Share a lick ????

[Paul Brennan]

I hope I don't insult anybody's knowledge here but if you know how to play dominant 7th scales, using two strings, and know where to play them you can manufacture an infinite amount of runs and licks. You should know how to play these scales on any two strings together vertically up and down the neck and horizontally across the neck.

A dom7 scale is just a major scale but played over the major chord a 5th higher. For example the C7 scale is just the F scale (but you start on the 5th degree of the F scale).

C7 on strings 6 & 5 = 3B+3A, 6+6, 8+8, 8B+8A, 11+11, 13+13, 13B+13A, 15B+15A

You can play the C7 scale when the song is changing from C to F (1 to 4). You can play the G7 scale when the song is changing from G back to root C (5 to 1).
If you're playing a blues then it's dom7 scales all the way.

Now for your homework go figure out how to play the C7 scale vertically on strings 5+3, 4+3, 6+4, 8+5.

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

Paul, to hell with anyone that feels insulted! there is a whole rake of us on here that don`t have a clue and what you have posted could well be the key that turns us into players!......now....., Is it poss. we could have a you tube demo of exactly what you are saying???...there are some of us that if we hear it...we can play it...but the written instruction sometimes looks like Greek>>>> and thanks for adding to the thread

[Paul Brennan]

I don't have a YouTube channel John. It's on my to do list.

What I'm basically talking about here is the Mixolydian Mode. When I get time I'll tab out some scale patterns. For now just understand:

Cdom7 scale = F major scale
Ddom7 scale = G major scale
Edom7 scale = A major scale
Fdom7 scale = Bb major scale
Gdom7 scale = C major scale
Adom7 scale = D major scale
Bdom7 scale = E major scale

Talking about modes does cause confusion but it's really very simple. For us, as steel players playing mostly country, the most important modes are major (aka Ionian) and Mixolydian (aka dom7). For those pesky minor chords you need Dorian and Aeolian modes. As long as you know how to play major scales on your steel then you already know these modes. You just need to understand that you start at a different scale degree. I strongly suggest you make an effort to understand to study and understand this stuff. It also underlines why practising scales is so important.
Now add in some diminished and whole-tone tricks and you can bluff your way through jazz numbers with the best of them!

Ok, here's one of my favourite ways to get from E to A.
A and B pedals down throughout. At fret 7 pick strings 5 & 6. Slide back to fret 6. With strings 5 & 6 still ringing pick string 2 then string 1. Don't block anything. Let it all ring out. Slide back to fret 5. With all four strings now ringing you have part of a E9 chord. You need to resolve this to A now. Block strings 1 & 2 and release A & B pedals. (If you have a knee level that raises 1 a tone and 2 a semi-tone then engage it instead of blocking 1 & 2).

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

Paul, That was a great amount of effort and typing and while I really appreciate you taking the trouble I am afraid it mostly goes straight over my head...... ... I think I have some sort of learning disability and to get something from the material you have posted I think most people would already have to have some musical knowledge or at least know every note on their instrument? and I also think that people that have that, do not understand how simple the explanation has to be for those of us that can only play by ear... and there are many of us out here
Try this for a very simple but efective passing chord from C to C7 (one of the sweetest Gordon Huntley ever showed me)
Fret 8 no pedals strings 5.6 and 8 while strings are ringing drop back to fret 7 and on the way put your A pedal half way in
then drop down to fret 6 and by the time you get there have your A pedal all the way down Thats it!! You can also reverse the lick and it works just as well.

[Paul Brennan]

Here's a nice example of the kind of thing I'm trying to convey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC9RijH9E5
I believe this is a video of Jeff Newman taken by a student at Jeffran College. I'm sure Jeff is demonstrating to the students just how much mileage you can get out of knowing the major scale. The song is in the key of C. It spends a lot of time in G. Listen to Jeff just run along the G7 scale - this is just the C major scale but you start on the 5th degree.

Here's another nice way to get from C to C7. Fret 8, pick strings 8, 6 and 5. Slide back to fret 5 engaging the F lever and B pedal as you go. At fret 5 you have a lovely C9 chord. This desperately wants to resolve to an F chord which you can get by sliding to fret 4 with F lever and A pedal.
(Note, you can also use strings 6, 5, 4 or strings 5, 4, 3 or strings 8, 6, 3).

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

Unable to access that vid Paul all I get is...
The URL contained a malformed video ID.
Sorry about that.

tis the law of the sod!

[Paul Brennan]

Oops! Here it is again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC9RijH9E5M

That's a beautiful tone Jeff is getting isn't it? I'd say he just sat down at a random student's steel to demonstrate a point and he sounds like he always sounds.

[Will C]

Sounds nice Ken, but that third chord in the sequence is a G7 if you're at the 6th fret with the E's raised, not C7.

[James Crowbear]

here's a lil' ditty in A
b = half tone lower or flat
# = half tone sharp or raise
## = whole tone raise or sharp

4----------------------------------------------------10
5------------------------------------10>>10##-------------11##>>12##
6---------------------10>>10#------------------------------------------------12#
7----------------10
8----9b>>10b

there's more where that came from....

[allan cook]

Here's a nice counterpoint lick taught to me by Pete Willsher. It fits in with the first 3 words of the last line of the chorus to Honky Tonk Angels in G.

8th fret pick strings 5 and 3 with A pedal, slide to 7th fret and add B pedal as you go. Then pick strings 5 and 3 again at 8th fret , no pedals. Slide to 7th fret adding B pedal as you go. Timing is just 4 whole notes.

Cheers
Phil