Pedal steel guitar 513212 226156411 2008-07-17T02:04:34Z Conation88 7488936 /* Notable players */ [[Image:Carter Whited10.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Pedal steel guitar with two 10-string necks]] The '''pedal steel guitar''' is a type of [[Electric guitar]] that uses a metal slide to stop the strings, rather than fingers on strings as with a conventional guitar. The pedal steel is placed horizontally on a stand, with the strings facing up towards the player, and is typically plucked with [[fingerpick]]s. The instrument's pedals are used to change the pitch of its strings while being played; the action of the pedals may either be fixed, or may be configurable by the player to select which strings are affected by the pedals. The pedal steel, with its smooth ''[[portamento|portamenti]]'', bending chords and complex riffs, is one of the most recognizable and characteristic instruments of [[American country music]]. While there are some fairly standard pedal assignments, many advanced players devise their own setups, called ''[[copedent]]s''. The range of copedents that can be set up varies considerably from model to model. Aftermarket modifications to make additional copedents possible are common. The pedal steel was developed from the [[Table steel guitar|console steel guitar]] and [[lap steel guitar]]. Like the console steel, a pedal steel may have multiple necks, but the pedals make even a single-neck pedal steel a far more versatile instrument than any multiple-neck console steel. ==Description== [[Image:Carter ClearlaqBED12bot.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Underside of a 12+12 string showing the knee levers and mechanism]] A pedal steel guitar is typically rectangular in shape, and has no resonant chamber or conventional guitar body but only one or more [[guitar]] necks. These are mounted on a stand and equipped with foot pedals and usually knee levers. Many models feature two necks, the nearest to the player most often using a [[C6 tuning]] and the farther away using an [[E9 tuning]]. The most common configuration is one or two necks of ten strings each, but eight-string and twelve-string necks are also popular, and even models with 14 strings on one neck can be found. Three-neck instruments are less common than those with one or two, but are not unknown. The pedals and/or knee levers (engaged by moving the knees left, right or vertically) on the underside allow the performer to tighten or relax one or more strings in combination, changing the instrument's tuning during performance. ==History== The pedal steel guitar is the latest development in a story that started with the invention of a technique of playing used in [[Hawaii]] in the late 1800s, wherein the strings were not fretted in the normal manner by the left hand, but rather by sliding an object such as a comb or the back edge of a knife blade along the strings above the neck of the guitar. Several people have been credited with the innovation. The Hawaiian style of playing was very popular in the [[United States]] during the 1920s and 1930s. To increase the volume of the guitar, a resonator cone was added by the Doypeyra Brothers to create the resophonic guitar. By the 30's, the hollow guitar body was abandoned for a flat slab of wood or metal and the addition of an electric pickup; this was the lap steel guitar. It was the first [[electric guitar]] to achieve commercial success. Several pioneering manufacturers of the [[electric guitar]] were first famous for their work on the then more popular electric steel guitar, among them [[Adolph Rickenbacher]], [[Paul Bigsby]] and [[Leo Fender]]. The limitations of chord shapes imposed by the use of the steel slide (or "tone bar") led to the addition of multiple necks, resulting in the console steel guitar. The [[Gibson Guitar Corporation]] used a system of pedals to change the tuning of the strings on one of their console steels beginning in 1940.<ref name=Winston1>{{cite book |last=Winston |first=Winnie | coauthors = Bill Keith |title=Pedal Steel Guitar |publisher=Oak Publications |date=1975 |pages=p. 115 |isbn=082560169X }}</ref> This instrument, the '''Electraharp''', had a cluster of pedals radiating from its left rear leg that operated similarly to the pedals on a harp. [[Alvino Rey]] was an early player of the Electraharp.<ref name=Winston1/> In about 1950, Paul Bigsby began making custom pedal steel guitars that featured pedals mounted to a rack between the front legs of the instrument.<ref name=Winston1/> [[Speedy West]] got the second of Bigsby's creations, and used it extensively in his work with Jimmy Bryant. Zane Beck began adding knee levers to console steel guitars, and in 1953, added a set of four knee levers to Jimmy Day's console steel.<ref name=Winston1/> Beck's knee levers lowered the pitches of the strings they operated, which was an action opposite of what the pedals accomplished.