1998wdt
~ Steel Guitar Scales and Chords Navigation by Modal Substitution ~


This lesson is based upon the 6th Tuning, C6 as example to coordinate with the accompanying charts;  And because the 6th tuning provides the most compact fret "boxes" of all 7 "church" modes' scales, signature chords and stacked harmonies, than any other tuning I am aware of.  But the methods will also work for other Steel Tunings as well, although for other tunings you will have to draw your own charts with the modal relationship patterns thereon.

(Spanish Guitarists:  Remember the steel guitar scale substitution techniques in this lesson also works with the Spanish Guitar using a 6th chord.  See the Lessons Index Page for Spanish Guitar lessons on Modal Substitution).

If you are coming to this page direct and not from the full course "Scales and Chords Substitution via Modal Navigation", ...and need some Music Theory review;  I have provided a quick review of Basic Music Theory Math as well as a full course on scales, chords and substitution.  They can be found by clicking here.

Though the title and theme of this course is Substitution, in all reality it is the only way to achieve chord and scale command on a non-pedal Steel Guitar.  So on Steel, we think of these techniques as THE way to change scales and chords.

TO THE MEAT:

First, let's understand that MANY years of Steel Playing has taught us that the 6th tuning represents a 6th chord for wherever the bar is placed along the neck.  It certainly is a 6th chord if that single chord is all we're talking about;  But taken with it's remaining scale-box notes found 2 frets lower than a 6th chord, we find that the extensions have a b7 note ... which makes the scale of the chord plus it's remaining notes / extensions, a dominant scale and therefore a 13th scale rather than a 6th scale.  In proper music theory terminology, the 6th chord would belong to the Maj7 scale found elsewhere on the Steel neck in the V6 scale fret-box .  But to retain the common thinking of 6th tuning representing a 6th chord that our brains are branded with already, this lesson will do the same as far as a 6th chord goes, ....while still recognizing that the co-located scale is actually a dominant 7 / 13th scale;  and the Major7 scale which is actually proper for use with the term "6th" extension chord, is located elsewhere on the Steel neck in the Maj7 / V6 scale position.

See figure 092901-5 and follow along:  FOR STEEL GUITAR the scales, and their modes, and a voicing of their signature chord (the chord that defines the scale and vice versa), are all co-located in a whole step 3-fret-box;  with their best signature chord located at one fret on one end of the box while the remaining notes are located only 2 frets away (one whole step) on the opposite end of the box.  "Extentions" for the purpose of this lesson's system only,  are those notes of a particular scale not voiced on the signature chord fret.  But that use of the term "extension" not exactly correct in correct music theory definition of extension, ... where the word 'extension' is generally meant as notes not in the triad ... or in Jazz it's loosely thought of to be all notes not noted in the same octave of the triad, such as notes 9, 11, and 13.  In other words, for the purposes of this course and method, a 6th signature chord is voiced 1 3 5 6 1 3 ... in any place along the neck we want to place it for the root note / 6th chord desired; ... while notes 2, 4, 5 and b7 are located 2 frets down from a 6th chord in what this course calls an extension position of the box; ...allowing us to play a 7th, 9th or 11th by simply moving the bar down 2 frets (one whole step) from what we've come to know as a 6th chord.


Sidenote for Steel 13th tuning ONLY:  You will notice that with the 6th chord box in a 6th tuning, we cannot voice the b7 and 6 notes together on the same fret to get a fully proper 13th chord (b7 1 3 5 6) ... which gives rise to the 13th tuning on Steels with more than 6 strings, where the upper octave is a 6th tuning but the note below the low 1 note is a b7 note making / affording the full / proper 13th chord but only for 6th / 13th chords;  It wreaks havoc with the scale / mode structure of this lesson in any scale, chord or substitution other than a 6th or 13th, .....although the 13th tuning's b7 note on the same fret as the 6th chord affords off-scale / off-mode half step notes in other scales / chords / substitutions that a Player just has to tackle
separate from this course's methods
.  This course's navigation / substitution will work on a 13th tuned Steel but you will have to "ignore" that particular specially tuned string as it will not fit into the proper scale / modal structure of this lesson.


