Newbie Intro

Well the welcome page said to introduce myself so here goes.

I 55 years old an Assistant Pastor and Worship leader (guitar). I'm new to learning the steel guitar, I've only been learning for about 3 1/2 months, the end of Nov 2012 will be 4 months. Due to 2 knee surgeries I have had a lot of dedicated time to learning but that time was only used for just recently.

Without boring you with details I injured the knee that I just previously (Nov. 2011) had a total knee replacement on. In a nutshell; I twisted, fell on, and then tore the inside ligament, this resulted in an arthoscopic surgery (or however you spell it) to clean up the mess that was created. I have been off of work for 6 months but only recently (3 months ago) decided to start learning the Lap Steel.

I have a 1940's - 50's era Dickerson 6 String Lap Steel that a friend gave me about 5 to 10 years ago and it has basically sat in my house and been neglected until just recently. I have had more time on my hands than I know what to do with due to the restrictions that I have had placed on me. One day while listening to some music I heard that sound, yep, a steel guitar and the I realized that I could use my extra time to learn to play.

I called a Pastor friend of mine who helped me get started and moving in the right direction, Thanks Larry. I then ordered 8 Instructional CD's from George Boards which have been an extremely helpful tool in moving forward. I also purchased some song books with CD's from Doug Beaumier which allowed me to apply what I was learning to songs with backup music.

To be truthful, I was getting discouraged and contemplating giving up until I ordered Mr. Beaumier's material. After learning and playing my first song with backup music I decided to press on and continue moving forward with the Steel Guitar. I understand how important practicing is, i.e. "Practice Makes Perfect", yet it was playing a song with the backup music and having my wife tell me "Honey, that sounded really nice". I knew all the mistakes I had made but my wife enjoyed it and so did I because I realized that I was accomplishing something, I realized that I had made some progress.

I had posted some video's on Youtube for my kids and their families in Arizona to see and a friend told me to post the link on the Steel Guitar Forum because he thought that the members there might like them. I was apprehensive at first because there are some many great steel players out there and I felt that my playing was and still is inadequate to what I have seen and heard on Youtube.

I'm learning and I am moving forward with the steel and I'm having fun while I'm doing it.

Thank alls and The Lord Bless

David