Lap Steel n00b.

[Brettus Maximus]

Hi everyone.

Really glad to have found this forum - I started playing a battered old Artisan lap just over a week ago and this looks like the perfect place to get some great advice on everything 'Steel' and help me learn the instrument.

I made this video earlier tonight - there's a description on it with all the specifics.



As you'll notice, all I've really got going on right now are the chords. I chose this song as it has some interesting progressions and I thought it would be a good way to get started with learning my way around the chord placements.
And so, to you - please comment if you can give me any pointers on how to improve my chops, my understanding of chord shapes, note clusters, techniques, any of that really useful stuff that can set me down the road to being a proper player.

And thank you hugely
Brett.

[Brettus Maximus]

Woohoo!

New C6 strings went on yesterday and I was very pleased with the range of improvements they imparted. The freshness of tone was just as I'd hoped for, the greater sustain was pleasing longer than I'd expected but best of all, the instrument is now substantially easier to play.
Turns out the previous string gauges were not properly matched - noticeably, the A string was a thinner gauge than the adjacent C string, making firm contact with the tone bar harder to achieve. No wonder I was getting cramp in my left hand! One of the wound strings was also not at the correct gauge.
I notice that every string is much less tight feeling now I have a matched set on - makes tuning a much more precise (and less scary!) experience.

Struggled to find many UK retailers advertising lap steel string sets - went with Eagle. Here's the link, 'cause it's a bit tricky finding this specific set on their website - http://www.eaglemusicshop.com/details1.asp/ProductID/6309/sid/255/name.
Having had such a good, beneficial experience with them, I'd recommend them to any fellow beginners in the UK

Hope to get a new vid or two up soon too. Can't wait...

[slimbo]

Ok, your looking for a little help on learning to play the lap steel, so we need to get rid of the few bad habbits you have aquired allready.
Understand, this is only my opinion and no one elses on observation from a side view of your first attempt.
The steel is a little too high up, resulting in your hands lolling on the back of the steel, result, you will find it hard work to make shapes, and slant the bar with your hands so far down.
Second, your right hand picking is a little erratic, your pulling the strings upwards, this will also result in you being unable to pick combinations, and when a faster picking is required, you will find it difficult to do so if your hand is so far away from the strings, try cupping your hands over or near the pickup, if you have no desire to wear picks, then thats ok, some players work that way.
Third, your right knee is popping up and down like a fiddlers elbow, so you are either pumping the volume peddal (WRONG) or you are tapping time to the music, also wrong.
You need a flat and level platform to work on, and you need to be slightley over the steel and not sitting so far back, or you wont have controle over what you are trying to acheive.
If you are in a wheel chair I don't appologise for my remarks as you will not be able to progress well unless you are sitting more upright, a cushion underneath, and one at your back should solve the problem.
One of the most important things about playing a lap steel, is you need to start out comfortable, like driving a car for the first time, if your not sitting right, it's another thing to worry about.
The best guy to help you with lap steel on this site is Basil Henrique, he the best in the country, and he will have you playing in no time, hope you don't take offence old buddy, when we started back in the 60's we had to mostly find our own way, but now we have a mountain of knowledge, and are eager to pass it along, Slim.

[henry]

I've just started trying a bit of lap steel too, so thanks for the tips, Slim.

Brett, sounds really good to me! wish I could make my one sound liek that!

[slimbo]

Hi Henry, hang in there buddy, anything I or my contemporarys can do to further your progress, we will gladly do.
I use the C6th tuning as I feel comfortable with this setup, I can relate it to the back neck on my steel.
Remember, it's all there in front of you, just move around a little and you will find what you want, the fethery bit's will come later.
I also use a nice bit of reverb on my sound, gives it a nice ambiant sound, so anything we can do, just ask, Slim.
p.s. start on an easy tune that you know fairly well, then you wont have to worry how it goes, and you can work on your chord structure.
Let me know what Hawiian song you would like to practice on, if I have it I will mail the backing track to you.
Must off now to Ladrum Bay, working with Ridgeway Country tonight, thought I'd stopped doing these long runs, still, I need the loot.

[Tony Russell Davis]

I'm impressed with your start and here's some positive too.
Your intonation is good - the ability to slide to a fret position and stop when it's in tune is not so easy, but you appear to be able to do it. Also you are figuring out the chords at various positions, that means you can probably "feel" where to go to get the next one you need. If not yet, then soon! But you are learning your way around the tuning, and that's good.
If you've got to adopt that position you may need to prop up the guitar if you can't prop up you.
Beware "wobbling" the bar about to produce vibrato, it kills sustain and tone. Sustain is achieved by rolling the bar back and forth, not by scraping it up and down the strings. BTW - what kind of bar have you got? Some lap players follow dobroists and use a Stevens (or Shubb/Pearse variant) but a bullet nose is much better (IMO, but also many others) for electric steel guitar and gives more control over slants once you learn to use it.
Not wearing picks? Some great players don't - but (as I've said before) THEY got there after trying picks long enough to have a good reason. Use picks. If you're great too, you'll know when it's time to change over!!
Try to keep the back edge of your picking hand in contact with the strings when you are not actually sounding them. Slim also mentioned similar. Your fingers should do the picking, the hand don't need to move so much and definately not right off the guitar (maybe when you're dead good you can do that for visual effect). That hand "edge" damps out (blocks) the strings while your bar moves silently to the next position.
Good start, keep us informed? We are interested! T

[Ruby Darnell]

I think to start playing with thumb pick and finger picks as soon as possible is a good idea. Also, the Cindy Cashdollar DVDs for lap steel playing are things I've found really helpful.