Hall of Fame pedal steeler Paul Franklin guides you through a new way to look at the C6 tuning. Dust off that back neck and get started!
Paul's approach de-mystifies the tuning and shows how the C6 neck
is often easier to learn than the E9.
He explains what the similarities and differences of the E9 and C6 tunings are, and why the C6 neck is more clearly aligned with music theory logic.
Break out of the rut you are in on C6 and look at it as a tuning to play any style, from Country to Jazz to Pop.
From there we'll relate it to what we already know on the E9 and map out the positions on the neck where we can find the sounds we need.
These aspects are what makes the tuning so unique and we'll explore all of the ways to get those trademark harmonies into your playing.
I'll show you where to find the sweet and spicy notes to get you started down that road.
A Message From Paul
How to Navigate The Course Player - PDF
News
Intro and Tuning the Open Strings
C6 Open Tuning - QUIZ
Intro To Tuning the Pedals & Levers
C6 Fretboard Explained
Open Strings Explained
Chords in Open Tuning - QUIZ
Difference Between E9 and C6 FREE PREVIEW
C6 Essentials Etude #1 - PDF
Thoughts on the Tuning & the Buddy Emmons Setup - TEXTFREE PREVIEW
The Buddy Emmons Pedal Setup
Tuning The Buddy Emmons Pedal Setup
Paul's Pedal Setup
Paul's Pedal Setup TAB - PDF
Chord Pockets (Maj & Min)
Chord Pockets TAB - PDF
C6 Chord Chart - PDF
Harmonizing the Scale in 3rds and 4ths
Single Note Pockets Pt 1
Single Note Pockets Pt 2
Dominant 7th Workout - PRACTICE TRACK
Dominant 7 Workout - PDF
PFM Blues Pt 1
PFM Blues Pt 2
PFM Blues TAB - PDF
PFM Blues Chart - PDF
PFM Blues Backing Tracks - AUDIO MP3s
Blues With Extensions Pt 1
Blues With Extensions Pt 2
E9 Sounds on C6
Suggested Listening - TEXT
What's in The Method for C6? FREE PREVIEW
Thanks From Paul
BONUS VIDEO: All My Exes
BONUS TAB: All My Exes Live in Texas TAB - PDF
Lesson Notes Template
Chord Formulas - PDF
Major Scales and Triads - PDF
Nashville Number System
Basic Music Theory
Cycle Of 4ths and 5ths - PDF
Chord Substitutions
How To Read TAB
How to Read TAB - PDF
Paul's TAB Symbols Explained
TAB Basics - PDF
Blank TAB 10 String - PDF
Some Pedal Steel Resources - LINKS
Ad: All Our Courses
C6 Essentials is for E9 players that want to begin exploring the versatile C6
tuning . You need to have a commensurate skill level of picking, blocking and
pedal techniques to benefit from this course. Those techniques are taught in
the E9 course "Foundations: E9 Pedal Steel Basics".
This course is for applying those techniques using the C6 tuning. You will
learn the basic skills necessary to eventually play on the C6 tuning at a high
level, regardless of genre or style.
The C6 Essentials course is designed to give players a contemporary
approach to learning and playing the C6 tuning.
Paul's modern method de-mystifies and clarifies where to find all "the good
stuff on the back neck".
The Paul Franklin Method is Paul’s online academy that covers everything you need to know to master both the E9 and C6 tunings. As a bonus, it also offers an optional private Facebook group where students and teacher can interact.
C6 Essentials is drawn from the C6 lessons in the full Method and covers the necessary skills you'll need to play music on the C6 tuning.NOTE: Optional private Facebook Group access is only available when enrolled in The Paul Franklin MethodMethod students will recognize some of the instruction
(as far as Paul's technique) though presented here in a
different setting. And of course all the Tommy White
material is new and exclusive.
This course is focused more on application of various
pedal steel techniques, and the PF4 and TW Split are
covered in depth for the first time anywhere. If you are
interested in the topics covered, you will find this an
informative compliment to our other instructional
courses.
