The Steel Guitar Forum

I've been using this tuning so far, low to high C E G A C E G D with the D on top being lower than the high E. That's pretty practical for lead work but I rarely do any lead work. I play simple chords for backing and I was thinking that perhaps this tuning would be better, low to high F A C E G A C E.

Can you really work it like a sort of combination of a volume pedal and a wah? I know it's not a real wah but still, how easy is it to control the tone with it?

Edward Meisse wrote:This is a GREAT thread!! I tried getting one like this started a while back. But I failed.

And I didn't even try to get this kind of thread started

But I'm enjoying it too. I'm getting more answeres than I asked for but that's great.

Wow, seems like this topic is more interesting to debate than I thought. Anyway, my story is that I started out playing slide on guitar and my teacher taught me to block with my fingertips. And of course by lifting the slide, not just for blocking but for fretting with the remaining three fingers. I...

Nice clip, thanks. Yeah, I sort of knew what all three ways of blocking consist of, I was more looking for reason why you might prefer one or the other... or why you might like all three

I've been told not to do that. And the bigger bar I'm using now, which definitely has it when it comes to tone, isn't lifted up that easily. Not even a tad. I used to lift a lot before, that was natural since I do that when I slide on regular guitar and electric balalajka. I slide, fret and lift all...

I've played slide on regular guitar and on electric balalajka for pretty long. On both instruments I've damped with my fingertips for the most part. Sometimes the whole thumb for the lower strings on the guitar but not the palm of my hand, ever. As I started using fingerpicks I started damping the s...

I thought the guy who told me this was joking but I have to admit now that he was right. It's easier. From what I can feel it comes from the hand movement actually being smaller since the bar is bigger and longer. I don't know, it's just a lot easier. I have two small bars, one is flat the other one...

Then, for you, it IS superior Don't assume the same is true for others. You know, it almost borders on arrogance. I mean, people have only developed the standard notation system for a bunch of centuries... all these people did all this work... for us! It is a system that is near perfect. It replace...

No one method is best. I don't really agree with that statement. It's too diplomatic :) I think it's fair to say that standard music notation is the best way of writing down music. So far. And yes, it has its disadvantages too and for some certain things tab is better. And for me it's easier to rea...

Doug Beaumier wrote:That's true b0b, and that's a good method if you know how to read music, and you know the notes on your instrument.

And it would seem natural to assume that even pedal-steel players know where the notes are on their instruments

India has had a slid version of the veena for ages. It's known as vichittra veena in the north and gottudadhyam in the south.

Notes & Tab... each gives us 1/2 of the total picture. I'm not against tab, it has its place and use. However, and this is espeically true for young guitar players who play regular guitar, using only tab is what a lot of people do and they are really shooting themselves in the foot by doing so....

I don't play PSG... Terje, You do not play pedal steel guitar. ...and you are telling us how do-able it is to play standard notation on a pedal steel guitar? :? People who play regular guitar will often say that it's impossible to learn standard notation on guitar, or at least very unpractical. I d...

It sounds to me like some of you are looking for tab to solve the problem that you would otherwise have to solve yourself. Where and how to play something is a problem that needs to be solved at one point or another, whether by you or the person writing the music. Since I play an instrument that is ...

I wouldn't think tab written for a specific instrument would be intended to be used on a different instrument. e.g. in this case tab written for a Pedal Steel Guitar and a specific tuning such as the E9th would not be intended to be used by someone with a Stratocaster. Or someone like me, playing a...

Standard notation was invented for instruments such as keyboards and horns, for which there is a one-to-one correspondence between the written note, and the one place to play it on the instrument. That's not really correct, is it? Tab was the first way to notate music on any given instrument. All s...

It works for all instruments and regardless of the tuning they happen to be in.

Her vibrato rivals Robert Randolph at times! ;) Maybe I'm pointing out something you already noticed, but anyway :) Like all traditional indian classical musicians I've heard she doesn't really play with a vibrato in the western sense of the word, meaning she does not add a "shimmering shivver...

OK, so the man who suggsted the D on top knew what he was saying. It makes no sense on paper, at least not to someone who has not played pedal-steel before, but in real life it's very practical and even a novice like me could hear and feel that right away. A lot of licks on any major chord will circ...

Now I've spoken to the guy who suggested the D on top and finally understood that the pitch of this D is lower than the high E and G-strings to enable fast runs. Interesting, perhaps, I'll try it out.

Low to high: C# E G A C E G B That covers a lot I think. I can play C, C6 (but that voicing will sound like Am, at least on it's own), Cmaj7, Am, Am7, Am9, A, A7, A9 and Em at the same fret. Someone (who really knows) suggested a D on top. I can't see how a B is less useful. Being able to play a ful...

So, regular C6 on the top 6 and then A and F below that. Gives you more bass if nothing else, huh? :) However, it's more often that I play a dominant 7th chord than a major 7th and the minor triad works fine as a major 7th chord if someone else is supplying the root. Ah, it's all interesting an fun ...

Hm... Bb C E G A C E G, right? That's not bad either I suppose and you still ahve the regular C6 on the middle six strings. My only "complaint" would be that you end up with a C7 that has the b7 in the bass, which is kinda odd, isn't it? That D would it replace the high E then? Or the high...

I'll learn to slant better than I do and I realize it's a must but still... if I can make it easier for myself I will