causes on December 5, 2023.
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Brad’s Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars
Last edited by Brad Bechtel on 11 Dec 2023 5:08 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 11 Dec 2023 4:41 pm
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I am sorry to hear the sad news that Mike Ihde has passed. He was well known to this forum as an outstanding nonpedal steel guitarist as well as a prodigious 6-string guitarist and professor of guitar at the Berkelee College of Music for many years. Among lap steelers he was particularly known as a leading exponent of the Leavitt tuning developed by his colleague at Berkelee, Bill Leavitt.
I was personally close with him for several years as he contributed guitar parts to several of my albums, including Home James and Cohen Goin’ Country, and also did cover graphics for several of the albums. He also accompanied me on several occasions in my steel show sets and brought me to Boston on 2 occasions to gig with a top notch faculty band, a great honor.
I understand that he passed from a severe case of flu & pneumonia.
RIP my friend.
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www.JimCohen.com
www.RonstadtRevue.com
www.BeatsWalkin.com
Last edited by Jim Cohen on 11 Dec 2023 5:41 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Bill McCloskey
From:
Nanuet, NY
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Posted 11 Dec 2023 4:57 pm at
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Ah. So sorry to read. According to the online obituary, he died on Dec 5th, not Nov 5th. I was just emailing him at the beginning of October because he was selling his Harmos. And just six days ago, my facebook friend request was accepted, that must have been the day he died.
I'm in shock. Rest in Peace.
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Check out the Steel Guitar Union Hall Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@steelguitarunionhall |
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Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 11 Dec 2023 5:12 pm
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Thanks for the correction, Bill. I've updated my post to reflect it.
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Brad’s Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Ellen Angelico
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 11 Dec 2023 6:05 pm
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| Thanks for posting. Great teacher and a nice guy. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Posted 11 Dec 2023 9:22 pm
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This is sad news. I played with Mike for a few months back in the ‘90s in the Robin Right Band from Boston… Mike on guitar, me on steel. We had some good times. We also connected at the Waltham steel shows and the Rhode Island shows. And we had several conversations about the Leavitt tuning. I learned quite a bit from him.
The first time I heard Mike Ihde play was way back in 1977 at the Buddy Emmons concert on the south shore… 46 years ago! Mike was in the backup band. Seems like a lifetime ago. Rest in peace, Mike.
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My Site / My YouTube Channel
25 Songs C6 Lap Steel / 25 MORE Songs C6 Lap Steel / 16 Songs, C6, A6, B11 / 60 Popular Melodies E9 Pedal Steel |
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Joachim Kettner
From:
Germany
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Posted 13 Dec 2023 7:18 am
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I have heard Mike play at the Newbury steel guitar Festival. He played OBS on his guitar (with Doug Jernigan on steel) and how fast and accurate he was.
Very sad
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Fender Kingman, Sierra Crown D-10, Evans Amplifier, Soup Cube. |
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Quentin Hickey
From:
Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted 13 Dec 2023 9:44 am
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| I've heard about Mike. RIP |
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Chris Brooks
From:
Providence, Rhode Island
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Posted 14 Dec 2023 7:01 am
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Mike played here in Rhode Island, as Doug mentions. Amazing what he could get out of that Harmos. He made the fake books available, too, on CD.
He did a lot for the music communities. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Posted 14 Dec 2023 9:20 am
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The following was posted by Mike Ihde here on the steel forum a few years ago. The picture looks like late-1970s. Probably taken in 1977 when Buddy played a show in Boston and was backed up by Berklee teachers (including Mike). Mike taught at Berklee for decades and eventually became head of the guitar department.
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| Here's a photo of Bruce [Cogburn], myself, and Buddy in my office at Berklee College of Music. Buddy had donated his double neck to the Guitar Department. I called the photo "Passing the Bar." Having that steel allowed a lot of students to have access to a professional level instrument that they could practice on without having to spend a ton of money on some 3 and 1 axe that never stayed in tune. [We] called that particular guitar "Old Betsy" (the cow) because it had 9 pedals and 10 knee levers! |
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My Site / My YouTube Channel
25 Songs C6 Lap Steel / 25 MORE Songs C6 Lap Steel / 16 Songs, C6, A6, B11 / 60 Popular Melodies E9 Pedal Steel |
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Ron Funk
From:
Ballwin, Missouri
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Ellen Angelico
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 16 Dec 2023 7:06 am
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Thought I'd post this "in memoriam" note from Ron Savage, Berklee's VP:
We recently lost a beloved member of our Berklee family, Mike Ihde, who passed away on Tuesday, December 5, at the age of 76. For an extraordinary 45 years, Mike devoted himself to this institution, serving both as a dedicated faculty member and, for a time, as assistant chair of the Guitar Department. He will be remembered as a kind soul with an abundance of character—a true luminary in both music and education.
After earning his bachelor’s degree from Berklee in 1972, Mike transitioned seamlessly into a faculty role. Establishing the college’s first country music ensembles, he earned a reputation on campus as “the country guy” for his enthusiasm for and mastery of the genre.
However, Mike was more than just a country virtuoso—he was a versatile multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter, and composer. Proficient in electric and acoustic guitar, bass, keyboards, lap steel, pedal steel, and Dobro, he was always exploring and expanding his stylistic abilities.
Mike’s extensive career was marked by notable achievements. He played alongside steel-guitar legend Buddy Emmons and gave guitar and pedal steel lessons to Joe Perry of Aerosmith. He performed pedal steel with Joan Baez and the Boston Pops at Boston’s Symphony Hall, with John Williams conducting; and he played guitar in the theme song for the TV series Home Again with Bob Vila.
