Music makes the world a better place and helps me to forget about my
neck pain (at least for a while).
The most beautiful
music this side of Heaven is produced by an amazing instrument
called the steel guitar. The steel guitar is distinctive
for Hawaiian music. Here's a few songs I've recorded using the C6th tuning on a 6-string 1936 Rickenbacher Bakelite:
Beautiful
Kahana,
Lovely
Hula Hands,
Sophisticated Hula,
Little
Brown Gal,
Sweet Leilani,
Rainbows Over Paradise,
Farewell
My Tani and
Bali Hai.
Here's the MP3 versions if you'd like to download them (right
mouse-click to save):
Beautiful
Kahana,
Lovely
Hula hands,
Sophisticated Hula,
Little
Brown Gal,
Sweet Leilani,
Rainbows Over Paradise,
Farewell
My Tani and
Bali Hai.
You may freely distribute these songs, enjoy!
On
My
Yellow Ginger Lei and
The Hukilau Song I played steel guitar accompaniment.
You can download
My
Yellow Ginger Lei and
The Hukilau
Song here.
One of my good friends and faithful web visitors has put together a
YouTube channel with my music. I am so grateful. Thank you...
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=B16AA2A149FED6D8
I also recorded
Moon of
Manakoora recently using the D9th tuning and
Paradise Isle
using the F#m9th tuning. You can
download Moon of Manakoora
here
and
Paradise Isle
Here. I recorded
Adventures In Paradise with a
Jerry Byrd 8-string Frypan (download:
Adventures In Paradise). You're
welcome to freely share my music with others.
Here's the popular Hawaiian song,
Mapuana,
played by me on the B11th tuning. You can download
Mapuana
here. I also played another favorite,
Sand, on the B11th tuning. You can download
Sand here to
share with others. Believe it or not, I played the previous two
songs on a cheap
$99 lap steel I bought from Musicians' Friend online. I bought
the black guitar, stripped it down, painted it antique white and put
on some
flat-wound strings. I looks more fancy with the nice paint job. I don't use the .011" because it's too small
for me. I want my first string at least .015" gauge. So I only use
the other 6 strings in the pack. I like heavier gauge strings on the
low-end. I only use flat-wounds for steel guitar. I don't like the
feel of semi-flats on my palm when sliding. I also replaced
the guitar nut with a metal one for better tone. I use the
Dunlop 3/4 x
2 7/8" bar for lap steel.
Anyone can learn to play steel guitar.
It just takes desire, commitment and hard work (per Jerry Byrd). For
everything needed to learn steel, there's...
http://www.scottysmusic.com.
Ask about Jerry
Byrd's instruction course if you want to really learn Hawaiian
steel guitar.
You can hear me play
Hawaiian Music
on a pedal steel guitar using an A7th tuning, which I recorded for
my mom in 2001 before she went to be with the Lord in Heaven.
Pictured above to the right is an Old Rickenbacher lap steel called the
SILVER HAWAIIAN. It is made of solid chrome and is famous for
it's horseshoe shaped pickup magnets. The most common Hawaiian
tunings on the lap steel are the
C6th and the
B11th. C6th is my favorite.
Bud Tutmarc is one of my
favorite steel guitarists and has
much beautiful
Gospel music available (Bud used a
C#m tuning
on a 7-string lap steel for all his recordings).
I once met
the great steel guitarist
Jerry Byrd in Winchester, Indiana. He
passed away at age 85 in 2005. Here's a video
of Jerry Byrd at a much younger age playing Hawaiian guitar. Beyond The Reef is one of my favorite Hawaiian songs to play
on the steel guitar. Here's some more videos of Jerry Byrd. Here are some
videos of Hawaiian steel guitar. Jerry taught his steel
guitar students that... "Talent is highly overrated. All the talent in
the world means nothing if you don't have DESIRE." If
you've ever heard Hawaiian music, then you've very likely heard
Jerry Byrd's beautiful music. Thank God for the beautiful steel
guitar!
The lap steel guitar is not that difficult to play if you're willing
to stick with it. It is a very rewarding instrument to learn to play
which cheers the heart's of others.
The following 3-recordings
are played on a Pedal Steel Guitar (E9th tuning), which is a much
bigger and heavier instrument than the lap steel. Due to the
herniated disks in my neck (C5-C6-C7), I mostly play lap steel
nowadays. Tommy White recorded the following beautiful E9th songs
several years ago:
Pedal Steel Guitar by David J. Stewart . . .
All of the following songs ARE performed by me on a ShoBud
Pro-II pedal steel guitar. I
want to share them with my friends. This is not my guitar to the
right, but it's a ShoBud... she's a beauty. The steel guitar is such
a beautiful and interesting instrument.
I've never played in a band, only at home with rhythm tracks, which
is what these are. I mostly play Hawaiian steel guitar nowadays.
The following songs and lyrics are general songs, such as
Greensleeves, a traditional favorite. This first song is Beyond
The Reef, one of my favorites.
-
Beyond The Reef
| Download
(Recorded on my Pro II ShoBud E9th pedal steel in 2009. My
strings are visually starting to rust at the bridge, but I went ahead and recorded the
song anyway because I didn't feel like changing them. I'm taking 2 Valiums,
8 Percocets, 2 Somas and 1 Ambien to deal with the
pain in my neck
daily. I can't carry my D-10 pedal steel guitar [85 lbs.] because of the pain. That's why I
started playing mostly lap steel in 2006. Still, I thought this particular
song came out ok. I hope you like it. I have no idea who's singing, I'm just
playing the pedal steel guitar over the track. This song reminds me of
Heaven where we will one day reunite with loved ones).
