To any regular guitar player that's reading this forum some of the terms may seem a bit weird. I wonder why the steel world settled on slightly different choices. E.g.
Muting / Blocking - same concept, different terms.
Playing in the pocket / Playing the box - same concept, different terms
Picks / Picks - Same words and functions, different form
Bar - Same words similar function, different form.
In linguistics for a dialect to occur usually means that the two groups that speak it are somewhat isolated and not in constant contact each other. I wonder if that happened with steel players given that it seems everybody plays regular guitar in addition to steel.
Steel guitar terms
Moderator: Brad Bechtel
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Stanislav Paskalev
- Posts: 41
- Joined: 18 Jan 2025 8:20 am
- Location: Bulgaria
Steel guitar terms
My current preferred tunings: Bb-C-Db-E-G-A-B-D on 8 strings and C-E-G-A-B-D on 6 strings
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Michael Kiese
- Posts: 395
- Joined: 17 Jul 2023 12:27 pm
- Location: Richmond, Virginia (Hometown: Pearl City, HI)
Re: Steel guitar terms
Hey Stan,
There are only about 30,000 steel players of ALL kinds in the entire world of about 8 billion people. There are about 800 million guitar players in the world. That demographic alone explains a lot.
In my personal research on the history of steel, I discovered a few valuable insights about steel and music history itself.
In the beginning of the 1900s, there was a difference between playing "Hawaiian Guitar" (playing the guitar flat in your lap with a bar), and "Spanish Style Guitar" (playing guitar upright in your lap).
The Gibson ES 335 harkens back to this fact because "ES" stands for "Electric Spanish".
We need to realize that what we now call "Steel Guitar" actually came before playing "Spanish Style Guitar". "Playing guitar" was largely referred to as playing "Hawaiian guitar", with the guitar laying flat on your lap. It was a very popular instrument in its day, much like the accordion and the banjo. We just don't realize this in the modern era because all that occurred 100 years ago. All the adults that lived through that era have now long since passed on.
Before the guitar was electrified, guitars were just too quiet. Playing Spanish Style guitar could not compete with Banjo, Accordion, and Brass instruments volume wise. Playing a guitar flat on your lap with a bar like with a National Guitar or Dobro was the only way to get any type of sound projection in order to be heard above a band.
If you played "Spanish Style Guitar" (aka modern guitar playing), the acoustic guitars of the day were just not loud enough to play solos or melodies. You'd be relegated to playing strumming chords and being more of a solo parlor player. If you played within a band, you'd be drowned out volume wise. So you'd just be strumming or chunking chords, and never took the melody, unless if you sang it.
The history of music is the history of volume. The loudest instruments were always the most popular. That's been consistent across history. Loud instruments allowed you to play the melody and be heard above the band.
The history of music technology is the history of making louder and louder instruments. Every instrument maker wants to make their instrument louder, or as loud as possible. Otherwise, you can't hear it.
This phenomenon is observable in the popular music of every era. Brass (Trumpets, Trombones, Tuba), Violins, Banjos, Accordions, Hawaiian Guitar. That's the sound of the early 1900s. None of the instruments were electrified yet, so the loudest acoustic instruments were the most popular.
Back in the day (early 1900s to 1920s), Banjos were also extremely popular because they were the loudest instrument. Hawaiian Steel could keep up with banjos, volume wise. Then Hawaiian Steel was electrified with the Rickenbacher Frying pan in 1932, and Banjo interest declined. A newer, louder instrument took the stage. You could play single note melodies with a lot of sustain, and be HEARD above a band.
Eventually, Les Paul made the first electrified Spanish Style guitar (at least he's credited for it). By 1950, Leo Fender came out with the Broadcaster, and by the end of the 1950's the Stratocaster, Telecaster, and Les Paul guitars came out, and so did louder amplifiers and eventually distortion. That's the beginning of the decline of interest in Steel guitar, and steel guitar music. Everything became louder and louder. The previous instrument was always replaced by a newer, louder instrument, and music itself changed.
It's likely that terms change because the first generations of guitar players were Hawaiian steel players in the 1900s. Back then, people just called them guitar players or "Hawaiian guitar players", I don't think they were called "Steel Guitar Players" as we now refer to ourselves. We're now 5 or 6 generations removed from that. There were a lot of changes in technology since then, and many pivotal moments in both history and music history occurred.
Like I mentioned to you in my comment on the other thread, Joseph Kekuku discovered Steel Guitar around 1885 at 11 years old. He woodshedded around 3 years before he took it out and performed. So steel guitar made its musical debut around 1888.
The Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown in Jan 1892. After everything settled and it was clear that the Kingdom was lost, many Hawaiians started moving to the mainland US. It started with the early Hawaiian musicians who toured the US in the early 1900's through late 1920's.
Electric guitar (Rickenbacher Frypan) wasn't released until 1932, and only 13 units were sold in the entire year of 1932. It took a few years to catch on, but it did catch on and became very popular.
Realize that since 1932 up to late 1950 (when the Fender Broadcaster was released), when people said "Electric Guitar", they meant STEEL GUITAR. It really wasn't until rock and roll took over in the late 50's that the Stratocaster, Telecaster, and Les Paul guitars really took off, and then THOSE guitars were synonymous with the term "Electric Guitar".
The key point to realize is that we look back in history through our modern lens and assumptions. Sometimes we are not even aware of our assumptions, because we thought them to be fact.
So to refer to your Linguistics point, regarding Steel Guitar, there were MULTIPLE groups, across MANY generations, and geographically far apart from each other. It's no wonder why there are different terms.
Even musical terms change. When you talk to older musicians, they refer to the last section of a song as the "release", because it takes you back to the top of the song form. For example, a common song form is AABA, so old timers called that last A section the "release".
Nobody uses that term anymore, but I think it's a very appropriate term.
I'll end with this. Notice on the steel guitar forum, our section is called "Steel without pedals" the other section is called "Pedal Steel". That frames an assumption that Pedal Steel is the standard. The guy that made this forum was a Pedal Steel Player. At some point in time, Pedal Steel got more popular than straight steel (aka lap steel). So in some people's minds Pedal Steel Guitar is the standard. When they say "Steel Guitar", they mean Pedal Steel Guitar. But really, it's all steel guitar. Lap steel aka Hawaiian Steel Guitar came first and was MUCH more popular in its day than Pedal Steel ever was. But all that was lost and forgotten, because it was 100 years ago at this point.
Really, the two terms should rightfully be "Steel Guitar" and "Pedal Steel Guitar", rather than "Pedal Steel Guitar" and "Steel Without Pedals". But it is what it is. The two terms work, and they serve a practical purpose. At this point, the majority of people out on the street have no idea what a steel guitar is or even looks like. But thankfully, they still recognize the SOUND of steel. On one had, it's kinda silly to squabble between terms. On the other hand, historically and objectively speaking, Steel guitar came first and then Steel with pedals came later.
It's kinda like cars with manual transmission used to be called "Driving Standard". Most cars sold had manual transmission. But now 99.9% of cars have automatic transmission. So "driving standard" in today really means having an automatic transmission, lol. Manual transmission hasn't been "the standard" for very many years.
Terms change because people change, and new technology comes along.
In the case of steel, Steel (lap steel or Steel without pedals) came first, and it was just referred to as playing Hawaiian Guitar. That was the standard. Then Pedal Steel came along and got more popular, so I suppose pedal steel then became standard. I can't help but wonder if straight steel has again become "the standard", as it seems that more people are picking up straight steel than pedal steel. But amongst a worldwide community of 30,000 steel players that are separated across the world, it likely doesn't matter what you call it. It's all steel guitar.
I honestly think we're at the point that more people are gravitating towards Straight Steel. I've witnessed a lot of Steel players having to give up playing as they age. Age comes for us all, but the Pedal Steel players have to give up playing much sooner than the rest. Old people have a hard time grabbing a bar. They certainly can't lug around an 80lb case and bend over to set up and break them down. You often see that as Pedal Steel players age, they switch to straight steel or dobro for that reason. There was a point where Buddy Emmons himself just quit playing. Jerry Byrd continued playing at a high level into his early 80's. He only had to quit because his health declined very fast. I'm going to take a page out of Jerry's book and follow his lead.
Anyways, here's some recommended reading if you're interested in the history of Steel Guitar. I got my information from these books:
1) Kika Kila: How the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Changed the Sound of Modern Music. https://a.co/d/9BiEPMy
2) The Hawaiian Steel Guitar and Its Great Hawaiian Musicians. https://a.co/d/3mwbTOY
3) Rickenbacker Guitars: Pioneers of the Electric Guitar. https://a.co/d/d7OmDTu
Enjoy!
There are only about 30,000 steel players of ALL kinds in the entire world of about 8 billion people. There are about 800 million guitar players in the world. That demographic alone explains a lot.
