Steel Guitar Tuition
(Pedal and Lap Steel Guitar)
Details of courses are being added all the time!
Please check this site frequently!  Thanks.

One-to-One
lessons

DVD-based
Courses

Audio CD-based
Courses

Lap steel
Courses


One-to-One lessons

There is no real substitute for individual, personalised tuition with a teacher sitting in front of you and so, why not come for lessons given by Gerry Hogan?  The lessons will cover everything you need - whether you're a beginner or an advanced player; on E9th or C6th tuning.  For the beginner, the lessons concentrate on, firstly, teaching you the best way to pick and get a good tone and then, the logic of the instrument rather than a collection of licks.  If you are more experienced and really want to learn specific licks and tunes to play with your band, send Gerry a CD and he'll sort the stuff out before your lesson, so you can learn them the easiest way.  (For 7 years, a little while ago, Gerry wrote a 'guitar techniques' column in "Guitarist", at that time and probably still, Europe's biggest-selling guitar mag.  Most of the material involved in his column was tablature requested by readers).


Eugenio, a self-taught, Carter owner and a good player, came all the way from Madrid for two half-day lessons in late-June 2009
Alan Train, from Scotland, during one of his 2 half-day lessons in Feb 2010.  He is a fine singer-songwriter and sax player and recorded a CD of his material in Montreal during a year in Canada.  He plays steel on recording sessions. 

Gerry is one of Europe's most experienced (not to say, mature!) pedal steel players and has worked sessions and 'the road' with a multitude of artistes, from The Everly Brothers, through Sonny Curtis, Albert Lee and Bill Wyman, to Emmylou Harris and Nanci Griffith, and more recently with country singers Heather Myles, Mandy Barnett and Rick Trevino.  Over the years, he has also recorded with pop artists of the day, like Mott the Hoople, Wet Wet Wet, Pulp, Denim and Elio Pace, who was also the great piano player in Hogan's Heroes from 2006-2009.

Gerry also gets invited each year to play at the International Steel Guitar Convention, in St. Louis, and the Irish Steel Guitar Festival, in Dublin, along with many of the world's greatest pickers.

In September 2010, Gerry was admitted into the European Steel Guitar Hall of Fame.

WHAT FORM DOES A TYPICAL HALF-DAY LESSON  TAKE?

The student brings:

pedal steel guitar, picks and tone-bar, volume pedal, usual seat, amplifier (so Gerry can assess settings), any effects being used

The whole lesson (pretty well 4 hours, with a tea or coffee/snack break) is recorded digitally and a CD of the result is burnt and posted to the student.  This can then be referred to at the student's own pace.  Tablature is written, as required.

Note: A solid half day lesson covers a huge amount of material and generally is as much as most students can bear at one sitting!  

With all this in mind and .....

after over 45 years playing steel, Gerry can surely help you in your quest to master this black art!

Half-Day [4 hours] (£175), Full-Day (£300)

% 07817-560866 to book a lesson

 

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 JEFFRAN MUSIC COURSES

by the late JEFF NEWMAN

JEFF NEWMAN

A SKILLFUL PLAYER BY AGE 20 AND TEACHER BY AGE 26. HE PRODUCED HIS FIRST ALBUM COURSE IN 1969. THIS FIRST TOURING PEDAL STEEL TEACHER (1971) ALSO ESTABLISHED THE FIRST RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL IN 1976. HIS TABLATURE SYSTEM AND VOLUMES OF STUDY COURSES HAVE BECOME INSTRUCTIONAL STANDARDS FOR 3 DECADES. HIS EDUCATED APPROACH AND HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR HIS STUDENTS HAVE MADE HIM…

“STEELS FOREMOST INSTRUCTOR”

BORN: JANUARY 7, 1942 ARKANSAS CITY, KANSAS
DIED: APRIL 7, 2004
INDUCTED: 1999

This Steel Guitar Hall of Fame inscription courtesy of the late Dewitt "Scotty" Scott
 http://scottysmusic.com/hofplq.htm

 

Jeff's Steel Guitar Hall of Fame plaque says it all!
SHOULDN'T YOU BE TAUGHT BY THE BEST?

 

DVD-based Courses

Pedal Steel

The following piece was published in The British Steelies' Society Newsletter in early 2005.
If you're new to the pedal steel guitar, you may find it useful.

THE PEDAL STEEL GUITAR
LEARNING AND ADVANCING

I taught myself how to play.  This was not by choice, but because in 1966 there was no instruction available.  Today, there’s a wealth of good tuition material out there and the best, in my view, comes by way of DVDs.  It’s the next best thing to having a one-to-one lesson with an experienced and capable teacher.

