Pedal Steel Music

Hello fellow players,

This is Vic Lawson with today’s newsletter.

I got this email in reply to the last newsletter and just have to pass it on. This is what I call affirmative action. Here’s the email.

Vic, after reading your newsletter, I thought I should reply. As you are 100% correct in getting the younger folks to play steel, here in Iowa we ARE getting them to play and here is the reason. I am the guitarist at the NEISGJ, Northeast Steel Guitar Jam every October here in Iowa. I have been involved with a Jumpstart program leaning towards people learning the steel guitar. This program was started in hopes of the younger adults and teenagers to pick up and bring the steel guitar to the for front again. We have a program that has a loan program contract and a complete program at no cost to the students. We loan a pro guitar (6 pro guitars), a pac seat, accessories, amp to the student for a 12 mo period. Now to clear this up a little, this is a total donation program whether monetary or equipment. They get the set that is listed above and believe it or not free lessons for 12 months. The commitment is from the teacher also, as the student that they will perform at least 1 song at the show. I want you to understand that we don’t loan equipment out without knowing the person or references. Each one has pro gear, ready for stage that they learn on. Also to top it off, the program has been given two tubs full of learning materials, Newman, Jernigan, Emmons, Wallace and a lot more. This is also for the students to learn from is they choose.

Now a lot of our students have completed this course, and of course some hasn’t. For the most part, we have players who now play in bands quite a bit. And my students are writing their own songs and they are really good instrumentals. This program has woke up a few people and they have called and wanted to know how to do this in their area. That is a tough question, a program as we all know starts out trial by error. We have been successful that we have steeler friends who believe in this project and offer their skills as teachers. We have teachers in Wi., Ia.,Mn.,Ne.,and Il. We also have Mullen, Williams, and Russler guitars as supporters. This is a program that needs attention by people who get to the masses as yourself. We took it to Scotty’s this year and completed two seminars and sparked a lot ot interest. We need organizations to promote a program as this, and supporters to get the word out, and people who would donate second or third guitars so others can take the leap without the expense of a guitar till they know if they want to learn it. Getting the commitment on paper is the first step. Eddie Lang donated his old seat, amps, equipment that isn’t being used, Mike Sweeney with tabs. We’ve had guitars donated cause the player passed on, or just to many in the house.

If you would like to see what this is, you should go to You Tube and put Jumpstart Academy in the window you will see six students who will have big smiles when they finish their song. If you have anymore questions, please refer to me or Lefty Schrage. I will leave contact info here.
Sincerely,
Roger Miller

I want to thank everybody for all the feedback. It’s good to see a lively discussion on this subject.

The next subject is addressed to beginning and intermediate players. One way you can learn more about the instrument is to take the time to learn what each string is in terms of the number system and what pedal and lever combinations change those notes and in what degree.

For example, the first and seventh open strings on the E9th tuning represents the two (2) of the E major scale. With the A and B pedals down in the A chord, those same two strings become the sixth (6) note of the A major scale.

If you’ll go through your guitar and take the time to write it down with each string, pedal and knee lever and learn what each note is in relation to the scale of whatever chord you’re in, it will tremendously increase your understanding not only of the steel guitar but your understanding of music as well.

I realize many of you know this and I’m sorry for the redundancy but there are many beginners on this list who can benefit from this exercise. If you’re not familiar with the Nashville number system, Chas Williams wrote a book which we carry which will greatly expand your understanding.

Knowing where to find the next note you’re looking for in the easiest place really helped my personal playing advance when I was a beginner because I stopped jumping around from position to position and started seeing the notes that were available in between.

It’s especially helpful when working with single notes to know the number system and how to find the next note quickly when playing with a band. There will be times when you want to unison the guitar. Also this helps in finding your harmony parts when playing single note parts.

Above all, this will help you have a better understanding of your instrument and should open up a lot of ideas for you to work on. Build your knowledge and understanding of your instrument one day at a time. It’s amazing how much a year of accumulated experience will do for you.