In my personal research on the history of steel, I discovered a few valuable insights about steel and music history itself.
In the beginning of the 1900s, there was a difference between playing "Hawaiian Guitar" (playing the guitar flat in your lap with a bar), and "Spanish Style Guitar" (playing guitar upright in your lap).
The Gibson ES 335 harkens back to this fact because "ES" stands for "Electric Spanish".
We need to realize that what we now call "Steel Guitar" actually came before playing "Spanish Style Guitar". "Playing guitar" was largely referred to as playing "Hawaiian guitar", with the guitar laying flat on your lap. It was a very popular instrument in its day, much like the accordion and the banjo. We just don't realize this in the modern era because all that occurred 100 years ago. All the adults that lived through that era have now long since passed on.
Before the guitar was electrified, guitars were just too quiet. Playing Spanish Style guitar could not compete with Banjo, Accordion, and Brass instruments volume wise. Playing a guitar flat on your lap with a bar like with a National Guitar or Dobro was the only way to get any type of sound projection in order to be heard above a band.
If you played "Spanish Style Guitar" (aka modern guitar playing), the acoustic guitars of the day were just not loud enough to play solos or melodies. You'd be relegated to playing strumming chords and being more of a solo parlor player. If you played within a band, you'd be drowned out volume wise. So you'd just be strumming or chunking chords, and never took the melody, unless if you sang it.
The history of music is the history of volume. The loudest instruments were always the most popular. That's been consistent across history. Loud instruments allowed you to play the melody and be heard above the band.
The history of music technology is the history of making louder and louder instruments. Every instrument maker wants to make their instrument louder, or as loud as possible. Otherwise, you can't hear it.
This phenomenon is observable in the popular music of every era. Brass (Trumpets, Trombones, Tuba), Violins, Banjos, Accordions, Hawaiian Guitar. That's the sound of the early 1900s. None of the instruments were electrified yet, so the loudest acoustic instruments were the most popular.
Back in the day (early 1900s to 1920s), Banjos were also extremely popular because they were the loudest instrument. Hawaiian Steel could keep up with banjos, volume wise. Then Hawaiian Steel was electrified with the Rickenbacher Frying pan in 1932, and Banjo interest declined. A newer, louder instrument took the stage. You could play single note melodies with a lot of sustain, and be HEARD above a band.
Eventually, Les Paul made the first electrified Spanish Style guitar (at least he's credited for it). By 1950, Leo Fender came out with the Broadcaster, and by the end of the 1950's the Stratocaster, Telecaster, and Les Paul guitars came out, and so did louder amplifiers and eventually distortion. That's the beginning of the decline of interest in Steel guitar, and steel guitar music. Everything became louder and louder. The previous instrument was always replaced by a newer, louder instrument, and music itself changed.
It's likely that terms change because the first generations of guitar players were Hawaiian steel players in the 1900s. Back then, people just called them guitar players or "Hawaiian guitar players", I don't think they were called "Steel Guitar Players" as we now refer to ourselves. We're now 5 or 6 generations removed from that. There were a lot of changes in technology since then, and many pivotal moments in both history and music history occurred.
Like I mentioned to you in my comment on the other thread, Joseph Kekuku discovered Steel Guitar around 1885 at 11 years old. He woodshedded around 3 years before he took it out and performed. So steel guitar made its musical debut around 1888.
The Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown in Jan 1892. After everything settled and it was clear that the Kingdom was lost, many Hawaiians started moving to the mainland US. It started with the early Hawaiian musicians who toured the US in the early 1900's through late 1920's.
Electric guitar (Rickenbacher Frypan) wasn't released until 1932, and only 13 units were sold in the entire year of 1932. It took a few years to catch on, but it did catch on and became very popular.
Realize that since 1932 up to late 1950 (when the Fender Broadcaster was released), when people said "Electric Guitar", they meant STEEL GUITAR. It really wasn't until rock and roll took over in the late 50's that the Stratocaster, Telecaster, and Les Paul guitars really took off, and then THOSE guitars were synonymous with the term "Electric Guitar".
The key point to realize is that we look back in history through our modern lens and assumptions. Sometimes we are not even aware of our assumptions, because we thought them to be fact.
So to refer to your Linguistics point, regarding Steel Guitar, there were MULTIPLE groups, across MANY generations, and geographically far apart from each other. It's no wonder why there are different terms.
Even musical terms change. When you talk to older musicians, they refer to the last section of a song as the "release", because it takes you back to the top of the song form. For example, a common song form is AABA, so old timers called that last A section the "release".