The late Jeff Newman was world-renowned as the finest teacher of pedal steel guitar.  He had had over 20 years experience running classes at his Jeffran College in Nashville, and then almost as many years developing his video (and later, DVD) instructional courses.  These courses make use of that wealth of knowledge and are well thought out and well presented.  They cover the whole aspect of playing this most difficult of instruments and, because I firmly believe that they are so beneficial to all would-be players and many current players, I have listed some of them here, with their prices at Gerry Hogan Music.  In particular, the first batch of these below are the “early years” courses and I have prioritised them in the order in which Jeff thought they should be covered:

                                                                                                                                                                         £

Beginner / Intermediate (E9th) 

PSG Illustrated (Basic fundamentals / facts about pedal steel, prior to owning)                                39.95 (currently unavailable)
(This course is for someone thinking about whether to play a pedal steel)

Pedal Steel Guitar Techniques (3 floor + 3 knee, 2 hour fundamentals course)                                73.95  (currently unavailable)
(The absolute basics, right hand, left hand, pedalling, volume pedal)   

Right Hand Alpha (1-hour essential 'hand aerobics' class to help get a great right hand)              31.95 (currently unavailable)
(A must as a guide to how to pick “properly” – and get a good tone!)

Up From The Top I (For the real beginner - 4 hour course, discusses A & B Pedals only)            83.95 (currently unavailable)
(Teaches the logic of the E9th, via a very detailed discourse on A & B pedals)



Up From The Top II (Discusses the 'D' lever)                                                               62.95 (limited number available)
(Again, a detailed analysis of the E9th using the D lever)

Up From The Top III (Everything about the 'F' lever - 4 hour course)                                  83.95 (limited number available)
(This detailed analysis of the E9th uses the F lever – and the A pedal)

Just Play the Melody (Beginner/Intermediate E9 melody patterns - 3f + 3k)                                    62.95 (currently unavailable)

Chord Connection - seventh (2-hour Beginner/Intermediate chord progressions)                    62.95 (limited number available)

Give Me An Intro (Learn how to play and invent intros/turnarounds - all levels)                       62.95 (currently unavailable)

E9th Chord Dictionary (Save years of learning music theory and searching with this!)               57.95 (currently unavailable)

(Most can be gained from the above 4 courses, if they’re taken after a reasonable time has been spent on the previous 6!)

The above courses should keep a new-ish player busy for a few years, although I am sure many will think they have completed them after a few weeks!

This instrument is capable of delivering some of the most beautiful musical sounds on earth.  Why not give it a chance, by making sure the technique you are using will allow this!  The above tuition, and others not listed here (ask for full price-list from Gerry Hogan Music: 07817-560866, or email: steels@hoganmusic.co.uk) will help you achieve that magical tone and choice of notes.  I wish these had been available when I was learning – they would have saved me years of heartache and struggle!

Gerry Hogan – January 2005

 

 

IF YOU'VE JUST GOT YOUR PEDAL STEEL, HERE ARE TWO GREAT COURSES TO GET YOU PLAYING QUICKLY AND PROPERLY!  (currently unavailable)

Pedal Steel Guitar Techniques (3 floor + 3 knee, 2 hour fundamentals course)
(The absolute basics, right hand, left hand, pedalling, volume pedal)
  
Course consists of Tab Book, 2-hour DVD and CD of rhythm tracks for practising with

H Tab book is comb-bound and lays open nice and flat
H Tab itself is clear and extremely readable

A MUST FOR BEGINNERS!  - £73.95

Here's a comment from a satisfied customer!
I felt that I had to let you know how pleased I am with the first DVD (PSG Techniques)...
I've been making my way methodically through the book and I really feel that I'm making some progress now... you cannot put a price on top quality tuition from a pro - you get what you pay for.  (LT - Essex)

Right Hand Alpha (1-hour essential 'hand aerobics' to help get a great right hand) 
(A must as a guide to how to pick “properly” – and get a good tone!)

Course consists of 1-hour DVD and CD of rhythm tracks for practising with

A MUST FOR BEGINNERS! - £31.95

 

Up From the Top I, II and III

This is what Jeff Newman wrote: (see http://www.jeffran.com - now being run by Melissa Newman Greer, Jeff's and Fran's granddaughter)

About five years ago we started the UP FROM THE TOP video series with the A&B pedal version (Up From The Top I). It was quite a hit with hundreds of players. Since then we have steadily worked on making this course of instruction a true step by step course that would take you through all the right things you need to know in the right order.

