Hawaiian Steel Guitar

Hawaiian Music is a Style, Not a Guitar

People often ask, what's that instrument you're playing called. I tell them it is a “lap steel guitar” or a “pedal steel guitar,” depending on which I take to the beach. Both are unique and beautiful and Hawaiian music can be played equally beautiful on both instruments.

The first thing you need to learn is that Hawaiian music is a style, not a guitar. Albeit, I prefer the lap steel for Hawaiian music at the beach because it is lightweight and less burdensome if it starts raining suddenly. Besides, I love the simplicity of the lap steel. I've been playing less expensive lap steels lately in public to encourage people that it doesn't requires a $1700 Jerry Byrd Frypan guitar to sound great. My Rogue Jersey Lightning is awesome with as good a sustain as the Jerry Byrd Frypan (if not better). Here's a video on YouTube of me playing the Rogue Jersey Lightning lap steel through a Peavey Session 400 amplifier. Here's the MP3 backing track I made with Band-in-a-Box, which you can have and share with others. Here's a much better MP3 version of E MAMA E that I recorded, which you can also have and share with others. God bless and enjoy!

Here's What A Friend We Have In Jesus that I also recorded. The track is freely available on my “Rhythm Tracks” page.

In this article, I want to focus on Hawaiian technique and not so much tunings, although I'm going to stick to the C6th tuning for simplicity (and because that's what I play 95% of my Hawaiian music on, B11th coming in 2nd). I don't claim originality for any of these musical pieces. Most of them are from albums I've heard and worked hard to figure them out. Please read, Playing Music and Emotional Feelings.

By “style” I am referring to numerous techniques that are quite popular on steel guitar giving it that distinctive Hawaiian sound. Here are dozens of different pieces of music on C6th tuning which I have recorded on lap steel and some tabs to guide you to learn them on the C6th lap steel. This will help get you going and give you a great start playing Hawaiian steel guitar.

Jerry Byrd teaches...

“Steel guitar is a Hawaiian instrument by birth and what I consider to be the signature sound of Hawaiian music. Having undergone many changes, both physically and musically, in the hundred-plus years of its existence, it is, I will say without hesitation, one of the most difficult instruments to master.” —Jerry Byrd, “It Was A Trip On Wings Of Music,” by Jerry Byrd (1920-2005); © 2003, p. 110.

I have tried to be helpful by indicating which fingers I used to pick the notes, placing a letter after each number. Of course, the number represents the fret upon which to place the bar on the designated string.

T=thumb
F=forefinger (or index finger)
M=middle finger

1. Hawaiian Piece 01 | Hawaiian Piece 01b | Hawaiian Piece 01c | Hawaiian Piece 01d

   E___8M___________12M______12~~10M___8~M___________________________

   C_______9T~~~12______12T__________________________________________

   A________________________________________7T_______________________

   G_________________________________________________________________

   E_________________________________________________________________

   C#___Note: on 01b version I start on 9th fret instead of 8th._____

2. Hawaiian Piece 02 (to chime the notes at fret 17, gently place your palm across the strings and rake your thumb pick across strings 5 through 2 and then immediately lift your palm off the strings)