The C6 tuning is different than the E9 and requires perspective. But it is not complicated when you learn it the way Paul teaches it.
Once you learn how the tuning works, the rest is practice!
C6 Essentials course is one single payment of $99. For that you get unlimited
24/7 access to the lessons for one full year.
C6 Essentials is an on-line streaming video course that you access via your
device's browser.
You can review the materials by watching the videos over and over, use the
video player to slow things down, and print out TABs and other relevant
lesson materials.
The Course is comprised of video content, downloadable PDFs TABs, and MP3 Backing Tracks.
On the C6 tuning, the standard Buddy Emmons setup is taught.
What devices can I watch the videos on.
The course can be viewed on desktop computers and mobile devices – phones, tablets, laptops – as long as you have a supported browser on them and they are connected to the internet. You will need to keep your OS and browser fairly current as how browsers display items changes over time. For example, in the Mac world, you may need iOS 16.x or higher.
All Paul Franklin courses are available online 24/7 on any device with an internet connection. Pedal Steel Guitar and Musician's Hall of Famer Paul Franklin is a master player and a master teacher. With decades of experience teaching via cassette and in person at clinics and seminars, the arrival of online teaching finally allowed Paul to reach many more players and get deeper into subjects that earlier methods and in-person appearances cannot rival.
Paul draws on his five decades of live and studio playing with a who's-who of musical titans, from Country titans like George Strait, Alan Jackson and many others to Barbra Streisand, Harry Connick, Jr. and Megadeth. He is expert on both E9 and C6 tunings and has an encyclopedic knowledge of classic steel styes from the early masters of the instrument. Paul was mentored by legends like Buddy Emmons, Lloyd Green, Pete Drake, Weldon Myrick, Hal Rugg, John Hughey, all fellow Hall of Famers. His guitar dominated the charts during the Country boom of the '90=80's and '90's, he toured the world with Dire Straits and continues to be the first-call pedal steel player in the Nashville studio scene.
From ripping Rock, to twangy Country, to Jazz, to Western Swing and all points in between, Paul honors the past and keeps pushing the instrument forward. It is his desire to share all of the knowledge he has acquired for future generations to study and carry the pedal steel guitar torch into the future.
Paul Franklin began playing steel guitar at age 8. Taking lessons f om a Hawaiian guitar master, he quickly progressed and when
pedal steel guitars came about, he got one immediately.
Paul was already gigging in local clubs at 11, and a member of the Musician’s Union. Soon calls came to the house asking for a pedal steel player for
Not only were Pop, Motown and Jazz popular, but the “Hillbilly Highway” of
Southerners heading North to build cars fueled a burgeoning Country music
scene.
Paul got his first taste of national success as a teenager on Gallery’s “It’s So Nice
To Be With You”, a #1 hit single. He also guested on Parliament’s “Country Boy”
track and worked with Motown producer Dennis Coffey (of instrumental hit
“Scorpio” fame).
The pedal steel was being embraced by Country music, and Nashville was the
place for this young prodigy to be, so he headed to Tennessee as a senior in high
school to join Barbara Mandrell’s band at the invitation of her father, Irby. He
also toured with Dottie West, Lynn Anderson, and Donna Fargo.
Session steeler Pete Drake hired Paul to play on jingles and a few recordings.
Franklin joined Jerry Reed’s band and recorded solo albums of original pedal
steel instrumentals and Jazz standards. A long stint with Mel Tillis’ Statesiders
playing classic country and honky-tonk with an excellent road band was next.
After leaving Tillis, his studio career took off and he was featured in many of the
albums of the 1980’s-2000s. In 1991 he took a call from Mark Knopfler that led
to playing on The Notting Hillbillies album and eventually with Dire Straits,
touring the world and recording On Every Street with them.
In recent years, besides his busy studio schedule, Franklin is a member of Vince
Gill’s touring band (and recorded the CMA- nominated "Bakersfield" album as a
duo with Vince) and holds down the pedal steel seat with the Time Jumpers who
showcase Western Swing and classic Country every Monday night at a local
Nashville club.
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