Arrangements Overview

I will have steel guitar arrangements up and going soon. Feel free to download the sample arrangement (see below) to get a feel for what the arrangements will look like. Thanks for your patience!

Overview

My steel guitar arrangements are carefully prepared with quality music engraving software and include notation of important steel guitar techniques and phrasing such as hammer-ons, pull-offs, glisses, and slant bar positions. I'm incorporating what I feel are the best ideas from existing publications, staying with familiar markings whenever possible. The arrangements include a standard treble clef (placed above the tablature staff) to notate rhythm. Standard notation is the fastest, most accurate way to get all the picking information you need - when to pick a note and how long to hold it.

Download

When you download the sample arrangement of "Open String Blues", you can also download the Rhythm and Tablature Key that comes with each arrangement. It explains all the notation symbols you will need to play through the arrangements, including tempo, rhythm, and phrasing markings.

Cassettes/CDs

Tablature is a great way to learn the basics of a steel guitar arrangement. However, there's no substitute for hearing a performance. I will provide a cassette or CD of each arrangement which will include a normal speed version, a slow version, a rhythm track you can use to practice with, and if necessary, a "broken down" version where finer points of the arrangement are explained further.

Tunings

Each arrangement come in one of five basic tunings: C6th, C13th, A6th, B11th and E13th. The tunings are shown and spelled out in the chart below. Note that the C13th is similar to the standard C6th tuning (E string on top), which was used by many players in the 40's and 50's. Adding the seventh tone (Bb) to the tuning greatly increases its richness, and it has virtually become the tuning of choice in Hawaii over the last 20-30 years.

Tab Tunings
C6th	C13th	A6th	B11th	E13th
G	E	E	E	E
E	C	C#	C#	C#
C	A	A	A	B
A	G	F#	F#	G#
G	E	E	D#	F#
E	C	C#	B	D
C	Bb	A	F#	G#
A	C	F#	B	E

(For 6-string instruments, omit the bottom two pitches.)