   E_________________________________________________________________

   C____5M____*5~~~17____Thumb rakes across strings 5 and 4__________

   A____5F____*5~~~17________________________________________________

   G____5T____*5~~~17________________________________________________

   E____5T____*5~~~17________________________________________________

   C#_*chime across strings using palm harmonics at the 17th fret.___

3. Hawaiian Piece 03

   E_________________________________________________________________

   C____5~~~17_______________________________________________________

   A____5~~~17_______________________________________________________

   G____5~~~17_______________________________________________________

   E____5~~~17_______________________________________________________

   C#________________________________________________________________

4. Hawaiian Piece 04

   E____*5__________________3M__4M__~5M______________________________

   C_____*5_________4M__5M___________________________________________

   A______*5____5F___________________________________________________

   G_________5(thumb plays__________~5T______________________________

   E___________(this note)___________________________________________

   C#__*Back-rake across the first 3 strings using your forefinger___

5. Hawaiian Piece 05

   E___*5F___________________________________________________________

   C____*5F__________________________________________________________

   A_____*5F_________________________________________________________

   G________5T (note that thumb plays this note)_____________________

   E_________________________________________________________________

   C#___*same as above, back-rake with forefinger toward you.________

6. Hawaiian Piece 06

   E______*3~0~3~0M_____________0~1M____1M___________________________

   C________________________0F__________0F___________________________

   A___________________0~1F_____________0T___________________________

   G_______________0T________________________________________________

   E_________________________________________________________________

   C#_*string one is only picked once at 3rd fret, then bar bounced__

7. Hawaiian Piece 07

   E_________________________________________________________________

   C____*5~~~17__________These are palm harmonics.___________________

   A____*5~~~17______________________________________________________

   G____*5~~~17__________Notice that you are sliding up one octave.__

   E____*5~~~17______________________________________________________

   C#__*Rake across strings while gently lifting palm off 17th fret._

8. Hawaiian Piece 08 (thumb is used on string 5, and middle finger on string 2)

   E___Below you are blocking the 5th string with the thumb pick.____

   C_____4~~6___6~~8___8~~9___9~~11____11~9___9~~8___8~~6___6~~4__4__

   A_________________________________________________________________

   G_________________________________________________________________

   E___4______5______7______9_______11______9______7______5_______4__

   C#________This technique is called pick blocking._________________

9. Hawaiian Piece 09 (thumb is used on string 4, and middle finger on string 1)

   E____4~~5___5~~7___7~~9___9~~11___11~~9___9~~7___7~~5___5~~4____5_

   C______________________________________________________________5__

   A_________________________________________________________________

   G__4______6______8______9______11_______9______8______6_______5___

   E_________________________________________________________________

   C#___Same exact technique as above, but on strings 1 and 4________

10. Hawaiian Piece 10 (thumb is used on string 4, and middle finger on string 1)

    E___8________6________5_________3______1__________________________

    C_________________________________________________________________

    A__________________________________________These are advanced_____

    G_____9~8~7____7~6~5_____5~4~3____3~2______techniques, but you____

    E__________________________________________need to know them so___

    C#___This is a great scale exercise._______you can work on them.__

11. Hawaiian Piece 11

    E_________________________________________________________________

    C___9~M___________________4M___5M_________________________________

    A_______8T_____5F_____3F__________________________________________

    G___________5T_____3T__________5F_________________________________

    E______________________________5T_________________________________

    C#________________________________________________________________

12. Hawaiian Piece 12 | Hawaiian Piece 12b

    E________5~~3M____________________________________________________

    C_______________4~~2F_____________________________________________

    A_____________________1T__2T__3T__________________________________

    G___4~5T__________________________________________________________

    E_________________________________________________________________

    C#________________________________________________________________

13. Hawaiian Piece 13

    E____10M__9~8M____________________________________________________

    C______________8F_________________________________________________

    A_________________7T__6T__5T___4F_________________________________

    G_________________________________5T______________________________

    E_________________________________________________________________

    C#________________________________________________________________

14. Hawaiian Piece 14 | Hawaiian Piece 14b

    E______~6~5M_______________________On this piece fingering is_____

    C_________________~7~6M___5M_______very important to sound right._

    A_________________________________________________________________

    G____5T______5F___________5F_________T=thumb___M=middle finger____

    E_______________6T________5T___________F=fore (index) finger______

    C#________________________________________________________________

15. Hawaiian Piece 15 | Hawaiian Piece 15b (same as first, but on 10th fret)

    E____5~~~___5~~~____5___5_________________________________________

    C___________________5___5_________________________________________

    A___*5~~7___7~~5__________________________________________________

    G___________________5___4_________________________________________

    E_*reverse bar slant and then slant back down after picking again_

    C#________________________________________________________________

16. Hawaiian Piece 16

    E___________5M______8M___________10M___10M___10M___10M____________

    C_____________6F______9F___________________________10F____________

    A_______________6T______9T___~10~~~T___9T_________________________

    G___4T__5T___________________________________10T___9T_____________

    E_________________________________________________________________

    C#________________________________________________________________

17. Hawaiian Piece 17

    E___________________________________________________3_3_4_5_______

    C______________4M_4M~5M~_____________________4__~5__3_3_4_5__5____

    A__3M_______3M___________3F~___2F_3~2~3F___3F___~5___________5____

    G______2~3F_________________2T__________~3T_____~5__3_3_4_5__5____

    E____3T_________________________________________~5___________5____

    C#________________________________________________________________

18. Hawaiian Piece 18

    E_________________________________________________________________

    C_______________________4M___5M___________________________________

    A___2F__3~2~3F______3F_______5F___________________________________

    G______________~3T___________5T___________________________________

    E____________________________5T___________________________________

    C#________________________________________________________________

19. Hawaiian Piece 19 (clips 19 through 33 all recorded with $79 Rogue lap steel. Listen to musical pieces 34 and 35 to hear a 24 1/2" long-scale Jerry Byrd aluminum Frypan and the rich difference in tone. The Jerry Byrd Frypan is much nicer, having a beautiful tone. It's the original stock factory pickup in the Byrd Frypan. Plus, the $79 lap steels fall apart after a few years and don't stay in tune as well. You get what you pay for. Still, you can't beat $79 for what you get, with a stand and legs. By the way, consider a quality 'Deluxe 34' laptop stand for your lap steel if you'd like one.)

    E________________~10__9__8________10____*I'm recording clips 19___

    C_______7__9~________________10__________through 33 with my Rogue_

    A____8________8______________10__________$79 lap steel, through___

    G____________________________10___10_____a G5222 Gretsch amp &____

    E____________________________10__________a BOSS '63 Reverb pedal._

    C#________________________________________________________________

20. Hawaiian Piece 20

    E_______________3__4__5_______________~10__9__8___________________

    C_________4__5________________7__9~______________10_______________

    A_______5__________________8________8____________10_______________

    G_____5_______________5__________________________10_______________

    E________________________________________________10_______________

    C#________________________________________________________________

21. Hawaiian Piece 21 | Hawaiian Piece 21b

    E_______________________7_________________________________________

    C________12______7_________5_______All natural harmonics__________

    A______12______7_____5____________________________________________

    G___*12______7____________________________________________________

    E_________________________________________________________________

    C#_*use left hand pinky finger to chime all of these (no bar)_____

22. Hawaiian Piece 22

    E____4~~5T_________________________________________________________

    C____4~~5T___________6M~5__________________________________________

    A____4~~5T_________6M_~~5___*5~~17_________________________________

    G____4~~5T_______6F_~~~~5____5~~17_________________________________

    E____4~~5T___5~6T_~~~~~~5____5~~17_________________________________

    C#_________________________________*palm harmonics_________________

23. Hawaiian Piece 23 | Hawaiian Piece 23b (same as first, but then I raise the bar to fret 5)

    E_________________________________________________________________

    C___*4M~~________*I begin my downward bar slide at about _________

    A____4F~~_________fret number 10. I also back off the volume______

    G____4T~~_________and then raise it as I'm sliding down into______

    E____4T~~_________home base at fret number 4._____________________

    C#________________________________________________________________

24. Hawaiian Piece 24

    E__________*Thumb rakes across all of these.______________________

    C__*~6___~6___5___________________________________________________

    A___~6___~6___5___________________________________________________

    G___~6___~6___5___________________________________________________

    E___~6___~6___5___________________________________________________

    C#________________________________________________________________

25. Hawaiian Piece 25 (The following musical piece works very nicely in many Hawaiian songs; such as, "Beyond the Reef" and "Farewell My Tani")