Now back to 6th tuning:  Moving between the signature chord position and it's extensions position 2 frets away in the box, is how we play the scale, melodies, fills, etc for that particular scale / chord.  EXTENSIONS are found by:  Major extensions  = 2 frets down from the Major chord forms;  minor extensions = 2 frets up from the
minor
chord forms.  (memory gouge: Major  = down / minor  = up).  In other words, as you will see on the charts, the min7 chord form (which is the Dorian mode) is first found 3 frets up from the homebase / desire root's 6th chord, and then it's extensions are found 2 additional frets up (because it's a minor), giving you all the scale (and harmony!) notes of min7 (which is Dorian mode);  So if you wanted to play Cmin7 chord / scale, you would first find it 3 frets up from C6 (at Eb6) and then have the extensions 2 more frets up (because it's a minor).  Similarly, G6 notes are found at G6 chord with the remaining extension notes 2 frets down (because it is a Major) at F6 chord fret where the G7/9/11 remaining extensions are located.  This all works for finding any mode / scale and it's chords,  ... by navigating to the desired mode box from the homebase 6th chord position of the root of the scale or chord you desire, ...which is the very meat of my Modal Navigation Method and this lesson.

So Substitution in these lessons means that we can easily use our 6th chord for a given root-note up and down the neck into specific 1-whole-step / 3-fret boxes where the 6th chord notes are the notes of a different desired scale / mode / chord of the same root.  And it's quite cool that the desired chord and scale / mode will always be co-located together in a 3-fret / 1-whole-step fret-box on the 6th tuned Steel neck.

SOME PRINCIPAL WAYS WE PUT ALL THIS INTO PRACTRICE:

IMaj7 = V6;   Imin7 = blll6;   lmin7b6 (pure minor) = bVI6;   ldim = bV6;  And if you're a jazz player: Imin7b6b9 (phrygian) = # I6 and IMaj7#4 (lydian) = IV6.

In the modes' structure, there is no minor chord / scale with a Major 7th note; All the
minor
modes' scales have dominant7 (ie. b7) notes.  That's a very simple lesson in harmony in itself.

Now, to look at an example of subsitution utility:  We can play the bIII6 in place of the IV chord in a I, IV, V chord change song.  The reason is that the bIII6 is also the dominant 7 extensions of the IV chord.  ie. blll6 = IV7/9/11.  Look at the chart now and prove it to yourself.  This is also the reason that a Imin7 works for a IV chord on Spanish Guitar (or any other instrument) since Imin7 is also IVMaj extensions!  In this example, we' are beginning to slowly and repetitively work the brain to grasp the substitution navigation techniques, ... where in real playing we could think of that blll6 position as a lmin7 ...or as IV7/9/11 being a cool voicing of IV (and when we get good at it, requiring remarkably little woodshedding ... we'll know that the blll6 is also six other modal chords and seven chord extensions depending upon what we make it relative to in our brains).

So, we've just learned that blll6 on the 6th tuned Steel neck represents rather well that Imin7, blll6 and IV7/9/11 are all the same notes and SUBSTITUTE for each other.  Don't strain the brain; This lesson and it's chart will eliminate all the abstract possibilites into a simple map of the 7 scales / modes / chords that are used in the vast majority of music west of Jerusalem.  You can LATER get off into all the other mental abstract scale, chord, substitution and modal theory as you might desire.  Right now this lesson is about amazing simplicity ...although it takes more than a few words to map out.

