Basics Of Steel Guitar Playing
Pedal Steel Guitar is a unique instrument that can be used to play any type of music. It is difficult to learn because you have to coordinate the hands, feet and knees. The way most people have learned to play is by playing the same phrase or “lick” over and over until you finally get it correct. That is the hardest way to learn a complex instrument.
The beginning student needs to focus on specific basics that involve working on the dexterity of the hands, feet and knees. All the limbs are involved in the playing of the Pedal Steel Guitar so to build the coordination it is best to isolate each limb and work on them separately. Your right hand is where it all starts. Picks are worn on the Thumb, Index finger and Middle finger. You learn to play different groups of moves in combination, as well as, in single moves. Learning small moves and the putting them together makes for an efficient method of learning to play Steel Guitar.
The way to work on the right hand, which has to pick the strings is to do basic drills that start off simple and then get more complicated. First thing is to work on the thumb, getting it to have the ability to pick a string without fumbling and tripping on the next adjacent string. The body parts that play the music can be trained to have total separation of movement by learning small moves and combining them together to create musical patterns. Those patterns can start with the Single Group. This is learning to play each of your fingers individually. Giving them there own individuality through drills and other training methods.
The first group is the singles movement group. You would play the thumb, first finger and then the second finger four times each. The thumb is where it begins. Each individual right hand body part is developed in turn. The parts can be drilled to create the ability to combine and play but starting in this manner helps to learn small and simple first and then combine things together to make larger patterns.
The next group of moves would be the alternating moves. That would be playing the thumb, then the first finger, then the thumb. You would alternate back and forth between the thumb and first finger. This would be the first alternate move that you would work on, but the key to all of this is learning the singles before you start to combine them into more complex movements.
Other alternates would be the thumb and second finger, then the first finger and the second finger. Repetition of these moves will build up stamina for playing with more authority. A key thing to see is that each move has an opposite movement. Thumb first, then the second finger is one move. Then you must learn to do first finger, then the thumb. These are the first three alternates in the group. They are created by combining the singles in their most basic patterns.
Any move in any direction is the key to playing a steel guitar. This can be done by training the right hand. The other parts such as guitar, tuning and type of music can be changed altered by changing bands or guitar brands. New movements that combine are derived from the simple ones. The hands are the key to making things happen on the Pedal Guitar, it is a machine. You hands are are the key to working the machine.
