Category Archives: Fresh baked thoughts

Musings and observations

Speedy West’s “Skiddle-Dee-Boo”

Posted on February 10, 2011 by Mike Neer

I don’t know about you, but any time the name Speedy West comes up I am all ears. What I wouldn’t give years ago to play this music….at that time when I first got a lap steel, I was also … Continue reading →

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Can’t we all just get along?

Posted on February 10, 2011 by Mike Neer

You’ve read enough about my story here to know that I just basically got sucked into the music vortex at an early age. I was open to listening to most anything; this doesn’t mean I liked it all, though. I … Continue reading →

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Playing backup steel (or life in the real world), pt. 1

Posted on January 30, 2011 by Mike Neer

Yes, the real world–the world that wants to hear the steel guitar as sweetening, or an ambience enhancer, or a color (at least until the solo comes). This is the world I inhabit and embrace with every fiber of my … Continue reading →

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Lesson/transcription suggestions welcome….

Posted on January 28, 2011 by Mike Neer

As you may know, I’m building a library of transcriptions of great steel guitar performances and tunes as part of my Steelin’ From The Masters series. I would like to hear from you as far as what you might like … Continue reading →

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Buddy Emmons “Gentle On My Mind” solo transcription

Posted on January 27, 2011 by Mike Neer

Someone on the Steel Guitar Forum posted a link to this great solo by Buddy Emmons on John Hartford’s “Gentle On My Mind.” I’d never heard it before, but it knocked me out, so I sat down with it and … Continue reading →

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Unravelling the mysteries of steel guitar tunings, part 2

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Mike Neer

Warning: I spell all of my steel guitar tunings from high to low. After several years of playing (the first few being laden with frustration and confusion), I’ve arrived at the point where it’s all starting to make sense to … Continue reading →

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New tab/notation package for Bud’s Bounce!

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Mike Neer

I’ve just completed a transcription of Bud’s Bounce for E9 Non-pedal steel, the great steel guitar standard by Bud Isaacs. This is a great arrangement because it uses behind the bar string pulls to great effect…not to mention it has … Continue reading →

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Unravelling the mysteries of steel guitar tunings, pt. 1

Posted on January 14, 2011 by Mike Neer

One of the most intimidating things about playing the steel guitar, besides the physical act of actually playing it, is trying to wrap your mind around the tunings. Just about every player has gone through the “what tuning should I … Continue reading →

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Bebop Lap Steel Guitar book now available!

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Mike Neer

I have completed the Bebop Lap Steel Guitar at last and it is available beginning today. The package includes the book itself (36 page .pdf) and 5 Tabledit files (tab/notation and MIDI, which you use to listen to the playback). … Continue reading →

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Bebop Lap Steel: An Introduction to Bebop for C6 Tuning

Posted on January 5, 2011 by Mike Neer

This is the title of my new e-book which will be ready to go in just a few days. I’m really excited about this one and I’ve put a lot of time into it. I’ve thought long and hard about … Continue reading →

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RIP Dave Giegerich

Posted on December 30, 2010 by Mike Neer

Dave Giegerich, a great Dobro and steel guitarist from the D.C. area passed away yesterday. Dave was well-known and loved by many and he will be sorely missed. My deepest condolences to his wife, Pam, who kept us all up … Continue reading →

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Understanding Harmony, pt. 11 (Secondary Dominants)

Posted on December 30, 2010 by Mike Neer

OK, I hope everyone enjoyed his/her holiday. It’s time to add a few more logs to this fire. I am close to wrapping up this introduction to Harmony. I hope in some ways it has made some sense to you … Continue reading →

Posted in Fresh baked thoughts, Lessons and Tips, Understanding Harmony | 6 Comments

For users of TablEdit….

Posted on December 28, 2010 by Mike Neer

One of the little bugaboos about this program which drove me nuts has been fixed by the developer. The problem was that the tuning as it appeared on the tab would be affected by the key signature, so for example, … Continue reading →

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Sol Hoopii’s “Twelfth Street Rag” now available as tab/video package!

Posted on December 20, 2010 by Mike Neer

I am so excited about this one! One of the greatest performances ever captured is Sol Hoopii’s 1938 Decca recording of Twelfth Street Rag–the electric version. Surely this is his tour-de-force and he exhibits such a mastery of his instrument … Continue reading →

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Understanding Harmony, pt. 10 (A Mid-term Exam)

Posted on December 17, 2010 by Mike Neer

In this post, I am going to let you see if you really understand the concept of dealing with non-diatonic chords and test your ability to determine where the chords are leading. Since we’re about half-way through a month (remember, … Continue reading →

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Understanding Harmony, pt 9 (How To Approach Improvisation)

Posted on December 15, 2010 by Mike Neer

In previous posts I’ve touched on diatonic and non-diatonic harmony. The reason for spending so much time on harmony is because this is where we will find the guidelines for everything we play, from chords, to partial chords, to improvising. … Continue reading →

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The Art of Transcribing–Just Do It!

Posted on December 15, 2010 by Mike Neer

This is a reprint of an article I originally posted on the Steel Guitar Forum in February. I hope you find it helpful. Forgive the pedantic tone of this long essay–it was meant to be a Blog, but I don’t … Continue reading →

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The Joys of Transcribing!

Posted on December 14, 2010 by Mike Neer

When many people hear the word “transcribing”, they don’t necessarily equate joy with it. It is a laborious task to many, and a Sisyphean chore to some. To me, it is pure joy and discovery and is something I am … Continue reading →

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Understanding Harmony, part 8 (Improv with Pentatonics)

Posted on December 12, 2010 by Mike Neer

OK, let’s take a step backwards to try to avoid some confusion (there was some confusion about some of my choices for pentatonics, so I will get down to bare essentials first). We are going to use all minor pentatonics … Continue reading →

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Understanding Harmony, pt. 7 (Improvising with pentatonics)

Posted on December 10, 2010 by Mike Neer

I’d like to continue looking at the song Colour My World, this time looking at how we can improvise over it in a more simple fashion than using scales and their modes. The non-pedal steel guitar (I realize there may … Continue reading →

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