The Steel Guitar Forum

Need advice/suggestions on left foot placement/position over and moving/rocking-on -off Pedal A. When I try to rotate my ankle to fully rock-off the A pedal while keeping the B pedaldown, my left knee involuntarily also rotates and engages the LKR lowering lever. Any suggestions of foot placement or an exercise that could help me overcome this?
Would it help to either lower or raise the height of the A pedal in relation to the height of the B pedal? Please call me at 208-720-0296 if it’s more efficient and convenient for you to respond.[/b]

When I was first learning, I would grab my thigh so it wouldn't let the knee move, and rock my ankle both ways. You can also do this sitting down watching TV. Get to the point where your knee doesn't move when you rock your ankle both ways. Those really aren't normal bends for your ankle. You need to train the muscles to easily rock on and off pedals. If you really look at any good player, you will see that all pedal action results from them bending at the ankle, hot the hip.

I'm not really sure what to recommend for the foot placement. Most hover their foot over the A & B pedals while the center line of their body is lined up around the 15th fret.

Yes, most players adjust pedal heights to help with rocking the ankle. Of the one's that do adjust pedals for different heights, the A pedal is usually lower than the B pedal, and the C pedal is higher than the B pedal.

..., the A pedal is usually lower than the B pedal

Is that a typo?

Dennis, you might want to lower your A-pedal. After adjusting that, you might want to try to adjust the angle that the knee lever hangs so it's further from your knee. Most guitars have a very small adjustment screw for this purpose.

Or move 4+8 lower to RKL!

Where are you sitting in correlation to the guitar? If you're straight up, I can see that being an issue... most pros center themselves somewhere around the 15th fret, which should theoretically angle your leg/knee/ankle/foot to rock a little more easily. Most of the movement should be in the lower part of your leg, not the knee/thigh...

Also, as alluded to above, keeping your A pedal higher than your B + C pedal is a pretty common practice...

Tucker Jackson wrote:

..., the A pedal is usually lower than the B pedal

Is that a typo?

Dennis, you might want to lower your A-pedal. After adjusting that, you might want to try to adjust the angle that the knee lever hangs so it's further from your knee. Most guitars have a very small adjustment screw for this purpose.

Oops! I'm a Day player. Emmons would be the opposite.

Thanks to y'all that responded to my inquiry. Now I just need to practice a lot.

Had the same problem, adjusted my LKR yesterday so I've got a bit more room.