New here, Saying hi and of course pick blocking adivse.

[Daniel Holden]

Just wanna say hi and a little background.

I'm new to lap steel, but I come from an acoustic/electric guitar background. Of course, ego said No problem, I can travis pick at a pretty crazy speed, I've got good finger control. I get my lap steel, attack 4 strings at once with the dust in the wind picking pattern, it turns into a muddy mess, and I hit a wall. So now I need palm/pick blocking, think I've got my head wrapped(I'm complete trash)around it, but I feel directionless. I'm guessing that since I have a strong theory/music background, I just need to keep grinding out this pick blocking thing that feels completely weird? It feels more weird than Travis picking ever did lol.

For now, I'm just trying to pick block every single string I hit as I noodle or go through a scale. Is this a good thing? I dont want bad habbits, those suck to break. I live pretty close to Steve Cunningham(he's an amazing player), maybe I will pay for a few lessons for a solid foundation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtI6_wOgvcU This is what I want to play, this slow melodic style. I hate speed nowadays, and that's one thing that drew me to the lap steel. I can play it slower and have it sing out.

My lap steel is one of those SX ash bodies, and lucky for me, it came working perfectly, it's actually GROUNDED PROPERLY lol.....

Edit: a weird thing, I can actually have a fair degree of audiation with a lap steel, I had ZERO on electric guitar, I would literally go blank holding it. Maybe the ringing notes gives my brain time to react?

[J Fletcher]

Well if you haven't already , Google search pick blocking . There's tons of stuff. Personally, I palm block . When i started working on my blocking , I practiced an exercise everyday for a month before I got it . Many years later , still working on blocking . Hope that's useful. Jerry

[Pete Martin]

Search for and download Dave Magram's blocking PDF, it is very complete and terrific!

[Daniel Holden]

Thanks guys.