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Author
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Topic: Learning Steel is Easy?????
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Bill Brummett
Member From: Greensburg, Pennsylvania, USA
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posted 08 October 2004 11:17 AM
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Here's a quote I picked up from visiting the Campbell Brothers web site ( which incidentally, is a good site ). This came from a little write-up giving some history of steel guitar........" The steel guitar is designed to be played horizontally using a sliding steel bar. This makes it much easier to play compared to fingering the strings of a classic spanish guitar. The lap-steel and pedal-steel are variations of this instrument. The ease of learning and playing the Hawaiian guitar made it popular with both users and teachers........" I wish I had known this when I first started out many years ago. Maybe it would have been easier!!! ------------------
Fender T8 26" Stringmaster, Fender D8 "Diamond Head", Remington Sustainmaster 2000 D-10 6/5, Nashville 400, Fender Pro
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Craig Prior
Member From: National City, California, USA
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posted 08 October 2004 01:53 PM
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Bill, years ago I met this gal - a drummer, as it happens - who told me the reason there were so many guitar players is the guitar is so damn easy to play.A drummer!! Telling me guitar players have it easy!! What is this world coming to?!!!!!!!!!!!!! Craig. |
Jim Phelps
Member From: Mexico City
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posted 08 October 2004 02:22 PM
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.[This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 17 November 2004 at 08:41 PM.] |
Ray Minich
Member From: Limestone, New York, USA
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posted 08 October 2004 06:07 PM
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BackGammon is also easy to play, but takes a lifetime to get good at...Same for Checkers, my Grandad used to whomp me bad at it. Turns out that's what they played at lunch in the oilfields for 40 years...[This message was edited by Ray Minich on 08 October 2004 at 06:09 PM.] |
George Keoki Lake
Member From: Edmonton, AB., Canada
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posted 11 October 2004 07:45 AM
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I suppose, in comparison to regular guitar, BASIC steel is probably easier in the very beginning. However due to its many complexities, (tunings, strings, reading, limitations, etc.) there is little doubt in my mind it can be one of the most difficult instruments ever created. I'd like to hear from wind players, (sax, trpt, etc) who converted to steel and get their comparison opinion. I'm sure it would prove to be most interesting...Any modern day "Andy Iona's" out there ?  |
Loni Specter
Member From: West Hills, CA, USA
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posted 11 October 2004 09:14 AM
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I would say first playing lap steel compared to 'regular guitar as being les frustrating, in that you can have a rewarding musicl experience rather quickly, assuming the things in tune. Being able to strum open, and slide up to the fifth and 7th frets and have it be musical, that's a fantastic initial motivating experience!
For me it's like comparing raquetball and tennis. At least when you screw up in raquetball the, the ball comes back in your direction and you can whack it again. Not so in tennis |
David Doggett
Member From: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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posted 11 October 2004 11:26 AM
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I think several posters above are right that just playing some simple chords on steel with a bar is easy, like playing single finger bar chords on an open tuned guitar. However, even for that, some hand ear coordination has to be learned in order to play in tune, similar to other fretless instruments. And this is much easier on a fretted guitar, where you just slap your finger down, and it plays as in tune as it can get.But playing even simple melodies with harmony gets difficult, because of the nonintuitive way you have to sometimes go up the neck to get a lower note, and vice versus. Then if you throw in complicated chords and slants, it gets very difficult. As for other instruments, the sax (I play sax) is about the easiest horn to play, and I would say it is way easier than piano (I play piano) or steel guitar. All horns play only one note at a time, so there are no chords involved, although harmony is involved. The piano is more difficult than any horn, because you can play many notes at once, with both hands, so chords are a big deal. But little kids can fairly easily learn to play chopsticks. So really, almost any instrument can be easy to play really simple stuff on. But playing a sax like Charlie Parker, or a piano like Rubenstein, or a steel guitar like Jerry Byrd or Buddy Emmons - that is almost inhumanely difficult, because these geniuses pushed their instrument to the limits with talent and practice. Pushed to the limits, all instruments are equally difficult, by definition. All that being said, on a similar thread on the Forum, a number of people said playing fiddle is more difficult than any other instrument, including steel guitar. |
Michael Devito
Member From: Montclair, NJ, USA
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posted 12 October 2004 09:21 AM
