I wanna learn to play steel guitar - any advice?

[StellaBlue]

Seriously.

I have played piano in the past (to a mediocre intermediate level) and attempted to play regular rock n roll guitar, but was not too great at it (couldn't press the strings hard enough on the neck, and I have small hands, being a girl and all!), and I can play the harmonica, but I really want to learn to play the steel guitar and join a honky tonk band. Yes, really.

Anybody play or know anything about it?

[catbert836]

1. Which kind?

Lap, Table or Pedal?

[BrotherBuzz]

2. Start listening to the best steel guitar players

If you listen to some Sol Hoopii and King Bennie Nawahi you just might trade your honky tonk idea for hawaiian shirts! ;)

[sakabatou]

3. The mostly use the steel guitar for country and folk, right?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

5. Actually Hawaiian music, Indian music and other island nations

such as Paulau'an music rely heavily on steel guitar

[BrotherBuzz]

9. Joseph Kekuku, a Hawaiian, innovated the style of playing in 1885

First with a comb, then later with the polished steel cylinder.



http://www.hawaiimusicmuseum.org/honorees/1995/kekuku.html

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

4. It really depends on what kind you want to play

If you play a dobro, there's still some fretting involved and although the necks on most aren't terribly thick, the action of the strings is raised higher so fretting is hard on your hands...you really have to develope some callouses.
Playing a pedal steel takes a bit more coordination in terms of right hand technique....and knee and ankle technique.

A lap steel is probably the easiest but you still need to relearn scales in alternate tunings

They are fun to make noise with.

There are some great instructional DVD's on the market now, so you can teach yourself a lot, but if you are in Austin and that's where I thought you said you were, there's gotta be some good teachers in town.

[leftofthedial]

6. If you're talking pedal steel, it is a very tough instrument to play

but it's my favorite instrument.

try:

forum

links

[Jamastiene]

7. If you want to you can use a slide on a regular acoustic or electric

guitar and just don't mash the strings down. You just slide it where you would normally fret the notes. 99% of playing guitar, including steel guitar, is getting a good beginner's chord book and just goofing around with it for long periods of time until you come up with something that sounds good to you. Chances are, if it sounds good to you, someone else will like it too. It's not rocket science. Trust me. All you gotta do is memorize the locations of the notes on the fretboard and practice, practice, practice. You'll get the hang of it.

I would also say don't EVER let being female stop you or discourage you either. I have the hands of a 5 year old, or so I've been told. I just got a Charvel, a Charvette, and practiced on Ibanez guitars for a long time until I could play better. The necks on those guitars are much slimmer and they play like greased lightning, even with my small hands. And women can rock just as hard, if not harder than the guys.

[Floogeldy]

8. Probably the hardest instrument in the world to play: Pedal Steel

Left hand, right hand, right fingers, left foot, and right foot are all doing something different. Plus, you need a very good understanding of music theory because the tuning is set up to offer different sets of intervals to create the ability to form complex chords in different positions and octaves.

Unless you are a half-way genius, your best bet is to seek out a very qualified teacher.