Pedal steel guitar
The pedal steel guitar is an electric plucked instrument developed in the United States in the 1930s . It is related to the lap steel guitar ( Hawaiian guitar ) and is used in particular in the field of country music .
The main difference to the lap steel guitar consists in the additional pedals and knee levers that allow the pitch of the strings to be changed while playing. On the openly tuned strings , the pitch is varied with the help of a slide bar (literally: sliding bar, see slide guitar ) in the gripping hand, while the plucking hand tears the strings, usually with the help of fingerpicks placed on the fingertips .
construction
The pedal steel guitar consists of one or two necks , which are installed lying flat in a table-like frame (usually a wooden or metal frame with four legs). The player usually sits on a chair or stool behind the instrument and operates the pedals attached to metal bars with his foot, and the knee levers attached under the frame with his knees.
The most common are pedal steel guitars with two necks, each with ten strings. The construction with two necks is mainly due to the fact that the pedal and lever mechanism in early versions of the instrument only allowed slight pitch changes, so that a wider range of pitches could be played with a second neck. Despite improved technology, this design has been retained as the standard.
Different tunings of the strings are common, the most common being E9 for the first and C6 for the second neck. As with an electric guitar , the vibrations of the strings are converted into electrical signals with the help of an electromagnetic pickup , which are then amplified with a guitar amplifier. In addition, it is common to use a volume pedal with which the volume can be changed.
history
The pedal steel guitar evolved from the lap steel guitar in the 1930s. Instead of a sound box, it is based on the use of electromagnetic pickups. The pedals for changing the mood were already in use in the 1940s. Numerous electric guitar makers such as Paul Bigsby , Leo Fender and Adolph Rickenbacher had established themselves in the field of (pedal) steel guitars even before the development of the electric guitar.
Since the development of the electric guitar, the use of the pedal steel guitar has mainly been limited to the area of country music, where it is still widespread today. But pedal steel guitars are also used again and again in jazz and blues . The instrument is also occasionally used in rock music, for example by David Gilmour , lead guitarist of the British band Pink Floyd , and by Don Felder , a temporary member of the American band The Eagles .
literature
- Johnie Helms: Pedal Steel Guitar Method. Hal Leonard Publisher, ISBN 978-0-63408-412-6
Web links
- Steel Guitar - TablEdit Handbook (accessed January 23, 2020)
- Guitar and Bass magazine review WBS steel guitar (accessed January 23, 2020)
- Masters Of Pedal Steel (accessed January 23, 2020)