<ref name=Winston1/> Around 1953, a console steel player named Bud Isaacs attached a pedal to one of the necks of his guitar. The function of the pedal was to change the pitch of two of the strings, whereby Isaacs would have two of the most common steel guitar tunings available on one neck. When he used this pedal to change his tuning while sustaining a chord during the recording of [[Webb Pierce]]'s hit "Slowly," he touched off a revolution among steel guitarists.<ref name=Winston2>{{cite book |last=Winston |first=Winnie |coauthors = Bill Keith |title=Pedal Steel Guitar |publisher=Oak Publications |date=1975 |pages=p. 116 |isbn=082560169X }}</ref> The steel guitar seems to have an unusually high number of mechanically inclined players, and a period of extensive tinkering followed Isaac's initial idea. Two of these tinkering musicians were Buddy Emmons and Jimmy Day, and their playing and mechanical innovations alike have done more for the development of the pedal steel guitar than any other contributors. Emmons and Day split the function of Isaac's pedal into two separate pedals and added two strings to fill in the gaps in the E9 tuning, bringing the number of strings to ten.<ref name=Winston2/> Although Emmons' and Day's setups do the same thing, Emmons and Day used the opposite of each other's pedals to raise the strings. To this day, when one buys a pedal steel, the manufacturer will ask whether the player wants an Emmons Setup or a Day Setup. Emmons incorporated a third pedal to his setup, based on a change Ralph Mooney had used on his instrument.<ref name=Winston2/> Emmons joined forces in 1957 with another steel-playing machinist named Harold "Shot" Jackson and formed the Sho-Bud company, the first pedal steel guitar manufacturer.<ref name=Winston3>{{cite book |last=Winston |first=Winnie | coauthors = Bill Keith |title=Pedal Steel Guitar |publisher=Oak Publications |date=1975 |pages=p. 116 |isbn=082560169X }}</ref> Sho-Bud guitars incorporated all the innovations that had taken place during the 1950s, including Emmons's third pedal, Beck's knee levers, and ten strings. The single-neck pedal steel guitar was now standardized with three pedals and (up to) four knee levers. Both lap and pedal steel guitars were closely associated with the development of [[country music]] and [[western swing]]. The pedal steel's liquid, yearning sound has begun in recent years to be coveted by many modern musicians, beginning in [[jazz]] and [[blues]]. In particular the rising popularity of [[alternative country]] has brought the instrument's beautiful sound to a much wider audience, and it has been used in many different [[musical genre]]s. [[Jùjú music]], a form from [[Nigeria]], uses pedal steel extensively. A ''[[Concerto]] for Pedal Steel Guitar and [[Orchestra]]'' has been written by [[Los Angeles]] composer [[Michael A. Levine]]. It was premiered on [[April 16]] [[2005]], in a performance by the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, with Gary Morse (of [[Dierks Bentley]]'s and [[Dwight Yoakam]]'s bands) as soloist, and Paul Gambill conducting. The piece is believed to be the first concerto ever written for the solo steel guitar.{{Fact|date=November 2007}} ==Playing== [[Image:Carter S13yellowblack1.jpg|thumb|right|300px|A 12-string single-neck pedal steel set up for playing.]] A performer typically sits on a stool or seat at the instrument. The right foot usually is used to operate a volume pedal. The left foot is used to press one or more of the instrument's foot pedals. The knees are positioned under the instrument's body so that by moving them left, right or even vertically, they can push levers that hang from underneath it. The strings are positioned high above the neck of the instrument. Rather than being pressed to a [[fret]] on the neck, the player's left hand holds a polished metal bar called the ''[[steel (music)|steel]]'' on the strings. The steel can be slid up and down the length of the neck, while still touching (effectively fretting) the strings. This raises and lowers the pitch of the notes heard when the strings are played. If the bar is kept perpendicular to the neck (in the orientation of a fret), all strings touched have had their effective length changed equally. The right hand plucks the strings, usually with a set of thumb and finger picks. The pedals and knee levers raise and lower the pitch of certain strings "on the fly" while the instrument is being played. The exact action of these pedals and levers&mdash;which strings are affected&mdash;can be set by the player to their preference. Characteristic effects are obtained by changing pitch of one or more strings while other strings' pitches are static or change at differing rates. Melodic lines are composed primarily of [[Dyad (music)|dyads]] (two-note