Difficult Steel Topics

[Don R Brown]

Joe, thank you for the wise words of accumulated wisdom - well said!

Another facet which affects some of us (but obviously not others) is NOT starting learning the steel back when we were 20 or 30, nor when there were live country bands at 5 different venues 6 nights a week.

I played my first note after I retired, and am keenly aware that i am starting out miles behind. I have played live just enough to learn 1) how much quicker I learn by doing so and 2) how much I enjoy it. But with the aging population and closing venues (even before COVID) there are 40 and 50 year players sitting home waiting for the phone to ring.

I practice because I enjoy playing, but freely admit I would be far more diligent if this were the "old days" and I had a place to put it to good use.

Sorry to run on, hard to explain the feeling sometimes but I'm sure I'm not the only one to experience this. Joe, thank you again!!!

[Jim Cohen]

Hey Joe, great to read from you again.

Good stuff. Your mention of the Pyramid makes me wonder how many of the A-list players (of any instrument) actually have perfect pitch. I'm guessing a lot of them did not and that's not what got them to the top of the heap. Anybody here know if Buddy, Lloyd, Paul, Mike, etc. actually have/had perfect pitch?

[Joe Goldmark]

Hey Jim,

One of the best guitarist I ever played with, Redd Volkaert, had relative pitch, not perfect pitch. He's the only one I ever asked because he played so assuredly. As Bill M. said, you don't need perfect pitch. I would guess Buddy had perfect pitch, but I don't know, and your question about the others would be nice to know. Tommy White?

Jim, I assume you have pretty good relative pitch?

Joe

[Jordan Stern]

Great stuff Joe! Just thought I would share something cool that I read about perfect pitch. Here is a verbatim quote:
“The true character of perfect pitch was revealed in 2014, thanks to a beautiful experiment carried out at the Ichionkai Music School in Tokyo and reported in the scientific journal psychology of music. The Japanese psychologist Ayaki Sakakikibara recruited 24 children between the ages of 2 and 6 and put them through a months-long training course designed to teach them to identify, simply by their sound, various chords played on the piano... some of the children completed the training in less than a year, while others took as long as a year and a half. After completing training every one of the children in the study had developed perfect pitch. This is an astonishing result. While in normal circumstances only one in 10,000 people develops perfect pitch, every one of Sakakibara’s students did. The clear implication is that perfect pitch, far from being a gift bestowed upon a lucky few, is an ability that pretty much anyone can develop with the right exposure and training.” From Peak: Secrets from the new science of expertise by Anders Ericsson.

So this study suggests anyone can develop perfect pitch, although the neuroplasticity that young children have is probably a prerequisite, otherwise I think way more people would have perfect pitch. So I think developing this skill probably has an expiration date.

That being said, I’m kind of glad I don’t have it. People with perfect pitch can be insufferable at times, like a friend of mine who would complain that the florescent lights in one of the rooms we had a class in buzzed between f and f sharp...

[Dan Kelly]

Thanks for all the insight, Joe. It is good to have confirmation that it "is not just me."

I really appreciated your point # 17 on Politics. It is true, as you mentioned, posters on "The Forum" typically stick to steel. It is just because of that, I keep coming back to this rich accumulation of PSG fact and wisdom. I can get baloney virtually anywhere. That's why I am soooo glad posters here tend to stay on topic.

[Dave Mudgett]

A buddy of mine gave me this course 20+ years ago - https://www.perfectpitch.com/ - David Burge and his "Perfect Pitch" course.

Suffice to say, I never got too serious about it. I carefully watched and listened to it and couldn't see any particular reason to go down that road. I think I hear relative pitch pretty well. At least people tell me that. And I play with it as I please. Blues, microtonal, all that. 50+ years.

Anyway, I can see where truly "Perfect Pitch" realtive to A=440 Equal Temperament might be a problem. In fact, as a guitar and slide guitar player, I struggle with what to do on this. Big time on slide guitar. On steel, it's becoming easier. Listen to your ears - if you focus and have an idea what it's "supposed" to sound like - they don't lie.

But otherwise, I am with you, Joe, 100%.

NO POLITICS HERE! Please! Honestly, I don't think, out of 8.5 Billion people on this Earth, I agree completely with any one of them. No worries - we should be able to civily talk about stuff. But NAH - politics and religion are POISON on a heavily multi-point-of-view, multi-cultural forum. Do your thing, but on here, please keep it to yourself. WE ARE STEEL GUITAR. (Sorry, borrowed from the Penn State University chant - I've been here in State College, PA, too long!)

[Steve French]

Dang, Joe, now I've gotta go practice. And I will try to remind myself constantly "Work on what is hard, not what is easy!"

[Joe Goldmark]

Jordan, if that study is correct, it's pretty amazing. I wonder whether the pitch ability sticks as they get older? I also wonder if there is a bias with the kids they chose. It almost seems like the parents that would want or let their kids go through that program would be very musically biased, and most maybe have pretty good musical genes...

And Dave, I also danced around with that course at one point years ago and couldn't really get anywhere with it. Is that the one where they assign colors to each chord of the scale?

Hi Steve, hope you're doing well. That practice thing is a case of "do what I say, not what I do, LOL!"

