Newbie Question

[Timmy Kelly]

I am getting a pedal steel here soon and have no experience with them at all. I was curious what the best place to start would be. Possibly some good free resources to get me going? I need the very basics. I am getting a 10 string, 3 pedal, 4 knee lever guitar in E9 tuning. Any input would be appreciated!

[Pat Dixon]

I'm in the same boat. Mickey Adams has some great videos under the "Steel on the Web" topic, Paul Franklin also has some on YT. Lots of help here on specific questions.

If you already play the guitar that's a big help; if you play lap steel even better. I've been practicing using finger/thumb picks (I hate them) & pick blocking, using a bar, etc on my LS while I wait for my PSG to arrive.

[Dennis Belt]

I’m also a guitar player who jumped into pedal steel about 9 months ago. The SGF has a wealth of knowledge here:
https://dhdube.wixsite.com/psgbeginner

Also, use the extensive tab resources on the forum. Learning some familiar solos helped me get up and running.
Good Luck and have fun!

[Timmy Kelly]

Thank you for the feedback, I will check these things out.

[Bill McCloskey]

Paul Franklin's course is a bit expensive but worth the money. It will take you from beginner to a point you can join a band if you want. Other good resources are the two Dewitt Scott books, the youtube channel Steel Picking (which has a very inexpensive Patreon site filled with beginner lessons). If you can find Jeff Newmans From the Top AB pedals course, that is also an excellent place to start.

Here are some quick basics:

1 There are two main positions: Pedals up and Pedals down. In the key of C, the pedals up position is on the 8th fret. Pedals up means: Just open strings. No pedals or levers engaged. Strings 10, 8, 6 and 8, 6, 5 and 6, 5, 4 and 5, 4. 3 are you main grips: they all give you a C triad. Pedals Down position in the key of C is at the 3rd fret. That means Pedals 1 and 2 are engaged. Pedals 1 and 2 are usually called Pedals A and B. I am assuming you have an Emmons setup. That means the pedals going from Left to Right are pedals A, B and C. If you have a Day setup, the pedals would go C, B, A. Most people have the Emmons setup.

2. When you engage pedals A and B, your grips on the 3rd fret are basically the same as the pedals up position. Holding down the B pedal and rocking your foot to the left by "squeezing" the A pedal on, will give you a classic Pedal Steel sound.

3. The main knee lever to first learn is the lever that lowers your 4th and 8th string E's a half step to Eb. Engaging this lever will open up minor triads and when combined with the B pedal will give you Dom7 chords. Between Pedals A and B and E's lowered lever, you can play a LOT of country tunes.

4. Have fun. It is a rabbit hole and will consume you for many lifetimes ahead.

[Bobby D. Jones]

If you are already a musician and play 6 string guitar.
Here on the forum they sell Mel Bay's E9th Chord chart. It is like a road map to the E9th neck. Its in the Forum store under instructions.
Pick a song you know, Go to the Chord Chart. It show the pedals or levers to engage, And strings to pick. For Major, Minor, 7th, Augmented and Diminished chords.
Nothing beats taking some kind of class with a good instructor or course on the internet.
The chord chart is a great reference that will help you, At any time.

Good Luck in your steel journey, Happy Steelin.

[Andy Henriksen]

When I started, I found this "Tucker's Guerrilla Guide to PSG" online, and it was honestly the most helpful resource of all the many things I collected. It cuts right to the basics, and gets you playing right away. Take it slow, and make sure you understand and can execute each section before moving on to the next.

I just searched and I can't seem to find it anywhere online anymore, but fortunately I downloaded it years ago. Grab a copy for yourself!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17Hi ... ue&sd=true

[Tucker Jackson]

Hi, Andy. Glad you found the Guerrilla Guide helpful. Thanks for putting it up for download.

I've made a few small changes since I sent that to you many years ago. If anybody wants the latest version, just send me a private message and include your email address (because the forum messaging system doesn't allow file attachments). I'll send it out the Word document as email an attachment.

If it doesn't arrive, check you spam folder -- they like to grab strange things with attachments.

[Andy Henriksen]

Thanks, Tucker! I honestly couldn’t remember how I came into it, but it really is the best beginner’s guide that I’ve found.

And thank you for not minding my sharing. Since you made the offer to directly share the updated version with folks, let me know if you’d like me to take down my shared version. I want to be respectful to you and your intellectual property.

[Tucker Jackson]

I appreciate you helping out here, Andy. Gotta get the info out there... please don't take it down. But if you would be willing to host the link to the updated version, I can email it to you. Just send me a PM if you would be willing to do that.

[J D Sauser]

Paul Franklin's course is a bit expensive but worth the money. It will take you from beginner to a point you can join a band if you want. Other good resources are the two Dewitt Scott books, the youtube channel Steel Picking (which has a very inexpensive Patreon site filled with beginner lessons). If you can find Jeff Newmans From the Top AB pedals course, that is also an excellent place to start.

