Chords for Steve Fishell explains how pedal steel guitar works

_ _ _ [E] _ [G] _ _ _ _
[C] _ [F] _ _ _ [C] _ [Dm] _ _ [C] _
[F] _ [C] _ [Dm] _ [C] _ _ _ [B] _ [C] _
[Gm] _ _ [C] _ _ _ _ [A#] _ [G#m] _
[F] _ _ _ _ _ _ [D#] _ _
[F] _ [Em] _ _ _ [Dm] _ [Gm] _ [F] _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ [A#] _ [F] _ [A#] _ [C] _
_ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _ [G] _
_ [Fm] _ [G] _ _ [C] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [G] _ _ [F] _ [C] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
_ _ [C] _ [F] [F] The _ steel is essentially just a system [Em] of [Dm] bell [G]
[F#] cranks, [Dm] _ [G] _ levers, springs, _ rods and _ what not.
Not cooperating linkages, I think is a good way to describe it.
That all allow you to change a basic tuning from _ one chord to another.
And what happens [A] here is we've got a basic E tuning here, just like your open E on a guitar.
_ [B] Hold on a second. _
Excuse me.
_ [E] We've got a B, an E, a G sharp, a B and an E. _ _ _
_ _ So you've got an open E chord there and
the first pedal down here on the floor raises the B note of that open E chord up to a C sharp. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [C#m]
So there you've got a C sharp minor.
And then the second pedal raises the G sharp up to an A.
_ [A] _ _ _ [E] _
_ _ _ _ _ So you've got an E suspended
chord there with that.
When you put the two pedals together, your E notes stay the same, your G sharps go up _
to A and the B's go up to C sharp _ and you suddenly have an A chord.
_ [A] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
So the open E chord goes up to an A chord with the two floor pedals.
[D] And actually you end up playing maybe 50-60% of the time thinking in terms of A rather
than E.
So then you've got all these licks that come off that pedal down position and
that's probably the sound that people are really familiar with.
[F#m] _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _ [B] _
[F#m] _ _ _ _ _ [E] _ _ _
[B] _ _ [A] That's just all working with the floor pedals [C] and using them to your advantage to bend notes
in a fixed position.
So you add the bar to it, _ _ _ _ [C] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[G] _ [C] _ _ _ [G] then you've got the freedom to take a chord and move it all
around and add vibrato to it and add _ your own nuance and shadings and emotion to the
note just by moving the bar.
_ _ _ [C] _
_ _ So it just kind of opens it up to a lot more possibilities.
_ Rather than being in a fixed position on the guitar, you're able to slide in between the [C#] frets.
_ [D#] _ _ _ _
Add a little bit of vibrato to it and then you're off to the races.
[A] _
_ The _ _ _ [C#] _ [D] _
_ [Bm] _ [Am] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
[B] _ [G] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ [E] _
[C#] _ _ [E] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [Bm] _ _ [G] _ [A] _ _ _
_ [G] _ [Em] _ _ _ _ [D] _ [B] _
_ _ [E] _ _ _ [Am] other five [E] pedals over here from 5 to 8 all work on this back neck and [N] this neck
is tuned to C6.
I've got it in a special tuning for a song tonight so I can't give you a really good
demonstration of it but _ [Gm] it's just an ability [C] to take _ _ _ _ [Cm] _ _ [C] _
a C6 chord and alter it in various ways. _
_ This floor pedal over here works on the E9th [E] neck and it raises the E to [F#m] F sharp.
_ So that allows you to play _ _ [E] a F sharp minor open.
So that's a two minor chord.
We already have an [A] E, [D] an A, and then we have another _ _ system of knee levers by the way.
We haven't even talked about knee levers yet, have we?
_ _ Knee levers allow you to alter a basic chord even more just like a guitar player would
be able to alter _ his chords with his barred [B] hand.
Without the knee [G] levers you'd just be stuck in one place.
With the knee levers you're able to _ _ _ lower [D] notes.
I'm doing that with a knee.
[B] _
_ [A] _ _ Over [G] _ _ [A]
here [G] we've got [E] _ a G sharp that we lower to an F sharp.
_ Then we have an E that we lower to [D#] D sharp.
[E] _ _ _ _ So these give you more range.
When you put those together you can go from an [B] E chord to a B chord all in the same spot. _ _
It's even kind of in tune right now which is amazing.
So we have a [E] B chord here and then we have an open E chord when you release the knee levers.
Then when you hit the floor pedals you go up to an A chord.
[A] _ _ _ [E] _
[B] So there you have one four and five, E, A, and B all [A] _ _ [E] _ _ right in one spot.
And then you also have [C#m] minor chords.
_ [E] _ _ _
And then that two minor I was telling you about, that [F#m] F sharp minor, [E] definitely not in [F#m] tune.
_ So it gives you the ability to think like a guitarist and move around rather than just
being locked into one place with your bar.
The knee levers give you that freedom to alter the basic chord. _
_ It can be a bit like driving a four-wheel drive.
_ So that's what's going on.
It's just [Am] more flexibility [Em] with the tuning.
_ [A] _ _ _ [Bm] _ _ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _ _ [G] _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _ _
[G] _ [E] _ _ [Bm] _ _ _ [C#] _ [D] _