Which Is The "Melody" Neck?

[Will Helton]

I have a feeling the answer here will be "that's up to you", but I thought I'd ask.

I've read that Don Helms used his E neck for melodies and his B dominant neck for accompaniment and fills. That being the case, on a double neck lap steel/console steel, which is normally the melody neck and which the accompaniment neck?

I can appreciate that for some players they will both be melody necks depending on what tunings they have and what stuff they play, but if there is a broader set of players that make a distinction between melody and backing playing, does it matter which neck performs which role?

Thanks.

[Fred]

On my Rickenbacher D16 the extended Leavitt neck is my everything neck and the E13 is the lonely neck that just waits patiently.

[Stanislav Paskalev]

Fred, what is your extended Leavitt tuning ?

[Bill McCloskey]

The melody neck is the one that gives you the most interval options on a single fret.

[Fred]

Fred, what is your extended Leavitt tuning ?

I add an F# on the bottom and an F on top. It doesn't add much for jazz voicings, but for the rock and blues stuff I play it's good.

The bottom gets a Root, 5, b7 which I like.

At the top the F completes the Bb triad and the pentatonic scale on the top five strings. Bb major pentatonic or G minor pentatonic depending on where my head is for any particular song.

[Mike Neer]

If you are influenced by the Hawaiian style, Hindustani and Sacred steel, as long as you have a string you have a vehicle for melody. The western swing and country players play across the strings more than on a single string.

[Will Helton]

Thanks, everyone.

But which neck by position do you tend to make the melody neck? The front neck (furthest from the player) or the back neck (closest to the player)?

I currently have the A6 as my back neck and the E7 as my front neck. I only play the E7 when I want a very specific 7th chord sound or for some particular slides.

Would it be better to have the A6 neck as the front neck? I ask because I could then rest my arms on the back neck and maybe make playing easier (?).

Thanks for everyone's input.

[Bill McCloskey]

Great thing about steel: there are no rules. There isn't even consensus. Up to you: Some great pedal steel players put the C6 neck on the back neck, some great pedal steel players put the C6 neck on the front neck. The good and bad thing about steel, a lot of it is left up to the individual player.

[Michael Kiese]

Ultimately it's up to the individual player, whatever they want to do. There are no rules.

Having said that, I have noticed that there are 2 general approaches:

1) Joaquin Murphy approach: Single note lines separated from chords. Lots of great single note improvisations skillfully weaving through chord progressions like a horn player. Intermittent use of chord stabs. Melody could be attached to or separated from chords.

2) Alvino Rey and Noel Boggs approach: Every melody note is accompanied with a chord underneath type of approach. It's basically chordal playing with the melody note on top.

This is just my personal observation and interpretation. I'm not creating any "rules". I'm sure someone out there will take umbrage with what I said. But that's how I think of it and others are free to disagree and interpret in their own way. It's all good.

It seems to me that a lot of old time players gravitated towards one camp or the other. Few players did/do both equally well.

Tunings seem to favor one style over the other. Both approaches are super cool and valid.

There are no solutions, only trade offs.

So identify whichever style you personally like best, put that tuning on the neck that is the most physically comfortable for you to play. Put the other tuning on the other neck(s) because you'll use it less.

Approach #1 tends to be C6 (or some type of major 6 voicing), and Approach #2 tends to be some kind of Dominant 7 voicing.

Just my 2¢. Enjoy!

[Will Helton]

Thanks, everyone. This has been a really informative discussion.

As I play A6 and E7, I can easily alter the tunings to swap the necks around and see which set up I physically find easier to play.

Have a good one and thanks again to everyone for your input. It's gold dust for players like me.