Contents.Steel Guitar in Hawaiian and Hawaiian-Inspired Popular Music Steel guitar became visible outside of Hawaii in the early 20th century as Hawaiian steel guitarists such as and brought the instrument to North American theaters and nightclubs. On commercially records released through the 1920s and early 1930s, Hawaiian steel guitarists such as Ferera, Ho'opi'i, and others recorded a mix of Hawaiian folk music standards, such as 'Wahine Ui' and 'Tu-Tu-E-, Tu-Tu-Hoi', and North American popular songs, which often had Hawaiian- or tropical-themed lyrics. These guitarists performed on either traditional acoustic guitars played as lap steel guitars, or on acoustic resonator guitars, which were prized for the extra volume they could produce. As electric lap steels became widely available in the mid-1930s, some artists like Ho'opi'i switched to the new electric instruments.North American popular music had included hits with Hawaiian-themed English lyrics as early as 1905, when had his first hit song, 'My Honolulu Tomboy'. Hawaiian-themed popular songs (referred to by some Hawaiian musicians as 'hapa haole' music, meaning 'mixed' or 'half-foreign' music) continued to be successful in North America into the 1930s and 1940s, and often featured steel guitar in the musical arrangements. For example, the 1933 hit ' was recorded by a number of artists, including the Noelani Hawaiian Orchestra, which featured steel guitar. Popular singers such (e.g.
'On A Coconut Island' from 1936), (e.g. 'Why do Hawaiians sing Aloha' from 1937), and (e.g. 'Blue Hawaii' from 1937) recorded Hawaiian-themed popular songs during the 1930s featuring steel guitar.Steel Guitar in Country Music Steel guitar began showing up in country music as early as the 1920s. For example, featured acoustic steel guitar in his song 'Tuck Away My Lonesome Blues' (1929).The earliest use of an electrified steel guitar was in the early 1930s by of and His Brownies, a band. In the mid- to late-1930s, advanced steel guitar technique while playing in the western swing band. McAuliffe's 1936 composition ' helped to popularize the steel guitar in the context of 1930s and 1940s country and western music. By the late 1940s and early 1950s, the steel guitar was prominently featured in the emerging 'honky tonk' style of country music.
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Honky tonk singers who used steel guitar in their musical arrangements included,. Steel guitar continued to be associated with country music throughout the rest of the 20th century, in country styles including, and others.Steel Guitar Outside of Hawaiian and Country Music Steel guitar has been incorporated into songs and compositions across many genres of music. Main article:The lap steel guitar typically has 6 strings (and sometimes 8) and may have various tunings. Originally the 'standard' EBGDAE tuning was changed to allow 'open' i.e. Major chord tunings to accommodate using the straight steel bar and not require changing string gauges. Currently a new generation of musicians use open tunings (e.g. Open D), but typically, Hawaiian music for virtually the last 100 years has used more complex tunings once musicians could manipulate bars to execute diagonal barrings, both forward and back.
Hawaiian tunings evolved from A Major and E Major to E7, C sharp Minor, C sharp Minor 9th, F sharp Minor 9th, B11th and the popular E 13th. Jerry Byrd is credibly the originator of the C6+A7 tuning ECAGEC sharp(CA) which allows a wider ranging of chording for Hawaiian and many other forms of modern music. (Reference Needed) It differs from a conventional or Spanish guitar in having a higher and often a neck that is square in cross section. The frets, unused in steel style playing, may be replaced by markers.There are three main types:., which are acoustic instruments but may have electric pickups for amplification in addition., which are also acoustic instruments but may have pickups for amplification in addition. Electric lap steel guitars, which are normally.Early lap steel guitars were Spanish guitars modified by raising both the. The string height at the head nut was raised to about half an inch by using a head nut converter or converter nut. This type of guitar is claimed to have been invented in about 1889 by in.Some lap slide guitars, particularly those of and their imitators, have two 6-string necks, but electric and resonator lap steel guitars are normally single neck instruments.Square-necked resonator guitars are always played in lap steel fashion, and so are specialized lap steel guitars.
Round-necked varieties can be played in lap steel fashion, with some restrictions on the available tunings, but can also be played in Spanish position.The frying pan, an electric lap steel guitar produced from 1931 to 1939, was the first commercially successful electric guitar.Console steel guitars. Main article:The console steel guitar is an electric instrument, intermediate between the lap steel from which it developed and the pedal steel which in turn developed from the console steel. There are no pedals, so the player has only as many tunings available as there are necks.The development of the lap steel guitar into the console steel guitar saw the introduction of amplification as standard, multiple necks, and additional strings on each neck, first to seven, and eight strings per neck is now common. One, two, three and four neck instruments are not uncommon. The two neck, eight string per neck configuration is particularly favored in.The distinction between console steel guitar and lap steel guitar is fuzzy at best, and some makers and authorities do not use the term console steel guitar at all, but refer to any steel guitar without pedals as a lap steel guitar even if playing it in lap steel position would be quite impossible.Pedal steel guitars.The pedal steel guitar is an electric instrument normally with 8 to 14 strings per neck, and one or two necks, each in a different tuning.
Up to ten pedals (not counting the volume pedal) and up to eight knee-levers are used to alter the tunings of different strings, which gives the instrument its distinctive voice, most often heard in.The extra strings and use of pedals gives even a single neck pedal steel guitar far more versatility than any table steel guitar, but at the same time makes playing far more complex.Steels The type of, called a steel, which gives the technique its name, was probably originally made of steel. There is a legend that the first steel was a railroad track.Many materials are used, but - is popular for the highest-quality slides, which are shaped to fit the hand and as a result have a cross-section not unlike a railroad track.Another traditional and popular shape is a cylindrical-shaped steel bar balanced between the thumb and the middle finger. The forefinger provides varying degrees of pressure on the string. The cylindrical bar is most often used with the pedal-steel guitar.Some cautions on terminology The term 'steel guitar' should not be confused with 'steel-string guitar', which is a standard that has steel rather than the, or brass/nickel strings used for, and is built with extra bracing, a stronger neck, and higher-geared to compensate for the much higher tension of steel strings. The steel guitar takes its name from the type of used, not from the material of the strings.Also, the term 'steel guitar' does not describe what the guitar itself is made out of.
Acoustic steel guitars used in Hawaiian music are made out of wood, and some are made out of steel or brass but aren't steel guitars due to the manner in which they are played.The term 'Hawaiian guitar' is often used for various types of steel guitar, but in Hawaiian guitar means, a way of tuning a steel stringed acoustic guitar which is then played in the conventional position.See also:.See also.References.