Here are some quick basics:

1 There are two main positions: Pedals up and Pedals down. In the key of C, the pedals up position is on the 8th fret. Pedals up means: Just open strings. No pedals or levers engaged. Strings 10, 8, 6 and 8, 6, 5 and 6, 5, 4 and 5, 4. 3 are you main grips: they all give you a C triad. Pedals Down position in the key of C is at the 3rd fret. That means Pedals 1 and 2 are engaged. Pedals 1 and 2 are usually called Pedals A and B. I am assuming you have an Emmons setup. That means the pedals going from Left to Right are pedals A, B and C. If you have a Day setup, the pedals would go C, B, A. Most people have the Emmons setup.

2. When you engage pedals A and B, your grips on the 3rd fret are basically the same as the pedals up position. Holding down the B pedal and rocking your foot to the left by "squeezing" the A pedal on, will give you a classic Pedal Steel sound.

3. The main knee lever to first learn is the lever that lowers your 4th and 8th string E's a half step to Eb. Engaging this lever will open up minor triads and when combined with the B pedal will give you Dom7 chords. Between Pedals A and B and E's lowered lever, you can play a LOT of country tunes.

4. Have fun. It is a rabbit hole and will consume you for many lifetimes ahead.

I'd second Bill's recommendation on PF's online course. You might choose to select "only" the E9th section which is the "main" section of his course and also the "from the bottom" up. The examples are not dated but current.
I goes up from the bottom to quite, I would say more advanced than any course I've ever seen and explore many styles of E9th, way beyond the typical licks and beyond 3-chord tunes. Thus, you would want to anticipate to be working with the course for more than a year,... intensively, I would say 3-5 years... but IF you stick to it and practice like a burnt wild hog, it could take you to playing on most any stage.

In between, if you have access to a GOOD or professional player who CAN EXPLAIN what they are doing (believe it or not, NOT all really can explain it) it would help you mostly with technique.

You should be able to find Jeff Newman's (our best teacher along with Maurice Anderson, which we both lost and miss) materials. IF you find his DVDs on the Sale Section of the Forum, GET them.
Here is some free advice from Jeff 4-Free:
https://youtu.be/iWakRleUsIc
https://youtu.be/nB1UIPip2iw

None who followed Jeff Newman's advice fared badly. You can take his advice straight to the bank.

Maurice Anderson's "The Missing Link"! Out of print too and rare to find, but it's showing up on ebay every now and then. This is a book with transparencies and a cassette with hime talking and playing examples, if you have not gotten hooked on Tablature before you find a copy, it will teach you to play by ear and never needing Tab. and thus help you with video courses.

Learn to understand basic musical "theories" like the typical Blues 3-chord structure used in traditional Country too in ALL 12 keys. The PSG is probably one of the easiest instruments to modulate and play in "odd" keys. You should learn that in E9th you have basically two main key systems:
1- taking the A&B-pedals UP major chord as the key center
2- taking the A&B-pedals DOWN major chord as the key center

You will want to be learn to navigate the I, IV and V7th chords left and right of both these key-center positions, NOT by fret "Numbers" but by fret distances (Eg: 2 frets to the left, or one fret to the right of your key center-position)... off ANY of the 12 frets. This will allow you to play in ANY of the 12 keys pretty much centered between the 3rd and 14th fret without running over the roller nut into keys or getting lost in the mine field of high "fiddly" frets.
Maurice Anderson's Missing Link would teach you that from day one on. Look for it!


Last word:
Refrain from becoming a steel-mechanic and thinking that there is a better guitar out there for you or some change which are missing on yours and thus holding you back. It's NOT a comfortable to play contraption. It is after all NOT an organic instrument, but a MACHINE which has many resemblances to a tank or a non-synchronized 50's Ford truck. It is what it is, get used to making the best out of it.

... J-D.

[Don R Brown]

You will find the learning is NOT linear. It's more like a flight of stairs. You may - no, you WILL - reach points where it seems you are plateaued, you're not getting any better. Don't give up, that's a normal feeling, just stay with it and suddenly you will find you've taken another step up the ladder without realizing it.

It may help to record yourself at intervals. 6 months, or a year down the road, when you feel like you're getting nowhere, go back and listen to those clips, and you probably will hear you HAVE improved some since then.

[Timmy Kelly]

Thank you all for the feedback, it's been helpful!

[Fred Treece]

When I started, I found this "Tucker's Guerrilla Guide to PSG" online, and it was honestly the most helpful resource of all the many things.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/17Hi ... ue&sd=true

I had never seen this excellent tutorial before. It must be from Tucker Jackson, who is a regular on the Forum. It would make a good entry on that Beginner’s Lessons page.

I also think Paul Franklin's Foundations course is a bargain at $99 for a year subscription.

[J D Sauser]

When I started, I found this "Tucker's Guerrilla Guide to PSG" online, and it was honestly the most helpful resource of all the many things.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/17Hi ... f0gt5HN4af

I had never seen this excellent tutorial before. It must be from Tucker Jackson, who is a regular on the Forum. It would make a good entry on that Beginner’s Lessons page.

I also think Paul Franklin's Foundations course is a bargain at $99 for a year subscription.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/17Hi ... 0gt5HN4af/

Very similar to Maurice Anderson's "The Missing Link"-course, Fred.

GREAT!... J-D.