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
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