E_________________________________________________________________

C___________6~~9~~12~11~10________________________________________

A______5~6~~~~~9~~12~11~10________________________________________

G___5_____________________________________________________________

E_________________________________________________________________

C#________________________________________________________________

26. Hawaiian Piece 26

E__________________8___~10_____8__________________________________

C____________7~8____________9_____________________________________

A_______5~7_______________________________________________________

G____5____________________________________________________________

E_________________________________________________________________

C#________________________________________________________________

27. Hawaiian Piece 27

E_________________8~10______8_____________________________________

C____________7~8________9______8__________________________________

A_______5~7________________________7___6___5______________________

G____5____________________________________________________________

E_________________________________________________________________

C#________________________________________________________________

28. Hawaiian Piece 28

E_________________8~~12~11~10~9~8_________________________________

C____________7~8~~~~~12~11~10~9~8_________________________________

A_______5~7_______________________________________________________

G____5____________________________________________________________

E_________________________________________________________________

C#________________________________________________________________

29. Hawaiian Piece 29

E___*13M_____________________________Note: For the second part____

C_____13F___15M___13M___12M__________of the clip, I'm simply______

A____________15F___13F___12F_________alternating the same fingers_

G____________________________________shown (Mexican style)._______

E_________________________________________________________________

C#___*I'm simply picking the strings backwards, separately._______

30. Hawaiian Piece 30

E___0M___0___0___0___0___0___0____________________________________

C___2F___2___1___1___0___0___1____________________________________

A___2T___2___1___1___0___0___1____________________________________

G_________________________________________________________________

E_____Note: This piece is common in Hawaiian intros, songs________

C#____like 'Analani E'.___________________________________________

31. Hawaiian Piece 31

E____0M____0____0_________________________________________________

C____11F___10___9_________________________________________________

A____11T___10___9_________________________________________________

G_________________________________________________________________

E______Note: This is used in 'Panhandle Rag' (not Hawaiian song)__

C#_____but it's something that's good to learn.___________________

32. Hawaiian Piece 32

E____0M____0_____0____0____0______________________________________

C____0F____0_____0____0____0______________________________________

A____10T___12___~13___12___10_____________________________________

G_________________________________________________________________

E____Note: This is more of a Western Swing piece, but I want______

C#___you to learn about working with open strings.________________

33. Hawaiian Piece 33

E_____0M__________________________________________________________

C____~4T___0F_____________________________________________________

A_________~3T___0F________________________________________________

G______________~2T___0F___________________________________________

E___________________~3T___________________________________________

C#____This is another interesting piece you should know.__________

34. Hawaiian Piece 34 (I used a Jerry Byrd 24 1/2" long scale Frypan to record the musical pieces below for 34 and 35. You you can hear the rich tone in comparison to the $79 Rogue steel used from pieces 19-33)

E____5~3M_________________________________________________________

C_________3F______________________________________________________

A____________3T__2T_______________________________________________

G___________________3T__2T________________________________________

E_________________________________________________________________

C#________________________________________________________________

35. Hawaiian Piece 35

E____5~3M______________________________________~6M________________

C_________3F____________________________5F_________5F~____________

A____________3T__2T_________3F__4T__5T_____5T_________4T__________

G___________________3T__2T________________________________________

E_________________________________________________________________

C#________________________________________________________________

Jules Ah See 'Beyond the Reef' Intro

36. Hawaiian Piece 36 (I play it through slow, and then full speed so you can learn the notes)

E__________5__4~~3_______________|_______________5~6~_____________

C________5_________3_____________|___________5________5~__________

A______5_____________3__2________|___3__4~5____5_________4________

G___~5_____________________3__2__|________________________________

E________________________________|________________________________

C#_______________________________|________________________________

37. Hawaiian Piece 37 (this is part of Herb Remington's instrumental song, SWEETNIN.' Try it with an A6th rhythm track or a C6th Rhythm Track (uses real instruments in track). Hear me play the song using an older BB track, or watch on YouTube (I used A6th in the video). The A6th is the same as the C6th with a high G, just 1 1/2 tones lower in pitch. Herb Remington popularized this A6th tuning. I like the A6th because the lower pitched strings have a richer tone to them. I slowed the tempo of the song down a bit from Herb's original to give it more of a swing feel. Here's part of the tabs below. These are good muting and chiming techniques to learn. This is a great song (see bottom half of page) to learn and play...

E______________0_______7_7___5_5__________________________________

C____0_0___2___0___7___7_7___5_5___0_0___2__0_____________________

A____0_0___2_______7_______________0_0___2__0_____________________

G_________________________________________________________________

E_____All of the above notes are played by muting the strings_____

C#____with the right hand placed just before the bridge.__________

E___*12___*7__*5__*7_________repeat above section again.__________

C___*12___*7__*5__*7______________________________________________

A_________________________________________________________________

G___*These notes are all chimed using palm harmonics. These are___

E___natural harmonics, meaning that you don't use the bar to play_

C#__them. Place your pinky across the two strings and chime.______

The following pieces (38-43) were recorded using an 8 string CANOPUS brand guitar tuned to standard C6th with an added Bb (dominant 7th chord).

In this first piece, I do some thumping (as I call it) exercises on the bottom string tuned to a low C. I use two different techniques so you can here what they both sound like. In the first technique, I simply use the thumb pick to block the string after picking it, and then move down to the next fret. I don't skip any frets, thumping each fret as I descend down to fret three. In the second technique, I actually raise the bar off the string just a little bit each time after picking the string, to give it that chicken-pickin quality.

