Misnomer

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 6 Aug 2006 1:52 pm

From time to time members point out that they are not given the dues that they are due. The average person has no idea what a steel guitar is. They are right, but one of the problems is the terminology, and for this I have to go back into history.

French Fries don't come from France, Brussels Sprouts don't come from Brussels, Irish Coffee doesn't come from Ireland, English Muffins don't come from England, in fact English Muffins are sold in England as American Muffins.

The lute family, which includes all instruments which have a body with a bridge, and a separate neck with a fingerboard, includes Guitars, Banjos, Mandolines, etc.

All these instruments are known by the sound that they produce and their shape. The problem came when someone put a pickup on them. Before the pickup, the sound produced was a product of their construction. Once you put a pickup on them the sound produced becomes an electrical function of their amplification.

Why are there no electric banjos ? Because they sound like electric guitars.

So, here is the problem. Historically the guitar was a member of the lute family, and, other than the number of strings, they didn't change much over the years. During the dance band era they needed a guitar that punched through the orchestras, so the archtop guitar was invented by taking the fretted viol and reducing it to guitar proportions. Now we have two totally different instruments referred to as the "Guitar", the standard round-hole instrument, and the Cello Guitar.

This is where the problem expands. Jazz and band guitarists took to the Cello Guitar and put a pick up on it. Obviously an archtop guitar with a pickup was still a guitar, but the distinction as to what made a guitar or a banjo or a mandoline was lost. The sound now came from the amplification.

Now comes the solid guitar. When Leo Fender produced the solid electric guitar he produced an instrument using technology which previously did not exist. He took the guitar tuning, but everything else that made a guitar a guitar and not a cittern or a banjo disappeared.

What makes the electric guitar a guitar? Only the tuning. In all other respects it is a completely new instrument.

If you question this just ask yourself what is an electric banjo ? All sounds of a banjo have dissappeared, and the only difference between that and an electic guitar are the tuning. In fact, if you downtune the first string of an electric guitar from E to D you have an electric banjo. Likewise, if you downtune your Stratocaster's first string from E to D and your second string from B to A# you have an electric lute.

So, what rights does the solid guitar have to call itself a guitar ? None !

On that basis, it's not surprising that the steel guitar has a naming problem.

Let's look at the lute family. It has a neck and is fingered from below. That's not the steel guitar.

Going back into history, what is fingered from above ? The Board Zither, has a body with a fingerboard on top. The Board Zither consists of the North-Germanic Hummel, the French Espinette des Vosges, the Germanic Scheitholdt, the English Lapharp, the Austrian Salzburg Zither, the Appalachian Dulcimore (itself a misnomer, because the Dulcimer is a hammered psaltery from Persia).

The defining fact about the Board Zither is that it is played from above (rather than below, as is the lute, guitar, etc.), and it can be played with the fingers, a steel, or a bow. Put a pickup on it and you have a lap steel.

For the last 30 years I've been building Board Zithers of various different shapes and sizes. When you put a pickup on them they become a lap steel.

So, here's the problem. The lap-steel/pedal steel is not recognised by the audience because it simply is NOT a guitar. We need a new name. A guitar is a flat-topped lute. What we play is not a guitar. We need a new name. Calling a steel guitar by the word "steel" is like calling a violin by the name "bow". We use the steel to determine the notes. Now, what do we call the instrument ?

Joe Smith · Post by **Joe Smith** » 6 Aug 2006 2:12 pm

I think the PSG is more like a pedal harp than a guitar. Gibson had it right when they called their's an electroharp. Maybe electric pedal harp might be a better name.[This message was edited by Joe Smith on 06 August 2006 at 03:13 PM.]

Chip Fossa · Post by **Chip Fossa** » 6 Aug 2006 2:13 pm

Wow, Alan.

That was a brilliant synopsis. I'd say you know a bit of what you speak.

I never, ever thought about this.

Intriguing.

Thanks - keep it coming.

Roger Crawford · Post by **Roger Crawford** » 6 Aug 2006 2:18 pm

Call me old fashioned, but I vote to continue to call it pedal steel guitar. I'm not overly concerned about who does or does not recognize the instrument by it's looks or name. I would truely love for it to be more recognizable from having more people exposed to it's beautiful tone and versitility, but calling this "rose" by another name will not accomplish that. I will remain content to be incorrect (?) in what I call the instrument that pulled at my heart strings years ago, and that I may be in the minority of people who have discoverd this jewel.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 6 Aug 2006 3:18 pm

I'm with Roger, it's a "Pedal Steel Guitar". After hearing Bud Isaac with Webb Pierce on "Slowly" I was hooked on the "Pedal Steel Guitar".

Calvin Walley · Post by **Calvin Walley** » 6 Aug 2006 5:50 pm

its a "PEDAL STEEL GUITAR" anyone that has any interest in it should have no problems figuring out what to call it . if they do my mouth still works

calvin[This message was edited by Calvin Walley on 06 August 2006 at 06:50 PM.]