Remember, play often and play loud.

Check out our monthly specials at www.steelguitar.net/monthlyspecials.html and we’ll try to save you a lot of money.
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

Hello fans and fellow players,

This is Vic Lawson with today’s newsletter.

With all the talk lately of bringing our instrument to the forefront and the different ways to do it, I’d like to throw my two cents in. There’s been talk of a new type of steel show which is a good idea for starters, however I think we’re missing the real problem which I believe is that the artists themselves are not featuring steel guitar as much as they used to.

In the seventies when steel guitar was strong, you heard steel guitar featured in solos and on stage they were recognized. For example, Charlie Pride and Lloyd Green, Conway Twitty and John Hughey etc. Regardless of what kind of music steel players want to play on the steel, if your kids and grand-kids are listening to alternative rock, jazz, pop, etc. unless steel guitar is featured in that music, chances are they’re not going to be interested in steel guitar.

For example, my son is twenty years old and I’ve played steel around him since he was born. He plays guitar very well and drums, but he has no interest in pedal steel guitar because pedal steel isn’t part of the music he listens to. Not to say he doesn’t have respect for the pedal steel guitar as an instrument, but I think if the steel guitar would have been used in some form in the music he listens to, he would’ve probably added steel to his arsenal.

Even if there was a steel show where they were playing rock or jazz music and I took him to the show, he could appreciate it, but I don’t think that would intrigue him enough to start playing it. However, if one of his guitar heroes ended up playing steel on the music he does listen to, I think he’d become very excited about picking up the steel guitar.

Let’s face it, radio itself is our biggest vehicle to move the steel guitar forward. Until other genres and Nashville start utilizing the steel more, then it’s going to be an uphill climb.

We sold a steel guitar to Steve Miller, but I bet many of his fans probably don’t know that he plays steel guitar or that he’s even interested in it. As a start, I would say that even in local bands, if singers would focus a little on steel guitar and feature it and give it as much credit as they do the guitar players and drummers, that would be a good start.

A lot of people don’t even know you have to use both hands, both feet and both knees to play pedal steel. The singer needs to explain that to the audience, not to embarrass the steel player, but to help the instrument by making people aware of it. They need to make the steel guitar more than just a little icing on the cake and bring it back to the forefront.

On the upside, there are younger players here in Nashville that are playing the instrument. Tyler Hall, Eddie Dunlap, Kyle Everson who all currently have artists jobs so not all hope is lost. We still have several newcomers coming into the store. I had a fourteen year old in here today who purchased a Nashville 112 so there are young players interested in the instrument.

Think about this. Before Bob Wills incorporated steel guitar and fiddles in a big band, many probably thought that those instruments wouldn’t fit in a big band situation, but after it was done, nobody doubted it. So until an artist of today incorporates steel guitar in their music, no matter what genre, steel guitar’s role will probably be pretty much unchanged.

The other way steel guitar could return to prominence would be if someone came up with another “Sleepwalk”. So get busy writing a new totally unforgettable instrumental and you might be the one to single-handedly bring steel guitar back to prominence. However, this is a very long shot.

Check out our monthly specials at www.steelguitar.net/monthlyspecials.html and we’ll try to save you a lot of money.

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

Hello fellow players,

This is Bob Hempker subbing for Bobbe Seymour today.

It’s a good idea to obviously change your strings periodically. I like to change mine every two to three weeks at the maximum. No matter how often you play, the strings just being stretched up to pitch, over a period of time, they go dead on you.

I recall when I was on the road with Loretta working fairs all summer long and my equipment would get dirty, dusty, absolutely filthy and I didn’t really have time to clean it properly like I wanted to clean it because we were doing one nighters and moving daily from city to city.

