[MusicTlk] Playing Lap Steel - slide guitar

[dpdevendra at gmail.com]

Mike,

Yes I have a  similar slide guitar.  My guitar had physical wires, so I
could  touch the wires to see where to place the slide.  The only suggestion
I would have is to place dots on the side of the neck where the lines are
located.  They you can practice placing the slide over the dots.  That is
pretty much the only thing I can think for helping.  I love the sound of the
slide guitar but fretting it is a challenge.  I do not have any sight so
there was no locating the wires with my sight.


Dennis DeVendra
dpdevendra at gmail.com

-----Original Message-----
From: MusicTlk <musictlk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Mike Jolls via
MusicTlk
Sent: Tuesday, June 7, 2022 8:10 AM
To: musictlk at nfbnet.org
Cc: Mike Jolls <mrspock56 at hotmail.com>
Subject: [MusicTlk] Playing Lap Steel - slide guitar

Hi everyone.  This post is about playing slide guitar (actually lap steel)
as a visually impaired / blind person.

I've been practicing the instrument in C6 tuning.  Unlike a regular guitar,
this instrument has no physical metal frets.  Instead, fret lines are pained
on the fretboard.  They are very narrow lines.  The strings are raised above
the fretboard about an inch and aren't close to the fret board/metal frets
as on a traditional guitar.  A metal slide bar is moved along the strings to
select the notes/chords you want to play (you have to visually line up the
bar with the painted fret lines to do this).  For non-visually impaired
people this is no problem.  Of course given my vision, this just can't be
easy (I'm not surprised one bit).

Given my extreme nearsightedness, this isn't easy.  Traditionally the
instrument lays in your lap and you're looking down on the guitar as you
move the bar.  Even at this short distance, it's visually challenging to see
those small painted fret lines on the fretboard.  It doesn't help that my
left hand, which holds the bar on the strings above the fretboard, obstructs
my view of the fret lines.  It's therefore hard to see exactly where the bar
is placed, and that means it's difficult to exactly play the note I want.
I'm often a bit sharp or flat and that's really frustrating.

I have found that placing the guitar on an X brace stand puts the guitar a
little closer to my eyes.  That helps, but it doesn't completely solve the
problem.  I'm still sharp/flat because again, it's hard to visually see to
line up the bar and the fret lines.

Therefore, I've run out of ideas on my own to conquer this problem.  I'm
wondering if anybody has any experience with this instrument?  I HATE being
sharp and flat.  In my mind, it comes down to being able to see to line up
the fret lines and the bar, and so far that just hasn't worked for me.  I'm
hoping there are other blind players who have found a way to do it
non-visually.  Perhaps someone might say this is similar to a violin
(non-fretted instrument) where you just have to do it enough times to
mentally learn where the notes are located and you eventually get to where
it's muscle memory.  I do understand that, because I've used that technique
with the piano successfully.

OK, enough.  If anybody has experience with this sort of instrument and can
give me some advice, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

Mike Jolls

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