pedal steel guitar

American  

noun

1. an oblong, floor-mounted electrified guitar, usually having ten strings, fretted with a steel bar and producing a wailing sound that is modulated by use of a foot pedal.

---

pedal steel guitar British  

noun

1. a floor-mounted, multineck, lap steel guitar with each set of strings tuned to a different open chord and foot pedals to raise or lower the pitch

---

Etymology

Origin of pedal steel guitar

An Americanism dating back to 1965–70

Example Sentences

Instead, “a pedal steel guitar and a harmonica — those things can deliver you into landscape” both interior and exterior, said Sells, whose theater work includes songs for the musical “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.”

From Seattle Times • May 22, 2023

One of the style’s telltale markers was the twangy, weeping pedal steel guitar.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 28, 2022

He is the first pedal steel guitar player to become part of the Hall of Fame.

From Washington Times • May 1, 2022

His father was a professional musician who played pedal steel guitar in the improbably named Felix Mendelssohn’s Hawaiian Serenaders, which played faux-luau arrangements of popular songs including “In the Mood” and “Whispering.”

From Washington Post • Feb. 23, 2022

On YouTube there are renditions of it performed on the harp, the pedal steel guitar and dueling vibraphones.

From New York Times • Apr. 13, 2021