[MusicTlk] Playing Lap Steel - slide guitar

Wed Jun 8 17:53:13 UTC 2022

Mike,

Yes I think the same as you.  When I  play in front of others I  tend to make more mistakes because  I do not trust the muscle memory that has developed.  I have heard this concept in other areas like golfers and basketball.  When you need to analyze each movement instead of trusting your skills, then more mistakes are made.  This is assuming you have practiced  over and over to imbed the motions for playing music, sports, or whatever.

I also think that by taking the time to master the movement may pay off in the long run.  It may take a little longer and not sound as good up front, eventually the payoff comes.  

Take care and have fun with that slide guitar.

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 10:43 AM
To: musictlk at nfbnet.org
Cc: Mike Jolls <mrspock56 at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [MusicTlk] Playing Lap Steel - slide guitar

Dennis

I can totally appreciate your comment about playing fast.  Yep, you don’t have time to look/feel and it very well could come down to muscle memory.  I learned that with piano.  You practice something over and over and over until your muscle memory just knows where to go for that piece.  That’s worked for me on the piano, and it may very well be the solution on the slide guitar.

I can’t tell you how thankful I am that muscle memory works.  I don’t understand why it works, but I’m not arguing with success.  I just know it does work!  When I started taking piano (prior to slide guitar) I had no idea that muscle memory was a thing or that it would work the way it did.  I had difficulty making large jumps on the piano because of my vision.  My first and second piano teachers had never taught a partially sighted/blind student.  They may have understood about muscle memory, but they didn’t understand its importance for someone like me (especially when you had to make big distance jumps on the keyboard).  My third teacher, however, had been teaching blind students for a long time.  He taught me that you could play by feel on the piano … something that I never dreamed of.  I’m so thankful for him.  He was the most expensive teacher I took from, but learning about muscle memory and how to play as a blind person was so invaluable that he would have been worth twice the price.  I’m so thankful that he taught me how to play as a blind person by feel, and I’m glad that’s a thing that you can do.  I’m playing music on the piano that I always wanted to play, but it’s only through muscle memory that it’s been possible.

So with that said, perhaps this slide guitar will be the same.  I’ve definitely been considering the muscle memory.  And maybe you’re just confirming what I’ve been thinking.  Thanks for the information.  Maybe I just need to stay in there and keep at it.  Maybe it will come just like the piano did … with time and a lot of hard work!!  And it is work, but it’s fun when it all comes together.

Thanks again for the suggestion

Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows

From: Dennis DeVendra<mailto:dpdevendra at gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 7, 2022 9:14 AM
To: Music Talk Mailing List for Blind Musicians<mailto:musictlk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Mike Jolls<mailto:mrspock56 at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [MusicTlk] Playing Lap Steel - slide guitar

Mike,
No. I just use the dots to help me understand where I need to place my slide. After that it’s just muscle memory doing it over and over again. I play the banjo obviously there are frets with the banjo. I just get used to placing my fingers where they need to go as my muscle memory gets better. When you’re playing fast you don’t have time to feel for any dots or other tactile items. That’s the fate of somebody who is blind.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jun 7, 2022, at 9:44 AM, Mike Jolls via MusicTlk <musictlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> Hi Dennis
>
> Since you’ve done this before, let me ask another question.  I have thought about placing dots on the side of the guitar next to the frets.  That might give me the extra visual cue I need.  But here’s another question.  If I’m inferring correctly that you don’t have any sight, how would dots help you?  With no sight, I’m assuming they wouldn’t, visually speaking that is.  However if you had a special way of holding the slide with your hand, that would free up a finger.  You might be able to use that free finger to track the dots to help you  place the slide.  Is that what you’re saying here?  And if so, how do you hold your slide?  My assumption would be to hold the slide with the first and second fingers and let the thumb drop down to track the dots.  I would think the thumb would almost have to be only way to do it because the rest of the fingers have to hold the slide or trail behind the slide to mute the strings.
>
> Is my thinking on the right track?
>
>
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> From: dpdevendra at gmail.com<mailto:dpdevendra at gmail.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 7, 2022 7:29 AM
> To: 'Music Talk Mailing List for Blind 
> Musicians'<mailto:musictlk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: 'Mike Jolls'<mailto:mrspock56 at hotmail.com>
> Subject: RE: [MusicTlk] Playing Lap Steel - slide guitar
>
> 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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