The Song Fight Bulletin Board

Now that I've done a Songfight entry focused heavily on pedal steel, I'd like to keep up my practice by offering steel to anyone wanting it (for non-commercial use).

Solo chops are currently about as advanced as you hear on that recording, and I can definitely deliver all the atmospheric steel whine you might want. Happy to brainstorm together if you want crazier sounds.

Not to derail this thread but do you have any good resources for how to learn to play pedal steel? I bought one many years ago and found the learning curve of just trying to teach myself to be so steep that it's been sitting in my close the whole 4 years since I moved to Oregon. I got a 10-string single neck in I think E9 with 3 pedals and 5 knee levers. Trying to understand the tuning at the same time as the 8 ways I could change the tuning on the fly while also playing slide with a volume pedal was causing my brain to shut down.

I definitely watched a ton of youtube videos when I was getting started. This guy has a lot of good ones, though they tend to move a bit slowly for my tastes. This book tends to be the most-frequently recommended, but I found this one to be more immediately accessible.

The first big hurdle for me was understanding that this is not a strumming instrument. You play groups of 1-3 strings, and some of the most common positions (commonly called "grips") have you skipping a string or two, which is an adjustment (on top of wearing thumb and finger picks).

Once you start to associate certain combinations of pedals/levers with what they accomplish musically, you'll start to have little "aha" moments constantly. The easiest one is your A&B pedals. Pressed together, you're basically turning your open groupings from a I chord to a IV chord (or a V to a I, depending on context). Now, if you keep the B pedal pressed and roll the side of your foot on and off that A pedal - that's your classic steel sound. You could cut an entire album with just that.

As with learning guitar, every pedal/lever combination is just a matter of "how do I make this sound I want" and then committing that to muscle memory.

A 3x5 single neck E9 is a great setup. I am absolutely in the market to upgrade from my Carter Starter, so if you wanna clean out your closet...