Joe

[Tony Glassman]

Joe, except for #13 & # 18, you have me 100% pegged!

Excellent post......probably the best and most insightful thing that I’ve read on the forum in a long time

[Joe Krumel]

Yeah, I gotta say Joe,this is probably the best and most timely post I can recall. thanks for sharing it.

[Dave Campbell]

all of this is the way i think.

here's more of how i would like to think:

practice: amid all of the craziness of life that can't be controlled, i'm totally in control when i sit in the seat (well, not totally). the hour or more i spend practicing daily is a meditation. i feel more scattered when i don't get a chance to practice, which sometimes makes it harder to motivate myself to practice.

sound: i mean, c'mon. it just sounds so good. just play some harmonized scales and you're in heaven.

the noble pursuit: not a lot of people are doing this, and probably for good reason. we're doing it!

x factor: when the guitar player busts into one, he's playing to people who have all heard eddie van halen. when i bust into one, i'm playing for people who have never heard buddy emmons!

2nd x factor: all guitar players want to be me. not because i'm eddie van halen, but because i bought a pedal steel, which is way easier to do than to be eddie van halen.

the challenge: all of the things in this thread remind us of what a challenge this instrument is. we're taking that challenge on, and if you're having any success at all, it's good to remind yourself what an amazing accomplishment that is. what a journey!

[J Fletcher]

A couple of years ago , a forum member posted a link to this site , and I have been spending 4 minutes a day doing interval ear training . No instrument required . If anybody is interested :

https://tonesavvy.com/music-practice-ex ... -training/

Jerry

[Joe Goldmark]

Tony G., thanks for the reply. Maybe I'll send you some scratchy volume pedals for your enjoyment! Hope you and Karen are doing well.

Joe K., you're welcome. Glad you enjoy it.

Dave C., we do think along the same lines, although I don't always get to that meditative place when I practice... but sometimes! and after all these years I still think the steel is a magical instrument.

And Jerry, that's a very cool site! I tried the first easy one and did well, but that's the low hanging fruit. I look forward to more. Thanks for sharing.

Joe

[George Geisser]

You've been reading my mail! On a side note (pun intended) I believe "Perfect Pitch" Is being able to play perfectly it tune with the pitch type in! 440 is just a number and probably not the best one but we have to play or notes and chords where everyone else is. Use real frets if necessary. Seen them on fiddles too! My 2 cents

[George Geisser]

You've been reading my mail! On a side note (pun intended) I believe "Perfect Pitch" Is being able to play near perfectly it tune with the intruments youplaying with. 440 is just a number and probably not the best one at that but we have to play notes and chords where everyone else is. Use real frets if necessary. Seen them on fiddles too! My 2 cents! I also wonder if there's any correlation between ADHD and two knees, two feet and two hands playing a steel guitar.

[James Greenan]

Great observations, comments and advice Joe.
Now to put them to use.

[Jerry Horch]

Wow, I didn't know you knew me,and my playin mind.Good stuff....

[Kevin Fix]

Lots of good reading here Joe!!!! Being nervous playing shows is no issue with me. More of a adrenalin rush. Being jealous of another player, no. If he or she is good, I am amazed by their talent. Talent comes in all levels. Many years ago it was always in the back of my mind to play as good as the pros. After many years I was happy with the level of talent I have. I remember playing a big Steel Jam back in the mid 90's. Their was a lot of levels of talent their. We all got a twenty minute slot to play. The guy that played after me was a very good player. He made a remark before he played that he was much better than the previous players that day. Was a shame he was so arrogant. He was a great player, but as a person he was worthless. Scotty was there along with Doug Jernigan and Al Brisco. Great guys. They were very complimentary to all of us.

[Jim Cohen]

...The guy that played after me was a very good player. He made a remark before he played that he was much better than the previous players that day. Was a shame he was so arrogant. He was a great player, but as a person he was worthless...

Wow. Incredible to read that. How could anyone be so uncool?

[Glenn Taylor]

thank you, Joe, for articulating what many of us feel about playing this crazy instrument.
We juggle so many factors when we play. I believe that the goal of practicing is to make them second nature so that we can bring creativity and art to what we do. And then the bottom line: OMG am I in tune????
And thank you, Joe, for getting me started with pedal steel 45 years ago.

[Michael Douchette]

...The guy that played after me was a very good player. He made a remark before he played that he was much better than the previous players that day. Was a shame he was so arrogant. He was a great player, but as a person he was worthless...

Wow. Incredible to read that. How could anyone be so uncool?

Trust me; there are more than you think.

[Bill McCloskey]

The jazz trumpeter Steven Bernstein lives in my town and years ago there was a local benefit for a new arts organization opening up. A lot of local musicians donated their time to play, a bunch of acoustic acts, some sort of indulgence "jazz singers" accompanying themselves on piano. And then Steven Bernstein took the stage.

He opened the show by saying something like: now that that fruity folk crap is over, we'll play some real music. Of course he was great but kinda of uncalled for for a bunch of amateur musicians donating their time for a good cause.

[Bob Watson]

Cool post Joe! Thanks for putting all of these issues on the table in such a definitive manner.

[Bruce Bouton]

Loved it Joe! I could certainly relate to all of it . Thank's for putting it out there!