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Basics Of Steel Guitar Playing
If degree of difficulty in learning to play a musical instrument could be measured, then the Pedal Steel Guitar would be at the top of the heap. There are many factors involved but the main one is the fact that it utilizes every limb. Putting all of the body parts together to play is what causes the beginner to progress at a slower rate than with other instruments.
Movement is the key to the beginning student getting ahead playing the Pedal Steel Guitar. As you learn to play steel guitar you start to develop more dexterity. Learning to place things in simple movement categories makes it easier to start training your hands. Get your picks on the Thumb, First Finger, Second Finger and place them on the strings. Combinations of movements can be learned and applied to different groups of strings. Movements in all directions, by all the fingers are the key to opening up the senses to create music on the Pedal Steel Guitar. The fingers can develop with drills the necessary coordination to complete the task.
Training your right hand body parts, that play the music to have individuality, can be achieved by doing drills that force the coordination that is needed to play Pedal Steel Guitar. You have to start with the thumb and then expand your moves to the First Finger and then on to the Middle Finger. Each must learn to combine in the ability to move in any and all directions that are possible. Each small move can create a large group the becomes a musical pattern. The fingers learn to work together as individuals that combine in a special purpose. That purpose is to play the Pedal Steel Guitar.
The Thumb is the simple starting point that you must develop to play Steel Guitar but as you move on you would work on each of the individual moves. These are the single movement group. To play them you would do each of them four times. Play the Thumb, then play the first finger, then play the second finger. This gives you the single group of movements.
Thumb/First finger is a way to alternate between right hand body parts. You would play this movement over and over again. Each finger must learn to play by itself before you start to combine them into groups. This alternate move is another stepping stone in working on playing the Steel Guitar.
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.
What students need to realize is that starting a picking move with any finger is a NEW move. All this is done without regards to the type of music, type of guitar, tuning of the guitar or any other non movement factor. This is because the tuning can be changed by the tuning keys, the guitar can be bought and sold, and the type of music is irrelevant to the dexterity the hands need to play this most complex instrument.
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