In addition to his performing and recording career, Mike authored several influential music books, including The 333 Book: 333 Licks, Tricks, and Techniques Every Guitarist Should Know; Country Guitar Styles; Rock Guitar Styles; and A Different Slant.
When he retired from Berklee in 2017, Mike donated his pedal steel to the Guitar Department, symbolizing his generous nature and his enduring commitment to supporting the next generation of musicians.
“Mike Ihde should be recognized as one of the first to bring stylistic diversity to the Guitar Department and to Berklee,” says Larry Baione, chair emeritus of the Guitar Department. “His superb musicianship was apparent right when he was a student at Berklee, contributing guitar ensemble arrangements from his student days through his time as a faculty member and assistant chair. His books on rock guitar and country guitar helped codify the styles for a guitarist to delve deeply into those styles.”
“A great pedal steel player, Mike could often be heard initiating awestruck students into the mysteries of that complex instrument,” says Matt Glaser, artistic director of Berklee’s American Roots Music Program. “His incredible ensemble Flat Rats and Sail Cats was a home for so many Berklee students who would master country styles under his tutelage and then go on to successful careers in Nashville. Gillian Welch and David Rawlings love to tell the story of how they met waiting in line to sign up for Mike’s country ensemble.”
“Mike Ihde was assistant chair when William Leavitt served as chair and Larry Baione was assistant chair as well,” says Rick Peckham, professor of guitar and a former assistant chair of the department. “I remember hearing Mike in a meeting saying something similar to the following: ‘A lot of people criticize Bill Leavitt for his focus on position playing on the guitar. He knew that people didn’t really play that way; he was just trying to show everyone where all of the notes were on the fretboard. He wasn’t trying to restrict people; he was trying to show people all of the options that are available to us all.’ I learned a lot from him at that moment.”
Jim Kelly, professor of guitar, credits Mike for launching the Berklee Guitar Effects Lab. Illustrating Mike's enthusiasm for effects, Jim shared an audio track and an explanatory note Mike had sent him, which read: "I thought you might like to hear the fuzz violin effect we talked about last week. This is five overdubs using the old Foxx Fuzztone. Volume pedal to hide the attack, whammy bar for vibrato, and a bunch of reverb.”
G. Andrew Maness, assistant professor of guitar, shares a unique perspective on his relationship with Mike—who was not only a Berklee colleague and fellow musician to him, but also, initially, a teacher. Reflecting on their first encounter, he recalls: “It was my first week of classes as a student (1977), in the mandatory sight-reading ensemble that all guitar principals had to take back then. Mike came in, looking a little younger and (maybe) a little cooler than the other guitar faculty I’d met at that point, and our first chart was an arrangement of Bacharach/David’s 'Walk on By' by professor Bret Willmott, and I thought, 'This is pretty cool. I’m glad I came.' Much later, when a harmonica player dropped out of Mike's ensemble a few days before a performance at the BPC, he offered me the slot to play the parts on the guitar, and with the direction, 'Try to sound as much like a harp player as you can.' With that, I became a Flat Rat/Sail Cat."
“Mike was one of my first guitar ensemble teachers. His arrangements were very influential on my own writing of guitar arrangements, and I use some of his arrangements to this day in my own guitar ensemble,” says John Baboian, professor of guitar. “About 10 years ago, I was playing one of his arrangements, 'Solid Gold Guitars,' in my ensemble, and he popped his head in to see what was happening. I told the students that he was the writer, calling out 'Author, Author,' and the students were excited to see him and know that he had written the arrangement. A very versatile musician that played well in a variety of styles, and sang as well. He will be missed.”
“Mike Ihde was a stylistic and pedagogical leader in the Guitar Department and a beloved member of our guitar community,” says Kim Perlak, chair of the Guitar Department. “For four decades, he led the development of our country, rock, and pedal steel curriculum. When I arrived at Berklee in 2013, his generous spirit welcomed me to the department and set the tone for the way we share ideas and experiences as faculty and leadership. His legacy carries on in the curriculum he developed and the supportive, creative culture he helped to instill in our department.” |
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Chris Templeton
From:
The Green Mountain State
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Posted 16 Dec 2023 7:29 am
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Mike arranged for me to speak at Berklee to show my Tapper, a pedal steel with a raised fretboard and a second compensated bridge.
Thanks for the inspiration, Mike.
Onward
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Excel 3/4 Pedal With An 8 String Hawaiian Neck, Tapper (10 string with a raised fretboard to fret with fingers), Single neck Fessenden 3/5
"The Tapper" : https://christophertempleton.bandcamp.com/album/the-tapper
Soundcloud Playlist: https://soundcloud.com/bluespruce8: |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 16 Dec 2023 7:14 pm
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Mike was an important part of our community. I’m indebted to him for his help proofing my Slide Rules book. We would exchange graphic design advice at times as well. He was a well-respected teacher and player and almost single-handidly kept the Leavit tuning alive. Rip Mike.
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Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 17 Dec 2023 6:39 pm
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Rip Mike. You were an important part of our community and I’m indebted to you for your help proofing my Slide Rules book.
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Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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Ernie Renn
From:
Brainerd, Minnesota USA
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Posted 19 Dec 2023 5:29 pm
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Sorry to hear this…
Rest in Peace, Mike Ihde…
THAT’S where THAT guitar went to… I wonder if it’s still at the college. I visited there when we were on tour in the late 80’s.
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My best,
Ernie
www.BuddyEmmons.com |
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Roy Thomson
From:
Wolfville, Nova Scotia,Canada
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Posted 20 Dec 2023 7:13 am
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Mike got me onto the Leavitt tuning and I ended up studying and completing a few courses with it. I am deeply indebted to Mike and am very sorry to hear of his passing.
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Custom Tabs Various Tunings
Courses Lap Steel, Pedal Steel |
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