Nobody uses that term anymore, but I think it's a very appropriate term.
I'll end with this. Notice on the steel guitar forum, our section is called "Steel without pedals" the other section is called "Pedal Steel". That frames an assumption that Pedal Steel is the standard. The guy that made this forum was a Pedal Steel Player. At some point in time, Pedal Steel got more popular than straight steel (aka lap steel). So in some people's minds Pedal Steel Guitar is the standard. When they say "Steel Guitar", they mean Pedal Steel Guitar. But really, it's all steel guitar. Lap steel aka Hawaiian Steel Guitar came first and was MUCH more popular in its day than Pedal Steel ever was. But all that was lost and forgotten, because it was 100 years ago at this point.
Really, the two terms should rightfully be "Steel Guitar" and "Pedal Steel Guitar", rather than "Pedal Steel Guitar" and "Steel Without Pedals". But it is what it is. The two terms work, and they serve a practical purpose. At this point, the majority of people out on the street have no idea what a steel guitar is or even looks like. But thankfully, they still recognize the SOUND of steel. On one had, it's kinda silly to squabble between terms. On the other hand, historically and objectively speaking, Steel guitar came first and then Steel with pedals came later.
It's kinda like cars with manual transmission used to be called "Driving Standard". Most cars sold had manual transmission. But now 99.9% of cars have automatic transmission. So "driving standard" in today really means having an automatic transmission, lol. Manual transmission hasn't been "the standard" for very many years.
Terms change because people change, and new technology comes along.
In the case of steel, Steel (lap steel or Steel without pedals) came first, and it was just referred to as playing Hawaiian Guitar. That was the standard. Then Pedal Steel came along and got more popular, so I suppose pedal steel then became standard. I can't help but wonder if straight steel has again become "the standard", as it seems that more people are picking up straight steel than pedal steel. But amongst a worldwide community of 30,000 steel players that are separated across the world, it likely doesn't matter what you call it. It's all steel guitar.
I honestly think we're at the point that more people are gravitating towards Straight Steel. I've witnessed a lot of Steel players having to give up playing as they age. Age comes for us all, but the Pedal Steel players have to give up playing much sooner than the rest. Old people have a hard time grabbing a bar. They certainly can't lug around an 80lb case and bend over to set up and break them down. You often see that as Pedal Steel players age, they switch to straight steel or dobro for that reason. There was a point where Buddy Emmons himself just quit playing. Jerry Byrd continued playing at a high level into his early 80's. He only had to quit because his health declined very fast. I'm going to take a page out of Jerry's book and follow his lead.
Anyways, here's some recommended reading if you're interested in the history of Steel Guitar. I got my information from these books:
1) Kika Kila: How the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Changed the Sound of Modern Music. https://a.co/d/9BiEPMy
2) The Hawaiian Steel Guitar and Its Great Hawaiian Musicians. https://a.co/d/3mwbTOY
3) Rickenbacker Guitars: Pioneers of the Electric Guitar. https://a.co/d/d7OmDTu
Enjoy!
Aloha,
Mike K
1935 A22 Rickenbacher Frypan (C6), 1937 7string Prewar Rickenbacher Bakelite (C Diatonic), 1937 7string Epiphone Electar (Jerry Byrd's E9), 1937 Epiphone Electar (C#m9), 1940's Post War Rickenbacher Bakelite (Feet's D), 1950 Supro (Open F), 1950's Rickenbacher ACE (C6), 1950's Rickenbacher A25 Frypan (A6), 1957 National New Yorker (Jerry's E13), 1955 Q8 Fender Stringmaster (A6, C6, Noel's E13, C Diatonic), 1961 Supro (Open A), 8string VanderDonck Frypan (Buddy Emmons's C6).
Mike K
1935 A22 Rickenbacher Frypan (C6), 1937 7string Prewar Rickenbacher Bakelite (C Diatonic), 1937 7string Epiphone Electar (Jerry Byrd's E9), 1937 Epiphone Electar (C#m9), 1940's Post War Rickenbacher Bakelite (Feet's D), 1950 Supro (Open F), 1950's Rickenbacher ACE (C6), 1950's Rickenbacher A25 Frypan (A6), 1957 National New Yorker (Jerry's E13), 1955 Q8 Fender Stringmaster (A6, C6, Noel's E13, C Diatonic), 1961 Supro (Open A), 8string VanderDonck Frypan (Buddy Emmons's C6).