The Steel Guitar Forum

...for the 6-string, non-pedal steel guitar, what would it be? Why?

The reason I ask is I've been playing bagpipes for the last 3 years. Nine notes, one scale--it is what it is--and I've made tremendous progress, such that I now play with a pipe and drum band.

Now, I've been playing the lap steel on and off for a like amount of time, and I've gotten exactly....nowhere.

You see, I keep changing tunings. Leavitt sounds great for jazz and standards, C6 for Island tunes, any open major or 7th for the blues....and as a result, I've "learned" nothing.

Obviously, what I'm looking for is a tuning that can cross all genres with alacrity, and doesn't necessarily lean overly much toward a given type of music.

So--lets assume YOU are my instructor. I've come to you for my first lesson, and you're going to tune my guitar to...what?

(Someone please help the scatter-brained moron! )

John, I think you’ve answered your own question. Certain tunings suit certain styles of music. Because of the physical way the notes are fretted with a straight bar it is difficult to get all the intervals and harmonies compared to say a guitar or piano. That’s why we have 6, 8, 10 strings, multiple necks and, God forbid, pedals.
It’s great to hear you’re doing well with the bagpipes, they are great for Celtic & northern English folk music but they really suck when it cones to a good Polka or Boogie Woogie. I bet your pipe & drum band doesn’t play much jazz, standards, Island tunes or blues.
Sometimes you just need the right tool for the job and your tuning is a tool. I’d chose one tuning you are comfortable with, C6 is versatile and most instructional material uses variations of it, then when you feel you have a fair grip of that you might decided you need more strings or necks or guitars. Just think what you could do with those pipes with another chanter!

C6 is not just for island tunes, I don't know how you got that impression. You can play almost anything on C6, but you need to learn how to play it, not just strum it.

C6.... very versatile. Learn the tuning. I go from Blues to Country to Jazz etc all on a C6 tuning. Occasionally I will raise the " low C " to C# but, like Mike Neer says... learn the tuning. It's all there laid out in front of you.

I like fooling around in open G or D now and then but sure glad I took up six-string C6--following good advice around here plus making use of all the C6 tabs that are available--and have stuck with it for the past year. Give me another year or so and I may graduate to eight strings.

I've been playing around with lap steel for several months now. I started out with a borrowed instrument tuned to open A (A C# E A C# E), just like a dobro, only a whole note higher. I also tried open E (E B E G# B E) which is like an E chord made on a standard guitar. When I got my own lap steel, I strung it up for C6, and absolutely love it. It seems to me to be much more intuitive than the previous 2 tunings I've tried. FWIW, I've never played a Hawaiian / Island tune in my life. I mainly play classic country and old gospel music.

Some of my favorites to play in this tuning are:
Send Me The Pillow You Dream On
Cold ,Cold Heart
The Old Rugged Cross Made The Difference
When He Was On The Cross (I Was On His Mind)
Suppertime

I'm currently trying to work up "Together Again", but it's proving somewhat tricky.

Not wanting to sound like a broken record here, but...
C6th
(oh, I bet you didn't see THAT coming, did you ?)

Specifically, the C6/Am7 version of
1. E
2. C
3. A
4. G
5. E
6. C
because it converts so well to other tunings that you may wish to learn later ...

If you want the perfect tuning forget the guitar and take up piano. All guitar tunings are compromises. C6 is versatile. The idea that everyone else is using it will be persuasive too. But A6 is excellent if you also use another tuning with a major triad on top. That way the shift between tunings will be less traumatic. The catch is that you will have to do your own transcriptions, however, you will learn more that way than relying on other peoples tabs.

Thank you all so much for the help! Now maybe I'll stop breaking strings by over-cranking them trying this tuning or that!

Stephen--I've noticed the jazz/standards book for the pipes is awfully thin!!

For the group I'm playing with now, I use a version of A6 F#m7) - low to high, A C# F# A C# E. I'm also toying with A E F# A C# E, which I think I like a little more because of the 5 & 6 of the tuning (E and F#) right next to each other. The guy who wrote the song uses a lot of minor and minor7 chords, so the tuning works pretty well.

The first steel tuning I learned was open G, and I really like having the major triad on the top three strings. My "sonic space" in this group is pretty high, so tuning up to A means playing the Bm chord (strings 2-4) at the 19th fret in G tuning is at the 17th fret in A tuning.

If you only want to learn one tuning then it has to be C6th CEGACE (low to high). Jerry Byrd's lessons are available for this tuning as well as others. I have even used it for "pedal to the metal" blues. I love the "Island Sound" and sneak it in all the time including Bluegrass on Dobro. Audiences love it!

See thread 'Comping Chords on Lap Steel with C6' Then listen to what Mike Neer, Doug Beaumier, Gerald Ross and lots of others can do with it. I wasted two years jumping from one tuning to another.

Ray Shakeshaft wrote:See thread 'Comping Chords on Lap Steel with C6' Then listen to what Mike Neer, Doug Beaumier, Gerald Ross and lots of others can do with it. I wasted two years jumping from one tuning to another.

Megadittos!

Tom Karsiotis wrote:If you only want to learn one tuning then it has to be C6th CEGACE (low to high). Jerry Byrd's lessons are available for this tuning as well as others. I have even used it for "pedal to the metal" blues. I love the "Island Sound" and sneak it in all the time including Bluegrass on Dobro. Audiences love it!

YEP!