A Basic Introduction To Acoustic Lap Steel in Open D
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- Опубліковано 11 лип 2024
- Episode 1 in a series of tutorials on Acoustic Lap Steel. In this episode, we touch briefly on types of acoustic steels as well as tone bars and thumb/fingerpicks.
Also, a basic beginner lick in Open D Tuning.
If you like these videos, please consider supporting me @
patreon.com/danwalsh
Another Beginner here, Dan. Your teaching style is great. Keep up the good work. Us Nubys need all the help we can get. Thank you.
Glad you’re finding these helpful:)
Just bought an old Oahu slide at a flea market $20. Mint. Probably 39-41 vintage. Slide time
Dan, you are a natural born Teacher. I appreciate you and enjoyed this lesson. I have subscribed. And bought the nut extender! Thank you.
Just ordered a lap steel (electric) and found your videos Dan. I have loved the sound of the steel guitar since I was a young child. 51 now and finally going to try to learn. I don't know music so it might be a bust but what the heck!! LOL! Definitely starting back at the beginning of your lessons and will work my way through them. Your style seems very easy to follow and I hope I can make some beautiful music someday. Thanks Dan!!
Welcome aboard:) And remember there are no bad notes. Just grey ones:)
Great lesson. Concise. Clear & logical. Beautifully performed, and with a terrific lick to study/learn at the end ....
Thank you very much for posting it.
Awesome! I just made a Kijiji purchase and took delivery of a 2012 Regal RD40 square neck. She's a little black and chrome beauty. I can tell, this channel will be a great place to learn. Subbed and bell rung. Thanks very much. In Ontario, Canada, take care... Rick...
The skin to string sound is always better.
Thank you.
Have a blessed day
I came here after listening to Brij bhushan kabra. Great lesson! I already have an acoustic guitar and I am excited to watch more of your videos!!:)
Hi Dan, thank you for the video. I just got my electric lap steel this morning. I look forward to to watching your videos and learning a thing or two.
Excellent video series. Thank you
Thanks so much for this lesson...I appreciate your style and i just learned and played my first lick! Which feels really good...thanks again
Great video, Dan. Thank you so much!
Glad you found this vid useful:)
I became supremely interested. And I have an ole acoustic I de-fretted and made a phyringian scale but I may get this raised nut and try this! You are a life savor. Instantly liked and subscribed:)
I liked this lesson, so easy to understand you and your method and voice. I just bought my 1st lap steel Guitar. A Gretch 5700 Electric. I have never owned one. I have played a acoustic guitar since I was 9 years old and I am 65 now retired and have always wanted to play a steel Guitar but never have. Oh what a difference. I thought being able to play a guitar would make it easy but it don't. I have not a clue what I am doing.
You should consider them two different instruments , and the carry over is small .
A surprising number of Dobro and Steel players have zero experience or knowledge of Armpit Guitars , and are clueless about playing one . Like me , and my #2 offspring .
I'm told that the musical background best suited is keyboards , but don't play them either , so couldn't say first hand .
I’m a rookie and this was wonderful advice. Thanks so very much 😊😊😊
I just ordered a nut extender for my early 90's Samick SG. Going to have some nice lap steel fun with it!
Nice job on the intro! And great to see the choices…basic, totally accessible just to get started and give it a try. Thanks so much for the hit! Cheers!
I’m glad you found this helpful:)
Great introduction, Dan.
Thank you:) lots more to come:)
Hi Dan, I'm just starting with my first lap steel, many thanks for this video, taking things nice and slow, also explaining things that a novice like me can understand. A lot of beginner tutorials skip over things too quickly, but your technique is brilliant, look forward to more, cheers, Neil.
I'm glad youre finding these fun little vids useful:)
This video is gold, thanks and keep them coming from Scotland 🏴
Thanks Jonathon:) I’m glad yer liking these
Well done Dan. TY. Jan from Prague
Great info 👍
Thank you so so much! This was soo helpful. Really enjoy your style of teaching
I’m glad you find it helpful:)
He’s great, just found him tonight.
