Palm blocking to Pick blocking - The Steel Guitar Forum

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Palm blocking to Pick blocking

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Author	Topic: Palm blocking to Pick blocking
Richard Tipple Member From: Ohio, USA	posted 13 November 2003 10:36 AM profile Im wondering how many palm blockers have converted to pick blocking. Im a 80% palm blocker working to be an 80% pick blocker or 100% pick blocker. But after 30 years of palm blocking, its a task taking me to the limits of my ability. I was chatting with Mike Sigler one night a couple of years ago when Mike was playing a show localy & I watched Mike do some pick blocking. Mike just blew me away with his style, he is a master of the art of pick plocking & makes it look so easy, butter smooth & lightning fast!! Well for the last 6 months or so I have been hammering away at pick blocking but its been tough & Im ready to throw in the towel,,,,,UNCLE!! Like TW says, its just not right for me. Any one been down this road???? If I heard one success story I might get inspired to go on. ------------------ Untitled Page
C Dixon Member From: Duluth, GA USA	posted 13 November 2003 10:52 AM profile pick blocking appears soo difficult that in 17 Zillion years I could never do it. I have tried and it just won't work. I have nothing but admiration for players like Paul Franklin and Joe Wright; who are absolute masters at this relatively new way of blocking. But no way could I ever learn to do it. carl
PAUL WARNIK Member From: OAK LAWN,IL,USA	posted 13 November 2003 11:43 AM profile Richard T-I have been a pick blocker for all my 30 years on the instrument-I was a pick blocker before it even had a name-Since I had no pedal steel teacher after I gave up on my Hawaiian non-pedal instructor-I just bought my first pedal steel (Sho-Bud single neck) and the Sho-Bud instruction book-and started off again-I didn't even know how to tune the thing but was tuning to just intonation before I even knew what that was either-I skipped the part in the Sho-Bud book about palm blocking-I couldn't grasp it-All my speed comes with pick blocking-palm guys may be cleaner-my big hands and long fingers just dont wanna work that way
David Doggett Member From: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA	posted 13 November 2003 11:53 AM profile I block with my picks and palm. I also block with the thumb of my bar hand, and sometimes with the fingers that extend past the tip of the bar, and the heel that is behind the blunt end of the bar. If I could figure a way to block with my nose and ear lobes, I would. Am I doing something wrong?
Earnest Bovine Member From: Los Angeles CA USA	posted 13 November 2003 11:59 AM profile Don't give up on pick blocking. After 20 years of palm blocking I was able to integrate both techniques without thinking too much about it. I think the key is to occasionally practice a few riffs that use only pick blocking, and then wait for it to show up in your everyday playing.
Ad Kersten Member From: Beek en Donk, The Netherlands	posted 13 November 2003 12:26 PM profile Last year, we had Joe Wright over here for a workshop. Guess what.........yes: pick-blocking. The whole day long! Most of the attendees were not used to it, so we all had sore right hands when the day was over! I used to do only palm-blocking and I have been playing for 20 years now. I frequently practice pick-blocking and find myself using it more and more. I still do palm-blocking when I want that effect. With pick-blocking however you can play much smoother and it is easier to use wider grips in single note runs, i.m.o. at least. My advice: keep practicing and you will add a great technique to your playing abilities. Thanks Joe, for teaching us! Ad ------------------ Zumsteel S12U Yo, Man! homepage [This message was edited by Ad Kersten on 13 November 2003 at 12:30 PM.]
Val Gethers Member From: Hesperia, California, USA	posted 13 November 2003 12:26 PM profile Richard: Just the opposite here. Learned to pick block from the start. Am now trying to learn to palm block and it's driving me nuts. So I keep telling myself, like everything else it's just gonna take time and practise,practise and more practise.
Scott Swartz Member From: St. Louis, MO	posted 13 November 2003 02:55 PM profile I used to only palm block, but could never build up any speed on single note stuff, so I figured I'd try pick blocking. It is mind blowing at first, but if you get Joe Wright's Secret of the Wright Hand and SLOWLY work through it it will come. It took me a while to play the simplest exercise in the book at a ridiculously slow tempo, it is humbling at first. You basically practice a lot of different variations 123, 321, 213, etc until the muscle memory is developed. There is a summary page of the exercises that I work through every time I sit down to play (its on the music stand right in front of me). Joe's instruction materials are well thought of it seems, and believe me this book/video was the best steel related $50 I ever spent. I feel a real freedom playing with pick blocking now, its worth the effort to get there. [This message was edited by Scott Swartz on 13 November 2003 at 02:57 PM.]
Cal Sharp Member From: Gnashville	posted 13 November 2003 05:04 PM profile Using pick blocking to play tic tac bass lines (softly) on the C neck when you're on a gig and it's not your turn to play can help your technique a lot. It's a great concept - get paid for practicing! C# [This message was edited by Cal Sharp on 13 November 2003 at 05:06 PM.]