38. Hawaiian Piece 38

E___________*To learn this, simply start slow and accurate._______

C______________*Accuracy is more important than speed.____________

A______*As you get the hang of it, your speed will increase.______

G_____*It's great practice to move your bar one fret at a time____

E______up and down the neck. Go up an octave and then down._______

C_________________________________________________________________

Bb________________________________________________________________

C____10___10__9__8__7__6__5__4__3_________________________________

E__*Notice below that I silence the 9th string while sliding up.__

B__________3~~14~15_______________________________________________

A_________3~~~14~15____*Just touch the string with your thumb_____

G________3~~~~14~15_____pick while sliding to silence it._________

E_______3~~~~~14~15_______________________________________________

C______3~~~~~~14~15_______________________________________________

Bb___*3~~~_____*I block the 9th string because it doesn't sound___

C____3~~~~~~~~14~15_____good in an octave slide.__________________

39. Hawaiian Piece 39 (I use the preceding technique in the song, “Beyond The Reef,” just to give you an idea how it is used. I tabbed out some of the parts below)...

E______________________________________|_____________________3____

C_____8________________________________|___*10~~12~~10___8___3____

A_____8_________________________11~10__|___*10~~11~~10___8________

G_____8________________________11~~10__|_____________________3____

E_____8___8___9___10__________11~~~10__|____10~~~~~~~~___8________

C_________8___9___10_________11~~~~10__|__________________________

Bb________8___9___10________11~~~~~10__|___*forward bar slant_____

C______________________10~11~~~~~~~10__|__________________________

40. Hawaiian Piece 40 (The following is the A13th tuning. I recorded this piece twice, this one doesn't hold the bass note at the end quite as much. Notice the G note on the seventh string. Also, notice that string 2 is lowered to a B note instead of the normal C. This is not a standard tuning, just a variation that you should be aware of for particular songs, like “Unforgettable.” Jules Ah See used this A13 piece below on “Beyond The Reef” with Barney Isaacs, on the album “Hawaiian Shores.”

E___Click Here for complete tabs and history____________

B___< NOTICE B NOTE INSTEAD OF C__________________________________

A_________________________________________________________________

G_________________________________________________________________

E_________________________________________________________________

C_________________________________________________________________

G___< NOTICE G NOTE INSTEAD OF Bb_________________________________

C_________________________________________________________________

41. Hawaiian Piece 41 (this piece uses some of the things I just shared with you. I tabbed out the single string solo for you. I played the piece a little slower here. You can hear the descending note pattern (bass thumping) again as I taught you in Hawaiian Piece 38)...

E__________10~~13___11~____11~___________8~9__8__7__|_______________________

C________10___________________10______9_____________|_______________________

A___9~10______________10________10~9________________|_________________10____

G___________________________________________________|________________10_____

E___________________________________________________|__8__9__10_____10______

C___________________________________________________|__8__9__10____10_______

Bb__________________________________________________|__8__9__10___10________

C___________________________________________________|____________10_________

42. Hawaiian Piece 42 (this is very Hawaiian sounding. I learned this from George De Fretes song, “Beyond The Reef.”

E_____________12_____~13__12__12~10_______________________________

C_______________________________________________11~12__12__*12____

A___________________________________10_______10___________________

G_____________12__12____________________9~10___________12_________

E____11__12____________________________________________12_________

C____11__12_______________________________________________________

Bb______________*Palm harmonic (also called a chime)______________

C_________________________________________________________________

43. Hawaiian Piece 43 (a variation of “Beyond The Reef.” Notice especially the large chord voicings and then the end chord. I like the sound of the very last chord, dropping from the 4th fret to the 3rd)...

E___________10__9__8______________________________________________

C___9__10___________________10____8___7___6~5___3_________________

A___9__10___10__9__8_______10~____8_________________4~~3__________

G_________________________10~~____________________________________

E________________________10~~~____8___6___5~4___3___4~~3__________

C___________10__9__8____10~~~~______________________4~~3__________

Bb_____________________10~~~~~____________________________________

C_____________________10~~~~~~____________________________________

44. Hawaiian Piece 44 (you can use the following two licks in tons of songs. It's a great technique to learn.)

E_________________5___6___*7~8____________________________________

C______________5______________*8__________________________________

A_________5~6___________________*7___6___5________________________

G___5__5__________________________________________________________

E_________________________________________________________________

C______*triples (three notes played in duration of one note)______

45. Hawaiian Piece 45

E____________________5___6___*7~8_________________________________

C_________________6_______________*8______________________________

A___________5~6______________________*7___6___5___________________

G____~5__5________________________________________________________

E_________________________________________________________________

C_____*triples (three notes played in duration of one note)_______

46. Hawaiian Piece 46 (here's 4 beautiful clips that only Leonard T. Zinn could play so beautiful. Watch video)

E________5___________________3________5___5_______________________

C___________7___________________4__5__5___5_______________________

A_______________7~6_______________________________________________

G___4__5______________5~4__3__________5___5_______________________

E_________________________________________________________________

C_________________________________________________________________

47. Hawaiian Piece 47 (Leonard T. Zinn. Watch video)

E__________3______________________________________________________

C_____________4~_________4~~5___5_________________________________

A_____________________3___________________________________________

G____2__3_________3_____________5_________________________________

E___________________________5___5_________________________________

C_________________________________________________________________

48. Hawaiian Piece 48 (Leonard T. Zinn. Watch video)

E______________~11___10~9~8______________10_____________________________

C_____________________________10_______10____~13_____11__12__12~10___9__

A_______9~~10____________________________________13__11__12__12~10___9__

G___9________________10~9~8___10___9_10_________________________________

E_____________________________10_____________________________________8__

C_______________________________________________________________________

49. Hawaiian Piece 49 (Leonard T. Zinn. Watch video). I added a variation below. As a general rule, don't forget to use vibrato on any note that pauses when playing steel guitar. I've had people come up to me and say they really like the vibrato. This is a classic Hawaiian piece...