-
In
The Garden |
Download (Recorded in May of 2001 for my mom before she died in August)
-
Moon River |
Download (I recorded this several
years ago.)
-
Hawaiian Paradise
| Download (I
used this A7th tuning setup
on my D-10 ShoBud pedal steel to record this song. I paid someone to make
this backing track for me, which
you can have
and use completely free).
-
Crazy
| Download
(an old Patsy Cline classic that is a favorite amongst steel guitarists.
Recorded 4 years ago.)
-
Streams |
Download (A pretty song I wrote
from my heart just for E9th pedal steel guitar. I made a Band-in-a-Box
backing track,
which you are welcome to copy and freely distribute. I was fortunate to hit
some nice harmonics in this song. I recorded this around 8 years ago. I
actually forgot I had them.)
-
Summer Blue |
Download (Another song
I wrote just for the E9th pedal steel. I made a Band-in-a-Box
backing track.
You are welcome to download the
song and backing track
and share them freely. You can hear a little chicken-pickin' in this song. You
can also hear some arpeggios I did in here on the pedal steel guitar.)
-
Storms Never
Last | Download (This song has a very meaningful message. Storms never last.
You can't experience extreme joy and happiness until you first know what it
means to be extremely sad, disappointed and sorrowful.)
-
Cold, Cold Heart
|
Download (an old friend, Walt Frazier, starts off this old
standard. I didn't play over a track here, Walt actually did the singing.
Sadly, many people today do have cold, cold hearts.)
-
Crying My Heart Out Over You
| Download
(I recorded this over 10 years ago and don't know the singer's
name. It's just a track I played steel over. I've always liked Country
sounding music, which is appropriate; but I loathe the Country Music
Industry which is controlled by an immoral group of New World Order
loyalists. The Inspirations and the Cathedrals are two of many
Southern Gospel groups that have sung some beautiful music over the decades.
Sadly, some of those original groups, like the Oak Ridge Boys, all went to
the Devil. The Country music Industry is no better than the Rock music
Industry, all controlled by the same producers at the top.)
-
The Gardenia
Waltz (I made a Band-in-a-Box backing track for this. The other solo is an acoustic guitar with effects.
-
Greensleeves
| Download
(This song is a natural for pedal steel. I used both E9th and C6th pedal
steel on this song. You'll hear the popular "BOO WAH" 8th pedal on the C6th,
which drops the note really low. The weird African sounding plucking
instrument was actually my finger running across the number keys on my
computer's keyboard which Band-in-a-Box allows you to use kind of like a
piano. I managed to play some nice finger harmonics at the end on the E9th
steel neck.
-
I Love You So
Much It Hurts Me|
Download (I
played this over a track many years ago.)
-
Country Steel Guitar|
Download (The song is called
Making Plans, but I
played it totally differently.)
-
Farewell Party |
Download (Walt Frazier on vocals, yours truly on steel guitar. I
wasn't feeling too well this day. I know I could have done better.
Lloyd Green is the
master steel guitarist on this song.
Lloyd is my favorite steel player.)
-
Together Again (I never got around to finishing the end, but you can
hear the first half at least.)
-
Moonlight In Vermont
(I used Band-in-a-Box for the backing track, song is played on C6 pedal
steel. I played my acoustic guitar through an effects processor to get the
interesting sounds you'll hear.)
-
Waiting For
Summer | Download (Another song I wrote exclusively for the E9th pedal steel. I
made a Band-in-a-Box backing track, which you can share freely with others.
It's just a happy song).
-
Deep Water |Download (I used
Band-in-a-Box for the backing track, song is played on C6 pedal steel).
-
Afraid (E9th pedal
steel.)
-
It Is Well With My
Soul | Download (This song has a bright E9th intro.
-
Cinderella |
Download (an up tempo
country song that I recorded over 10 years ago. I played over a track.)
-
Please Don't Leave
| Download
(Played on the E9th neck of my pedal steel. I learned this rendition from
Jimmy Day. Here's the
backing
Track if you're a steel guitar player and would like to play along. Feel
free to share all these songs and tracks with others. I've had numerous
steel guitar players ask me for these tracks. I started playing acoustic
guitar at age 15, pedal steel at 25 and Hawaiian lap steel at 39.)
-
Country Song 1 (I learned the four following songs from Buddy
Emmons. I recorded these over 10 years ago.)
-
Country Song 2
-
Country Song 3
-
Country Song 4
-
The Whistler|
Download (My
humble attempt at the classic Lloyd Green song,
The Whistler, using a
homemade Band-in-a-Box backing track. I'm playing an acoustic guitar through
an effects processor with a sound hole pickup.)
If I get the opportunity, Lord
willing, if my upcoming neck surgery (Anterior Cervical Discectomy) and later
foot surgery go well, my heart's desire is to record a couple Hawaiian albums
with some Gospel hymns on them, but I need the backing tracks and will have to
ask around. One day at a time. I'm scared to get the surgery, but need to. You
can hear a bunch of free
great Hawaiian music here. Hawaiian
steel guitar links. Aloha! Here's a recent picture of
me...
