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Topic: The Steel Guitar is the Ideal Instrument for the Blues |
Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 27 Nov 2014 11:11 am |
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Notice that when people are crying, or emitting shouts of pain, the pitch of their voices lowers. This effect is difficult to emulate on a regular guitar. Blues guitarists push the notes, which raises them, not lowers. You could lower all the strings at the same time with a tremolo arm, but blues guitarist seldom have them fitted, and you don't necessarily want to lower all the strings at the same time. Harmonica players do suck the notes down, but they can't make the notes rise.
The steel guitar, however, can do either of these things with ease. What's more, the wavering during crying is easier on the steel guitar than any other instrument. You can get vibrato on a fretted instrument, but not to the extent of someone crying. You can do all those things with a violin or cello, but they don't have the sustain of a steel guitar.
All-in-all, the steel guitar is the perfect instrument for the blues, yet few blues groups have a steel guitarist.  |
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Rick Schacter
From:
Portland, Or.
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Barry Hyman
From:
upstate New York, USA
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Posted 28 Nov 2014 2:51 pm
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There are other "naturally bluesy" things about psg. One of my favorite tricks is based on the fact that with my E9 12-string, I can get all four inversions of a dominant seventh chord on strings 8, 9, 10, and 11. Those big fat low-register chords almost sound like a Hammond organ, and always get the rockers rockin'. Plus of course we can do all the bluesy things slide guitarists do, and all the Chuck Berry-style licks, and all the boogie-woogie walking bass lines. I would be lost on a 10-string though --those extra two low strings are priceless in blues.
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I give music lessons on several different instruments in Cambridge, NY (between Bennington, VT and Albany, NY). But my true love is pedal steel. I've been obsessed with steel since 1972; don't know anything I'd rather talk about... www.barryhyman.com |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 28 Nov 2014 3:42 pm
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| The E9th tuning is not as good as it could be for Blues. C6th is better, but could be improved on. But I'm a Delta Blues guy. |
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Jamie Mitchell
From:
Nashville, TN
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Posted 28 Nov 2014 5:47 pm Re: The Steel Guitar is the Ideal Instrument for the Blues
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if you're looking for the crying/weeping sound, a sarangi is far better than any steel, fwiw...
so my question is why don't you see more sarangis in blues bands?! |
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Barry Hyman
From:
upstate New York, USA
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Posted 29 Nov 2014 4:59 am
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Jamie, you might like the Sitar Blues that's on my website...
_________________
I give music lessons on several different instruments in Cambridge, NY (between Bennington, VT and Albany, NY). But my true love is pedal steel. I've been obsessed with steel since 1972; don't know anything I'd rather talk about... www.barryhyman.com |
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Stuart Legg
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Posted 29 Nov 2014 8:47 am
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I would think from a band perspective a steel guitar would be more useful as an addition not a replacement for the guitar.
I think 10 string E9 is good enough for blues, jazz or any genre because of what it can't do.
You don't have those low notes and that forces you to learn and play something other than what the guitar player plays.
Eventually In the ideal situation a good E9 player would be doing most of the soloing and the guitar player would be stuck with the chords, power chords and Chuck Berry.  |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 29 Nov 2014 11:08 am
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I'm not suggesting that the steel guitar replace the regular electric guitar, which is by far the most adaptable instrument in the blues. I'm just suggesting that it should supplement the other instruments a lot more than it does.  |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 29 Nov 2014 12:12 pm
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Steel guitar, with or without pedals, is indeed a good instrument for blues. But so is guitar, and especially slide guitar. Frankly, so is any other instrument, in the right hands. They all have specific challenges to cop that vibe, but these challenges can be overcome.
But honestly, I think it's a lot easier to get a blues vibe from slide guitar. OK, that's heresy around here, but I think most of the world agrees with me on that. I think that's as much a matter of tradition and operant conditioning as anything - if blues had been originally developed in a steel-centric way (as with Hawaiian or country music), that would undoubtedly be different.
I've been playing a lot of slide guitar lately. Again, I know it's heresy around here, but I view slide guitar as a type of steel guitar playing. I think we would do well to be more welcoming to slide guitar on this forum - we're at the very least very close cousins, if not brothers and sisters. IMHO.
I also disagree with the idea that one can't come at notes from below on standard guitar, and I don't mean by using a vibrato arm - that is absolutely unnecessary. It's easy if you know how. For me, it's trickier overcoming issues with doing blues on steel. YMMV, but how many great blues steel players have you seen? There are some, but I really think it's a challenge. I need to change from my usual playing approach quite a bit, and it's easier for me on slide. OK, maybe for me it's at least partly because I've been playing guitar for a lot longer. But why such a larger percentage of blues played by guitar players? I think part of it is that guitar lends itself to blues pretty easily. |
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Joachim Kettner
From:
Germany
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Posted 29 Nov 2014 12:34 pm
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| Quote: |
| Blues guitarists push the notes, which raises them |
and when you release them you lower them to their original position.
That's very common on standard guitar, and it's the same when you release a pedal. No pedal steel player can get close to the dynamics a Freddie King or a Johnny Winter has.
_________________
Fender Kingman, Sierra Crown D-10, Evans Amplifier, Soup Cube. |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 29 Nov 2014 1:26 pm
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Dave,
I completely agree with you. I play a lot of bottleneck, and use a lot of lappets' techniques in my playing. Lots of slants. Since I've retired, the only guys I get to jam with are Blues guys. I find the E9th tuning to lack the "meat" of slide. I'm working on a new cope for one of my guitars that will be much more Blues friendly. |
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Barry Hyman
From:
upstate New York, USA
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Posted 29 Nov 2014 3:42 pm
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What's missing from this discussion is that there isn't one blues "scale" or "style" -- there are six or seven or eight. Pedal steel is great for those blues sub-styles that are close to major or minor European scales, but that flavor of blues that is right in the middle between major and minor -- give me a six-string guitar every time...
_________________
I give music lessons on several different instruments in Cambridge, NY (between Bennington, VT and Albany, NY). But my true love is pedal steel. I've been obsessed with steel since 1972; don't know anything I'd rather talk about... www.barryhyman.com |
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