E__________5__3________________________~5~~4__3___________________

C________________4~~2_______4~~~__5____~5~~4__3___________________

A_______________________1_________5_______________________________

G____4__5_________________________5_______________________________

E______________________________5__5_______________________________

C_________________________________________________________________

E__________5~3_________________3_________5___5____________________

C_______________4~3_______________4~5________5____________________

A_____________________3~2__1______________________________________

G____4__5____________________________________5____________________

E_________________________________________________________________

C_________________________________________________________________

50. Hawaiian Piece 50

E___1_______1~~~~~~~6~~~~~~~~~~5~~~17_____________________________

C____1_______1~~~~~~~6~~~~~~~~5~~~~17_____________________________

A_____1_______1~~~~~~~6~~~~~~5~~~~~17_____________________________

G______1_______1~~~~~~~6~~~~5~~~~~~17_____________________________

E_______1_______1~~~~~~~6~~5~~~~~~~17_____________________________

C_________________________________________________________________

51. Hawaiian Piece 51 (I recorded this clip so you could learn this important technique. It's not difficult if you get the technique correct. The triplets begin with the thumb. That's the key. Focus on that first note with the thumb, and then the other two notes will follow. I sometimes use my forefinger, and at other times my middle finger. Use what feels most comfortable and NATURAL to you.)

E__*This is a popular Hawaiian technique which Bud Tutmarc mastered.__

C_____________________________________________________________________

A____5M______*5M______________________________________________________

G_________*5T___*5T___4T______________________________________________

E_____________________________________________________________________

C__*triples (three notes played in duration of one note)______________

52. Hawaiian Piece 52

E__________________________________________________________11__10___

C___________________________________________________11~~___11__10___

A______3______6_______9_______12___________________11~~~___11__10___

G________3_____6_______9________12____12~11_______11~~~~____________

E_____3______6_______9_______12______12~~11______11~~~~~____________

C_______________________________________________11~~~~~~____________

Bb___3______6_______9_______12______12~~~11____11~~~~~~~____________

C_____________________________________________11~~~~~~~~____________

53. Hawaiian Piece 53

E_________________________________________________________________

C_________________________________________________________________

A_________________________________________________________________

G_________________________________________________________________

E_________________________________________________________________

C_________________________________________________________________

A Kayton Roberts Hawaiian Piece

Here's a great Hawaiian lick by Kayton Roberts at 1:29 in this nice video. I tabbed the piece below. Kayton is simply following the chords, but he's playing the notes separately. So you can play other chords like this too, which is important to obtain that cool Hawaiian sound...

E_________________________________________________________________

C_________________________________________________________________

A________7~______5~_______4~______________________________________

G_________________________________________________________________

E_________________________________________________________________

C____8_______6________4________2__________________________________

Here's some Hawaiian techniques to incorporate into your playing from Jerry Byrd's timeless song Lovely Hula Hands ...

• Lovely Hula Hands Clip 01 - Here Jerry is moving the bar back-n-forth on string one between frets 10 and 8, which sounds nice. You can watch me play the song here.

• Lovely Hula Hands Clip 02 - Dropping down from one note to another. There are many different ways to use this technique, jumping up or dropping down a note or many notes.

• Lovely Hula Hands Clip 03 - The “p-tah” (playing 2 note as if they were one) which is done by picking the 7th fret on the 3rd string with the thumb pick, and then immediately after you begin sliding up, change to string 1 and pick it at the 8th fret, sliding up into the 10th fret. If you listen to the following clip very closely, you'll hear the bar leaving the 7th fret and then immediately Jerry picks the 1st string and slides up into the 10th fret on string one. I've actually slowed the piece down considerably in this clip, so you can hear exactly what Jerry is doing. The goal is to make it sound seamless, which takes much practice to get it to sound natural and Hawaiian. It's one of those things that sound better by just doing it instead of trying to explain it. Also, Jerry's Bakelite Rickenbacher and old amp had a loud-horn kind of tone to it, which is desired for Hawaiian. The piece would be tabbed follows...

  E___________________~10___8~______________________________________

  C_____________________________7~__________________________________

  A_________5__6__*7~_______________________________________________

  G___5__5_________________________5________________________________

  E__________________*p-tah going from 7th fret to 10th fret________

  C#________________________________________________________________
  

• Lovely Hula Hands Clip 04 - Here's some beautiful Hawaiian style playing. You'll hear another drop-down at the end. Notice how the notes flow and sound progressive. This only comes with practice. Jerry has an arrangement that he worked up, knowing what note comes next, so he can focus on quality of the tone instead of what to play next. Once you learn a song very well, and also know the scales within that chord, then you can increase the beauty of the song and your skills.

• Lovely Hula Hands Clip 05 - Minor chords used in the song.

• Lovely Hula Hands Clip 06 - Here you can learn how harmonics are used in a Hawaiian song. I'm beginning to make it a goal to use harmonics in almost every song, except the faster ones like Sand. If you don't plan to use harmonics on purpose, then you'll avoid them by habit and they won't become a natural part of your playing. What really got me into playing harmonics was listening to my own recordings and how pretty the harmonics sound. So I decided to use them more. Listen to your own playing (record it and then listen while drinking a cold iced tea and resting) to see what's missing, or what sounds good. Play what you hear, and hear what you play. It's an important learning tool.