Great lesson easy to understand.
Jan from Denmark
Thanks Dan
Just discovered your channel and subbed, I see your in Canada also. Cheers from Saskatchewan, and cool beard you got going there
Just bought an inexpensive lap steel to add to some of my recordings. Really enjoying your lessons and your teaching style. Great job!
I’m glad I’m able to help:)
@@slideguitar I was looking for some good beginner technique to get started, cause I don’t like to mess around!🤣 I’m always writing and recording songs for me or my students and I love the lap steel. Paul Franklin played on a record I recorded in 2007, and just watching him on the pedal steel made me fall in love with the sound. So, I was at a pawn shop in Indiana yesterday and found an inexpensive lap steel and started looking for some basics. I’m a teacher so your patient style immediately appealed to me. I’m going to sit down tonight with your basics video and start learning some technique. Keep up the great work!
:) I’m super glad you’re getting something from these. I was getting some flack “for talking too much” One guy actually said I “need to shut up and play” I removed him. But I’m super glad the majority here get my intention:)
@@slideguitar I have no idea why those people even show up on the channels telling people to stop talking. Where do people get off, visiting people’s pages and telling them to shut up? It’d be funny if it wasn’t so sad. I get people on my channel, letting everyone know when the “actual point of the video” begins. Narcissism has reached an all-time high. 🤣 Narcissists think UA-cam is all about them. Keep making your videos, you’re accomplishing your mission. Keep up the great work!
@@slideguitar You're a great teacher, Dan.
Thank you sir I’m just starting out I appreciate you taking the time 🙏
I'm glad this was able to help you get things going:)
Holy Cow Thanks for sharing This is great help 💯👀👀
Glad you found it helpful😀
Thanks so much for this!
I’m glad you’re enjoying these:)
Great video!
Thank you:)
I’m yer newest Subscriber...I really enjoy your down home easy instruction...
Respectfully Yours,
Jeffery in Mentor Ohio on the shores of Lake Etie
Welcome aboard, Jeffery:) good to have you here. Lots to come.... stay tuned:)
I wear picks when I play pedal steel, but not when I play lap steel. Just my preference. I like the tone I get with a jerry reed claw style in open G.
Thank you
Thanks for the information great
Glad there was something useful here for you:)
Thanks, Dan, for this lesson! Your teaching style is wonderful. I'm going to use your lessons to learn electric lap steel in open D. Great beard, BTW!
Cheers Dan, this is very informative. I like the fact that you recognise most people probably don’t want to spend a lot of money on a new hobby. Or if like myself only play to entertain myself. I say if I ever get that good or in that position. I’m sure a big guitar company will want to sponsor me and give me expensive guitar. Bought myself a Gretsch alligator which has a wooden body. 7 years later and I find myself playing slide more on my parlour acoustic guitar as it’s quieter to practice in flat and light to carry around. But tempted and maybe get a lap steel or square neck. Cheers from Northern England.🇬🇧
Hi David:) I’m super glad you found this helpful:)
@@slideguitar definitely, been learning open d on my resonator for over 5 years now. Only just found yourself. You have added many more arrows to my quiver. 🇬🇧
What a fun video! I am using an acoustic lap steel....trying to mike it has been torturous! Much noise connecting the sm57 to an RC-3 looper.... Any suggestions?
I play Travis style guitars and have 7 guitars, one of which is an inexpensive Fender resonator. I’m interested in learning lap steel guitar and assume this would be ideal for conversion to lap steel.
New subscriber here from Australia.
G'day Dan 🙂
Welcome aboard Kylie:) there will be lots to come over the winter:)
@@slideguitar Looking forward to it! 🙂
I plan on grabbing myself a slide converter nut & a tone bar so i can learn how to play acoustic lap steel.