chords). In the E9 tuning, many characteristic idioms involve [[Tonic (music)|tonic]]-[[Dominant (music)|dominant]] and [[Tonic (music)|tonic]]-[[subdominant]] harmonic relationships. Mastering the pedal steel guitar can take time due to its harmonic complexity and unusual physical technique required. In country music, where the pedal steel guitar is most commonly used, talented players are highly esteemed. For a table of several tunings of the pedal steel guitar, see ''[[copedent]]''. ==Manufacturers== Most pedal steel guitars are produced by smaller makers, and many are custom-built to player order. While there are dozens of manufacturers of pedal steel guitars (past and present), the list below represents the larger manufacturers and notable smaller manufacturers. {| | *BMI *[[Paul Bigsby|Bigsby]] *Carter *Clark Custom *Dekley *Derby *Desert Rose *Emmons *Excel *[[Fender Musical Instruments Corporation|Fender]] *Fessenden *Franklin *Fulawka *GFI *Jackson *Kline || *Lone Star *Marlen *MCI / EMCI *MSA *Mullen *Pedalmaster *Performance *Rains *Remington *[[Sho-Bud]] *Show-Pro *Sierra *Star *Williams *ZB *Zumsteel &nbsp; |} ==Notable players== <!-- NOTE NOTE NOTE NOTE NOTE NOTE Please do not even THINK about adding Steve Howe to this list! HE IS IN NO WAY A NOTABLE PEDAL STEEL PLAYER! Ditto for Jerry Garcia, David Gilmour and Jimmy Page. Cartoon characters do not belong on this list, either. Remember, this is NOT a list of "every musician who happens to play pedal steel". See the Talk page before adding names. There is a test for Notable Pedal Steel Guitar Players. If the person you're adding doesn't pass the test, DON'T ADD THEM!!!--> {| | *[[Susan Alcorn]] *Maurice "Reece" Anderson *[[Roy Ayres]] *Bobby Black of [[Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen]] Bobby Black was indeed with Commander Cody and his LPA in the band's most productive and entertianing years. But - among musicians, particularly among sessions players, Black has been considered one of, if no THE best pedal steel guitarist. Ever. Buddy Emmons, who developed the Show Budd, once stated emphatically that Black was the best he's ever heard. The dobro has Jerry Douglas, the pedal steel has Bobby Black. *Billy Bowman *[[Jerry Brightman]] *Tom Brumley *Buddy Cage of [[New Riders of the Purple Sage]] *Chuck Campbell *Curly Chalker *[[B. J. Cole]] *Jimmy Day *[[Pete Drake]] *Buddy Emmons *[[Paul Franklin (musician)|Paul Franklin]] *[[Stuart Goldman]] *Lloyd Green *[[Norm Hamlet]] *[[Don Helms]] || *John Hughey *Bud Isaacs *[[Shot Jackson]] *[[Doug Jernigan]] *[[Ben Keith]] *[[Pete Kleinow|"Sneaky Pete" Kleinow]] *[[Greg Leisz]] *[[Lloyd Maines]] *[[Ton Masseurs]] *Ralph Mooney *[[Jeff Newman (musician)|Jeff Newman]] *[[Robert Randolph]] *Herb Remington *[[Alvino Rey]] *[[Red Rhodes]] *DeWitt Scott *[[Speedy West]] *Winnie Winston *[[Rusty Young (musician)|Rusty Young]] |} ==See also== * [[Steel guitar]] * [[Bottleneck guitar]] * [[Hawaiian guitar]] * [[Sacred Steel (musical tradition)]] ==References== <references/> ==External links== {{Guitar}} *[http://b0b.com The Pedal Steel Pages] - Where to start. *[http://www.jeffran.com Jeffran College] - Jeff Newman's instructional website. *[http://www.digndoug.com digndoug.com] - Doug Jernigan's instructional website. *[http://www.steelguitarjazz.com Steel Guitar Jazz] - Videos, sound clips and photos of jazz steel guitarists. *[http://www.steelguitaramericas.com Performance Steel Guitars] Performance Steel Guitar, LLC *[http://www.well.com/user/wellvis/steel.html Brad's Page of Steel] - Discusses lap steel guitars in more detail. *[http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/ Steel Guitar Forum] - A discussion board for steel guitarists. *[http://www.steelguitarinfo.com/ SteelGuitarInfo.com] - Information on the pedal steel guitar, provided by Carter Steel Guitars. *[http://www.steelguitar.com/webpix/stdpix/d10ebapr.htm Photographs] of one pedal steel guitar model. *[http://www.slidestation.com Jerry Brightman] Home website for Jerry Brightman formerly with Buck Owens. *[http://www.steelguitarzone.com Steel Guitar Zone] Articles, music, instructional materials and DVDs for Dobro and all steel guitar players. *[http://www.16tracks.com/PedalSteelMusic/ www.16tracks.com] Collection of free .mp3, .wma, and .wav files submitted by the people who played them. *[http://crawdaddy.wolfgangsvault.com/Article.aspx?id=6198 Pedal Steel Power from Country Pickers] - article originally published in ''The History of Rock'' [[1983]]; republished in ''[[Crawdaddy!]]'' [[2008]] [[Category:Electric guitars]] [[Category:Guitar family instruments]] [[Category:Box zithers]] [[Category:Amplified instruments]] [[Category:Continuous pitch instruments]] [[de:Pedal-Steel-Gitarre]] [[es:Pedal Steel Guitar]] [[no:Pedal steelgitar]] [[pl:Elektryczna gitara hawajska]] [[sv:Pedal steel guitar]]