• Lovely Hula Hands Clip 07 - Classic Hawaiian piece that everyone should learn. Again, notice the p-tah toward the end of the clip (as explained in clip 3 above).

• Lovely Hula Hands Clip 08 - Another important aspect of this particular song (and many others Jerry played) is the equipment he used. Listen to the amp and it sounds like a blow-horn almost. This clip is the ending of the song. Jerry plays string 3 open, then fret one, then string 2 open, string 1 open, and then plays across strings 1,2,3 on fret one (minor chord). Then he slides up from fret 5 to fret 17. Those little battery-powered MicroCube sold by Roland are great for Hawaiian music. The speaker is small, but the reverb is great and the sound is perfect for Hawaiian. Jerry Byrd's sound changed drastically in his latter years, using different equipment. Those old Bakelite Rickenbachers are great, which is what Jerry is using here.

• Sophisticated Hula Clip 01 - Here you can hear the p-tah being played more pronounced. Again, listen to the note starting the p-tah and you'll hear Jerry slide upward from it. It's just a split second in timing, but you can hear it, which shows that he is leaving that first note and sliding up into the second (last) note on string 1. Please note in this p-tah that jerry uses a foot volume pedal to give that clean sound. Note that Jerry uses at least a .016" gauge for string one, which is thicker than what is recommended by most. A thin string WON'T give you the sound your desire.

• Sophisticated Hula - This technique is rarely used today, playing progressive scale runs in a song. I love doing this technique, which you can here me play in the song, The Hukilau Song. Here I tab Jerry's scale run in this clip of Sophisticated Hula. It's important to learn scales, and they're not difficult to learn at all. Then incorporate some nice pieces of music (dancing as some say, or weaving your way) through the scales. The hardest part about playing Hawaiian music (once you've gotten past using the picks and coordinating your fingers to pick string groups) is knowing WHAT to play. Listening to other players helps a great deal. I like Alan Akaka's recent album, SIMPLY STEEL, because he tells you the exact tuning he used and even gives you the string tuning on back of the CD cover. Alan plays 7 songs in C6th, 5 using B11th, and 1 using D9th (which is just lowering string 4 from G to F# on your C6th).

• Here's Some More Hawaiian Techniques (YouTube has many awesome recordings from steel guitar players of decades past, like Alvino Rey and Buddy Merrill. You can learn a lot about technique from watching them. One thing that I noticed immediately is the energy that those two men put into their playing. A lot of players today are afraid to really get into their steel guitar. it's kind of like learning to drive a car for the first time... either you control the car or it'll control you. You have to take control, and the same is true concerning steel guitar. Don't be afraid to pick and strum more aggressively, and to try new and weird things with your volume and tone controls. A lot of times you'll learn new things just from experimenting with sounds and techniques, especially by watching others. Alvino Rey has so much energy when he plays... raking the strings forward and backward, doing palm harmonics on the 5th, 7th,12th, 19th and 24th frets.

Here's an MP3 song of me playing What A Friend We Have In Jesus on a Jerry Byrd long-scale S-6 Frypan, with that old-timey style of single note playing and lots of vibrato. I prefer a larger pedal steel bar, which gives me more to grip onto while playing the lap steel. I'm recording with a USB interface directly into MixCraft software on my computer. I made the background track with Band-in-a-Box 2010.5. Here's the track for you to download and play along with yourself or record Enjoy! I shared this with you so you could hear the superb tone of the Jerry Byrd Frypan lap steel. If you'd like to have it, here's the original source file for BIAB to work with it yourself.

Awesome Palm “Muting” Technique at Bridge

IF YOU'RE NOT USING THE MUTING TECHNIQUE ON A REGULAR BASIS, THEN YOU'RE MISSING HAWAIIAN STEEL GUITAR COMPLETELY.

I have recorded numerous songs with my $79 Artisan lapsteel (now sold by Rogue and others), which I enjoy playing because there is nothing covering the bridge, which allows me to mute the strings easily. I use the muting technique quite a bit in Hawaiian playing. You simply place the palm of your right hand near the bridge, and it mutes the strings. It is a really great sound and always surprises people when they hear it. Here's Kayton Roberts using this technique in the song, Little Brown Gal.

There are several brands of lapsteels being sold today that place a steel plate over the bridge, preventing the player from muting the strings. It's because you've got people building lapsteels who don't play them. You'll also see Kayton Roberts in the video doing some nifty tone swells with his left-hand on the tone knob. To do this technique, you slide the bar up into the desired chord while turning the tone control to bright at the same time. Then back off with the bar while turning the tone control to muddy at the same time. You do this quickly a few times and that's the effect. Nice!

On My Yellow Ginger Lei and The Hukilau Song I played steel guitar accompaniment. You can download My Yellow Ginger Lei and The Hukilau Song here. You can hear me demonstrating the awesome palm muting technique in The Hukilau Song. Not enough steel players use this awesome technique these days. It is 100% Hawaiian! You need this technique to play Hawaiian War Chant and The Hukilau Song correctly. It's simple to do... you just place the palm of your right hand at the guitar bridge. Then pick while your hand is muting the strings. Some guitars are built by people who don't know about this technique, so they place a chrome cover over the bridge, thus preventing palm muting. Ironically, the cheap $99 Rogue lap steel is built properly.
 

A Great Lap Steel for An Affordable Price

Here's a fantastic lap steel at an affordable price. I own the red one (I think it matches the gig bag best) and it sounds awesome. It has felt glued underside to keep it from slipping off your lap. Strings mount through the body. The sustain is awesome. Note: I removed the chrome plate over the bridge so I could do palm muting. I highly recommend that you do the same. There's just 2 Philip's screws to remove. The pickup is chrome anyway, so you don't need the cover. It looks very nice without the cover and feels much more comfortable being able to place your hand over the bridge or close to it. That chrome plate is terrible.