I absolutely agree with you. Acoustic lap steel is the most beautiful sounding instrument. Hopefully someday (if i keep practicing) I'll be able to buy myself a nice Weissenborn.
Thank you for inspiring me, Dan 🙏
Workin on it. Could someone suggest a brand for some new strings?
Hi Dan appreciate these lessons. I have played guitar for decades and know my way around the fretboard so I can effortlessly improvise lead guitar. How I learned that was simply playing along with records as a teenager and with bands in my 20s. Now in my 60s LOL I absolutely love pedal steel (especially rock oriented rusty young, sneaky pete, etc) but don't want to tackle pedal steel so I have a lap steel. I have been frustrated by very slow progress and really not getting a feel for it (not knowing the patterns, where my notes are given the music I am playing along with). I intend to spend time with your series (plural or series? LOL) acoustic and maybe more so electric lap in open G. But how would you suggest I can maybe take a shortcut to learning the patterns appropriate for particular keys, e.g. 12 bar blues or I IV V song structure, major scales , minor scales, pentatonic although I am not well versed in music theory. OMG I feel I have been rambling aimlessly.
Hi:) This is kinda a tough to answer for me. I think the simplest way is to maybe choose your tuning (assuming youre using open tunings) and then just remember, in a 12 bar simple blues, your 4chord is at the 5th fret and your 5chord is at the 7th. There are no 'bad notes" in these positions assuming your in an open major key. From there, you just gotta choose the notes that speak to you. I think more importantly, if youre starting out, technique is necessary before note selection. Meaning, working on your pitch visually and audibly. As well as a controlled vibrato technique. Once you've got a handle on those, then you can begin the quest for the perfect note selections. I wish I could give you a simple shortcut, but I just don't have one:) But I hope I was able to help you a little here:)
Great video I have an old flattop I found an was thinking of converting it to a steel lap top as well . But not sure what kind of strings to use for it any one that can tell me which ones I should get for this?
Hi Michael:) Is the bridge in good shape? Meaning, solidy attached to the body? If so, you could likely easily use as set of 12-53, however you "could" replace the high .012 with another B string "016" so that the high string isn't so flimsy. But it really depends on the idea that the bridge could take it.
Hey Dan!
So I got the nut extender in, grabbed the Dunlop but realized I wanna re change my strings when I do this conversion.
I tried to look for a good set for solely slide lap playing as that is what I will make this guitar.
So do you agree to recommend some Dadario 13-56 MEDIUM, XT 80/20 BRONZE would suffice?
Thanks again for bestowing this new passion to me! Hope all is well 😊
That would be totally suitable assuming your playing acoustic? The phosphor stuff doesn't react well with electric. The output is a lot less. But for acoustic lap, absolutely and 80/20 is fine:)
From the playing viewpoint , the heavier the better .
But with a regular accoustic with nut converter aka nut riser , the limiting factor is the total string tension .
Factors include string gage and tuning . Open D has less string tension than Standard Tuning . So if your guitar handles Mediums in regular mode , they are fine in Open D .
Low bass Open G (DGDGBD) likewise . Open E is a little more than standard , but pretty close .
The trouble comes with High Bass Open G aka Dobro Tuning ( GBDGBD) using typical Dobro string gages . Warping necks is when , not if , and actually snapping necks is not unheard of .
I'd love to see you give a lesson on playing vigilanteman by Nazareth the first slide guitar I ever heard, brought tears to my eyes
Cool idea. I’ve always loved Cooder’s version. I’ll dig in and see if I can throw it all together:)
If i want to use an old parlor guitar, is it important to have a certain the scale lenght ? Or body length ? Or any goes to play lap steel ? Thanks for video.
I don't thinks its super important sacle or length wise. Mostly just be careful with string gauge in relation to the amount of tension in both the neck and bridge. Likely a little lighter gauge depending how old the parlor is and whether it has a truss rod:)
Hey Dan I have a parlor size Jim dandy and thinking of my nut extention on that. What gauge strings would you suggest for the slide. ?
