The British Steelies Society

Hi all,my music tutor has begun teaching me some three chord tricks.My question is will they be useful for when I just want to play fill-ins to my Country music mp3s? And is there anything else they'll be useful for?I'm still very much at the novice stage of things,but gradually improving with each lesson.
Thanks in advance

Hi this is what my tutor has laid out for three chord tricks,I hope it explains it better than I could.My lapsteel is just that,ie no pedals,and tuned C6(CEGACE)

Many songs in many different genres use the I IV and V chords a lot (in fact, many use only those chords). So knowing where to find those chords in any key is absolutely fundamental to everything you play. If you get lost in a song, knowing where these chord are will help find your way back again.

JeffM wrote:Many songs in many different genres use the I IV and V chords a lot (in fact, many use only those chords). So knowing where to find those chords in any key is absolutely fundamental to everything you play. If you get lost in a song, knowing where these chord are will help find your way back again.

Thanks for that,I learn something new every time I receive replies to my posts on here,and it helps me a great deal.

3 Chord tricks

For ANY genre of music in all inversions all 12 keys
Major chord
Minor Chord
Augmented chord and Diminshed chord

This can now suggest
basic 1-4-5 For blues/rock
1-6-2-5-1 - for Western swing and some country
2-5-1 Jazz both major and minor.

Simple example is the C major chord - C-E-G can be voiced as G-C-E - very common in Jazz and its now used as an Am7
Another example is A-C-E an Am chord can be voiced C-E-A - and whoa it could be a CM6
Get the idea. Every Musical colour has the core 3 notes that suggest to a listener a specific chord when accompanied but music or playing melody lines. So learn the triads they are powerful.

Ni Highthawk99
I wouldn't get too bogged down in the theory - it is very helpful in the long run, but not if it comes at the expense of enjoying playing 3 chord tricks (1, 4, 5) are the basis of most country music and will serve you very well. Add a 6 minor and 2 major to the mix and you won't run out of stuff you can play on the lap steel!
From personal experience, I would suggest if you're learning lap steel, the focus should probably be more biased towards the physiological side of learning, i.e. muscle memory and controlling tuning, vibrato, string damping, bar slants, etc. For me this was the big challenge (and still is!) - the theory side kind of falls into place gradually the more you play. It will come in fits and starts - I wouldn't force it!
Sounds like you have a great tutor, and if you're seeing progress then everything is great. I find it really helpful (though cringeworthy at times) to video myself playing a particular piece so I have something to refer to, to gauge my improvement. You may be surprised how much better you get over time I recently attempted to learn a Brent Mason guitar solo and play it on my acoustic guitar, and videoed my attempts. After 2 weeks of practising most nights I got it up to about 80% of the target speed:

My point is that you will be a lot more motivated if you can see how far you've come, and videoing yourself really does help with that.
Good luck with the lessons - lap steel is a fantastic instrument and it's great to see so many people on here playing it!
Cheers,
Simon 'Sid' Farley

Simon, please see YouTube Videos In Posts

Arcada wrote:Unfortunately 90% of posters don't do this. For most of the YouTube videos you see posted, I've manually edited the post to embed the video in the post rather than show a link.

I've always done this...I sometimes think people must assume it's automatic...it isn't! Maybe I'll stop...

Hi Simon,what a brilliant reply thanks,can I print it to show my tutor please?
It'll help him to know what you've said about those other chords,so he can teach me them.
I'm seeing him on Friday as usual and I'll let you know how I get on.
Cheers
Roy

Hi Roy, absolutely no problem to print out my reply - I'm flattered that you found it useful And yes, please do let us know how you get on.
Cheers