Another example of utility is walking any string combinations of notes in a Major 6th chord box down 2 frets to it's extensions in the bVII6 position, as an accent lick ....which simply amounts to accenting a 6th chord with a dominant 7 expression.  Walking harmony note combinations up and down scale in this box  .....and in all the modes' 3-fret boxes is most enlightening ...and indeed is the very foundation of playing steel guitar within a given scale / chord / mode.  Playing up and down within the box is playing in that mode.  Experiment doing this at the A6 position, with all the STRING combination harmony possibilities in the box, and you will hear MUCH of the history roots of Steel Guitar.  The most common steel licks are found on adjoining strings (1st and 2nd for example) and on the 1st & 4th and 2nd & 5th and 3rd and 6th strings .....with other combinations of strings also at your finger tips.  It is profound to me that the proper harmony notes for any notes in any of the boxes, are aligned on each single fret of a box, ....allowing us to easily play harmony in each and every key and each of their "church" modes, which again makes up most music west of Jerusalem.  In other words, when you walk melody or a lick up and down scale in any scale's / chord's / mode's 3 fret box, even on the half step fret in the middle of the box, no matter what strings you choose, correct harmonies are on the same fret ....with sometimes the exception of the 2 middle strings which are only 1 whole step apart rather than 3rd's or 5th's or 7th's of their scale like the remaing strings are.

Another example of utility can be found in the classic first few notes of the song Blue Hawaii.  The chord change in the first 3 measures is:  In half time:  [CMaj7 * * * [ * E6 >F6 * [ CMaj7 * * *[ .  We would substitute G6 chord to get CMaj7 because G6 is CMaj7/9 (the song's signature tonic voicing on Hawaiian Steel from the get-go!), and slide E6 to F6 for the IV chord slur.  The V6 substitution for the IMaj7/9 is used extensively in Hawaiian Steel Guitar music ...and again is a foundation for much steel guitar playing in all styles.  There are also some very nice (albeit selective) Maj9 harmony voicings moving between the Maj7/9 chord fret and the 2 frets above and below the Maj7/9 chord position;  all the notes 2 frets below being in the scale / mode box, while only some notes 2 frets above the chord and out of the box, are in the Maj7 scale / mode.  As a matter of fact, MANY of the current popular pedal and non-pedal steel 3rd and 5th harmony interval licks and melody harmonies owe their being to the non-pedal pickers who long ago found those licks in the V6 position sub for IMaj7/9 !


BASIC STEEL GUITAR BAR SLANT PASSAGES:

Refer to charts at figures 092901-2, 092901-3, and 092901-4.  Slants which have the tip of the bar leaning more up-the-neck than the heel, is called forward slants; And slants with the heel leanig more up-the-neck than the tip, are called reverse slants.  Bar slants are typically used to walk harmony up and down the neck to connect chord / scale positions with the chords in a song, either in melody or in musical passages.  Typically, popular music uses I, IV, & V chords,  which is what this lesson will cover.  Slant bar is also used to achieve 2 or more notes not available "straight bar" along a single fret.  Learning the slants of this lesson will provide slants for playing melody, passages and/or connecting boxes as chords change in a song or moving between boxes used in substitution for the same chord in a song,  ... such as moving between l, IV and/or IV, and between the Dominant 7, Maj7 and/or minor box positions.  The first harmony notes of a scale when departing from a box to move up or down the scale / neck are almost always slant bar, alternating with straight bar as you move up or down the neck to maintain the scale's proper note steps sequence, which are blatantly obvious to the ear (and SHOULD be practiced if not blatant to the ear), ....and ending straight bar at either the chord or extension position in the next desired box.  When the "melody" can move up or down scale within a box, I usually play it in the box where 5 other harmony notes are available straight bar.  But when I reach the top or bottom of the box then I have to use slant bar to continue out of the box to where I am heading notes-wise;  Or sometimes I depart from the box using slant bar for harmony simply to achieve the effect I desire.  It is also very effective and quite common to depart a box and play slant bar harmony towards and in anticipation of a new different chord coming up in a song, ....winding up there just in time for the new chord.  Moving harmony up and down the neck slant bar on the same strings also affords sustain that would otherwise be broken by moving up or down scale within the box, because you would be moving up and/or down strings within the box killing the sustain each time you changed strings.

Bar slants can also be used to accomplish some pedal steel guitar licks, by moving one note under the bar while keeping another note under the bar the same; ...or by raising one note while lowering the other by twisting the bar in-place in combinations of straight-bar and/or reverse and/or forward slants.  Some pedal licks can also be done by pulling a string up in pitch behind the bar with the bar hand's ring finger.

