What Jim thinks is the definition of "laggard notes" are commonly called "Unisons".

I just asked Lloyd and just about fell off my chair laughing when he said he didn't know!

quote:

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"While I can be quite verbal the terms "laggard notes and "splinted harmony" are appelations I've never used, and are not part of my vocabulary.
When composing the wording for my steel guitar "Hall of Fame" plaque in 1988 those were two descriptive terms used by Tom Bradshaw. I have to admit, I don't know what the hell they mean either!" -Lloyd

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I'll email to Tom for his comments.

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Howard, 'Les Paul Recording, Zum S12U, Vegas 400, Boss ME-5, Boss DM-3
http://www.Charmedmusic.com

It has been my job for all the years of the HOF to prepare the plaques. By "prepare" I mean that I hire the sculptor to do the relief bust of the inductee (that is affixed to the plaque's mold) and prepare the text. Within the limited space available, I try my best to identify the honoree's significant contributions to the steel guitar, its performance, its proliferation and its musical advancement. That takes a lot of condensing, because HOF inductees have contributed so much. Unfortunately, the space available doesn't permit a lot of text.

When I was preparing Lloyd's plaque I wanted to identify and acknowledge as much of his playing innovations as possible. I recognized that he had recorded so many unique and actually incredible things that needed to be brought to everyone's attention. I had been buying all his albums for years and woodshedded, trying to figure out how he delivered so many of his remarkable licks, runs and really "tricky" playing nuances that drove me nuts.

When it came time to get the wording done for his plaque, I wanted to give names to the many things I had figured out. I asked Lloyd to name some of them for me. With his typical humility he said he had no idea what he would call any of them. He was able to mentally identify what I would describe to him (over the phone), but acknowledged that he never gave any of those procedures a name. The two listed on his HOF plaque are just two of the many that I gave names to. The names I had coined for a number of his licks and playing procedures proved to be too many for inclusion on his plaque. So, when it was required to reduce the amount of wording to fit the space on the plaque, I dropped all but the two that are listed there and just added "etc." These were two of his playing procedures that impressed me the most (although everything he did impressed me).

I could probably pull out his old albums and find the "laggard note" procedure, but I remember it well. Lloyd would play two or more strings in the upper registry of his guitar, along with his 10th string. He would slide his bar to another fret while all those notes were being voiced. Upon arrival there he would then depress his A pedal. This would be slightly behind the musical timing. He was "lagging the beat!" It was a sound that seemed like the voicing note was trying to catch up with its other passengers. Lloyd would make that a series of "lags", one right after the other. It was spectacular. I remember telling Lloyd that I thought it ought to be called the "lagging pedal." We kicked that around and he pointed out to me that it was the note that was lagging, not the pedal. I said, "O.K., let's call that lick the "lagging note." He agreed. Just before the plaque was put together I felt that the adjective wording wasn't sufficiently sophisticated for what he was doing, so gave it a higher designation as a noun phrase. Thus, it became the "Laggard Note." Am I goofy or what?

The "Splinted Harmony" lick is what I called a nifty little trick that Lloyd would pull off that would make me consider putting a match to my guitar. He did that all over the place and drove other steel players nuts until they began doing it. He would voice a 2, 3 or 4 part harmony chord at one fret, then slide up the neck with only one note from the original chord and string grip being voiced. That note would be the most significant note of value (or importance) intended for the next chord he would construct at the subsequent fret. It was not just a glissando, it was as if he took the core note of one chord and was able to make it the dominant note of the next chord. How did he know what note that was going to be before he dropped off the unwanted notes of the first chord? The guy was amazing. I must have worn out my picks duplicating some of those chord changes but could never figure out how he knew which note to select as being the "soul" note for the next chord. He was able to discard tones not needed in one chord, but knew which note was going to be needed in the next chord, kept that note voicing throughout the movement of his bar, then added the needed notes to properly construct the next chord. So, the thought came to me that he was forming a "splint" between one "limb" of a chord and adding the proper "limbs" back when he got to where the next chord was. Maybe it was a silly title, but I couldn't think of anything better at the time to give him credit for what I thought was so innovative that it needed a name, and, he needed credit for doing it. Now I know that prominent steel players do this all the time today. Back then though, it was just mind-blowing. I was in awe of Lloyd just like everyone else, when he was creating his title of "Mr. Nashville Sound." So, that's the story.

As many may know, I've always tried to give identity to the little things that sets the steel apart from all other instruments. Coining "copedent" was one that has gotten me chastised by many players. You can't win them all. When Curly Chalker developed his bar "shiver" (a 1/4- fret tremolo above and below a fret) and "quaking" (a 2-fret crescending (sp?) tremolo above and below a fret), I felt compelled to give those playing procedure names. I'm confident that Curly invented these techniques. When I heard Curly "gut" his strings I asked him what he called it. He said he had no idea, but had heard it done by Hammond organ players. I found out that organists called it "gutting." So, I gave Curly credit (on his HOF plaque) for introducing gutting to the steel guitar. He may not have been the first steeler to do it, but no one up to that time could do it with the Curly's precision. Before you ask, "Gutting" is using a 3 (or more) string-grip, picked with a harsh grasp. As the strings are being picked, the volume pedal's treadle is being raced to a higher volume, only to be backed off quickly following the picking of the selected strings. This creates an explosive sound (maybe like you expect from you own guts on occasion!). So, maybe that's the genesis for its coining (?).

I hope this helps with the subject. …Tom

[This message was edited by Tom Bradshaw on 27 February 2005 at 06:53 PM.]

The term "ricochet" is an appropriate one, also -- a note played on a given string followed by the same note on another string. I don'r know who "invented" that term, but just about everybody uses it now-days.

You obviously put a lot of effort into finding the right words for the small space available.

I always enjoyed reading the plaques.