Playing
The lap steel ukulele is typically placed on the player's lap, or on a surface in front of the seated player.
The strings are not pressed to a fret when sounding a note, rather, the player holds a metal slide called a steel in the left hand, which is moved along the strings to change the instrument's pitch while the right hand plucks or picks the strings.
This method of playing greatly restricts the number of chords available, so lap steel music often features a restricted set of harmonies (such as in blues). Alternatively, the lap steel ukulele player can play the melody or another single part.
Read more about this topic: Lap Steel Ukulele
Famous quotes containing the word playing:
“A daughter of Eve ... had better be fifty leagues off—or in her warm bed—or playing with a case-knife—or any thing you please—than make a man the object of her attention, when the house and all the furniture is her own.”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)
“When you take a light perspective, it’s easier to step back and relax when your child doesn’t walk until fifteen months, . . . is not interested in playing ball, wants to be a cheerleader, doesn’t want to be a cheerleader, has clothes strewn in the bedroom, has difficulty making friends, hates piano lessons, is awkward and shy, reads books while you are driving through the Grand Canyon, gets caught shoplifting, flunks Spanish, has orange and purple hair, or is lesbian or gay.”
—Charlotte Davis Kasl (20th century)
“Lovely,
this plowman’s son
with the good-looking wife
has gone so thin over you
that the woman,
though jealous,
is playing the go-between herself!”
—Hla Stavhana (c. 50 A.D.)