-------oOo-------

An almost entire gambit of non-pedal steel styles and phoenominal playing can be found in the recordings by Sol Hoopii; Jerry Byrd (the old rare Mercury records for his earlier work in Nashville); Dick McIntyre; Sonny Rhodes; Tommy Morrell and the Time Warp Tophands; Junior Brown; and Asleep at the Wheel... to name just a few.  They are some of my favorites.  I don't think anyone could list all the Pickers that play or have played Non-pedal Steel Guitar incredibly well.  Jerry Byrd was inspired by Sol Hoopii who he feels was the best.

It is also enlightening to realize that the Waikiki Beach bands of the 1930's, 40's and 50's in general did not restrict themselves to strict indigenous "Hawaiian" sounds.  Those bands played a wide variety of styles.  And indeed, it was the enormous world-wide popularity and audience of those bands' creativity that heavily influenced the roots sounds of all popular music ... particularly Country which has now been carried into virtually all styles except Opera!

In my opinion, one of the best connections between modern Steel Guitar and it's very roots can be found in the albums by Tommy Morrel's Timewarp Tophands.  The variety of Music and variety of Master Pickers on those albums is current yet also covers a very broad range of styles that reflect a long history of Steel Guitar.

For beninners who can't or don't care to hear great Blues in Country Music, you might want to listen to Sunny Rhodes to picku up some chops.

If it's Hotrod you're looking for, you'll find it in Jr. Brown's work.  Notice that allot of Jr. Brown's style is in the use of simple notes in the extension positions, mixed with signature passages of the music style and personal character he conveys for each song.

The number of great Steel Pickers and styles of picking is now endless for all practical purposes;  At least I'd hate to try to list them all !

You can find friendly expert discussions in a categorized cornucopia of Steel Guitar subjects at The Steel Guitar Forum.  There you will also find references and links to more Steel Guitar Pickers and styles than a person would be able to study in a lifetime.

-------oOo-------

For best results, read this lesson and any perplexing sections, carefully 5 times;  That learning trick works wonders.


Click HERE to go to the next section,  HOMEWORK.


Please email me with any errors you might find in my music lessons.
~ Steel Guitar Scales and Chords Navigation by Modal Substitution ~


This lesson is based upon the 6th Tuning, C6 as example to coordinate with the accompanying charts;  And because the 6th tuning provides the most compact fret "boxes" of all 7 "church" modes' scales, signature chords and stacked harmonies, than any other tuning I am aware of.  But the methods will also work for other Steel Tunings as well, although for other tunings you will have to draw your own charts with the modal relationship patterns thereon.

(Spanish Guitarists:  Remember the steel guitar scale substitution techniques in this lesson also works with the Spanish Guitar using a 6th chord.  See the Lessons Index Page for Spanish Guitar lessons on Modal Substitution).

If you are coming to this page direct and not from the full course "Scales and Chords Substitution via Modal Navigation", ...and need some Music Theory review;  I have provided a quick review of Basic Music Theory Math as well as a full course on scales, chords and substitution.  They can be found by clicking here.

Though the title and theme of this course is Substitution, in all reality it is the only way to achieve chord and scale command on a non-pedal Steel Guitar.  So on Steel, we think of these techniques as THE way to change scales and chords.

TO THE MEAT:

First, let's understand that MANY years of Steel Playing has taught us that the 6th tuning represents a 6th chord for wherever the bar is placed along the neck.  It certainly is a 6th chord if that single chord is all we're talking about;  But taken with it's remaining scale-box notes found 2 frets lower than a 6th chord, we find that the extensions have a b7 note ... which makes the scale of the chord plus it's remaining notes / extensions, a dominant scale and therefore a 13th scale rather than a 6th scale.  In proper music theory terminology, the 6th chord would belong to the Maj7 scale found elsewhere on the Steel neck in the V6 scale fret-box .  But to retain the common thinking of 6th tuning representing a 6th chord that our brains are branded with already, this lesson will do the same as far as a 6th chord goes, ....while still recognizing that the co-located scale is actually a dominant 7 / 13th scale;  and the Major7 scale which is actually proper for use with the term "6th" extension chord, is located elsewhere on the Steel neck in the Maj7 / V6 scale position.

