Texas Swing / Western Swing and lap/pedal steel guitar, aka hawaiian steel guitar performance and instructional videos. Featuring Brother Ethan Shaw and his Texas music friends.
Been a huge fan of Duane Allman, Johnny Winter, Bob Wills. Ernest Tubb, etc. for decades. It was great to hear a more in-depth explanation of not only the physical differences, but also the sound/musical applications. For me, I don’t think there is any other instrument capable of turning a sad song into an openly weeping song. It adds a very emotional component to a song for me (ie. Buddy Emmons on Ernest Tubb’s “Pass The Booze”). Couldn’t tell you why. 🤷🏻♂️ Thanks for posting!
@@hoola100 haha, yes! It got a workout on this one! Have fun with yours! Lee is the guy to talk to about those pedals, and pretty much everything I played in that song I got stuck in my head listening to him.
@@texas_swing thanks, I have to try it out. I am going to take off my low A string and substitute it with a F# on my high C6 tuning. So it will be F# C E G A C E G (low2high), isn't it? I am curious of the use of that F#.
@@frankleppert4913 when you use the F# instead of the G, you'll have a D9 chord in open position. That's the most useful way to use that. I think that will be a good switch!
Amazing video...do we know what copedant/tuning he used for the other neck? I read somewhere he used a basic dobro tuning, but not sure if that's correct. I'm definitely getting a Fender 1000 next! Love my Sho-Bud but this sound is unmatched.
Thanks for watching! I don't know what he had on his other fender neck. He played A6 early on, so it might have been that. But he actually called his E9 tuning A6, because that's what it was with the pedals down. Once he switched to Sho bud, you're right, it was a G Dobro tuning.
I don't know very much about pedal steel, so I hope this doesn't sound too dumb. Is the pedal steel in this video turned 180? It looks upside down to me with the tuner heads on the right side.
I can only agree starting with lap steel. 3 years ago I built my lap steel mostly with peaces from the hard ware store. It was a great experience during this period of time. I chose to make a 8-string because it gives you more flexibility and range. I invested in Jerry Byrd course, great educational material, you learn how to slant and a lot more. Cindy Cashdollars video course is a good aproach if you like Wesern Swing, I chose C6 with a high G becuase of her course. Than you can easily retune it to E6, the Don Helms tuning, learning with hos vourse the old Hank Williams stuff. My next project is going to get used to other tunings like B11 or a E13. Only later I consider to get a pedal steel if I see if it has advantages. Before that I still want to try the string bending technique from Billy Robinson and Kayton Roberts (crazy sounds with the tone control). So many possibilities on lap steel, thats my experience, sorry for this long coment.
I like your version @ 0:30 of that fast lift and drop technique it's creative way to reinterprete the song. Haven't heard this track played like that by anybody :)
great stuff! Where do you get those guitar backgrounds? Do you record them separately? is one guitar good enough no double takes like stereo guitar recording is done?
Doug & you play well together. You were pushing him with the bass line but heck it worked well. Nice singing too with steel fills. One of the great tunes by Texan native Cindy Walker.
Thanks Graham! Doug and I have been playing together for over 25 years, so it makes it easy. That was the first time we had played that song in almost 15 years, but it's such a great song that we knew it well.
Was the dobro tuning GBDGBD or something else? Hard to here the difference between any letter ending "ee". And no one's going to read the notes in the NATO phonetic alphabet -- Golf, Bravo, Delta.
@@texas_swing Thanks for the reply. I hope you took my 'NATO phonetic as the humorous quip it's supposed to be'. I just started playing square-neck and am thinking about getting an electric lap for winter when traveling as I could leave it in my car. It would help to use the same tuning, although I like the sound of that C6.
@@kenkoellner9421 Haha, awesome! Yeah, it's great to have a little lap steel to bang around on trips with. I have one. G major is a great tuning, but C6 has a lot of versatility.
@@texas_swing I just bought a super cheap 6-string as a beater I can leave in my car for practice in the GBDGBD dobro tuning while traveling but seriously considering putting an 8-string Ash SX on my Xmas list and staring with A6.
What about the function of the leg levers and the pedals? The different number of strings and tunings of each instrument and its purposes? The dobro? Even so, it is interesting to be able to see and hear these nice instruments. Thanks for posting.
Thanks for watching! There's so much to tell about each instrument, that it's too much for one video. You can find a lot of great info about each particular instrument here on RU-vid. There's a lot of steel guitar info on this channel, so check it out and subscribe-there'll be a lot more!
thank you! so grateful for the one-stop for everything i need to know to start. all those licks you played is exactly why i want to learn! all the best to you and your followers.
Not only is this video super informative, but god damn that playing is just awesome. There’s really nothing like really skillful steel guitar playing, such a beautiful sound
Yessir... those finger picks are a pain in the beginning, but you do get used to them fairly quickly. So far, I like the D'Addario National thumb picks and the brass NP-2B finger picks. Thanks for what you do here Brother Shaw. Liked, subscribed, and shared! :)
I'm a long-time (50 years) off and on guitar player. Mostly off due to military service, marriage, and work. But now that I'm retired (and single) I have all the time, freedom to seriously study music theory, and enough money to expand my electric and acoustic guitar collection and to learn a new instrument; i.e., steel guitar. When I decided to jump into learning steel guitar, I knew that I wanted to keep it as simple as possible and begin with a lap / or console steel, and not pedal steel, so I decided I just needed a single neck guitar. In doing my research on what I might want to buy, I saw that one could buy a single neck 6-string lap steel for just a few hundred bucks. Butt I've always been a kind of "Gucci--brand" guitar collector; i.e., I want instruments with a brand name, so for my very first steel guitar, I went 5X pricier and got a vintage Fender Deluxe 8. Then I started reading everything I could about learning how to play steel guitar, and discovered that there were dozens, hundreds, even an infinite number of tunings for steel guitar. I quickly surmised that I did not want to keep retuning / re-stringing a single neck guitar to test out Open G, Open D, A6, C6, and E9, etc., so I went back to the popular website we all know and love, and bought a 60's vintage Fender Stringmaster T8. Both the DX-8 and T8 are short scale guitars, and in my search for multi-neck guitars and reading the Steel Guitar Forum, I learned that Fender also made mid scale (24 1/2 in) guitar, and a long scale (26 in) guitar, and I decided I "needed" mid-scale and long scale examples for my new steel guitar collection as well. So back to ever-popular website we all know and love I went and picked up a 1953 Fender Stringmaster D8 (long scale) and a 60's vintage Stringmaster D8 (mid scale) as well. THEN... I decided that I should get an actual 6-string lap steel. Back to the gear website I went and picked up a 60's vintage Fender Champ. By now you can see that I'm partial to Fender instruments... Then I discovered the world of lap steel benders on RU-vid so... back to the gear website I go to pick up a brand new Gretsch 5700 and a Peters G/B Pitch Witch benders, and a roller nut and roller bridge for the Gretsch. Just got the 60's D8 and the Gretsch guitars and bender hardware in today. I will take my time modifying the Gretsch to make sure it's absolutely perfect. I think the madness has run its course, though I really, really, really like that Duesenberg Fairytale... :) And now I'm watching all of your videos! Thanks for what you do for us beginners Brother Shaw. Liked, subscribed, and shared on social media. God bless.
