Let's talk Hawaiian Steel Guitar (Sailor!) - Beyond Tiki

T Tiki_Bong Member Huntington Beach, CA Joined: Mar 25, 2002 Posts: -16	T Tiki_Bong Posted posted on Tue, Jan 20, 2004 9:23 AM Steel Guitar Tunings - Unlike a standard tuned guitar (E, A, D, G, B, E), which is essentially tuned in 4th's, steel guitars are usually tuned in Major chords. The reason is if you're using a steel bar, and you lay it across the strings and strum, you have a recognizable chord. Whereas if you did that with a standard tuned guitar, you'd have noise. Steel players need to decide which tunings they want to use. I have 4 steel guitars, so I've decided on E major, G major, C6th, and D9th tunings. The E major and G major are better for single note (lead) type pickin, and the C6th and D9th are better for that classic Hawaiian chord sound. A recent survey of of Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association members showed the C6th tuning to be the most popular, followed closely by the C6+A7, then E13, C#m. There has been a study of the old timers tunings, but it is difficult to say exactly who did what regarding tunings. Much like slack-key tunings, steel guitarists guarded their tunings as professional secrets. Many were known to deliberately put their guitar out of tune when taking a break, so that no one could strum across the strings and guess the secret. Some fathers didn't share even with their sons.

Steel Guitar Tunings -

Unlike a standard tuned guitar (E, A, D, G, B, E), which is essentially tuned in 4th's, steel guitars are usually tuned in Major chords.

The reason is if you're using a steel bar, and you lay it across the strings and strum, you have a recognizable chord. Whereas if you did that with a standard tuned guitar, you'd have noise.

Steel players need to decide which tunings they want to use. I have 4 steel guitars, so I've decided on E major, G major, C6th, and D9th tunings. The E major and G major are better for single note (lead) type pickin, and the C6th and D9th are better for that classic Hawaiian chord sound.

A recent survey of of Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association members showed the C6th tuning to be the most popular, followed closely by the C6+A7, then E13, C#m.

There has been a study of the old timers tunings, but it is difficult to say exactly who did what regarding tunings. Much like slack-key tunings, steel guitarists guarded their tunings as professional secrets. Many were known to deliberately put their guitar out of tune when taking a break, so that no one could strum across the strings and guess the secret. Some fathers didn't share even with their sons.

Post #71149 by Tiki_Bong on Tue, Jan 20, 2004 9:23 AM