The next song was We Could. When I was at TSGA and talking with other experienced players, I mentioned that I was starting to learn We Could the response was usually how hard this song was especially for a beginner. I began to ask questions of these experienced players and relayed some of my learning experiences. In retrospect, this is a hard song for a beginner, especially in the arrangement my instructor had for me. There are slides that cover as much as 14 frets with pedal and lever movements while maintaining sustain with only the initial chord picking. There was also the 2nd octave part requiring precision as well as sustain. After several weeks of learning this song, my instructor told me that the purpose in teaching me this song was two fold. First, helping me continue the development of techniques that would make me a better steel player and he wanted to see in his words "if you could fly an F-18." What I took from this was he was testing how far I could take the instruction he was giving and apply it. We began talking about the overall approach he was taking and he told me that as a beginning student, I do not know what is hard and what is not. There are steel players with a lot of experience who do not attempt some of the techniques he is teaching me. As an example he pointed out that unlike many of the steel players the steel guitar is my first instrument. Many players learn the guitar and transition to the steel guitar. With a guitar, for the most part you pick each note. With the steel guitar it is designed with slides, slurs and bends which give it the sound. Also not many players play the 2nd octave, with frets so close together it is not easy to consistently maintain your precision without much practice and is easy to wreck. By teaching me 2nd octave work early on improves my precision especially in the 1st octave. Also by teaching me sustain early on I am able to play a style that not many players cannot. I must say this discussion does not apply to pro players for they could not be where they are without these techniques. However, us mere mortals have these techniques to conquer. Next, I would face a journey that all of us must face at some point in our lives.
In May of 2010, my father was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. My life would change for the next two years while caring for my father and preparing for the inevitable. I refused to take his daily life away from him, let him do what he could. When he asked for help, I was there regardless of what was asked of me. My girlfriend was very supportive and right there each and every step of the way even though it meant less time for us. I took Dad to his chemo appointments and went with him when he saw his oncologist. At one point the chemo was no longer effective, the doctor offered an experimental drug with no guarantee of how successful it would be. Dad took the option and it was more successful than even the doctor could have imagined. However, by August of 2011 even this drug was no longer effective. The doctor gave Dad until maybe Thanksgiving. We were fortunate in that we not only had Dad through Thanksgiving but also we had him at Christmas. I saw how strong his faith and belief in the Lord was and I do not think I could be as strong as I saw him be. I saw him whither away from a healthy man of 5' 11" and 220 pounds to less than 140 pounds when he passed away. Even though he was in pain and in the end the morphine did very little, he kept his sense of humor and his wits about him. After he passed away February 3rd 2012 and we were helping mom go through the paperwork, we found sticky tabs Dad had left giving instructions and points of contact information. He did everything to make it easy on Mom and us after he was gone.
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| 435th Bomb Squadron Patch |
Dad was a WWII veteran and was assigned to the 19th Bomber Group, 435th bombardment squadron, better known as the Kangaroo Squadron. He was a gunner and gunnery instructor. He was stationed on Okinawa when the war ended. For 65 years he was married to the same woman, a feat not achieved in todays world very often. He raised three children and all three graduated from college. He was very active with the veterans and the loved him. As veterans, we have a common thread through all of us love of country and when one falls we are all diminished. It is very hard to write this part of my post as I love, respect and admire the man I miss so much. This lead to my next song selection.
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| Charles S Sicade Jr (left) Aug 31, 1924 - Feb 3 2012 |
After Dad was diagnosed with cancer, I asked my instructor to teach me two songs. Amazing Grace and The Old Rugged Cross. Both songs my parents loved. The arrangement of Amazing grace my instructor taught me had 2nd octave work as well as an entire verse in harmonics. Harmonics came easy for me and when a friend told me his grandfather had been playing for 30 years and does not attempt an entire verse in harmonics and told me that for me to accomplish that was impressive, that made me feel pretty good. As soon as I learned Amazing Grace, I pushed on to The Old Rugged Cross.
In the arrangement of the Old Rugged Cross my instructor kept 2nd octave in and added levers I had not used before, specifically the G lever or RKL. Overall, I rushed learning these songs and was not able to Master them sufficiently to play at my Dad's funeral service.
In my next post I will cover The Last Date and Christmas 2012. After this next post, I will be able to report on a more regular basis my learning as I go.
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