🎸 What I Learned (and Didn’t) from the “Founding Father Method™”

A personal reflection on pedal steel’s most revered (and carefully protected) learning program

Disclaimer:
This post reflects my personal, good-faith experience as a paying customer of a widely known steel guitar course. It is not intended as defamation, harassment, or commercial harm—only an honest review of a product that didn’t work for me. If it worked for you, that’s great. This is simply my take.

Note: I’ve been meaning to publish this for over two years. It’s been sitting in my writing backlog half finished, and I finally decided it was time to finish and share it. I’ve got more posts like this coming soon—some personal, some musical, some about the state of the gear world and the steel scene. Stay tuned.

Like many players during the pandemic, I finally had the time—and urgency—to dive deeper into pedal steel guitar. I was serious. I wanted structure, mentorship, and progress. So I made what felt like the obvious choice:

I paid $600 for a year of a very popular steel guitar course—one taught by a player who shares a last name with a certain American statesman. You know the one. Let’s call it the Founding Father Method™.

That’s a lot of guitar strings. Or effect pedals. Or a high-end Squier J. Mascis Jazzmaster. Or a pretty decent Boss Katana amp.

🛡️ Why I’m Not Naming Names

I’m intentionally not using names here. That’s partly to avoid unnecessary drama—and partly because, in my experience, the instructor’s attitude doesn’t exactly invite open dialogue. Let’s just say humility wasn’t part of the lesson plan. Steel players will know who I mean.

💳 Price Then vs. Now

When I joined, the only option was an almost $600/year upfront commitment. That was the price. With some sample videos and a leap of faith.

That’s changed. Now you can subscribe monthly for around $49, or yearly for a slightly lower rate than what I paid.

🔹 My advice: Start with a month. I didn’t have that option—but you do.

💸 The Cost vs. Content

The course is sprawling, slow-paced, and deeply rooted in the instructor’s personal approach. At times, it felt more like being talked at than taught.

One moment that really struck me wrong? He looked directly into the camera and said:

“Write this down.”

It’s hard to explain exactly why that hit me wrong—but it did. I remember thinking:

“I’m paying YOU to teach ME this. Don’t talk to me like I’m your teenager blowing off homework.”

It was a moment that flipped the tone—from mentor to bossy authority—and it never really recovered for me after that.

🔇 The Community That Wasn’t

One of the big selling points of the Method was “access” to a private Facebook group. In reality, the group was tightly controlled:

• You could not directly answer other students’ questions.
• Everyone had to wait for the instructor to respond first, which could vary based on how busy he was.

So what you’re left with is a ghost town of players hoping for interaction, with no encouragement to collaborate or even talk among themselves. That’s not a community. That’s a comment section on lockdown.

When someone simply asked if they could say hi at a public show, the response was a flat “no” with a lame excuse. That might seem small, but it revealed a lot about the energy behind the whole thing.

🔒 The Unspoken Rule

Here’s something no one will put in writing—but everyone in steel teaching circles knows:

You’re not supposed to teach this guy’s licks.

Even though many of them are common steel language, most teachers avoid them. Why? Because now that it’s “packaged” in a branded course, using those phrases is seen as stepping on someone else’s territory.

That’s not how music works. You can teach Coltrane or Miles Davis licks. You can teach Jimi Hendrix riffs. You can teach Television guitar parts from 1977—and nobody bats an eye.

In fact, when someone uploaded a full breakdown of Richard Lloyd’s iconic guitar work on “Venus” by Television, Lloyd didn’t complain—he shared the video on his own Facebook page. His response?

“Yes, I just wrote him to tell them how enjoyable his videos are – Crisp and clear and spot on.”

🎸 Full Guitar Transcription – “Venus” by Television (Any One Can Play Guitar/YouTube)

That’s how it should be. Musical ideas are meant to be shared, studied, and passed on—not hidden behind brand walls.

🎯 I’m Not Trying to Be a Nashville Session Player

And that might be the biggest reason this didn’t click for me.
I don’t dream of playing on country records. I’m not trying to break into Lower Broadway. I’m not looking to copy this player’s career.

If I were chasing that dream, maybe I’d overlook some of this. But I’m not.

I’m a modern player, interested in creative expression, genre blending, and making the steel guitar work in new contexts. I don’t need to be taught how someone else does it—I want to be empowered to discover how I do it.

Look, I know he’s considered one of the top session players of all time. But to be honest, that resume doesn’t mean much to me. A lot of the work he’s known for was on slick, formulaic pop-country records that don’t inspire me musically. I don’t doubt his technical skill—but to me, that talent often feels wasted on material that lacks soul. That may sound harsh, but it’s how I hear it.

🧭 What I Wish I Knew

• The course is big, but lacks structure.
• The tone sometimes felt condescending.
• The “community” wasn’t really a community.
• The instructor’s presence was minimal.
• And honest feedback? Quietly discouraged.

And honestly? I bet I’m not the only one who feels this way. I’ve seen the silence around this course—and I suspect there are plenty of players who quietly drifted away, felt let down, or just didn’t click with the tone or structure… but didn’t want to say anything publicly.

I get it. It’s hard to speak up when everyone else seems to be praising it.
But if that’s you? You’re not alone either.

👀 What’s Next?

I’ve tried a lot of other steel learning resources since then—some hit, some missed.
But a few really did work for me.

They were structured differently, taught with more humility, or just matched my goals better.
I’ll be sharing those soon in a follow-up post for anyone looking for alternatives that might resonate more.

Stay tuned. The good stuff is out there—you just have to know where to look.

✌️ Final Thought

If this course worked for you, that’s awesome. I’m not here to take that away.

But if you felt disappointed, dismissed, or just disconnected like I did—you’re not the only one.

🧠 And now that monthly pricing exists, try before you commit. You don’t have to spend hundreds to find out whether it’s a good fit.

It wasn’t the right one for me. And that’s okay.