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Steel may be easier to start in some ways, but playing with any refinement and taste feels a whole lot harder to me than regular guitar. Steel opens up new worlds of (quite possibly) bad technique. There is no real analogue in regular guitar to the bar interface, and muting is less part of the standard approach.I do find it much easier to sound bad on steel ... |
Gene Jones
Member From: Oklahoma City, OK USA
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posted 12 October 2004 09:28 AM
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Like a fiddle, that also has no frets...the steel guitar inherently leaves lots of room for errors! www.genejones.com |
David Doggett
Member From: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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posted 12 October 2004 12:12 PM
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Somebody on the Forum once quoted a guitar player as saying that playing steel is like skating on black ice blindfolded. Most beginning fiddle players take over a year to get their intonation to the point that anyone else can stand to be in the same room with them. Steel doesn't seem to take quite that long, maybe because the neck is longer, so fretting doesn't have to be quite so precise. However, it seems to me that volume pedal control adds another difficult dimension to steel playing, so again your back out to over a year before others can listen (that may be overly optimistic for some of us).[This message was edited by David Doggett on 12 October 2004 at 12:13 PM.] |
Bob Stone
Member From: Gainesville, FL, USA
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posted 12 October 2004 03:00 PM
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The text cited on the Campbell Bros Web site was written by a friend of theirs who meant well, but was not necessarily thoroughly informed.That said, I must throw in at least two cents worth about the steel-to-fiddle comparison. Imagine your steel started at the 12th fret (a fiddle scale is 13 inches and change) and that there were no position markers of any kind, anywhere. (Even if a fiddle had position markers the player would go crosseyed trying to look at them). Many fiddlers, including some very fine Irish fiddlers, play their whole lives without ever leaving first position. In my opinion, all musical instruments have been (or are being) taken to the limits of human ability and creativity. Any musical instrument is difficult if you want to take it to a high level. But what fun it is to play music! |
Pete Knapton
Member From: Christchurch, New Zealand
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posted 22 October 2004 08:20 PM
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George, I think its always interesting coming from one instrument and learning another. My musical background has been with harmonicas (harps) and i've found lots of similarities with playing steel.First of all, both instruments require a good ear for pitch. Like the steel, harps also bend notes. Harps can be altered to different tunings and in various intonations, just like steel, and need a new mindset or approach to playing. Both instruments have an intangible aspect to them. The steel bar is in no 'fixed' position on the fretboard. The harp, is an instrument that you can't actually see what you're doing...shove it in your gob and go for it! That said, its a lot easier playing harp with your eyes closed! :-) Both instruments lend themselves very well to adding colour to the music/band and i know my harp playing has helped me understand a role of steel. I've fast tracked my learning by playing familiar harp licks and horn lines on the steel. There's single note and partial/full chords played on both instruments. The harp is one of the few wind instruments that can do this. Most harmonicas played (not all) are either diatonic or chromatic. this is somewhat similar to non-pedal and pedal steel when grouping players. Been playing harp for 25yrs and steel for about 6yrs and in all honesty, i'd say both instruments are bugger of things to learn properly. But i guess it takes a particular type or style of personality to play such instruments. They are both the sort of instruments that gain audience appreciation when played well, probably because they're not the 'norm'. I think both instruments are equally difficult and complex and require loads dedication and time. Something that comes to mind...do people ever pratice steel with their eyes closed. I do this from time to time to get a better 'feel' for the instrument. Anyone else? love the steel
Pete |
Steinar Gregertsen
Member From: Arendal, Norway
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posted 22 October 2004 08:34 PM
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quote:
Something that comes to mind...do people ever pratice steel with their eyes closed. I do this from time to time to get a better 'feel' for the instrument. Anyone else?
Not as a regular excercise, but from time to time, yes. Or sometimes I just turn down the light so I can hardly see the fret markers.
Even with steels of different scale lengths I feel that I'm getting 'closer', and it's also a good way to prepare for those awkward moments on stage when the guy operating the house lights has had too much to drink... I've always envied those who can sing and look the audience straight in the eyes while playing steel in perfect pitch. Guess that takes quite a few years to accomplish. Steinar ------------------
www.gregertsen.com
[This message was edited by Steinar Gregertsen on 22 October 2004 at 08:34 PM.]
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