There are still lots of new players who don't know what this is all about, and maybe you are one of them.

First, we need to agree on what a course ought to be. Many players assume that learning pedal steel guitar is about learning a lot of licks or chords. That might be good if you knew how they all got used in a song, or any song. Our view of a pedal steel guitar course is that of teaching you how to understand the real basics of the E9th tuning and what the A&B pedals really do.. first.

That was why we started this course with the four-hour video version using just the A&B pedals and nothing more. It gave you the right foundation for understanding how the E9th tuning came about to start with. This four-hour course gives you all the right licks and scales that got us playing pedals back 50 years ago. If you don't understand those principles then everything else you learn after that is just useless and confusing information, more than likely.

Too many players want to jump into too much at once. They want to learn to play all the knee levers, and all the pedals, all, right now. It just doesn't work out very well. Learning the basics of what the A&B pedals do is a must, and you must be good at playing what you can with those pedals and nothing more. It is a matter of learning to walk before we run.

But There Is More

Some people thought the A&B pedal course was going to be kid stuff only to find out it gave them what they had been missing all this time. This course gives you some great phrases... licks, and how to use them as fills with a singer along with a band. You learn the difference between a major chord phrase and a seventh chord phrase. You learn that there is a time to play, and a time to get out. You learn that it is a science and not a mystery.

We followed that A&B pedal version with the two-hour video course showing you how to use the knee lever that lowers the 4th and 8th string E's to Eb. We call it the D" lever. Some call it the E" lever. It doesn't matter what you call it; it is how you know to use it.

The "D" lever was the first knee lever to be invented for the E9th tuning. Every guitar has it, and most players use it once in a while to play some chords. This course shows you how it was intended to be used, in melody lines and phrases. In effect, this one knee lever got us out of playing on one fret, across the strings, and got us thinking and playing left and right laterally the way you hear the good guys playing now. Unfortunately, there are still thousands of players who have this knee lever that still play like they didn't know the first thing about it.

The "D" lever gave us the ability to invent scales all over the neck that slide and gliss. If you are not using this knee lever this way then you are missing something aren't you? When you tie the A&B pedals in with the "D" lever you have some of the best pedal steel guitar imaginable. That is why we offer the "D" lever version of the UP FROM THE TOP course (Up From The Top II).

If you have a normal guitar built within the last 30 years you have the F lever on your guitar This lever is probably the least understood of all. It is one of the last knee levers to come along. Used by itself, it doesn't sound to well. Maybe that is why so many people leave it alone. But, if you are going to play pedal steel guitar today you cannot ignore it. Every player you hear on television, on the road, and in the studio is using it... extensively.

The F lever raises the 4th and 8th string E's to F. This change gives you all sorts of scales, licks and phrases, and chord progressions that you just don't want to do without. It makes the sound of pedal steel guitar as it is today.

It is not a knee lever that you want to learn to use the first day you get a guitar, and that is why we left this for last. The "F" lever version of the UP FROM THE TOP course (Up From The Top III) is four hours long, and could have been another four hours if I had the time to tape it. The amount of information this knee lever offers is limitless. It will change the way you think and play everything. When you can use the F lever along with the D lever and the A&B pedals you can finally see and understand where most of all these good licks you hear on records are coming from.

These pedals make perfect sense when you learn how to use them in order, and with some degree of understanding as you do it. They all make scales, melodies you can use in any song for intros, turnarounds, and the actual melody of the tune.

Some folks would like to know why we call this course;

"UP FROM THE TOP"

This series of videos is about learning to play like a pro... from the beginning. The beginning is the top, not the bottom. We learn to play up from there. Playing is fun and we should not forget that part. It is fun from the start... the top of every song to bottom of it.

Each one of these courses comes with DVD(s), CD of all the rhythm tracks to practice with, and a book with everything tabbed out that is played on the DVD. You can just watch the DVD, or watch and read the tablature. Any way you do it, you are going to have fun and learn how to play the E9th tuning the right way, and understand what you are doing for a change. If you take this course in order you will find it the best way to learn that you have ever tried. This is

THE RIGHT STUFF

Up From The Top Series (E9th)

NEW LOWER PRICES!

