Practice Exercises to Improve Bar Control (E9 Pedal Steel)

On pedal steel, we use the bar a lot. Since we use the bar instead of our fingers (to “fret” notes like on six-string guitar), the bar is essentially our main apparatus for sounding notes.

Besides our right hand picking the strings, the bar plays a prominent role in our voice on the pedal steel.

Here are a few of the reasons why bar control is so crucial on pedal steel:

The bar “frets” notes that we play.
It is used to connect positions, notes, chords, etc. on the fretboard.
It is used for playing techniques such as vibrato, glissando, and slides.

If there is a certain lick, melody, etc. that you want to play that requires bar movement, then if you can’t get the bar in the positions on the fretboard needed with accuracy and speed you’ll likely not be able to play the lick until you gain the ability to do so.

These practice exercises are great for improving your bar control skills, and they allow you to develop your technique. Gaining good bar control technique is one of the best playing tools you can have on the pedal steel. When combined with right hand picking/blocking technique, it will open up more doors on the instrument than perhaps anything else.

Practicing these in small amounts on a consistent basis will go a long ways…

Exercise 1

This exercise gets straight to the heart of a lot of E9 playing: moving between main pedal/lever positions along the fretboard. If you can fluidly connect the Open, AB, and AF chord shapes and positions for a chord or key, then you’ll be well on your way.

Connecting these positions musically requires you to move the bar a certain amount of frets for each. For instance, the AF chord shape is always three frets to the right of the Open chord shape.

When you practice this exercise’s movements, you’ll be incorporating the pedals/levers with the bar’s movement. This is a great way to “sync” up your bar use with your pedal/lever use – getting these working smooth together is a characteristic aspect of the pedal steel’s sound.

Once you can accurately move between these positions, try increasing your speed while maintaining accuracy.

Also, to further utilize the exercise, switch to another chord in the key you’re playing in (once you get the G chords down for key of G, try playing the C or 4 chords for the key in a similar fashion).

Next, incorporate the D or 5 chords in the same way, and you’ll be cruising along the neck playing the 1, 4, and 5 chords for a key/song.

Practice Exercises to Improve Bar Control (E9 Pedal Steel)

Exercise 2

There’s a lot that can be accomplished by moving back and forth between the AB and Open pedal positions. So much can be done with the A and B pedals (and C pedal too!) at both positions that combining the two positions for licks is a great approach to lots of playing.

This exercise moves through the major pentatonic scale using both positions combined. Repeat the scale descending the same way you ascended. You’ll notice that the two notes at the Open position at the 15th fret, are the same notes you would normally use at the 10th fret to complete the lick (15A on the 5th string = 10th fret 7th string, 15th fret on the 4th string = 10B on the 3rd strings at 10th fret).

Exercise 3

Moving the bar to play single notes often flys under the radar for E9 pedal steel, but it is a really valuable playing tool that goes a long ways. It requires dexterity and control with the bar, which also makes it a great way to practice bar control.

The following exercise makes use of the Mixolydian scale, which is great to use for a lot of country and blues playing. It employs a lot of two fret movements, and stays in a nice pocket located next to the 8th fret open position for C.

A great way to practice single notes with bar movement is to take your favorite scales that you play using the pedals and levers and simply try playing them without them. You’ll notice that you have to move the bar usually one to two frets at a time to play the notes that were once played with the pedals/levers.

Having both these options (playing with and without pedals/levers) is a nice way to strengthen your playing skills on the instrument. After all, before pedal steel there was lap steel, which undoubtedly made a lot of use of moving the bar since there were no pedals.

Conclusion

If you can get more comfortable and efficient with moving the bar, your bar control will likely improve quickly. Better yet, you’ll also likely notice that your vibrato and use of the bar in positions on the fretboard will improve too. Add this with your ability to move between positions accurately and quickly with the bar (like in Exercise 1), and you’ll be well on your way to traversing the fretboard for any song.

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…