I left the round wound strings on the guitar that came with it and they sound great; but note that the 6th string is about .065" and won't tune up to C# (C6th + A7th) without likely breaking.


Bar Bouncing, Tone and Volume Swells

Here's Buddy Merrill perfectly demonstrating some bar bouncing and great tone control knob swells. If this kid can play this good at age 15, then anyone can learn to play steel guitar if they apply themselves. Here's more Buddy, doing some great tone swell technique. You can see in the video where Lawrence Welk required for the "Fender" logo to be covered over. No company's name was promoted if they didn't pay to be advertised on the Lawrence Welk Show.

Don't be afraid to try new things on your steel. You can see Lawrence Welk telling Buddy to smile for the audience while playing. Considering all the things going on around him, it's amazing that Buddy plays so flawlessly. You can learn a lot from this video. Don't shy away from the strings. As you can see, Buddy Merrill takes control of the strings. It's kind of like driving a car, i.e., either you control the car, or else the car controls you. Pulsating the volume knob quickly with the left-hand is used to make violin sounds on the steel guitar. Using the tone knob produces swells like Buddy Merrill is performing in this classic video.

Here's Alvino Rey, a truly amazing musician, playing the song HINDUSTAN, from his steel guitar instrumental album, PING PONG. Alvino makes his steel guitar sound like a muted horn, by using the same technique that Buddy uses, but playing only one note. Alvino also uses more hand and bar movement to achieve the desired effect. These are amazing videos that are worth a thousand words to the steel guitar student. Very few players today are able to perform these techniques. They have been lost over the decades. No steel guitar course that I know of teaches how to do these techniques. We are fortunate to have these videos to learn from. Anyone can play steel guitar; but a true musician is also an entertainer and can amuse the audience with various techniques, such as the ones you've seen demonstrated in these classic videos. I like making train sounds, which is nothing more than a diminished chord and some volume pedal swells. You slide the bar into the diminished chord while pressing down on the volume pedal.

You can also see Alvino Rey doing some back-raking with his picks. I use this technique much on my Hawaiian album that I recorded for my mother in 2001 before she died later in the year.

Here's an amazing little piece by the famous steel guitarist, Sol Hoopii, which he called THE TRAIN SONG. It is a variation of the Gospel song, Life's Railway to Heaven. He makes a train whistling sound just as I said, with volume swells and a diminished chord. Sol Hoopii makes the sound of cows, chickens, a train whistle, pigs, and a steam engine in the song.
 

C# or You'll Bb

C# or you'll Bb is just a cute saying I heard many years ago. I never thought I'd be using C# and Bb as my primary tunings on C6th. It's a pretty neat way to remember your tuning options for the 6th string. A Bb is fine for C13. The C6th lap steel is standard tuned to straight C6th (trebly to bass: E - C - A - G - E - C). By raising the 6th string from C to C# you have a nice A7th chord on strings 3,4,5 and 6. By lowering the 6th string down to a Bb you have a C13th tuning strummed all the way across (or just a few strings. I generally play strings 3,4,5 and 6 for a C13th). I like Bb and C# and it's hard to choose which one I like better, and of course I like just leaving the 6th string at C for a full C6th chord. I have tabs for Beyond The Reef using Bb and C# so you can see the difference how they are used.
 

Playing Harmonics

Jerry Byrd taught that harmonics say, “I have a secret!” Harmonics are beautiful. Most steel guitarists avoid playing harmonics because they scare themselves, thinking they can't do it; but if you'll think ahead just a little bit while you're playing, then you can play accurate harmonics. The trick is to make sure your right palm is directly over the proper fret (usually 12-frets higher than where the bar is resting). You can also play harmonics by placing the palm (or a finger) 5 or 7 frets higher than the rot bar position. There are known as ARTIFICIAL harmonics.

NATURAL harmonics occur only with the strings open, at the 5th, 7th and 12-frets (and also at the 16th, 19th and 24th frets). Yes, at the 16th and 19th frets. Try it and you'll see! Just place your left hand's pinky finger gently on the string and then pick it with your right hand (or you can rake across the strings while picking them). This is called a chime, a natural harmonic! Natural harmonics work great in the song, WHEN THEY RING THOSE GOLDEN BELLS. On the E9th pedal steel, I play a verse and chorus once through in the key of Eb and then modulate up to the key of E, which allows me to play the harmony using natural harmonics.

On the C6th lap steel, songs such as KEWALO CHIMES are composed entirely of natural harmonics. You can here this song on Jerry Byrd's album, HAWAIIAN SUNSET. Here's a short clip of KEWALO CHIMES (MP3). These are all natural harmonics played by using the pinky finger of the left hand on frets 5,7 and 12. The song is not difficult to play, it just requires patience to learn the song. The trick to playing good natural harmonics is to pick the strings closer to the bridge for frets 7 and 5 (especially fret 5 natural harmonics).

I've heard that harmonics are harder on the Fender guitars, but I've never had a Fender. Leonard T. Zinn sure makes his Fender sound nice. I have a 1936 Rickenbacher (also called “Rickys”) and the sustain is MUCH longer than on my $79 Artisan lapsteel I had started learning on. I couldn't believe the difference. If you've never played a Rickenbacher (pre WWII models are spelled with an h; whereas post WWII Rickys are spelled with a k... "Rickenbacker"), then you have a treat awaiting you my friend if you ever have the opportunity to play one. On the Rickys, the tone is incredible due to the horseshoe pickups and the dense Bakelite body; but stay away from any guitars that have had the volume and/or tone pot swapped out. It ruins the sound completely and there's nothing you can do about it except to find old spare parts... good luck!

