Universal Tuning - Examples

Examples

The Bb6/Eb9 Universal Tuning was developed by Maurice ('Reece') Anderson in Dallas, TX. Reece was one of the last steel guitarists with the landmark western swing band Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. Their music was very jazz-oriented and the tuning was developed to exploit the jazz changes but to also allow the player to utilize the characteristic sounds of the E9 Nashville tuning which became so popular in the 1960s in (what is now referred to as) CLASSIC country music. Maurice's Bb6 tuning is used by a relatively small number of players but is a very powerful tuning for a player whose principal genre is western swing or jazz and for whom it is advantageous to be able to play the 'country licks' when the need arises.

The E9/B6 Universal Tuning was popularized in the late 1970s by Nashville steel guitarist Jeff Newman who created the most popular instructional materials for pedal steel guitar. It remains the most widely used universal tuning. This tuning is based on the E9 Nashville tuning and is optimized to deliver the characteristic sounds of that tuning. The addition of four additional pedals and 2 or 4 extra strings in the lower register provides the ability to play music originally played on the C6 tuning, which is the second most common tuning (to the Nashville E9) on pedal steel guitars worldwide.