See figure 092901-5 and follow along:  FOR STEEL GUITAR the scales, and their modes, and a voicing of their signature chord (the chord that defines the scale and vice versa), are all co-located in a whole step 3-fret-box;  with their best signature chord located at one fret on one end of the box while the remaining notes are located only 2 frets away (one whole step) on the opposite end of the box.  "Extentions" for the purpose of this lesson's system only,  are those notes of a particular scale not voiced on the signature chord fret.  But that use of the term "extension" not exactly correct in correct music theory definition of extension, ... where the word 'extension' is generally meant as notes not in the triad ... or in Jazz it's loosely thought of to be all notes not noted in the same octave of the triad, such as notes 9, 11, and 13.  In other words, for the purposes of this course and method, a 6th signature chord is voiced 1 3 5 6 1 3 ... in any place along the neck we want to place it for the root note / 6th chord desired; ... while notes 2, 4, 5 and b7 are located 2 frets down from a 6th chord in what this course calls an extension position of the box; ...allowing us to play a 7th, 9th or 11th by simply moving the bar down 2 frets (one whole step) from what we've come to know as a 6th chord.


Sidenote for Steel 13th tuning ONLY:  You will notice that with the 6th chord box in a 6th tuning, we cannot voice the b7 and 6 notes together on the same fret to get a fully proper 13th chord (b7 1 3 5 6) ... which gives rise to the 13th tuning on Steels with more than 6 strings, where the upper octave is a 6th tuning but the note below the low 1 note is a b7 note making / affording the full / proper 13th chord but only for 6th / 13th chords;  It wreaks havoc with the scale / mode structure of this lesson in any scale, chord or substitution other than a 6th or 13th, .....although the 13th tuning's b7 note on the same fret as the 6th chord affords off-scale / off-mode half step notes in other scales / chords / substitutions that a Player just has to tackle
separate from this course's methods
.  This course's navigation / substitution will work on a 13th tuned Steel but you will have to "ignore" that particular specially tuned string as it will not fit into the proper scale / modal structure of this lesson.


Now back to 6th tuning:  Moving between the signature chord position and it's extensions position 2 frets away in the box, is how we play the scale, melodies, fills, etc for that particular scale / chord.  EXTENSIONS are found by:  Major extensions  = 2 frets down from the Major chord forms;  minor extensions = 2 frets up from the
minor
chord forms.  (memory gouge: Major  = down / minor  = up).  In other words, as you will see on the charts, the min7 chord form (which is the Dorian mode) is first found 3 frets up from the homebase / desire root's 6th chord, and then it's extensions are found 2 additional frets up (because it's a minor), giving you all the scale (and harmony!) notes of min7 (which is Dorian mode);  So if you wanted to play Cmin7 chord / scale, you would first find it 3 frets up from C6 (at Eb6) and then have the extensions 2 more frets up (because it's a minor).  Similarly, G6 notes are found at G6 chord with the remaining extension notes 2 frets down (because it is a Major) at F6 chord fret where the G7/9/11 remaining extensions are located.  This all works for finding any mode / scale and it's chords,  ... by navigating to the desired mode box from the homebase 6th chord position of the root of the scale or chord you desire, ...which is the very meat of my Modal Navigation Method and this lesson.

So Substitution in these lessons means that we can easily use our 6th chord for a given root-note up and down the neck into specific 1-whole-step / 3-fret boxes where the 6th chord notes are the notes of a different desired scale / mode / chord of the same root.  And it's quite cool that the desired chord and scale / mode will always be co-located together in a 3-fret / 1-whole-step fret-box on the 6th tuned Steel neck.

SOME PRINCIPAL WAYS WE PUT ALL THIS INTO PRACTRICE:

IMaj7 = V6;   Imin7 = blll6;   lmin7b6 (pure minor) = bVI6;   ldim = bV6;  And if you're a jazz player: Imin7b6b9 (phrygian) = # I6 and IMaj7#4 (lydian) = IV6.

In the modes' structure, there is no minor chord / scale with a Major 7th note; All the
minor
modes' scales have dominant7 (ie. b7) notes.  That's a very simple lesson in harmony in itself.

