The X-Slant
Moderator: Brad Bechtel
The X-Slant
The late Jerry Byrd was the absolute master of this slick slant move. It takes a lot of practice to play smoothly and in tune but once you have it down, it's a very cool arrow in your quiver that works in a bunch of genres. Here's some X-slant info I contributed about a year and a half ago to the "Lap Steel Lunatics" group on Facebook ...
Doug Beaumier plays a nice X-slant in this video of “Send Me the Pillow” in the intro, 8 seconds into the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO2Tf8KLJ14
Doug Beaumier plays a nice X-slant in this video of “Send Me the Pillow” in the intro, 8 seconds into the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO2Tf8KLJ14
Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com
- Jack Hanson
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Exactly! I get kind of bored with pedal steel. I've sold my PSG and love playing lap steel more than I ever did pedal steel. To me, it's more of a challenge. The slants are fun and when you get them down they can add more expression than the mashing of pedals. Thanks Andy for the exercises!Joe Burke wrote:I feel like slanting is the reason to play lap steel.
I thought at one point that Doug Beaumier made a short instructional video on the "X slant." I know that the song you posted the link for (Send me the Pillow) is in his Lap Steel instructional book.
Melbert 8, Remington S8,Remington D8, Rick B6, Tremblay 6 lap steel, Marlen S-10 4&4, Old Guild M75 and Artist Award, Benedetto Bravo, Epiphone Century Electar (the real one) and a bunch of old lap steels.... mostly Ricks and Magnatones'
- Doug Beaumier
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The version of "Send Me the Pillow" that's in my "25 MORE Songs" book does not have the intro or the solo that are in the video. It's just the melody of the song.
Regarding the X-slant on the video: The song is in the key of A, and the intro is I, V, I (A, E, A). The slant happens over the E chord in the intro, and it resolves over the A chord. So it starts with a reverse slant and goes to a forward slant (X-slant). Below are the two positions.
The first position (G# and D) is the 3rd and b7 of the E chord. The second position (A and C#) is the root and the 3rd of the A chord. So it makes a sweet counterpoint. By the way, this is not something that I arrived at by analyzing the theory first. I stumbled upon it by ear and later analyzed why it works musically.
[tab]
(E7) (A) (E7) (A)
x-slant notes
E ----4------5----|-----G#-----A-----
C ----------------|------------------
A ----5------4----|-----D------C#----
G ----------------|------------------
E ----------------|------------------
C ----------------|------------------
[/tab]
Video ---> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO2Tf8KLJ14
Regarding the X-slant on the video: The song is in the key of A, and the intro is I, V, I (A, E, A). The slant happens over the E chord in the intro, and it resolves over the A chord. So it starts with a reverse slant and goes to a forward slant (X-slant). Below are the two positions.
The first position (G# and D) is the 3rd and b7 of the E chord. The second position (A and C#) is the root and the 3rd of the A chord. So it makes a sweet counterpoint. By the way, this is not something that I arrived at by analyzing the theory first. I stumbled upon it by ear and later analyzed why it works musically.
[tab]
(E7) (A) (E7) (A)
x-slant notes
E ----4------5----|-----G#-----A-----
C ----------------|------------------
A ----5------4----|-----D------C#----
G ----------------|------------------
E ----------------|------------------
C ----------------|------------------
[/tab]
Video ---> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO2Tf8KLJ14
- David Matzenik
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I play Blue Hawaii in Bb using A6th tuning. In the last bar, I do a reverse slant on strings 1 and 3 at the 5th and 6th frets respectively. I then pivot the bar to a forward slant which is a Bb over a D.
Which brings me to the subject of Reverse Slants. The thumb nail is almost always curved, and so should be the indent in the bar for which it is designed. The flat indent in some bars is not ergonomically ideal.
Which brings me to the subject of Reverse Slants. The thumb nail is almost always curved, and so should be the indent in the bar for which it is designed. The flat indent in some bars is not ergonomically ideal.
