10 Warm-Up Exercises for Your Left Foot (E9 Pedal Steel)

A lot of E9 pedal steel playing employs the use of its pedals, and for good reason. The tuning’s foot pedals lend themselves well to creating licks, chords, melodies, etc.

However, many of these playing aspects break down if your left foot isn’t able to accurately and comfortably execute the physical movements involved. So what’s the best way to improve your ability to use the pedals effectively and get more out of the tuning?

Using the foot pedals is similar in many ways to using the pedals when driving a car: almost anyone can do it, it just requires a little dexterity and practice (and in this case a few more skillful moves of the foot).

When you break down the possible pedal moves or combinations when using the ABC pedals on the E9 neck, there are only so many. Better yet, if you can learn all of these possible combinations/moves then you’re well on your way.

Once you know all of these movements, you have the physical ability and muscle memory to complete almost any pedal movement on the tuning. Now it’ll be just a matter of naturally utilizing them within songs and your playing (no more thinking needed, muscle memory will likely take over).

So next time you sit down to practice, check out these 10 warm-up exercises that are great for working on almost every pedal move that your left foot can make. Dial these in, and you’ll have a leg up (or foot up!) on using the E9’s pedals.

10 Warm-Up Exercises for Your Left Foot (E9 Pedal Steel) — Note: the downward arrow represents continuing to play the same lick but descending.

Thanks for checking out this page, hope it is helpful and makes playing more enjoyable! If you’re interested in diving deeper into playing E9 pedal steel, check out these resources and guides…