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- guitar
- lap steel guitar
- pedal steel guitar
steel guitar
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What is a steel guitar?
A steel guitar is any stringed instrument played on the lap, in which a rigid object, usually a metal bar, presses against plucked strings. The metal bar is called a steel, hence the name. Hawaiian musician Joseph Kekuku refined it in the 1880s/1890s, altering the tuning of a standard guitar and holding it on the lap.
Steel guitars can be acoustic or electric, some with a metal resonator to amplify the sound without electricity. The steel guitar is associated with Hawaiian music and gained popularity in the U.S. in the 1920s and 30's. In the 1950s, the pedal steel guitar allowed players to change tuning and pitch while sustaining a chord and is now used in various genres.
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How is a steel guitar played differently from a regular guitar?
The steel guitar is played differently than a regular guitar. Instead of using fingers to fret the strings, a steel guitar is played with a rigid object, typically a metal bar, moved over the strings while the guitarist plucks notes and chords with the opposite hand. The metal bar is known as a steel, hence the name steel guitar.
Steel guitars can be acoustic or electric. Acoustic steel guitars include the Hawaiian guitar (or lap steel guitar). Electric steel guitars include the pedal steel guitar, which is supported by a stand and uses pedals and levers controlled by the feet and knees. The lap steel is an electric steel guitar played horizontally across the lap.
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What are the main types of steel guitars?
The steel guitar family includes several stringed instruments played on the lap, where a metal bar (the "steel") presses the strings while the other hand plucks notes.
Main types:
* Acoustic steel guitar An acoustic steel guitar is the Hawaiian guitar (or lap steel guitar). It may feature a metal resonator to amplify the instrument's volume without electricity.
* Electric steel guitar The first electric pickup for a guitar was designed for a lap steel guitar to increase its audibility during live performances.
* Pedal steel guitar A variation of the lap steel guitar supported by a stand, using pedals and levers for an extended range of sliding notes and pitch changes.
* Lap steel guitar An electric adaptation of the resophonic, commonly heard in Hawaiian and traditional country music.2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What is a steel bar, and how does it work on the instrument?
A steel guitar is any stringed instrument, acoustic or electric, played by moving a rigid object, like a metal bar (the "steel"), against plucked strings. Hawaiian musician Joseph Kekuku refined it in the 1880s/1890s, altering tunings and playing it on the lap.
The steel bar is moved over the strings while the guitarist plucks, changing the strings' vibrating length to produce different notes and chords. This technique allows for the instrument's distinct sliding sound. The pedal steel guitar, a variation, uses pedals and levers for a wider range of sounds.
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What styles of music commonly use the steel guitar?
The steel guitar, originating in Hawaii in the late 19th century, is featured across a range of musical styles. It is most closely associated with Hawaiian music, where it significantly contributed to the genre's popularity in the United States during the 1920s and 30s. The steel guitar was later adopted into western swing, a type of country dance music that integrated elements of swing jazz. The versatility of the pedal steel guitar has led to its use in multiple musical genres, including country, jazz, rock, and pop.
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How has the steel guitar influenced music around the world?
The steel guitar, originating in Hawaii in the late 19th century, has significantly impacted music worldwide. Hawaiian musician Joseph Kekuku refined it in the 1880s/1890s, altering tunings and playing it on the lap. The steel guitar is closely linked to Hawaiian music's popularity in the U.S. in the 1920s and 30's.
American inventor George Beauchamp designed the first electric pickup for the lap steel guitar in the early 1930s to increase its audibility during live performances. It was subsequently incorporated into Western swing, a country dance music incorporating elements of swing jazz. The pedal steel guitar, introduced in the 1950s, expanded the instrument's versatility, leading to its use in country, jazz, rock, and pop music.
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steel guitar, any of several stringed instruments that are distinguished by being played traditionally on the lap, wherein a rigid object, typically a metal bar, is moved over the strings as the guitarist plucks notes and chords with the opposite hand. The metal bar used to play the instrument is known as a steel, hence the name steel guitar. Although the details surrounding the invention of the steel guitar are not entirely certain, its refinement is attributed to Hawaiian musician Joseph Kekuku, who in the 1880s or 1890s altered the tuning of the standard six-string guitar and developed a distinct way of holding the instrument on the lap.
Steel guitars may be acoustic or electric, and some feature a metal resonator, in which a metal cone is used in place of the wooden sounding board in the top of the guitar as a way of amplifying the instrument’s volume without the use of electric power. An example of an acoustic steel guitar is the Hawaiian guitar (or lap steel guitar). The pedal steel guitar, a variation on the traditional lap steel guitar, typically is supported by a stand and uses pedals and levers controlled by the feet and knees, respectively. The pedal steel guitar offers an increased range of sliding notes, the ability to make changes in pitch while sustaining chords, and more dramatic and sustained vibrato.
The steel guitar originated in Hawaii in the late 19th century, after the introduction of the six-string guitar by Europeans and by vaqueros (cowboys) from Mexico and Spain. The vaqueros, who taught Hawaiian farmers to ride horses and herd cattle, are thought to have been highly influential in the development of Hawaiian-style guitar playing. Locals who had learned to play the guitar developed their own musical style, with distinct rhythms, fingerstyle playing, and tunings. This kind of playing was popularized in the mainland United States by Kekuku while touring with the band Toots Paka’s Hawaiians in the early 1900s.
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In particular, Kekuku and other Hawaiian players adjusted their guitars to so-called open tunings, wherein either a major or minor chord is produced when all six strings were strummed together. Open tunings, which differ from the more popular standard guitar tuning (in which a dissonant chord results when the six strings are strummed at once), form the basis for Hawaiian slack-key guitar, a style of playing named for the way in which the strings of the guitar are loosened, or slackened, to achieve a desired open tuning.
The steel guitar is most closely associated with the sound of Hawaiian music and contributed significantly to the popularity of Hawaiian music in the United States in the 1920s and ’30s. In the early 1930s, American inventor George Beauchamp designed the first electric pickup for a guitar (see electric guitar), engineering it specifically for a lap steel guitar, in order to increase the audibility of the instrument during live performances. The steel guitar subsequently was adopted into western swing, a kind of country dance music that incorporated elements of swing jazz.
In the 1950s, the pedal steel guitar, which enabled players to alter their tuning and pitch while sustaining a chord, was introduced. American musician Buddy Emmons contributed significantly to the development of the pedal steel guitar, adding a pedal and additional strings to early models—adaptations that ultimately became standard components in many modern pedal steel guitars. The pedal steel guitar greatly expanded the harmonic capabilities and versatility of the steel guitar, leading to its use in multiple musical genres, including country, jazz, rock, and pop.