how to play in b6 on an e9 tuned instrument....????

[Chris Erbacher]

at a jam about a month ago i was told by a fellow steel player that there is a way to play in b6 by holding a knee lever in...on an e 9 tuned instrument (mine is a pretty standard emmons setup 3x4)...now i can't remember which lever...anyone have any ideas of how to do this or can offer any advice for chord charts...etc?...i'm beginning to really dig the c6 sounding stuff and don't have my other steel here in ohio...but would like to have those kinds of sounds available to me so to speak...so i'm fishing for answers...thanks in advance for anything offered...

[Ken Metcalf]

Just lower your Es for B6th and A6th is with A,B, pedals down if you include the 7th string...
Careful it's a slippery slope to a Universal 12 string.
Herb Steiners Swinging on E9th is good

[Barry Hyman]

Ken is exactly right, but here is more detail:

To get B6 (in regular E9 tuning): Engage the lever that lowers the Es to Eb and hold it there. The B major triad (in open position) is on strings 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 2, and 1. Add the 6th string and/or the 3rd string to make it B6. (Press the B pedal and that B6 becomes a B7th...)

The A major triad is, of course, on strings 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, and 3 in open position with the A and B pedals pressed. Add the 7th string, as Ken says, to get A6. (And the first string will also turn your A triad into an A6.) If you have the knee lever that raises the F# strings to G, then your A6 becomes an A7...

Hope that helps! I'm an E9th chord theory nut; ask me anytime!

[Chris Erbacher]

barry do you have any charts you would want to pass along?...being able to get these voicings without the back neck or universal is pretty cool if you ask me and if there are slants involved i think it would be pretty cool to learn also...but i only know basic theory so in some ways i feel lost fishing for new stuff...i find stuff using my ear a lot and then go back to try to understand but it would be nice to go about it from the other way around...i see things on youtube and think that maybe PSG has kinda taught a lot of guys like myself (banjo player turned steel player, 35 yrs old, 7 yrs into e9...) how to be lazy by using the pedals and levers, when there is a lot of stuff available using slants and behind the bar pulls...(i recently saw junior brown and it kinda makes me want to go back to the "old" way of doing it for new ideas and how to skin the cat in new ways)...er...old ways...new again...and how the guys who went from non pedal to pedal always seem to know things guys like myself don't...this is long winded but i think you catch my drift...should i just get my d-10 and get on with c-6 and the 100lbs that comes with lugging the double around or is the e9 with alternate voicings enough for someone who only dabbles in a jazz setting? i would consider a universal in the future, but i'm pretty attached to the zb sound...

[Ben Jones]

check out ths video Chris. its "faux c6th" but its the same principle. peg that E lower and go nuts!

With your E's lowered and your root note now on the ten string instead of 8th, you can find this position two frets back from pedals down position.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2UpTBicpek
Mickey Adams, thanks Mickey for this great video.

[Barry Hyman]

Chris -- I have charts but they only relate to my slightly unusual copedant. But if you tell me what copedant you have and what chords you are looking for, I love doing the pedal steel "math."

As for bar slants and behind-the-bar pulls, I have never done much with either. I went straight to pedal steel after eight years on regular guitar, and never went through a slide guitar, dobro, or lap steel stage. There must be lots of things you can do with those techniques, but for sure there is a lot you can do with a straight up bar and pedals and knees! Ask me a question and I'll see if I can get you a good answer!