The British Steelies Society

Hi everyone!

Here is me performing ' In The Garden ', I like this song so much and I couldn't wait for record it & post it!

So here you are!



Greetings,

Mat!

Like it Mathew, some great moves there. Maybe need to just work on the expression pedal side a bit. I know I tend to forget about that as I'm concentrating so hard on playing all the right notes. Donny Johnson and Willie Gamble demonstrated how they used the expression pedal at a recent Scottish Steelies meeting, it really brought it home to me how much the expression pedal contributes to the pedal steel sound.

Donny showed us a basic exercise where you simply practice playing a chord and using the expression pedal maintain the volume at the same level for as long as possible. Having your amp loud and playing up to about halfway up the expression pedal for most playing leaves a lot of headroom for sustaining quieter passages for longer. Sitting repeating the exercise until it becomes 2nd nature, boring, but it starts to happen in your normal playing without having to think about it too much.

Anyway that was my take on the guys advice and it's really helped me to improve that side of my playing.

Thank you Jif.
I will work on it, i'm happy if you have some tips and advice for me !!
(Sorry for the late response)

Greetings,

Mathew

Mathew, I think you are about to be the new 'European kid on the block' You are already developing a class style!

This expression pedal is a new on me! The volume pedal as I know it can express for sure, but by its nature, feeling and soul has to come from you, but I can see from your play that is developing nicely.

Think of feeling! Think of Jim Reeves and the song ... Put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone!

The smallest word in there is ... 'to' ....but for the steel player it could just be the gem..... that word....' to'... could constitute seven notes!

These are phrases and licks that separate the 'wheat from the chaff' because they are from the soul! ... I believe you have that.. work on it

My only request for now is ... Turn your camera angle, I want to see you play.... 'not your endplate'!

GuitarMathew wrote:Thank you Jif.
I will work on it, i'm happy if you have some tips and advice for me !!
(Sorry for the late response)

Greetings,

Mathew

Just passing on what I found to be very useful advice, Mathew. Sounds great anyway, looks like a difficult piece to play and you play it well imho.

Look forward to hearing more as you progress

bob adams wrote:Mathew, I think you are about to be the new 'European kid on the block' You are already developing a class style!

This expression pedal is a new on me! The volume pedal as I know it can express for sure, but by its nature, feeling and soul has to come from you

The expression that springs to mind is "a natural"

I get a bit confused with pedal steel terms, I have heard it both called an expression pedal and a volume pedal, but I understand what you are saying Bob. Strictly speaking I suppose it is a volume control pedal which can be used to add to the overall expression that you can achieve in your playing?

I've recently thought it is more akin to the volume pedal used on an organ than the swell pedal used with a conventional electric guitar.

Thank you both, I will work on it. Also i'm working on some new songs, I will soon record them.
And for Bob, yes I will change the angle of my camera!

See you soon

Hi Mathew, I'm very late getting to this but I thought I'd post to say how much I enjoyed your version of this lovely hymn. Keep up the good work, I'm a fan, but I guess that's your biggest fan sitting in front of you.

Thank you Danny Mitchell! I'm very happy that you are a fan of me, but i'm just a beginner.... Anyway i'm very glad you liked my version of ' in the garden'.