I couldn’t setup or tear down without getting filthy myself. My cords and stuff would be grungy if from nothing else but being under the bus, not to mention the dust from the fair grounds. Bear in mind, much of this fine dust gets down into the tuning changer of the guitar, the control pots of your amplifier and other places that can wear on your equipment.

When I’m changing my strings I like to try to lubricate my guitar, clean and polish it and do any general maintenance on it such as if I have a knee lever or pedal that’s not quite feeling right, I try to adjust it to get the guitar playing as good as it can play.

I like to start by running a small bead of 3-in-1 oil on the top of the tuning changer while the old strings are still on the guitar keeping the tension on the tuning changer. I don’t like WD40 or any kind of penetrating oil for this. I will then sit and work the pedals and knee levers for about 5 to 10 minutes so the oil gets worked in well.

I then take the old strings off the guitar and oil the rollers at the left end of the guitar. I like to use a real super light oil for this. Slide trombone side oil is great for this and you can get it at any music store that sells horns.

After I get done with the rollers I use Windex to wipe off the excess oil, especially formica guitars because formica is a form of wax. It works equally well on a lacquer bodied guitar.

Now that I’ve cleaned the top, front and back of the guitar, I use a coat of liquid wax of some sort. It doesn’t matter what brand. Then I polish the end brackets and the metal parts of the guitar with aluminum polish. I use either Mother’s or Simichrome.

Take special care on the top of the tuning changer to really get that polished good because that’s where the strings move backward and forward and that needs the least amount of friction you can get.

After I’ve got the top of my guitar cleaned real good, I then put the new strings on. After I’m tuned up and the pedal stops tuned, I turn the guitar over, take an oil dispenser and oil every place the metal touches metal. Cross rods, bell cranks, where rods go through collars and like I said, anywhere that metal touches metal.

While I’ve got the guitar turned over, I also check my end plate screws and any other screws under the guitar and make sure they are snug. Don’t over tighten them, but they need to be snug. I make sure that there’s lubrication between the floor pedals. I then polish the pedal board with the aluminum polish.

This is all time consuming, but we want our instrument to play as well as it can possibly play and live as long a life as it possibly can. One other thing to never forget is when I do this, I also polish my bar and picks to reduce friction.

This might be psychological, but a nice clean, polished guitar seems to play better to me. A good analogy is a car that has just been cleaned up and detailed seems to drive better. At least it makes me feel better.

Some other things we don’t want to over look are maybe a couple of times a year, dust and clean our effects, amplifiers and whatever else you may carry. Cords lay on the floor, get stepped on and generally get grungy. The same goes for your power cords that go your amplifier and effects.

I personally can’t stand to touch my guitar with my hands dirty, let alone try to play it.

About once or twice a year you may want to check the chassis screws in your amplifier and make sure that they’re tight. If you have a scratchy control on your amp, you may want to try spraying contact cleaner in there. If that doesn’t help, you may want to replace it.

If you play a tube amp, you may want to consider replacing your tubes periodically because tubes do degenerate over time and the older they are, the more likely they are to blow out and it’s most likely going to happen while you’re onstage. I’ve never know a tube to burn out while riding under the bus. I have seen them work their way loose from vibration and fall out and break.

Our equipment takes a beating under those buses. It’s even worse if they’re being hauled in a trailer being pulled behind a station wagon, van or bus. When I was on the road I always tried if I could, to carry my guitar up inside the bus. Much of the time that wasn’t practical but when I could I would, even if I had to sleep with it in my bunk.

Our guitar and our equipment are extensions of ourselves and are what we use to express ourselves in our playing and to make a living. So just like you take care of your own body, you should take care of your equipment.

If you’re not sure exactly what to do to keep your guitar in the good shape, Bobbe has two maintenance DVDs, one for push pull guitars and one for all pull guitars. In light of the cost equipment, these maintenance videos are a good investment.

Check out our monthly specials at www.steelguitar.net/monthlyspecials.html and we’ll try to save you a lot of money.
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