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » 6 Aug 2006 6:03 pm

Interesting reading. I'm enjoying the re-read.

One glaring "misnomer" though:

The Electric Banjo.

Just before 1980 I tried mounting a pickup on one. Of course the head distance is just a wee bit too far from the strings under the head.

I put a block of wood underneath it to push it up.

Sounded just like an electric guitar.

For some reason I tried a piece of leather belt. Rolled up to the proper thickness, so as to push the DiMarzio and the head up far enough to make a good pickup, and..

Voila! Sounded just like a banjo. (for better or worse..)

The other problem of feedback was solved by filling the banjo cavity with an old T-Shirt. Play it right in front of a 200 watt amp full blast. No feedback.

The jack and volume knob fit into the filligree of my Washburn. No mods at all to the banjo.

Then I read in GP mag that it was similar to the way the banjo player in the NGDB did it.

Cost, a couple joints for the DiMarzio, and I think I got the potentiometer and jack from my junk drawer. I swiped the Tshirt. No 500$ condenser or Lace Sensor setup.

Good article though.

EJL

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 6 Aug 2006 6:34 pm

What makes the electric guitar a guitar? Only the tuning. In all other respects it is a completely new instrument.

IMHO, not really, it's still a guitar. Look at it this way, if you take an acoustic guitar and add a pickup, it's still a guitar, isn't it? Now, tune that (formerly acoustic) electric guitar to a slack-key (old steel guitar) tuning, and lo and behold...it's still a guitar!

Additionally, a violin and a mandolin share the same tuning, but they're different instruments!?

So you see, your "theory" that an instrument is defined by the tuning doesn't really hold water.

Nice try, though!

Oh, and by the way, an electric banjo only sounds like an electric guitar if you put an electric guitar pickup on it. Put a true banjo pickup on it, and it sounds just like an electric banjo!

Robert Leaman · Post by **Robert Leaman** » 6 Aug 2006 6:56 pm

A rose is a rose by any other name and beauty has always been in the eye of the beholder.

With respect to names, there is no accounting for taste.

Joe Shelby · Post by **Joe Shelby** » 6 Aug 2006 7:02 pm

Why did Buck Trent's (?Rickenbacker) electric
banjo sound like equal parts banjo, electric
guitar and pedal steel guitar?
I am referring to tone here, but would guess
that he used one or more Scruggs' pegs (or
something like) as well.

Joe.

Joseph Meditz · Post by **Joseph Meditz** » 6 Aug 2006 8:04 pm

The lute family, which includes all instruments which have a body with a bridge, and a separate neck with a fingerboard, includes Guitars, Banjos, Mandolines, etc.

This taxonomy differs from that of Robert Donington in "The Instruments of Music."

Under "Plucked Strings" he names four families: Lutes, Guitars, Citerns, and Harps.

Lutes being "sliced-pear" instruments include mandolins.

Guitars have a flat back. In this group he, in 1949, included the Hawaiian guitar. He said, "The Hawaiian guitar has metal strings and great resonance. It is played unfretted, flat on the knee, with finger-pieces call 'thimbles."

The citterns have rounded sides. Included here are banjos.

And harps have no frets. Dulcimers and zithers fall in this family.

So, the pedal steel guitar can legitimately be called a guitar.

Joe

John Bechtel · Post by **John Bechtel** » 6 Aug 2006 8:18 pm

I just removed the bottom from a ‘bucket’ and vwah~lah! I now have a ‘funnel’ and it is no longer a ‘bucket’ by any stretch of the imagination, if you try to put water in it!

It's not really a very good ‘funnel’ either¡ Well, I guess I just ruined a pretty good utility~item again! Where's my mop?

------------------
“Big John”
a.k.a. {Keoni Nui}
Current Equipment

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 6 Aug 2006 8:34 pm

I really dislike any association with the banjo.

Mike Shefrin · Post by **Mike Shefrin** » 6 Aug 2006 8:40 pm

The Oxford American College dictionary's
definition of pedal steel guitar-A musical instrument played like the Hawaiian guitar, but set on a stand with pedals to adjust the tension of the strings.

(Sounds like fun)

peddle- To try to sell goods by going from house to house or place to place.

steal- (slang) A bargain

peddle steal- A low priced good from the peddler??

...it's all semantics to me!
[This message was edited by Mike Shefrin on 08 August 2006 at 07:57 AM.]

Al Terhune · Post by **Al Terhune** » 6 Aug 2006 8:52 pm

Don Hinson -- well-argued.

The pedal steel guitar is a guitar.

Al

Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 6 Aug 2006 9:09 pm

French Fries come from Brussels!

Pat Kelly · Post by **Pat Kelly** » 6 Aug 2006 9:18 pm

I felt a little deja vu reading this post. A friend of mine, having learnt I was getting into steel guitar, now asks everytime we meet "How are you getting on with your zither?"

Chip Fossa · Post by **Chip Fossa** » 6 Aug 2006 9:42 pm

See, now.

