Where are all the Lap Steelers?

[mick hearn]

I did make mention of the lack of posts not long back and made a threat that I would have to put some more recordings up. Never mind.

I am still loving my National and have been working hard. Will put up results soon.

In the meantime there has been no response to my enquiry as to the number of lap steel players in this area so its back to little old me.

Friends of mine attend an open mike jazz night at Woodbridge on a regular basis and I will be attending the next session with the National. Don't know whats going to happen. I shall just set up and play ad lib. I have been given a list of some of the material played and its been a learning curve as far as finding some of the nice chords. Working on "Georgia on my mind" using C6 lap steel. That'll teach me where the major sevenths and diminished chords are with planty of slants. Great stuff.

[sabatica]

That sounds like a great time.

Dunno if I'm ready for ad-lib jam. Need to get some more tunes under my belt. Chords are easy its the soloing that is a nightmare at speed in a jazz jam. Modern jazz soloing is a lot faster and more melodic than ever. It truly sounds so amazing but as the jazz term suggests. "Blowing over changes". They really do blow more like fly

That's my goal eventually. To think it and play it at speed and become session & live ready on the fly.

Georgia on my mind. I'll have a play maybe later or tomorrow. It does have some nice chords plus some goodies for substitution. which i'm still learning how and when to use them.

[mick hearn]

Have been listening to Doug Jernigan especially on his C6 neck. Admittedly he has pedals but it's given me lots of ideas. Now gonna try and do Roly Poly and see what happens.

[sabatica]

Have been listening to Doug Jernigan especially on his C6 neck. Admittedly he has pedals but it's given me lots of ideas. Now gonna try and do Roly Poly and see what happens.

Doug is a legend. He takes the spirit of Emmons' Jazz playing to a whole new level. Dare say even better. No one is near the speed of Tommy White but he rarely plays Jazz. His heart is Country, but every so often he just jams.

This forum needs a boost for sure. Its a bit sad that I have to make posts across the pond regularly because there doesn't seem to be an active Lap Steel Guitar group here.

Great to at least hear from you Mick.

Any great tips for pedal sounds that you know? I am thinking what are the key pedal sounds that are commonly used.

Actually I'll make a separate post see if anyone feeds back.

[mick hearn]

I must admit that I have looked at that. Certainly there are common ones but for me the best part is trying to do fast steel guitar licks without pedals. One is the Weldon Myricks one pedal, two finger two string lick down the neck. Can get it pretty fast on E13 but a bit more difficult on C6. There is one american player Billy Robinson who does a pretty good job with lots of bar slants. Tends to be Hawaiin (however you spell it) but the same practice can be taken into other streams of music. Also some players will grab a string behind the bar and bend it.

Also mess around with Four Wheel Drive but as I hate picks my finger nails are wearing out on that one. Biggest headache is separation of the notes after the intro and getting them clean as it is a forward roll. Trying to do a pick block at that speed to keep them separated is a task and a half.

For a slow one try Secret Love ah la Lloyd Green. Using C6 there are some lovely slants in that one although I have tended recently to go for the jazz version. At one of the meets Dave Hartley stressed that Lloyd uses a lot of two string harmonies instead of three and it makes it sweeter. That will make it a little easier.

So - are there any other lap steelers out there who can chip in on this one.

[mick hearn]

I just remembered. Together again by Buck Owens. Most steelies know how to play this one I tend to think like a guitarist and think around chords. Therefore if in the Key of E my mind says the opening phrase is like this - Using the words of the song I would go - To (E) Get (A) Her (E) A (G) Gain (E). So start on 12th fret and see what you can get using a straight bar on that fret and then moving up with a reverse slant one fret on the E and two frets on the A.

If I get time I will do a video demonstrating this and email it to you.

[sabatica]

I must admit that I have looked at that. Certainly there are common ones but for me the best part is trying to do fast steel guitar licks without pedals. One is the Weldon Myricks one pedal, two finger two string lick down the neck. Can get it pretty fast on E13 but a bit more difficult on C6. There is one american player Billy Robinson who does a pretty good job with lots of bar slants. Tends to be Hawaiin (however you spell it) but the same practice can be taken into other streams of music. Also some players will grab a string behind the bar and bend it.

Also mess around with Four Wheel Drive but as I hate picks my finger nails are wearing out on that one. Biggest headache is separation of the notes after the intro and getting them clean as it is a forward roll. Trying to do a pick block at that speed to keep them separated is a task and a half.

For a slow one try Secret Love ah la Lloyd Green. Using C6 there are some lovely slants in that one although I have tended recently to go for the jazz version. At one of the meets Dave Hartley stressed that Lloyd uses a lot of two string harmonies instead of three and it makes it sweeter. That will make it a little easier.

So - are there any other lap steelers out there who can chip in on this one.

Great reply. I guess I meant to be more specific about the musical intervals. For example to mimic pedal steel sounds I have discovered that harmonic intervals in 6th are commonly used. and the M3 to the Sus4 from Major for example.

But I was wondering if there are any specifics I am missing. String pulling and slants I know how to use but I'm actually after what notes are commonly affected that mimic the changes of the pedal for that sound. Billy Robinson is one of my heroes and he knows all of the changes but knowing all doesn't tell the rest of us what the intervals are.

Once we know the intervals we can apply this knowledge to any tuning on any steel guitar. Henceforth my query.

[sabatica]

I just remembered. Together again by Buck Owens. Most steelies know how to play this one I tend to think like a guitarist and think around chords. Therefore if in the Key of E my mind says the opening phrase is like this - Using the words of the song I would go - To (E) Get (A) Her (E) A (G) Gain (E). So start on 12th fret and see what you can get using a straight bar on that fret and then moving up with a reverse slant one fret on the E and two frets on the A.

If I get time I will do a video demonstrating this and email it to you.

Sounds like a good idea but one I can't apply unless I know the theory. So let's talk about the notes/intervals that are used. So we can ALL benefit and try it no matter what tuning.

[mick hearn]

I do apologise for that - feel a right one now. ~after posting I went on to your web site and was amazed at what you had there. I am the wrong one to ask about these things. Know very little about theory. Just manage to play what I hear to a certain extent and leave the rest to the imagination.

[sabatica]

No worries. I'm teaching myself Jazz theory for Lap Steel Guitar. I am keen to learn but am still a beginner in the jazz and theory world

And trying to revolutionise the way its played - strummable, solo, so the player can play solo or in a band situation.

ie not using c6th so have no road map. Forcing myself to learn the theory in order to apply it to my tuning. Rather than tabs.