Welcome to...
John Ely’s Steel Guitar Web
Announcements...
Lessons
November 4, 2023 Update: My apologies for not keeping the site updated. The latest interruption has been taking care of my father who will be 102 in January. I will resume teaching when things calm down. I will also be moving into my dad's house over the next month or so. Stay tuned for updates. Thanks, all, for your patience! General Lesson Information...
Chord/Scale Locators Posted
The locators have all been posted. The Custom Tuning feature is up! The new versions include many improvements over the old locators, including the following:
- More Chord Sizes—The choices are dyads (two-note chords), triads, quartads+ (chords with 4 or more notes) or any combination of them.
- More Open String options—you can now omit open-string positions, include them, or show only open-string positions.
- Much improved Fretboard Display—the new fretboards are much more compact and clear. A nice feature of the fretboard view is that open-string positions appear as tan-colored fretboards.
- More Sorting Options for your results.
Please advise me if you have problems or encounter bugs with any of the chord or scale locators.
The Mailing List
I would encourage students of the steel guitar to sign on to my mailing list on the Guestbook page. Here's what I send mailing list members:
- Updates on the release of instructional materials
- Newsletter covering various steel guitar topics
- Free tab arrangements sent periodically
If you're interested in arrangements, you can use the Guestbook to let me know your tuning(s), playing level, and any requests you have.
Hotspots...
Master Tuning List
My comprehensive listing of playable Hawaiian, country, and western swing tunings gathered over 30 years, including comments on each tuning type and possible strengths and weaknesses of various setups. Details...
String Gauge Chart
Choice of string gauges is one of the most asked about technical topic in setting up a steel guitar. I have listed common string gauges used for each pitch from the rarely used high A string to the low A (very few will try to tune a note below this pitch). And there a host of issues that will affect your choice of strings gauges. Feel free to download my handy string gauge chart. Details...
Arrangements
I have posted some sample arrangements and an updated Tablature Key to give you an idea of what I will be offering when, after a long delay of many years, I finally put the finishing touches on my body of arrangements. I've also posted a couple of music theory primers you may find helpful. I will have the ability to create audio to go with the tablature. Details...
Beginner's Pages
If you a beginner, here are a few tips I hope will point you in the right direction, including basic equipment such as picks and steel bars and a little about the psychology of learning steel guitar. It is not the easiest instrument to take up, but the payoff is huge. Details...
More on the Chord Locators
I wrote the chord locators to allow you to locate chords commonly used in most steel guitar styles on whatever tuning you happen to play. No knowledge of music theory is required to use the Generic Chord Locator. I'm continuing to add to the menu of chord types and chord voicings within each chord type—if you think I've omitted an important chord in any of the chord categories please let me know. Details...
The Advanced Chord Locator is for experienced musicians who have a voicing in mind and want to see if it's available on their tuning. You can also use this locator to determine if your voicing might be available transposed up or down using open strings. Details...
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