How to Play the Lap Steel
A lap steel guitar is a stringed musical instrument that first gained popularity in Hawaii. This instrument is used in a wide variety of musical genres such as country, the blues, island music and folk. You can learn to play the lap steel by gaining an understanding of where the notes are located on the instrument, as well as the techniques involved in playing various notes and chords.
- Difficulty:
- Moderate
Instructions
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1
Place the lap steel across your lap (you should be in a seated position). Point the head and neck of the instrument toward your left (or non-dominant) hand and the body toward your right (or dominant) hand.
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2
Insert one of your fingers on your left hand into a slide. Slides are usually made out of metal or glass and come in various sizes. Try several different types and sizes until you find the material and fit that suit you best.
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3
Insert the fingers and thumb on your right hand into finger picks. You can use metal or plastic picks, depending on which tone you prefer.
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4
Place the slide on top of the strings. Let the slide touch the strings, but don't press down on them.
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5
Pick one or more strings with your right hand as you move the slide back and forth with your left hand. This will give you a general idea of the feel and sound of the lap steel.
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6
Learn where notes and chords are positioned on the neck of the instrument (see Resource section). The notes and chords will vary according to the tuning that you use. Many musicians start with an open G tuning, in which the strings are tuned to G, B, D, G, B, D (from low to high). If you use an open G tuning, you can play a G chord by simply strumming all of the strings. You can play a C chord by holding the slide over the fifth fret, and a D chord by positioning the slide over the seventh fret. The G-C-D progression is a very simple chord progression to start with.
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7
Practice your instrument in the company of others. "Jamming" with other musicans can be a tremendous skill builder.
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