Pedal Steel Music

This is Vic Lawson with today’s newsletter. Here are a couple of emails we received after the last newsletter and I thought we’d share them.

HI, Vic, I’ve also greatly enjoyed your emails. A couple of things I’d like to see you cover, I think would help my students out quite a bit…

Exactly how do you go about learning a new tune, say from a recording- playing through the changes first, charting it out, signature licks first? Etc. And in regard to both that and live playing, do you THINK in the number system as I do and try to encourage my students to learn- ie: listening to a recording or in a live situation as the changes go by and mentally filing (1,6m, 4, 2m, 5 etc.) and learning the fretboard, levers, pedals as number system functions as well?

Thanks, best wishes, and love to Bobbe.
Mark van Allen

There are a couple of ways I learn a song. I find that charting it out first makes me learn the song quicker and also commits a lot of it to memory. Also, I’ll live with the song for two or three days in the car and then I will learn the signature licks if any.

As far as the signature licks go, if I have trouble with them, then I use my Tascam GB-10 which allows me to slow the song down to half speed without changing the key and also allows me to loop the lick over and over endlessly. Both these features are very helpful.

Vic:

Many, many, many years ago when I was learning to play I had two Curly Chalker C 6th albums and tried to copy them note per note. Later when I started to play with bands I played Chalker’s C 6th album style. I worked very hard to impress the band members and was really doing quite well too. After working my first paying club gig for a whopping ten days, the club manager came to the band leader and told him my playing stunk and patron’s had complained I was taking away from band’s the sound. If he wanted to keep playing there I had to go. After our last set, let go with no explanation and I took it that the club had to cut what they were paying and I was last hired. After this it had happened twice more, I was gaining a reputation for knowing music theory (which I didn’t), but the jobs stopped coming and still I had no idea why.

While band jobs had stopped, I was going to every jam session possible to improve my playing and get my foot back in the door. At one of these jams, a great lead guitarist named Dick Thompson came up to me on a break and told me “he had heard Buddy Charlton and Buddy Emmons play like that after hours at Hunter’s Lodge, but never on a recording backing a singer”. He told me to follow him home and gave me one Tammy Wynette and one Charlie Pride album and said to follow their steel example to enhance the singer and the audience’s listening pleasure and if I could, he would Hire me. He also delivered an earth shattering bit of info, I wasn’t the star, the singer was!!!! I listened to him and that day became a steel player and was with this band for about ten years. The BEST advice I ever received.

Take care and GOD bless you all,
Bruce, in Port Charlotte FL

I think that’s a great lesson learned. I was fortunate to have a mentor that actually told me that in my first band. It sure wasn’t about the steel guitar, it was about the vocalist. I think that’s a great lesson for beginning players to learn what filling means, because if you really listen to a recording you’ll find that the steel guitar or other lead instruments typically aren’t playing constantly. They try to find little melodies that will fit in between vocal phrases.

I thank both of these readers for sharing their thoughts with us and also thank them for making it easy to write this newsletter. I’d like to encourage the rest of you to also make it easy for me to write future newsletters.

We’ve been getting some input on other subjects that we’ll be addressing. Keep those questions coming folks. That’s how I know what you want to hear about.

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123 Mid Town Court
Hendersonville, TN. 37075
(615) 822-5555
Open 9AM – 4PM Monday – Friday
Closed Saturday and Sunday

November 12, 2012

This is Vic Lawson with today’s newsletter. I really like it when I get emails back from you guys because it lets me know somebody is paying attention and that what I have to say makes sense to you.

Here is an email I got from a lead guitar player which really made me smile.

Good afternoon, Vic!

It’s good to see you back at the newsletter again. I look forward to yours, Bobbe’s and Bob’s writings twice a week…I’ve been a reporter, editor, and for the last seventeen years, an English teacher. I have been so impressed at how well you guys write!

What I’m writing you for today is to let you know is that even though I’m not a pedal steel player, I really take your advice to heart. A month or so ago, I had the crappiest gig I’ve ever played…I wanted to hang up the Strat forever! Then on Monday I got your newsletter about not letting your personal emotions interfere with the gig. I got to thinking about my lousy gig, and BAM! I realized I had been down about issues with my kids, and it really affected my playing. The next gig I made sure I had my head straight, and it probably was the greatest gig ever!

Since then I’ve made sure I followed your advice, and man, it’s been nothing but blue skies! So, thanks a bunch, and keep sending those battle-hardened gems of advice!

By the way, I’m still working at the lap steel…I’m working with the C6 tuning…love it. I still dream of buying a pedal steel from you guys. There is no sound that compares!

Thanks to all and have a great Thanksgiving!

Rick Cox
Llano, Texas

That is a great story!

It’s good to know these newsletters do some good. I personally find it difficult to have good ideas, but stories like these are really make it worth the effort. I feel that I am repetitive sometimes in my letters, but these topics are just some of the things that I’ve encountered through my career that have improved my playing. So if I get too repetitive, please be patient. Between Bob Hempker and I, will bring you the best newsletters that we can.

Here’s another email reply.

