How to Hold a Lap Steel Bar
The lap steel may not be readily recognizable by sight, though you might be able to pick out lap steel guitar parts in older country and blues recordings. It has a high-pitched twangy sound that is often wrongly credited to a slide guitar. The lap steel is a small guitar that sits face up in the player's lap. The player relies heavily on a metal or plastic slide bar that must be held correctly against the guitar strings. If it's not held right, it can diminish the instrument's tone and pitch.
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Instructions
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Place the steel guitar face up in your lap with its neck pointing to the left.
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Place the slide bar in the palm of your left hand. Grip the slide between your thumb and middle finger with your index finger to secure the bar in place.
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Hold the slide bar so it barely makes contact with the strings. If you press down too hard, the sound will be muted or out of tune.
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