E9 tuning
Image:Nashville tuning.png subset of ninth chord.]]
E9 tuning is a common tuning for steel guitar necks of more than six strings. It is the most common tuning for the neck located furthest from the player on a two-neck console steel guitar or pedal steel guitar while a C6 neck is the one closer to the player. The E9 is a popular tuning for single neck instruments of eight or more strings. This tuning has evolved in the last half of the twentieth century with input from prominent performers including Jimmy Day, Ralph Mooney and Buddy Emmons to support optimal chord and scale patterns across a single fret on the 10-string pedal steel guitar.
Corresponding tunings for a six string lap steel guitar are the E6 tuning E–G{{Music|sharp}}–B–C{{Music|sharp}}–E–G{{Music|sharp}}, or E7 tuning B–D–E–G{{Music|sharp}}–B–E.
A popular E9 tuning for eight string console steel guitar is the Western swing tuning E–G{{Music|sharp}}–B–D–F{{Music|sharp}}–G{{Music|sharp}}–B–E, low to high and near to far.
The standard Nashville E9 tuning also called the E9 chromatic tuning{{cite book |last1=Scott |first1=Dewitt |title=Anthology of Pedal Steel Guitar: E9 Chromatic Tuning |date=2010 |publisher=MelBay |isbn=9781609749460 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZSvxK6TCBEcC&q=tom+bradshaw+%2B+steel+guitar |access-date=April 11, 2021}}{{rp|7}} for ten string pedal steel guitar is B–D–E–F{{Music|sharp}}–G{{Music|sharp}}–B–E–G{{Music|sharp}}–D{{Music|sharp}}–F{{Music|sharp}}.{{cite web|last1=Borisoff|first1=Jason|title=How Pedal Steel Guitar Works|url=https://makingmusicmag.com/how-pedal-steel-guitar-works/|website=makingmusicmagazine.com|publisher=Making Music Magazine|access-date=September 1, 2017|date=September 27, 2010}}
History and evolution
The Nashville standard E9 tuning was developed primarily from 1950 to 1970 during experimentation by elite steel guitarists. Educator Mark Van Allen called the modern E9 tuning "logical" and the "perfect vehicle for most modern music".{{cite web |last1=Van Allen |first1=Mark |title=The Logic of E9 |url=https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=299693 |website=bb.steelguitarforum.com |access-date=April 3, 2021 |date=April 4, 2016}} In 1958, Jimmy Day added an E string (duplicate of the root note) to the middle of the 1940s-style eight-string E9 tuning (E-G{{Music|sharp}}-B-D-F{{Music|sharp}}-G{{Music|sharp}}-B-E) to make nine strings.{{cite web |last1=Kurck |first1=Charles |title=E9 Charts |url=https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=258328&highlight=history |website=bb.steelguitarforum.com |access-date=April 3, 2021 |date=January 3, 2014}} The change was adopted by other players to become a permanent fixture in the E9 tuning. In 1959, Ralph Mooney added a G{{Music|sharp}} (a third interval) at the top end, making ten strings, also an enduring advancement. Buddy Emmons, in 1962 created a reentrant tuning by adding a D{{Music|sharp}} (a major seventh) and F{{Music|sharp}} (a ninth) at the top. He also eliminated the lowest two strings, still making ten.File:E9 tuning-Nashville standard ten string pedal steel.ogg Emmons said, "The thought behind the F{{Music|sharp}} and D{{Music|sharp}} notes was to fill the gap between the G{{Music|sharp}} and C{{Music|sharp}} pedal note of the E9 tuning"{{cite web |last1=Emmons |first1=Buddy |title=Who created the E9th tuning, when, and why? |url=https://steelguitarforum.com/Forum5/HTML/002738.html |website=steelguitarforum.com |access-date=April 3, 2021 |date=July 8, 2002}} The Nashville standard E9 for decades has remained B–D–E–F{{Music|sharp}}–G{{Music|sharp}}–B–E–G{{Music|sharp}}–D{{Music|sharp}}–F{{Music|sharp}}. It allows the performer to play a major scale without moving the bar.