This thread is starting to drift into comedy and inanity.

I think Alan makes some valid propositions.

You guys may not be thinking hard on this.

Think harder, I say - free up your mind.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 6 Aug 2006 9:56 pm

I'm not trying to discredit any particular instrument, just explain why the general public find some confusion. Yes, it will always be known as a "pedal steel guitar" because it's under that name that it has earned its living for 60 years, and musicians will never have any problem with it.

I've been studying and building mediaeval and folk instruments for over 40 years. Here in Northern California we have an organization known as the Northern California Association of Luthiers, of which I'm the Treasurer. We meet every two months in a workshop of one of the members, and we rotate whose workshop. We swap hints, demonstrate techniques, exchange materials, sell spares, and bring "show and tell".

If you read the books of the Galpin Society, which is the accepted authority on musical instruments, the Lute family consists of all instruments where the string passes over the body, with a separate neck. So this includes guitars, banjos, etc. The Zither family consists of all instruments where the strings pass over the body, and resonate via a bridge, such as the Autoharp, Psaltery, etc. The Harp family consists of instruments where the body surrounds the strings, which pass over a cavity, and have no bridge. This separates out the Crwth and the Lyre, since they both have bridges.

The Appalachian (or Mountain) Dulcimer, which comes directly from the Swedish Hummel, is thus a zither. Now I've built a lot of Dulcimers, and came to the idea of having removable fingerboards, so that you could play in any key but still have diatonic frets. Sometimes I put a pickup on a dulcimer. Now, if you have a Dulcimer and you play it with a steel you have a lap steel. It could be argued that a dulcimer is a lap steel with frets, or that a lap steel is a dulcimer without frets. Other than the tuning the instruments can be identical. I've seen solid electric dulcimers. Here you have an instrument which could legitimately be called both !

[This message was edited by Alan F. Brookes on 06 August 2006 at 10:57 PM.]

Travis Bernhardt · Post by **Travis Bernhardt** » 7 Aug 2006 12:24 am

I agree that calling a steel guitar a guitar might be considered a bit of a misnomer, but I don't think that calling it a slide zither would help very much with the problem of people not knowing what it is...

I've had to give the "steel guitar--what's that?" speech many times, though, so I can relate. (Does "it's called steel guitar because you play with a steel bar--it's not necessarily made of steel" sound familiar?)

I don't mind going through life educating people one by one, though. And I kind of enjoy that what I do is somewhat unusual--I don't really want people to feel like they know everything about it; I want it to have a kind of mystique...

-Travis[This message was edited by Travis Bernhardt on 07 August 2006 at 01:26 AM.]

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 7 Aug 2006 12:55 am

it may be "French Sauce" back home
it's "Sauce Americaine" over here

Alan FB nailed it :

it will always be known as a "pedal steel guitar" because it's under that name that it has earned its living for 60 years,

Hans Holzherr · Post by **Hans Holzherr** » 7 Aug 2006 2:15 am

Are you English-speaking people ever lucky with "steel guitar". When people ask me over here what this thing is, I can't translate it to "Stahlgitarre" because that would mean a guitar made of steel in German. So I say "steel Gitarre". But then, some people (if not most) may think I said "Stil-Gitarre" ("style guitar", whatever that might be). You should see the puzzled look on their faces...

Hans [This message was edited by Hans Holzherr on 07 August 2006 at 03:25 AM.]

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 7 Aug 2006 2:51 am

Maybe PSG is called a guitar because that was the source of its evolution, through the lap steel.

If you play with a Zirconia bar, is it a pedal zirconia guitar?

I'm in the horizontal harp camp myself.
Ed Packard's take on terminology is at http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum5/HTML/004752-2.html [This message was edited by Charlie McDonald on 07 August 2006 at 04:19 AM.]

John Drury · Post by **John Drury** » 7 Aug 2006 3:09 am

"The average person has no idea what a steel guitar is. They are right, but one of the problems is the terminology"

Alan,

Who cares? Not everyone is into steels as much as we are. The average person doesn't know what our instrument is because they simply they aren't as jazzed about it as we are.

Why should we re-name our steels just because the "average person" isn't motivated enough to become more informed as to the evolution of our instrument.

The steel is one of only two instruments invented in the United States, (the other is our beloved Banjo) there should be mention of that in our history books!

I love listening to good piano,(in my opinion they are nothing but a big ass guitar), but I couldn't care less about how it evolved, what category it falls into, where it was invented, etc., where the hell was it invented anyway?

Its kinda like my motorcycle, it says Triumph right across the tank on both sides, made in England in bold letters on the frame, and people will still come up and ask if it is a Harley.

This discussion might be important to a few steel players, but to the average person this thread would be considered a serious waste of bandwidth.

------------------
John Drury
NTSGA #3

[This message was edited by John Drury on 07 August 2006 at 04:11 AM.]

Shane Reilly · Post by **Shane Reilly** » 7 Aug 2006 3:29 am

Can I get Brussels fries with this?Hold the banjo!!