The Steel Guitar Forum

Greetings and thanks for adding me to the this forum! I recently acquired a six string lap steel and am in the process of learning how to play it. I have an extensive guitar backround and a working knowledge of music theory. My steel is tuned to open E (E B E G# B E) and I am interested in playing blues music. My questions are more about what approach I should take in attempting songs on the lap steel. Take a song like "Midnight Rider" by The Allman Brothers. The IV chord is a Gminor7 and I'm not sure how to achieve that tonality on lap steel. Or even something simple like "Louie Louie" where the V is minor. Same with seventh chords. I am aware that you cannot "chord" in the strictest sense on a lap steel but I'm more curious on how one handles the minor tonalities or flat sevenths. Am I wrong in taking the approach of using a lap steel as a rhythm instrument?

There is no full (3 note) minor chord on E tuning, or any other major chord tuning. When a minor chord is called for you'll have to settle for a power chord (root, V) or a slant, or just two notes of the minor chord. If you want full majors and minors you should probably go with a 6th tuning... C6, A6, etc.

If you are playing with a band, the other instruments will play the minor and 7th chords while you just play partial chords and "imply" minors, 7ths, diminished etc....

When playing solo or in a group where you are the only one playing the chords, you will have to use a tuning that has (at the very least) minor and major
triads.

Ahh yes the big decision, becomes A6th, or C6th... G6th...

Good Luck

If you want to play a partial minor chord, play three frets higher than the chord. For example, to get a Gm chord, rather than playing at fret 3 in E tuning, play at fret 6. The Gm chord is G Bb D. At the sixth fret you have Bb D F, which is three of the four notes for a Gm7 (G Bb D F).

Doug Finch wrote: Am I wrong in taking the approach of using a lap steel as a rhythm instrument?

i don't think so.
I've played a lot of lap and pedal steel in 4 piece rock bands, where you inevitably have to comp in some fashion on a rock tune for the guitarists solo. you're doing the right thing, imo, by keeping a 1 5 1 on the bottom, for that situation.

so, minor chords...
you just have to bite the bullet that you're gonna be doing some combination of open strings, slanting, and not playing the third. with slanting maybe being pretty tough if you're playing rhythm...

for that chord, in that key, in that tuning, you might be stuck with a power chord, or a power chord and then minor third/fifth on the middle two string for the second half of the bar.

make sense?

j

Doug - just want to agree with everyone else. i play in open G with a 1-5-1 for the bass strings so i can imply minors. We're playing Americana/bluesy-rock as a four piece, so when the guitarist takes a break, or when I'm singing lead, I'm basically the rhythm guitar. It works for our sound.

I think you're going about it the right way for the kind of music you described. As long as it fits with your instruments and the songs, that's all that matters.

Peter,

Interesting that you play a 1-5-1 on the bass strings in Open G tuning.

Would you mind spelling out the tuning you use? I'm coming up with lo-to-hi...G-D-G-G-B-D. However, I don't think that's right. Just trying to understand.

probably G D G B D G, lo to high, although the unison G thing in the middle would be hip too.
you can take that open E shape all the way up to A, Lindley did.
i did the open E up a minor third thing on an acoustic guitar for a demo, i was convinced something would break. it was fine...

https://m.soundcloud.com/scottroush/rivers

j

Hey everyone, thanks for all the replies, it has helped a lot. I was kind of lost as to what direction to take on the lap steel, and I'm not finding a lot of information on the internet as far as playing blues/rock in open E. I really want to be able to sit down and play Rolling Stones/Chicago blues influenced music on my steel because I think the tone of a lap steel through a cranked amp is to die for and is the raw rock and roll sound I've been chasing in my head for awhile now.

Doug, whatever you can find on slide guitar in Open E works pretty much the same in lap steel Open E. There's plenty of stuff on slide Open E that you can access and make your own.

Tune it to

Lo to hi

E G B D f a

You have all minors majors dominants etc. I'll post an example so you can understand better when I get a chance.

Looking forward to hearing an example of your tuning Stefan and how soloing plays out of it too.

What I like is the nice selection of chords under a straight bar and with NO string skipping. It's nice too how the major and minor pentatonic scales are right under the bar.

Stephen - my tuning is actually a variant of open G -- low to high its G-D-G-B-D-C, making it a Gadd4. I found I was never hitting the low B, and I wanted the 1-5-1 on the bottom, so I pulled a Keith Richards and went for a 5 string tuning.

I added the C on top so I can easily suspend bar chords. As a side effect, it gives me a pseudo-pedal steel sound when I do rolls. I suppose I could have put another G on the first string, but this works for me. Limiting? Probably, but I get the sounds I want.

When I play squareneck reso, I use low-bass G tuning: D-G-D-G-B-D - again, I wasn't using the low B, although I probably should figure out what to do with it one of these days.

Stefan - I'd like to hear what you can do with that tuning. Looks really interesting.

Thanks for the info Peter about your tuning.

Stephen Abruzzo wrote:Looking forward to hearing an example of your tuning Stefan and how soloing plays out of it too.

What I like is the nice selection of chords under a straight bar and with NO string skipping. It's nice too how the major and minor pentatonic scales are right under the bar.

And the Modes and arpeggios I'm now learning about.

Save yourself some time and get Andy Volk's Lap Steel Guitar book.

https://ilapsteel.wordpress.com/2015/08/18/349/

I'm finding as I go through all this that I actually am having a lot of success staying in the open E tuning. I've started coping all these Elmore James and Duane Allman licks and having a lot of fun with it. It amazes me how easy it easy to make a lap steel sound like a Les Paul through an overdriven tube amp.