Don't go in the water after lunch. You'll get a cramp and drown. - Mother.
- Bob Watson
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Re: The X-Slant
Thanks for this. I play high bass A, but as said earlier, the 1st and 3rd strings are the same, so it's a great thing to learn for me, as well.Andy Volk wrote:
A quick question though: The image says that's a C7 -> C7, which is technically true, but isn't that really a C -> C7? Because the first position is a C and an E, and the second position is a B and an E.
Thanks. I'm still new to the music theory world, so this is confusing me a bit.
- Doug Beaumier
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I believe the slant goes to a Bb note (on string 1), not B. So the forward slant is E and C and the reverse slant is E and Bb, which produces the dominant 7th sound when played over a C chord.The image says that's a C7 -> C7... the first position is a C and an E, and the second position is a B and an E... this is confusing me a bit.
In other words, it's the 3rd and the root (of C), slanted to the 3rd and the b7 (of C).
Last edited by Doug Beaumier on 11 Sep 2023 4:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Marc Muller
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- Mike DiAlesandro
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That's a change I like and promote on E9th as well. Strings 6 and 9 open. Then raise strings 6 (G#) to an A with the B Pedal, and lower string 9 (D), to a C# with usually RKR...Doug Beaumier wrote:The version of "Send Me the Pillow" that's in my "25 MORE Songs" book does not have the intro or the solo that are in the video. It's just the melody of the song.
Regarding the X-slant on the video: The song is in the key of A, and the intro is I, V, I (A, E, A). The slant happens over the E chord in the intro, and it resolves over the A chord. So it starts with a reverse slant and goes to a forward slant (X-slant). Below are the two positions.
The first position (G# and D) is the 3rd and b7 of the E chord. The second position (A and C#) is the root and the 3rd of the A chord. So it makes a sweet counterpoint. By the way, this is not something that I arrived at by analyzing the theory first. I stumbled upon it by ear and later analyzed why it works musically.
[tab]
(E7) (A) (E7) (A)
x-slant notes
E ----4------5----|-----G#-----A-----
C ----------------|------------------
A ----5------4----|-----D------C#----
G ----------------|------------------
E ----------------|------------------
C ----------------|------------------
[/tab]
Video ---> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO2Tf8KLJ14
I must say as primariy a pedal player, that this change has a unique quality to it when achieved with the slants being discussed...
The real trick, in a nutshell, is keeping the lower note rock solid while the upper note smoothly moves between notes.
Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com
Not many know this, but there is also an X slant on strings 2, 4 and 6 which yields a mirror image.
rootless Cmin6 (and various other chords, like F9, Am7b5)
[tab]
E ----------------|-----------------
C -------6--------|-------8---------
A ----------------|-----------------
G -------7--------|-------7---------
E ----------------|------------------
C -------8--------|-------6---------
[/tab]
rootless Cmin6 (and various other chords, like F9, Am7b5)
[tab]
E ----------------|-----------------
C -------6--------|-------8---------
A ----------------|-----------------
G -------7--------|-------7---------
E ----------------|------------------
C -------8--------|-------6---------
[/tab]
If you want to talk about a tough X slant, here is one I use (rarely) on C6 with a lowered 1st string to D.
Because it is on 3 adjacent strings, it is especially tough. But the results are kind of amazing, yielding a iim-I move.
Best used mid-neck to avoid sitaring.
D ------7---------|-------9--------
C ------8---------|-------8--------
A ------9---------|-------7--------
G ----------------|----------------
E ----------------|----------------
C ----------------|----------------
Because it is on 3 adjacent strings, it is especially tough. But the results are kind of amazing, yielding a iim-I move.
Best used mid-neck to avoid sitaring.
D ------7---------|-------9--------
C ------8---------|-------8--------
A ------9---------|-------7--------
G ----------------|----------------
E ----------------|----------------
C ----------------|----------------