Part I - The A & B Pedals (4-hour DVD-based course) (currently unavailable)  

£83.95! + £5 P&P 

Part II - The D Lever (2-hour DVD-based course) (limited number available)

£62.95 + £5 P&P

Part III - The F Lever (4-hour DVD-based course) (limited number available)

£83.95 + £5 P&P

 

Various Intermediate and Advanced Jeffran DVD Courses

 
The Minor Chord Connection
Two parts.  Each part is two hours long.  Part one gives all the possibilities for the minor chords on the 10 string E9th tuning using three pedals and three knee levers.  Part two is a speed picking course, chord progression course and an improvisation class all rolled into one DVD.
Sold as a single course of two DVDs, plus tab book and rhythm-track CD   

£62.95

Bandstand Backup
Two parts.  Part one is a two-hour introduction to the Nashville professional approach to playing along with a singer.  Part two shows you how to deal with those places in songs appropriate for fills and those places where you shouldn’t play.
Two separate courses, each with DVD, tab book and rhythm-track CD.   

 £73.95 ea

No Speed Limit
Part one and two are one course, which is an introduction to speed picking single note scales.  The speed increases with successive exercises.  Part three shows how to improvise on an uptempo tune like Cotton-Eyed Joe.
Two separate courses: Parts 1&2 are on one DVD, with tab book and rhythm-track CD;  Part 3 is on another DVD, with tab book and rhythm-track CD.  Each course is                                                           

£62.95

The 12 String E9th/B6th Universal Tuning
If you have been considering buying a single 12 set up with the E9/B6 universal tuning this 2-hr course is a must.  It shows what each pedal does, what chord it makes and how you will probably use them.
Single DVD, with rhythm-track CD; no tab book                                            

£37.95

The C6th Workshop
This course shows the fundamental tuning of each pedal on a standard C6th set-up and then gets on to fairly advanced chord progressions.  It demos using  Blues and Swing styles.
Single DVD, with tab book and rhythm-track CD                                           

£62.95

C6th & Swinging
Two parts.  Part one takes up where The C6th workshop left off and shows pockets and patterns.  Part two is a follow-up to part one dissecting songs like San Antonio Rose and Sweet Georgia Brown.
Two separate DVD courses, each with tab book and rhythm-track CD       

£73.95 ea

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GREAT LESSONS BY JAY DEE MANESS
Each DVD is £47.95 plus P & P

Learn from the foremost LA session steel-player
This is a priceless opportunity - don't miss it!

SUPER E9th & C6th LESSONS BY
DOUG JERNIGAN

Doug Jernigan's
E9th
Home Study Course

Great value at £44.95!

100 pages of Licks, Runs, Songs and Scales!
- includes CD
Doug Jernigan
Swingin'
E9th

Western Swing songs all played on E9th neck
- ideal for players with single-neck guitars!
- includes CD

Fantastic buy for £49.95!

 

 

Doug Jernigan's
C6th
Home Study Course

Great value at £44.95!

Licks, Scales, Runs, Songs and Theory!
- includes CD

JAZZ
by
                  JERNIGAN

10 jazz standards tabbed out in 139 pages
plus CD of rhythm tracks from Doug's album

 All this for £59.95!

 


The Masterful Doug Jernigan

C6 Intermediate DVD & Tab

Doug teaches:

string groups to pick
scales - Doug shows what to play across jazz chords
licks and songs
He stresses the need to practise these in all keys!

£41.95

This is a fabulous course for the more advanced and conscientious player!

 

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Audio CD-based Courses by Jeff Newman

 
All these audio CD-based courses consist of: CD of songs, plus a book of tablature for all songs


Play What You Hear / Hear What You Play
Learn how to use the Nashville Number System.  Full of all kinds of chord progressions and several ways to get around in them.  The Chord Dictionary Companion shows where all the chords are and how to make them on the E9th tuning.  This course works for any instrument!  The perfect practice aid.

The Gospel Steel Guitar Course
Ten songs on the E9th, 10-string tuning using three pedals and three knee levers.

Songs: 
Were You There/How Great Thou Art
There Is Something About That Name
The Lighthouse
He Touched Me
Peace In The Valley
Because He Loves Me
Sheltered In The Arms Of God
In The Garden
The Eastern Gate                                                                                                                                                                             
Life's Railway To Heaven;
Amazing Grace.

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LAP STEEL

 

SCOTTY'S LAP STEEL TUITION & TAB

Basic C6th Non Pedal Lap Steel Method (Book and CD)
by DeWitt Scott

This is a clear and concise introduction to playing the 6 string lap steel using the C6th tuning - ECAGEC (strings 1 - 6), possibly the most popular lap steel tuning, used for Hawaiian music, Western Swing and '40s and '50s country tunes.
The course consists of a 96-page book containing photos, diagrams and the tab for 36 popular tunes like: Shenandoah, St Louis Blues, Joy To The World, Greensleeves, Amazing Grace, Red River Valley, which are all on the accompanying CD.

THIS COURSE IS WELL WORTH .......................... £19.99

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