Now, to look at an example of subsitution utility:  We can play the bIII6 in place of the IV chord in a I, IV, V chord change song.  The reason is that the bIII6 is also the dominant 7 extensions of the IV chord.  ie. blll6 = IV7/9/11.  Look at the chart now and prove it to yourself.  This is also the reason that a Imin7 works for a IV chord on Spanish Guitar (or any other instrument) since Imin7 is also IVMaj extensions!  In this example, we' are beginning to slowly and repetitively work the brain to grasp the substitution navigation techniques, ... where in real playing we could think of that blll6 position as a lmin7 ...or as IV7/9/11 being a cool voicing of IV (and when we get good at it, requiring remarkably little woodshedding ... we'll know that the blll6 is also six other modal chords and seven chord extensions depending upon what we make it relative to in our brains).

So, we've just learned that blll6 on the 6th tuned Steel neck represents rather well that Imin7, blll6 and IV7/9/11 are all the same notes and SUBSTITUTE for each other.  Don't strain the brain; This lesson and it's chart will eliminate all the abstract possibilites into a simple map of the 7 scales / modes / chords that are used in the vast majority of music west of Jerusalem.  You can LATER get off into all the other mental abstract scale, chord, substitution and modal theory as you might desire.  Right now this lesson is about amazing simplicity ...although it takes more than a few words to map out.

Another example of utility is walking any string combinations of notes in a Major 6th chord box down 2 frets to it's extensions in the bVII6 position, as an accent lick ....which simply amounts to accenting a 6th chord with a dominant 7 expression.  Walking harmony note combinations up and down scale in this box  .....and in all the modes' 3-fret boxes is most enlightening ...and indeed is the very foundation of playing steel guitar within a given scale / chord / mode.  Playing up and down within the box is playing in that mode.  Experiment doing this at the A6 position, with all the STRING combination harmony possibilities in the box, and you will hear MUCH of the history roots of Steel Guitar.  The most common steel licks are found on adjoining strings (1st and 2nd for example) and on the 1st & 4th and 2nd & 5th and 3rd and 6th strings .....with other combinations of strings also at your finger tips.  It is profound to me that the proper harmony notes for any notes in any of the boxes, are aligned on each single fret of a box, ....allowing us to easily play harmony in each and every key and each of their "church" modes, which again makes up most music west of Jerusalem.  In other words, when you walk melody or a lick up and down scale in any scale's / chord's / mode's 3 fret box, even on the half step fret in the middle of the box, no matter what strings you choose, correct harmonies are on the same fret ....with sometimes the exception of the 2 middle strings which are only 1 whole step apart rather than 3rd's or 5th's or 7th's of their scale like the remaing strings are.

Another example of utility can be found in the classic first few notes of the song Blue Hawaii.  The chord change in the first 3 measures is:  In half time:  [CMaj7 * * * [ * E6 >F6 * [ CMaj7 * * *[ .  We would substitute G6 chord to get CMaj7 because G6 is CMaj7/9 (the song's signature tonic voicing on Hawaiian Steel from the get-go!), and slide E6 to F6 for the IV chord slur.  The V6 substitution for the IMaj7/9 is used extensively in Hawaiian Steel Guitar music ...and again is a foundation for much steel guitar playing in all styles.  There are also some very nice (albeit selective) Maj9 harmony voicings moving between the Maj7/9 chord fret and the 2 frets above and below the Maj7/9 chord position;  all the notes 2 frets below being in the scale / mode box, while only some notes 2 frets above the chord and out of the box, are in the Maj7 scale / mode.  As a matter of fact, MANY of the current popular pedal and non-pedal steel 3rd and 5th harmony interval licks and melody harmonies owe their being to the non-pedal pickers who long ago found those licks in the V6 position sub for IMaj7/9 !


