How a Pedal Steel Guitar Differs from a Regular Guitar

At first glance, a pedal steel guitar might seem like a distant cousin of the regular guitar—both have strings, both are plucked, and both show up in recordings across multiple genres. But once you go beyond the surface, the differences are dramatic. From construction and tuning to technique and sound, the pedal steel guitar lives in a completely different musical world.

If you’ve ever wondered why it sounds so distinct—or why it looks more like a spaceship control panel than an instrument—here’s a breakdown of what truly sets the pedal steel apart from the regular guitar.

Playing Position and Physical Setup

The first difference you’ll notice is how the instrument is played. A standard guitar is held vertically against the body, either standing or sitting, with the fretting hand on the neck and the picking hand over the sound hole or pickups. It’s portable, intuitive, and designed for mobility.

A pedal steel guitar, by contrast, is played flat while seated. It rests on legs like a table, and the player uses a metal bar—called a steel or slide—to glide over the strings. There’s no traditional neck to grip; instead, pitch is controlled by the bar, pedals, and knee levers. This radically changes the feel and posture of playing, turning it into a whole-body experience.

Pitch Control: Pedals, Levers, and Bends

This is where things get wildly different. On a standard guitar, pitch is changed by pressing the string down onto a fret or bending it with your fingers. It’s direct, physical, and usually involves just one hand.

On a pedal steel, pitch changes are often handled by foot pedals and knee levers, which are mechanically linked to specific strings. Pressing a pedal might raise the pitch of string 5 by a whole step while simultaneously lowering string 6. These movements are smooth and seamless, allowing for complex chord transitions without moving the slide bar at all.

This gives the pedal steel a gliding, vocal quality that’s nearly impossible to replicate on a regular guitar. It also makes it far more mechanically involved—there’s a lot going on under the hood.

Tuning and String Layout

Your average guitar has six strings, tuned (usually) to E-A-D-G-B-E. It’s consistent, predictable, and designed for a broad range of styles.

Pedal steels usually have 10 strings per neck—and often two necks on the same instrument. The most common tunings are E9 and C6, each chosen for its suitability in specific styles: E9 for country and C6 for jazz or Western swing. These tunings aren’t just different—they’re optimized for pedal interactions. The strings are arranged to complement the pitch changes made by pedals and levers, creating massive chordal possibilities in a very compact space.

This non-standard tuning is part of what makes the pedal steel so rich—and so intimidating to beginners.

Sound and Expression

There’s a reason the pedal steel is instantly recognizable, even to casual listeners. It produces a warm, flowing, almost weeping tone that blends beautifully into country ballads, Hawaiian tunes, and jazz instrumentals. The ability to bend multiple notes independently while sustaining them gives it a sound that’s closer to a human voice than a typical guitar.

Standard guitars, while extremely versatile, are generally more percussive and less fluid. You can certainly play legato lines and bend notes, but the level of harmonic movement and pitch control just isn’t the same.

The pedal steel’s expressiveness also comes from its sustain. Notes can be held, shifted, and blended in a way that feels almost cinematic. It’s not about speed or flash—it’s about texture, emotion, and control.

Complexity and Learning Curve

It’s fair to say that the pedal steel is not for the faint of heart. To play it well, you need to coordinate both hands, both feet, and both knees—all doing different things at once. That’s not an exaggeration. One foot might be changing the pitch of a chord while the other controls volume; meanwhile, each knee might be adjusting different strings mid-phrase.

Compare that to a regular guitar, where the main learning curve comes from developing finger strength, accuracy, and rhythm. It’s still challenging, but far more linear.

This makes pedal steel a slower instrument to master, but once you understand its mechanics, it offers a deeper well of expressive possibilities.

Final Thoughts

The pedal steel guitar isn’t just a modified version of a regular guitar—it’s an entirely separate instrument with its own logic, language, and tradition. While a standard guitar thrives on direct, tactile interaction, the pedal steel lives in a world of levers, glides, and controlled chaos. It’s more demanding, more technical, and arguably more emotionally expressive when used to its full potential.

Whether you’re drawn to its haunting sound or just curious about what makes it tick, understanding the differences between these instruments helps explain why they occupy such distinct musical spaces. They might share strings, but in every other way, they couldn’t be more different.