I recently bought a great used S-8 lap steel that was built with gorgeous canary wood from South America. The guitar has a Jerry Wallace pole pickup in it, and the sustain is some of the best I've heard. It's awesome. You can hear me attempting to play some of Jerry Byrd's awesome harmonics from the terrific song... SONG OF THE ISLANDS!

A lot of students of the steel guitar become quickly frustrated when they go to tackle harmonics, and get tackled instead, buried upon a pile of missed notes. They think at that point that harmonics is too difficult to learn, and will require too much work, so they give up on the harmonics. The problem is that they don't understand the proper techniques of great harmonics. If they could get great harmonics in their playing, then they'd love playing harmonic chimes and use them extensively I assure you. Playing harmonics needs to become as natural as breathing for the steel guitarist.

The 2 things that you need to do is:

1. KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO PLAY. Practice in advance what you want to play with harmonics (usually the melody line). Even if you can play great harmonics, it won't help you if you aren't sure where to place your hand next (and that creates mental obstacles to make you trip and stumble in your playing). That's not good at all. So we want to become familiar enough with a song and it's melody, so we know exactly what we want to play.

2. PLAY IT EXACT. You must place the palm of your right hand over the fret to be chimed. Being off even a little bit will result in either a missed chime altogether, or no sustain because you didn't strike the string hard enough. You don't want to pick too hard, but just hard enough to get a nice solid chime (and then raise up the volume pedal to make the best of your chimed note while it rings out it's life). This is equally important. Finger chimes are much easier, because you can see what's going on; but you can't see under your palm. So it's easy to be off by a fret, especially higher up on the fretboard. Practice makes perfect.

I used to have a hard time with harmonics, because I didn't have my palm exactly over the note that I had chimed. It's much easier to place your hand accurately when you know in advance exactly where and when to put it down on a particular fret. This is the reason why point number 1 is so important above. If you know your song, then you won't waste those critical milliseconds in panic trying to find the correct place to put your hand.

Of course, seasoned musicians who know their instruments inside and out, backward and forth, can play adlib on a dime and execute superb harmonics nearly all the time. I'm still working at it. I don't claim to be an expert on harmonics, but Jerry Byrd certainly was. I learned from Jerry to THINK AHEAD a little bit in the song, to anticipate and plan your chimes.

Here's BALI HAI, in which I play some nice harmonics. They're not hard to do; it just takes work to get them right. It's easy to chime a note; but it's harder when you're chiming a melody line. I knew exactly where I was going start my first note, and made sure to place my right palm exactly over the 10th fret where I begin at 1:29 in the video...

There a few different ways of using harmonics that I am familiar with:

• multiple string palm harmonics (you quickly, but gently, rake across the strings 12-frets above the bar, while simultaneously placing your left palm on the strings. It's done better if faster and without too much effort. It is important that you place your left hand exactly on the fret, but 12-frets higher.)

• single string palm harmonics (these harmonics are played the same, but just one string is picked. Palm harmonics are the most popular technique. I have learned that the key to good harmonics is to LOOK with your eyes where you're about to place your left hand, to make sure that you are on the correct fret. If you're off even one fret, you won't get a clean harmonic. This means listening to the rhythm track or song as you play, and anticipating the next move. You can compensate slightly for being off mark by using vibrato, which gives you a little leeway. I've noticed that Jerry Byrd often uses vibrato at the end of a harmonic slide. In other words, if you chime a note and then slide a few frets, or an octave, using vibrato enhances your sound considerably.)

• finger harmonics (again, 12 frets higher, but you simply touch one of your left hand's fingers on the string, while gently picking the string. I usually use the backside of my 3rd finger, i.e., the finger next to the pinky.)

• open string harmonics (These are commonly called “chimes.” You can use your pinky finger to chime harmonics on the 5th, 7th, 12th, 19th, and 24th frets. In fact, you can play an entire song, like Maui Chimes. It's more difficult to play chimes on the 7th, and even more hard on the 5th fret. The trick is to pick closer to the pickup when playing harmonics on the 7th and 5th frets. It's much easier then. Also, a gentler touch will produce better harmonics).

• Testing guitar intonation (harmonics are a great way of testing your guitar's intonation, i.e., the distance between the nut and the bridge. The 12th fret is the half-way mark between the nut and the bridge. If intonation is set properly, then the 12th fret harmonic should be exactly one octave above the open string note. If playing a harmonic at the 12th fret produces a higher note than the string picked open, then you need to adjust the intonation, moving toward the bridge a little bit; thus lengthening the guitar string. Adjust each string this way.)

• Split Harmonics (Jerry Byrd plays one string chimed and the other unchimed. It sounds beautiful. It requires careful maneuvering of the hand and fingers. Very few players use this technique. The secret is to chime the low note and leave the high one unchimed. It would be extremely difficult to do it the other way. The technique is quite easy once you learn it. It's very difficult to do strings right next to each other, but it's easy to do split harmonics with 1 or 2 strings in between. For example: If you follow the scales, you would playing the following using split harmonics. Only the bottom note is chimed using the right palm, which I signified with a * symbol.)

E_______3___5___6___8___10___12___13___15___17________________________________

C___5____________________________________________17___________________________

A______________*5__*7____________*12__________________________________________

G______*3__*5__________*10__*12_______*15__*17________________________________

E__*5___________________________________________*17___________________________

C#____________________________________________________________________________

~By David J. Stewart

 

Take someone to the islands today with your music!

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If all you have is music, you have nothing! You need Jesus Christ as your personal Savior to truly be prosperous in life. You may be the poorest man in the world materialistically, but if you have received Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God; believing on His name to forgive your sins, then you are a rich soul indeed!

John 20:31, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”