6 String or 8 String for Blues?

Craig Hawks · From: North Ridgeville, Ohio, USA

Image you've been asked to play rhythm guitar in a band that plays 12 bar blues. Rather than use a regular guitar you decide to go with a lap steel. Do you pick a 6 string or 8 sting? What tuning(s) do you use? And what do you play?

Stephan Miller · From: Silver Spring, Maryland, USA

Craig-- correct me if I'm wrong here, but I'm assuming this is a real life situation in which the band in question plays blues most or all of the time, and has a "lead" guitarist already. You've decided to try and cover the rhythm guitar slot exclusively with a lap steel.If this the case, I think you've given yourself a hard way to go...although steel guitar can be used as a rhythm instrument, it's way better suited for leads, fills and pads. According to another thread you're an experienced guitar player. If it were me, I'd try 50/50 guitar/steel in the band, so I didn't have to try "rhythm steel" all night long. I'd have an understanding with the band, esp. the other guitarist, that there would have to be some room for me to
play steel "leads"-- a bunch of 'em, in fact-- or I wouldn't even bother joining up.
If I had a 6-string lap steel it might have (lo-hi) EBEG#BE, good for blues leads and rhythm strums. On an 8-string, I might try DADF#ADF#C. In this tuning, strings 3 to 8 are the same tuning as the one above, just a full step lower, a setup that allows some 2nd fret chord or single-note hammer-ons/bar slams that sound cool whan playing in E or A,
plus the F# for a high third, and a first string C (which pitchwise belongs between strings 3 and 4) for a good old dom 7th option.
If you decide to take a D-8 to rehearsal/gigs, and you don't have a lot of practice time on it yet, you could make one of the necks a 6-stringer for now, and work on one 6- and one 8-string tuning.
I don't think you're gonna want to stick around as the full-time steel-playing rhythm guitarist, though.

-Steve

Gerald Ross · From: Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Depends on what kind of blues.

First, I agree with Stephan Miller - using a steel as a rhythm guitar is a hard road to travel. You are not going to get the same chop that you will from a "real" guitar.

For Chicago and Mississippi style blues I would recommend an open E or D tuning. For more jump-swing blues, go C6.

You'll do fine with 6 strings. It's also much easier to pack up a 6 string and get out of the bar quickly at closing time.

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Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'

Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website
Board of Directors Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association

[This message was edited by Gerald Ross on 04 March 2005 at 04:22 PM.]

Dan Tyack · From: Olympia, WA USA

I'd go with a pedal steel with a Sacred Steel tuning...

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www.tyack.com

Craig Hawks · From: North Ridgeville, Ohio, USA

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the advice. I was pretty sure that that was what you we're going to tell. Sort of...use the right tool for the right job".

Dan, you just gave me the opening that I was looking for. It was Robert Randolph's screaming sound that reminded me of what David Lindley used to do with Jackson Browne. So I thought I'd be able to do the RR stuff on a non-pedal instrument, but so far...no go! Which leads me assume that I must not understand the Pedal instrument at all. I thought that all those pedals and lever stuff could be just as easily done with the hands. I guess not so, eh?

Bobby Lee · From: Cloverdale, California, USA

I use 8 strings but 7 would do:

B E F# G# B C# E

This gives you two positions for major chords: the obvious E and the B F# B low power chord. Plus the relative minor and a real nice pentatonic scale for lead.

Another idea is the 6 string tuning that I started out with so long ago:

A C# E G# B E

Again, it gives you two major chords so you have a bit of choice when comping rhythm.

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Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra SD-12 (Ext E9), Williams D-12 Crossover, Sierra S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop 8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster (E13, C6, A6)

Rockne Riddlebarger · From: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Hey Craig, the screaming sound of Robert Randolph has very little to do with being a pedal steel guitar, the screamiong part is a distortion device. Watch Robert play and you'll find out he isn't using much pedal action, especially while he's standing and dancing and playing at the same time. All of David Lindley's stuff was done on lap steel and certainly never suffered from the lack of pedals. For another "screaming blues" sound check out Freddie Roulette and his National lap steel playing over the last 40 years with Charlie Musselwhite, Roy Rodgers and many other Chicago based blues acts. Screaming rythym guitar rarely works anyway. I have done a couple of hundred blues shows as a lap steel player paired with various lead guitarists and it's the "give and take" between the two that creates the coolest dynamic allowing both to play rythym and lead roles in a band.

Dan Tyack · From: Olympia, WA USA

The screaming lead stuff is easily handled with a non pedal instrument. For Rhythm playing, especially in multiple keys, a pedal steel has a number of advantages.

Randy Reeves · From: LaCrosse, Wisconsin, USA

Im tuned C6 and playing blues. with this tuning I find it eay to turn on a dime and play another genre.
C6 is keeping me very happy.

open E , which I used in the past was ok. there are some nice power chords that could be suited to 12bar blues.
as the others have wisely posted, laps are great for fills etc...

Michael Devito · From: Montclair, NJ, USA

I do this at blues jams. It is much harder to keep up a creditable rythym backing with the lap steel. 6 strings is as much as I can handle; everybody is different that way. I prefer open D.

I always end up switching back to regular guitar (still in open tuning, open E) because it's so much easier to play rythym. That just indicates how much more I have to learn on lap steel. The power of this instrument seems so obvious, but expressing it in a live setting turns out to be a real challenge.

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