Hawaiian steel guitar
Guitar laid on the knees, played with a glass or steel bar.
What it means
The Hawaiian steel guitar is played horizontally: the instrument lies on the knees or on a stand, the strings facing upward. Instead of pressing them onto a fingerboard, the left hand guides a bar of metal or glass over the strings, which touches them at the desired spot and thus determines the vibrating length. The right hand plucks, often with fingerpicks. Because the bar is not tied to frets, stepless transitions are possible. The string action is set high, the tuning usually open, so that the open strings yield a chord.
Musical use
The manner of playing arose in Hawaii in the late nineteenth century and spread from there; it shaped Hawaiian music and had an effect on numerous styles of popular music. Characteristic is the gliding connection of the notes, which stands close to the human voice, together with a strong vibrato that arises from a pendulum motion of the bar. From the same root, electrically amplified lap steel and pedal steel guitars developed, in which pedals and knee levers retune individual strings while they sound. The steel guitar differs from the slide technique on the normally held guitar through posture and string action.
Performance practice
Hold the bar exactly over the fret wire, not behind it, for there lies the right pitch; check the intonation constantly by ear, since no frets help. Guide it with slight pressure and parallel to the frets, otherwise unclean double sounds arise. The vibrato comes from a small, even pendulum movement of the wrist. Damp behind the bar with the fingers of the left hand and before the attack with the heel of the right hand, otherwise all strings ring together. Choose the open tuning to suit the piece and note it so that you find it again.
Remember that the intonation lies entirely in your hand: without frets, the position of the bar decides every note, and even slight deviations are audible in double stops. Practise two-part passages therefore slowly against a held reference note. Plan the guidance of the bar so that paths stay short, and use open strings as points of rest. Watch the string action: if it is too low, the bar hits the frets. With electric instruments, check the pickup height, because it changes the response.