Category Archives: Doug’s News

Chord Practice – E9 pedal steel & C6 lap steel guitar

Chord Practice – E9 pedal steel & C6 lap steel guitar

This is a basic chord exercise that I give to my students. There is a chord chart and an Audio track to play along with. The audio plays the chords three times through.

CHORDS:

4 beats per measure. Click on the image to enlarge:

PracticeTrack2

 

AUDIO: Practice Track 2:

 

E9 Pedal Steel Guitar – chord positions:

The chart below shows the same chords and the chord positions on E9 pedal steel guitar. The number above the chord is the FRET you place your bar on to play that chord. The A, B indicates Pedals A, B, standard E9 tuning. Pick any combination of strings 3,4,5,6,8,10 to play the chords.

 

click on the image to enlarge:

PracticeTrack2PSG

 

 

C6 Lap Steel Guitar – chord positions

The chart below shows the same chords and the chord positions on C6 lap steel guitar. The number above the chord is the FRET you place your bar on to play that chord. Keep in mind… to play a major chord on the fret indicated omit the A string. To play a minor  chord on the fret indicated omit the G string.

 

click on the image to enlarge:

PracticeTrack2LapSteelC6

 

The track is also handy for practicing the major scale (G major) and the harmonized scale, and licks, etc. Enjoy

Will the Circle Be Unbroken – EZ C6 lap steel guitar

Will the Circle Be Unbroken – EZ C6 lap steel guitar

Here’s an easy arrangement of an old classic. The audio is just the lap steel played to a click track and rhythm guitar. It’s a little rough, but you get the basic idea! Enjoy

 

click on images to enlarge:

WillTheCircleBeUnbroken_1 WillTheCircleBeUnbroken_2

 

AUDIO:

 

Backing Track:

 

Scarborough Fair – EZ C6 lap steel guitar

Scarborough Fair – EZ C6 lap steel guitar

Here’s an easy version of Scarborough Fair in the key of Am. 3/4 time. Much of it is played using the open strings. When an open string and a “barred” string are played together you need to lift the rear of the bar up to allow the open string to be heard and touch the nose of the bar to the other string. Tip the bar up and use the nose only. That happens in measures 3, 6, 11, 15, 16. No audio for this one. I think you know this tune. Enjoy

 

click on image to enlarge:

Scarborough Fair

 

Akaka Falls – C6 lap steel guitar

AKAKA FALLS – C6 lap steel guitar – audio & tablature

This is a pretty Hawaiian tune in 3/4 time. I’m playing a 1940s Gibson Century 6 on the recording. Enjoy.

 

AUDIO:

TABLATURE:

Click on images to enlarge:

AkakaFalls111  AkakaFalls222  AkakaFalls333

Practice Track:

 

 

E9 Pedal Steel Guitar Solo – Invitation to the Blues

E9 Pedal Steel Guitar Solo – Invitation to the Blues

This is a demo I recorded a few years ago. I’m playing an Emmons push/pull student model on the recording. I was selling the guitar at the time and I needed a quick recording to demonstrate the sound. A lot of players were interested in the solo and the ending so I tabbed them out. The Solo starts at 1:09 in the audio below. The ending starts at 2:11.

 

AUDIO:

 

TABLATURE – Solo: click on images to enlarge,   E = lower E to D#

invitation1  invitation2

 

TABLATURE – Ending: click on image to enlarge

invitation3

 

 

 

B11 Tuning – lap steel guitar

B11 Tuning for lap steel guitar

B11 is rich in 9th and 7th chords and works especially well for Hawaiian songs. It’s a combination tuning. Part of it is A6 and the other part is B7, B9, B11. There are a few variations of the tuning. The 8-string version I’m discussing here is (high to low) E, C#, A, F#, D#, C#, B, A. The 6-string version is an easy re-tune from C6 tuning. (high to low) E, C#, A, F#, D#, C# (or B).

 

8-string B11 tuning

Strings 1 through 4 are an A6 chord.  The middle strings (omit string 1) are B9 (and B, B7, B11).

Fret 2 is B6, and Open is B9. Whatever 6th chord you are playing, just drop back two frets for the 7th or 9th chord. For example, A6 on fret 12 (strings 1 through 4), drop back to fret 10 and play the middle strings (omit string 1) for A9. That big 9th chord is the signature sound heard in Hawaiian songs like “How D’ya Do” and “Sand”.

The chart below shows some of the open chord positions, with root note A, root note F#, and root note B. There are other open chords that I left off the chart… diminished chord on strings 3, 4, 5. Also Am6, flat 5, Aadd2, etc.

 

CHORDS on B11 tuning

Click image to enlarge:

B11Chart

 

CHORD MOTION

Click image to enlarge:

B11ChordMotion

 

Valco Swing – lap steel guitar, C6/A7 tuning

VALCO SWING – C6/A7 lap steel guitar

 

This is an original instrumental of mine. The tuning is C6/A7… a combination tuning. The tuning has a full C6 chord and a full A7 chord. (high to low) E, C, A, G, E, C#  The tune features a lot of hammer-ons and pull-offs, and pick blocking. Enjoy

 

AUDIO:

 

TABLATURE: click on images to enlarge

ValcoSwing1  ValcoSwing2

 

 

C6 Lap Steel Guitar – Speedpicking

SPEEDPICKING on Lap Steel Guitar, C6 tuning

 

Below is audio and tablature for a speedpicking solo I recorded a while back. 6-string lap steel guitar, C6 tuning. Pick blocking is very important for this style of playing. Enjoy

 

AUDIO:

TABLATURE – PDF – Click on the link… C6LapSteelSpeedpicking