Instructor/ Teacher for Virtual/ Online Private Lessons for Lap Steel
Online Lessons for Lap Steel Guitar Through Zoom, Skype, Facetime, Etc.
Online Private Lessons for Steel Guitar Students
If you are interested in getting lessons for lap steel or steel guitar in general, reach out to us. Lap steel is the best steel guitar to start out on for several reasons. First of all, the learning curb is less than pedal steel. It also translates well to dobro if ever decide to play that. The sounds are more diverse than dobro so you can use pedals and effects to achieve a variety of sounds and play different genres. Lastly, it is way more affordable than pedal steel and dobro. A good lap steel can run you $500 whereas a good pedal steel or dobro will be starting at $2000 (that stays in tune and feel right).
Where Did the Lap Steel Guitar Come From?
Hawaiian guitars were the original name for lap steel guitars because the playing style was created there in the late 1800s. The first solid body instrument to be commercially successful was the electric lap steel guitar. The strings of a lap steel guitar are elevated at the fingerboard's nut and bridge ends, usually by approximately half an inch. Frets, if present, serve simply as points of reference and are frequently replaced by markers since the strings are too high to make direct touch with the neck's surface. Usually, lap steels have six 6 or 8-string guitars.What Tuning Should You Use for Lap Steel?
There are many different tunings you can use for lap steel. We recommend starting with one of these four (learn them all if you can)-
1. Open G- This is the most diverse tuning. A lot of guitar players have this as their go-to open tuning like Keith Richards. This is also standard dobro tuning so you are killing two birds with one stone. The tuning is GBDGBD. If you want to have a power chord then lower the low G to an E and you get three of the same strings on a standard tuning guitar- EBDGBD. If you want the Hawaiian, spaghetti western, western swing sound then raise your middle D to an E and you have the C6 tuning sound which is technically G6. This would be- GBEGBD. A slightly better tuning for the G6 is lowering the middle G string to E. That emulates the C6 perfectly and will be tuned- GBDEBD. The open G is a very diverse tuning.
2. Open D- This will give you a lower power chord for D and is widely loved by blues and rock players. You can get a lot of great pentatonic/ blues scale-type licks from this tuning. This would be ideal for a Derek Trucks and Duane Allman-type sound since they play (played) in open E (the same thing just brought up a whole step). This tuning is DADF#AD
3. Open E- Same sounds and idea as open D just brought up a full step to E. The tuning is EBEG#BE. If you are a guitarist this would be slightly better than open D if you wanted a little more familiarity with the fretboard. However, the open D allows for lower notes.
4. C6- This is the best tuning for Hawaiian, Western Swing, and Spaghetti Western music. The tuning is CEGACE
What Lap Steels are Good to Buy?
A great beginner model is Gretsch. The Electromatic series is good.Music Lessons Virtually
Feel free to take a look at our other web page concerning other virual lessons like pedal steel, dobro, lead guitar, lap steel, acoustic guitar, mandolin and ukulele.
https://www.guitaristandpedalsteelplayernashville.com/virtual-music-lessons/