Steel guitar

The steel guitar differs from a regular guitar in the way that it is played. The lap steel guitar is held in your lap facing toward you. The strings are raised above the fretboard; rather than pressing them to the fretboard, a steel bar is pressed against the strings. Typically the lap steel guitar is tuned in one of several "open" tunings rather than standard guitar tuning.

Steel guitars were originally invented and popularized in Hawaii. Legend has it that Joseph Kekuku, a Hawaiian schoolboy, discovered the sound while walking along a railroad track strumming his guitar. He picked up a bolt lying by the track and slid the metal along the strings of his guitar. Intrigued by the sound, he taught himself to play using the back of a knife blade. Other persons who have been credited with the invention of the steel guitar include Gabriel Davion, an Indian sailor, around 1885, and James Hoa, a Hawaiian of Portuguese ancestry.

Many country and bluegrass players use the Dobro® (or a resonator guitar), a steel guitar which uses an internal resonator to make it louder. "Dobro®" is a registered trademark of the Original Musical Instrument Company. Other resonator-equipped guitars are made by many different companies, including National, Melobar, Scheerhorn, and Johnson. You will sometimes see these referred to as "resophonic" or "ampliphonic" guitars.

The steel guitar eventually mutated as players sought to expand its usage. Additional strings were added, then additional necks. As the guitars got heavier, they were placed on legs, changing from lap steels to table steels. Finally pedals and knee levers were attached to the strings, allowing the player to change tunings as the guitar is played. The pedal steel guitar is the main steel guitar played today.

Brad's Page of Steel (http://www.well.com/user/wellvis/steel.html) discusses lap steel guitars in more detail. The Steel Guitar Forum (http://www.steelguitarforum.com) is a discussion board for all steel guitarists. Information on the pedal steel guitar is available through Carter Steel Guitars (http://www.steelguitarinfo.com).