Hi Timothy:) Those Jim Dandy's are great little guitars. I've played a couple but I can't recall if they have a truss rod? I think they do. In any case, for me, a heavier gauge string is better for Lapsteel style playing. Better tone and less sloppiness if you tend to have a heavy bar hand:) In your case, the little parlour neck should be able to take a little extra tension, so you could really go with say, a 13-56 or if your a little uncomfortable with going quite that heavy, you could easily do a 12-52. You just have to keep an eye on the neck and the bridge. You don't want too much tension so you kinda have to find that "happy ground" between your neck, bridge and hands. Having said that, I tend to swap the first string out with another 2nd string. In the the case of that old beater in the video, its strung with 12-53 BUT, I swapped out the 12 with another 16 (b string). My neck can take it. If you're concerned, you could maybe put in a 14 in place of that.
And finally, if you have a light touch and are delicate with the bar, you could just go with 12's or 13's for comfort. The trade off is just a little loss of tone. But tone is subjective and everyone person has their own "signature" :)
Mr. Walsh I have been playing lap steel for a long time..I mostly play indian classical and western songs..but I also want to improvise and create my own music..what fundamentals do I have to know or learn to improvise in lap steel
That my friend, is an interesting question. I’m not sure I can answer it properly, but I can give a humble opinion. Fundamentally, for improvisation, I’d first say get a well rounded knowledge of different tunings and keys which I’m betting you already have:) But in my opinion, keeping an open mind on the different styles is imperative for improvisation. Don’t get locked in the box. Think outside of it. I was involved in a slide guitar project with Rhitom Sarkur from Kolkata the year before last. He came over to us and we played North American style slide guitar and he accompanied us with his style. It was super cool. But it took him a couple tries to get him outta his box. But when he did, he played some amazing stuff. Once he realized it was ok to do that:) So mostly, I think it comes down to your mindset. Providing you have a good grasp of the instrument itself:)
I Hope I said something that was helpful:)
I’ve got an old epiphone 12 string that is unplayable , the neck has pulled up over the years but it’s still a really nice guitar from the early seventies , I now know what to do with it ,
That 12 string will sound pretty cool :)
Hitting your channel a bit harder Dan. Waiting for Monday. I don’t have any mics but wonder what your using in this video? Any recommendations? Thank you Tim
In this vid, I’m using my trusty old Audio Technica AT 4033. It’s a decent well rounded large diaphragm condenser that pairs well with acoustic instruments. For transparency, it is running through a Presonus ADL 600 mic pre. But if you were looking for a less expensive mic, I’ve heard good things about the AT 2020 although I’ve never used one. The mic world can be a rabbit hole:)
@@slideguitar Thanx Dan, I am really starting to like that Weissenborn sound,such a unique rich tone. I’m going to keep an eye out here in Chicago for a used one. Thanx for the mic suggestion. See ya Monday evening.
Dan, do you play resonator/dobro as well?
I do:) however currently I don’t actually own a dobro. I played one on many records back between 1999-2010 but my trusty dobro got broken at a festival in Ohio USA and I wound up gifting it to a friend. I’ve just never gotten around to replacing it as I tend to play way more slide guitar these days:)
Hello Dan do you use flat wound strings on your instruments im trying to set up one of my strats with this tuning
Hi John:) I’ve used them in the past and still occasionally do. However I have an EASTWOOD H44 DLX with mini humbuckers that I string with flat wound 12’s for slide. The baseball bat neck can take the heavier gauge easily and the flat wounds react well with the minis. I use flats exclusively on that guitar :)
Thanks Dan! I just finished my homemade lap steel tuned to Open D based on your video. I'm looking forward to watching more of your lap steel videos! ua-cam.com/video/_4wT47G_hi0/v-deo.html
I am indian , i intrested to play lap steel guiter,,, please suggest me which company of lap steel is good?, I buy a lapsteel guiter, How price? Thank u