pedal steel
noun
variants
or pedal steel guitar
plural pedal steels or pedal steel guitars
: a box-shaped electric steel guitar with legs that has usually 10 strings which can be altered in pitch by the use of pedals and which are plucked while being pressed with a movable steel bar
[Ben] Keith broke into the business playing pedal steel on Patsy Cline's "I Fall to Pieces" …—
Kevin Dettmar
compare hawaiian guitar, lap steel
Kevin DettmarExamples of pedal steel in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
His wild guitar and back-up vocals add the right touch of electric mayhem, while the band adds flourishes of banjo and pedal steel.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 21 Mar. 2024
The 14-song album features work from Cobb (acoustic guitar, eclectic guitar), J.T. Cure (bass), Paul Franklin (pedal steel), Derek Mixon (drums), Morgane (background vocals, synthesizer, tambourine) and Lee Pardini (organ, piano).
—Rania Aniftos, Billboard, 14 Mar. 2024
Over chalky pedal steel and piano drenched in reverb, North Carolina indie rocker Indigo De Souza looks back on her own knotted history with glassy eyes.
—Pitchfork, 4 Dec. 2023
And for Faye Webster, that instrument is pedal steel guitar in particular.
—Angie Martoccio, Rolling Stone, 16 Mar. 2024
An extended instrumental coda appears after a passage of silence, and suddenly the pedal steel and soft percussion provide transcendent levels of yacht-rock breeziness.
—Joshua Minsoo Kim, Rolling Stone, 28 Feb. 2024
The application of a fiddle or banjo or pedal steel to an otherwise straightforward pop or rock song does not necessarily country music make, and Urban, to his credit, more or less didn’t present himself as anything other than an arena rock act for his time in Dallas.
—Preston Jones, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 31 Jan. 2024
His voice had lots of reverb and there was instrumentation backing his vocals, including plenty of pedal steel.
—William Earl, Variety, 11 Feb. 2024
Combs' bandmate Kurt Ozan was brought on to play pedal steel.
—Brenton Blanchet, Peoplemag, 9 Feb. 2024
Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 21 Mar. 2024
The 14-song album features work from Cobb (acoustic guitar, eclectic guitar), J.T. Cure (bass), Paul Franklin (pedal steel), Derek Mixon (drums), Morgane (background vocals, synthesizer, tambourine) and Lee Pardini (organ, piano).
—Rania Aniftos, Billboard, 14 Mar. 2024
Over chalky pedal steel and piano drenched in reverb, North Carolina indie rocker Indigo De Souza looks back on her own knotted history with glassy eyes.
—Pitchfork, 4 Dec. 2023
And for Faye Webster, that instrument is pedal steel guitar in particular.
—Angie Martoccio, Rolling Stone, 16 Mar. 2024
An extended instrumental coda appears after a passage of silence, and suddenly the pedal steel and soft percussion provide transcendent levels of yacht-rock breeziness.
—Joshua Minsoo Kim, Rolling Stone, 28 Feb. 2024
The application of a fiddle or banjo or pedal steel to an otherwise straightforward pop or rock song does not necessarily country music make, and Urban, to his credit, more or less didn’t present himself as anything other than an arena rock act for his time in Dallas.
—Preston Jones, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 31 Jan. 2024
His voice had lots of reverb and there was instrumentation backing his vocals, including plenty of pedal steel.
—William Earl, Variety, 11 Feb. 2024
Combs' bandmate Kurt Ozan was brought on to play pedal steel.
—Brenton Blanchet, Peoplemag, 9 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pedal steel.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near pedal steel
Cite this Entry
“Pedal steel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pedal%20steel. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.
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