Roger Rettig Member From: NAPLES, FL	posted 13 November 2003 05:09 PM profile I suppose there's a certain amount of pick-blocking in my playing - if you play a long phrase on two strings (ascending or descending) with thumb and finger, it'll just happen. PROPER pick-blocking, though (with three digits) continues to elude me - I'm simply too uncomfortable with my hand in that position. Primarily, it's palm-blocking for me - it was the sound that first drew me to steel guitar years ago, and I just love that percussive attack that it produces. I find that the 'seamless' effect that typifies modern pick-blocking, while its technical possibilties appear to be endless, lacks the dynamics of the older method. That doesn't mean that I wouldn't like to have it 'available' to me! RR
slick Member From: Calhoun Georgia	posted 13 November 2003 05:12 PM profile I want to pick block so bad but dont think i will ever learn how.I have had it explained to me on this forum and by e-mail and i still cant get it,guess im just stupid.I admire you guys who can. Wayne
Scott Henderson Member From: Eldon, Missouri, USA	posted 13 November 2003 08:45 PM profile I had been playing profesionally for about eight months when i went to a herby wallace siminar.. i was amazed at how effertless his pick block looked and his speed was phenominal. the thing i like about pick blocking is yeah it gives you great speed but more important to me is it gives you more quickness( and there is a difference in speed and quickness) i could play little trills and such lightning fast. when i learned to pick block i was 18 and i have to say now at age 40 i don't have the speed and quickness but i ain't lost much of it!!!plus on the 6th neck stuff especially i can play wider grips and groupings with greater ease. wouldn't trade 20 yrs of pick blocking for nothin. i go to steel shows now and see the "bouncing hand" of palm blockers and new that i did the right thing for me. may not be right for everybody but sure kept my right hand in shape for the long haul. just my opinion ------------------ Steelin' away in the ozarks and life, Scott www.scottyhenderson.com
Winnie Winston Member From: Tawa, Wellington, NZ	posted 14 November 2003 02:16 AM profile Don't give up one to learn the other. Forget about the names. Turns out I've been doing pick blocking before people called it that. And I do palm blocking too. There are some times you need one and sometines the other. Ask Joe Wright. He was very funny last time I saw him. Folks said, "well you don't palm block, do you?" And he did. And well. And he said, "use what's appropriate." JW
David L. Donald Member From: Koh Samui Island, Thailand	posted 14 November 2003 08:12 AM profile Block with anything you can make work. I'd block with my nose if it were longer.
Richard Tipple Member From: Ohio, USA	posted 14 November 2003 09:36 AM profile Well I see Im not alone in my quest to bick block. I am to the point where I can do some two finger fast riffs but the three finger blocking is not there It makes perfect logic why speed & pick blocking lend themselves to each other. With the palm blocking, there are all the movments of the hand,,lay the hand down, raise the hand, pick the string, lay the hand back down,,,,4 in all. Pick blocking,,,pick the string & lay the pick back down,,,,2 in all,,,,perfect logic If I could only get that index finger to go along with the program!!!
Richard Sinkler Member From: Fremont, California	posted 14 November 2003 12:15 PM profile When I started playing in 71, I actually got good at pick blocking. Of course, I didn't know any different until I was old enough to get into clubs and a local steeler told me that wasn't the way to block and should be using my palm to block. Then I attended a Newman seminar, and he was also teaching palm blocking. So "pick blocking" must be a no-no. So I went through the un-learning process only to see pick blocking emerge later and it became a big deal. Now I have both types in my arsenal.
Buck Dilly Member From: Branchville, NJ, USA	posted 14 November 2003 12:35 PM profile I first started to Pick Block after a Joe Wirght seminar at Norwalk in 2000 (or so), I never thought I would get anywhere. I trusted Joe, and kept it up. I can now switch back and forth with little mental effort. Using a third finger pick helps a lot. -And by the way- Joe's exercises make the process easier. Oddly enough, his method allowed me to become a better palm blocker as well.
David Deratany Member From: Cape Cod Massachusetts	posted 14 November 2003 02:17 PM profile While I do some (translated: Very little) pick blocking, I have no doubt it is a skill worth having. Where might I look, or what exercises might I practice, to develop this skill? ------------------ 2004 MSA Millennium D2 S12-U 1982 MSA VXL S12-U Stereo Steel Amp w/15" BWs and 12" Altec 417s Several guitars, including B-Bender Tele [This message was edited by David Deratany on 14 November 2003 at 02:21 PM.]
Bob Carlson Member From: Surprise AZ.	posted 14 November 2003 08:18 PM profile While trying to learn to palm block I started to pick block and didn't even notice I was doing it. I wish my old palm and fingers would let me be a better palm blocker. And Mr Dixon, i'd guess you pick block and don't notice it. Bob
Damir Besic Member From: La Vergne,TN	posted 14 November 2003 09:11 PM profile I block everything,specialy a good licks,I got so good that you can`t hardly hear any good licks anymore... ------------------
Al Marcus Member From: Cedar Springs,MI USA	posted 14 November 2003 09:50 PM profile I used everything. Palm block, pick block, left hand , left thumb, pull bar off, whatever it takes. But I am no speedy. At my stage in life,I just like to play the simple melody....al ------------------ My Website..... www.cmedic.net/~almarcus/

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