C6 Jerry Byrd - How yD'ya Do

 I have been practicing after work 2 to 3 hours a day plus an hour lesson. With this schedule I have not been able to post anything till now.Well, I finally got the mechanics down of the entire song! Modified C6 tuning no pedals or levers. Now it is time to polish the song and work out all the little kinks I have in playing the song. There are some things like forward and backward raking on the same fret just picking 4 strings and I still have problems just getting the 4 strings. Sometimes I pick three other times I pick five strings. Timing is getting better. Some parts of the song change tempo. I still have to guard against rushing the song, however, I am better at keeping in the groove now than I was even 6 months ago. When I work with the slide on  two strings and still need to pick the open strings adjacent to where my slide is positioned, I still some times touch the adjacent string and get that weird sound so I practice that one maneuver over and over again until I get it ( I think I do) and incorporate it back into the song. I am looking forward to the weekend so I can put all day Saturday and Sunday practicing the song. I only have one "honey-do" task on my schedule and I hope to keep it that way so I can practice. Shhh do not tell my girl friend.

I think this song has been a good one to learn and it is a pretty little tune. I have the confidence now that I really want to tackle Coconut Grove next. I may not know what I am getting myself into but I am going to try. There are a lot of forward and backward bar slants in this song. It is a cool song. Check it out. Look up Jimmy Day Coconut Grove. I love this version. This song was originally played on the lap steel and was popular in the 20's and 30's. So, the obvious question becomes "WHY? Why learn bar slants when your pedals do the same thing?" The sound is different for one. Two, I think these old techniques need to be preserved as they are part of our history. Three, it forces me to train my ear to know that my bar slant is correct. Finally I think it is fun.

Hey, I want to hear from you guys no matter where you are US, Canada, Europe or Asia. Drop a line and say howdy and tell me whats going on with your steel guitar experience. Give me permission and I will share your email in a post.

Keep Steelin
Stann

Buying a Pedal Steel Guitar II

Here is my second post on Buying A Pedal Steel Guitar. In case you missed Part I follow the link to Buying a Pedal Steel Guitar Part I  In this post I cover wood choices, cabinet drop, pickups, and more.

Tuning A Steel Guitar

How do you tune a steel guitar? Here is a little post on how I tune my guitar and train my ear at the same time. Maybe some day I will be able to tune my guitar by ear.

Steel Guitar Tunings - Pedal and Non Pedal

The pedal steel guitar that we know today is generally seen with two tunings E9 and C6. However, there are many different tunings that are used. Which tuning do you use? In my opinion, when starting out stick with E9 and C6. As you learn the pedal steel guitar you may wish to experiment with other tunings all dependent on your playing style. Instead of repeating what is already out there I have included a couple of links to sites that provide some very good information.


http://www.steelc6th.com/tunings.htm


http://www.hawaiiansteel.com/tunings/tunings.php


http://www.scottysmusic.com/tunings.htm

Observations and Blog Direction

Since I started my blog I have acquired new insight as to the direction, look and feel for my blog. Some of this has been inspired by you the reader. I have included my observations and as always look forward to your feedback to make this blog better.

Thanks

A Special Thanks

I think most of you will agree my photos I use are pretty darned good if I say so myself. However, I am not patting myself on the back or taking credit for these amazing photos. The credit goes to my girlfriend Andrea Ratcliff. Girl, you are amazing! Take a look at her blog for more amazing photos.

My Scrappy Goodness

C6 Journey Continued -- Jerry Byrd

Well I finished Walking After Midnight and my instructor and I took a different path for my next song. We decided to tackle How D'ya Do. Jerry Byrd is known to be the Master of touch and tone and as I started learning this song it is easy to see why he is noted for this. Mess up just a little and your done. I have been at it about three weeks and I am not half way through this song. Part of this is that my practice time has reduced to 5 to 10 hours per week due to just life stuff. As I write this post, my amp is warming up to practice today's lesson. I will keep you posted on my progress.