BASIC STEEL GUITAR BAR SLANT PASSAGES:

Refer to charts at figures 092901-2, 092901-3, and 092901-4.  Slants which have the tip of the bar leaning more up-the-neck than the heel, is called forward slants; And slants with the heel leanig more up-the-neck than the tip, are called reverse slants.  Bar slants are typically used to walk harmony up and down the neck to connect chord / scale positions with the chords in a song, either in melody or in musical passages.  Typically, popular music uses I, IV, & V chords,  which is what this lesson will cover.  Slant bar is also used to achieve 2 or more notes not available "straight bar" along a single fret.  Learning the slants of this lesson will provide slants for playing melody, passages and/or connecting boxes as chords change in a song or moving between boxes used in substitution for the same chord in a song,  ... such as moving between l, IV and/or IV, and between the Dominant 7, Maj7 and/or minor box positions.  The first harmony notes of a scale when departing from a box to move up or down the scale / neck are almost always slant bar, alternating with straight bar as you move up or down the neck to maintain the scale's proper note steps sequence, which are blatantly obvious to the ear (and SHOULD be practiced if not blatant to the ear), ....and ending straight bar at either the chord or extension position in the next desired box.  When the "melody" can move up or down scale within a box, I usually play it in the box where 5 other harmony notes are available straight bar.  But when I reach the top or bottom of the box then I have to use slant bar to continue out of the box to where I am heading notes-wise;  Or sometimes I depart from the box using slant bar for harmony simply to achieve the effect I desire.  It is also very effective and quite common to depart a box and play slant bar harmony towards and in anticipation of a new different chord coming up in a song, ....winding up there just in time for the new chord.  Moving harmony up and down the neck slant bar on the same strings also affords sustain that would otherwise be broken by moving up or down scale within the box, because you would be moving up and/or down strings within the box killing the sustain each time you changed strings.

Bar slants can also be used to accomplish some pedal steel guitar licks, by moving one note under the bar while keeping another note under the bar the same; ...or by raising one note while lowering the other by twisting the bar in-place in combinations of straight-bar and/or reverse and/or forward slants.  Some pedal licks can also be done by pulling a string up in pitch behind the bar with the bar hand's ring finger.

-------oOo-------

An almost entire gambit of non-pedal steel styles and phoenominal playing can be found in the recordings by Sol Hoopii; Jerry Byrd (the old rare Mercury records for his earlier work in Nashville); Dick McIntyre; Sonny Rhodes; Tommy Morrell and the Time Warp Tophands; Junior Brown; and Asleep at the Wheel... to name just a few.  They are some of my favorites.  I don't think anyone could list all the Pickers that play or have played Non-pedal Steel Guitar incredibly well.  Jerry Byrd was inspired by Sol Hoopii who he feels was the best.

It is also enlightening to realize that the Waikiki Beach bands of the 1930's, 40's and 50's in general did not restrict themselves to strict indigenous "Hawaiian" sounds.  Those bands played a wide variety of styles.  And indeed, it was the enormous world-wide popularity and audience of those bands' creativity that heavily influenced the roots sounds of all popular music ... particularly Country which has now been carried into virtually all styles except Opera!

In my opinion, one of the best connections between modern Steel Guitar and it's very roots can be found in the albums by Tommy Morrel's Timewarp Tophands.  The variety of Music and variety of Master Pickers on those albums is current yet also covers a very broad range of styles that reflect a long history of Steel Guitar.

For beninners who can't or don't care to hear great Blues in Country Music, you might want to listen to Sunny Rhodes to picku up some chops.

If it's Hotrod you're looking for, you'll find it in Jr. Brown's work.  Notice that allot of Jr. Brown's style is in the use of simple notes in the extension positions, mixed with signature passages of the music style and personal character he conveys for each song.

The number of great Steel Pickers and styles of picking is now endless for all practical purposes;  At least I'd hate to try to list them all !

You can find friendly expert discussions in a categorized cornucopia of Steel Guitar subjects at The Steel Guitar Forum.  There you will also find references and links to more Steel Guitar Pickers and styles than a person would be able to study in a lifetime.

-------oOo-------

For best results, read this lesson and any perplexing sections, carefully 5 times;  That learning trick works wonders.


Click HERE to go to the next section,  HOMEWORK.


Please email me with any errors you might find in my music lessons.
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1998wdt

This page was last updated on: October 26, 2008