Hi Vic , Thank you so much for poppin in these emails, They are so valuable, I`m in a 3 pce band w/no drummer and I`m on the steel, I hit the jackpot every time I read your emails,

On the mental side of things, Not to stand out at all but Last night I dressed up pretty sharp (I looked like doc holiday without a hat or badge) It really felt good to do this because I am also working on this mental attitude and this is why I tried this, well it helped a little bit more than anything else I`ve tried , I know I`ve been experimenting the songs and it appears its my absolute solid problem, You’ve brought this to my attention. I see this may be the problem I`m facing , Possibly not enough time to practice the experiment with the different tempos that are sped up with the band , not on purpose (no drummer) Wrong tempos just destroy certain solos that you think you`ve nailed down, It gives me a mental breakdown. Lookin sharp helped me last night , I just thought I`d share that with you, Thanks for the tip on experimenting, I`m not going to do this anymore.

Craig Schwartz

There is a book that a friend of mine turned me on to titled “Effortless Mastery: Liberating the Master Musician Within” by Kenny Werner. It is a great tool. You might find it worth the time to read it.

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Listen To Steel Guitar Music Streaming 24 Hours A Day!

Steel Guitar Nashville
123 Mid Town Court
Hendersonville, TN. 37075
(615) 822-5555
Open 9AM – 4PM Monday – Friday
Closed Saturday and Sunday

November 8, 2012

This is Vic Lawson with today’s newsletter.

I was asked, “How much do you experiment and where do you experiment, during practice or onstage?”

Personally I only experiment during practice. I feel like if I experiment onstage, not only does it affect my integrity, but the integrity of the band. I just try to play what I should play and where I’m supposed to play and save the experimenting for home.

However I know a lot of people that do experiment, but it usually ends up in a train wreck which over a four hour period ends up making people think that guy screws up a lot. I think there’s an exception to every rule, but generally there’s a time and place for everything.

The only time I ever experiment is if I hear the guitar player or the fiddle player play a phrase that I want to jump in on. I may end up missing it, but that’s my version of experimenting. To me as a listener in certain places I can understand it, like if I’m downtown and it’s 12:30 in the night and there’s three people in the place, go ahead.

But if there’s a packed house, you need to play it like a professional and not experiment. As a musician I can appreciate what someone is trying to do, but as a member of the audience, it’s not something I want to hear.

It’s very easy to fall into safe licks. I did this weekend and I felt my creativity was way down this weekend. I just fell into a safe mode all weekend playing things I know will work all the time. However, just because I play it safe onstage doesn’t mean that I won’t try to push the edge a little further out.

There’s a fine line there when I think about it. For me pushing the edge makes me create licks that I know will work, but yet I know at the end of the lick I’m not going to completely blow it, whereas experimenting to me is not knowing the end result until it’s over.

How far you push the envelope is subject to your own limitations. Buddy Emmons would be much better at pushing the envelope than I would. Some nights it’s like you can’t mess up no matter what you do. Other nights it’s a struggle to just play it safe.

Your mental state when you go into a gig can really make a difference. If you’re too uptight and worried about messing up or who is listening, you’re more likely to mess up than if you have a more laid back attitude. Being on top of your mental game is a large part of being a successful musician. I may have more to say on the subject in the future. If any of you guys have any thoughts on it, pop me an email.

I’ve also been questioned about how I get my tone. My answer is, “What tone?” I’m kidding of course. Tone is very important to a steel guitar player. I say most of it comes from your hands and your heart, however I know those that will argue that.

It starts with a good guitar, but how you manipulate that guitar is how you get your tone and that would be your hands. To me, for example Tommy White sounds like Tommy regardless of what guitar he’s playing. Therefore, I think that’s what separates the great players from the good players.

With that being said, no matter what effects you use, if you’re still not happy with your tone, work on your technique. There are a lot more factors but that’s a good starting point.

Like Bobbe always says, you can give Porter Waggoner Dolly Parton’s microphone, but he’s still going to sound like Porter, not Dolly. Almost everybody has a signature sound which is what makes music great because no two players will play the same song the same way.

We’ve received a lot of emails about general music theory. Nashville musicians long ago developed their own way of communicating music theory. It’s called the Nashville Number System. If it’s something that you don’t understand, it’s something that you need to learn because that’s how musicians everywhere communicate.

I hear a lot of players who come in here say they play by ear and don’t need all that stuff. Well if they’re going to play with other people, they need to learn the lingo that everybody is using, otherwise it will just frustrate them when somebody calls out something they don’t understand.

It saves a lot of time a rehearsals and practice if you understand the lingo and don’t have to hear everything played before you can understand it.

We’re now offering narrow mount Lawrence 705 humbucker pickups for Sho-Buds, Mullen Royal Precision and other guitars that require a narrow mount pickup. They are only available in ten string models.

Here’s the link to the pickups: www.steelguitar.net/pickups.html

Check out our monthly specials at www.steelguitar.net/monthlyspecials.html

www.steelguitar.net
sales@steelguitar.net
www.youtube.com/bobbeseymour

Listen To Steel Guitar Music Streaming 24 Hours A Day!

Steel Guitar Nashville
123 Mid Town Court
Hendersonville, TN. 37075
(615) 822-5555
Open 9AM – 4PM Monday – Friday
Closed Saturday and Sunday