ISO of theory-based understanding of pedal steel

[Sam Briger]

Hi,
New to the PSG but long-time player of other instruments looking for an approach to getting my head around this instrument in a theoretical way.
So far a lot of the lessons I've seen say things like, "a and b down gives you a major 4 chord" but what would be helpful for me to know is what's happening in terms of chord theory.
Like "if you raise the a and b on a C major chord, the 5th goes up a major step, becoming the 3rd of the 4 chord and the E goes to F and becomes the root note."
So rather than just showing you, it explains what's happening.
Does any one have any recommendations? I've seen Mark Van Allen's CD course, but I'm not sure if that is more teaching general music theory for pedal steel guitar players or, what I'm hoping to find, understanding the neck and pedals through the lens of music theory.
Thanks so much! I'm so happy to have found this great resource for this instrument that feels like it's both making me smarter and stupider at the same time!

[Lee Rider]

Rich Hinman on Patreon does a good job on theory. He also teaches at Berklee....

[Doug Taylor]

Paul Franklins course does a nice job explaining theory as well

[Alan Shank]

chordscaleE9_diatonic.pdf

Pedals up, strings 4, 5, and 6 make a G major triad. The numbers under the roman numeral I show the fret (with any pedals/levers), the scale degree of the note, and the member, root, 3rd or 5th, of the chord. So, you have the root on the 4th, 5th on the 5th, and third on the 6th.

If you raise the 5th string with the A pedal, you raise the 5th degree to the 6th, making a VI (minor) chord with the root on the 5th string, 3rd on the 4th, and 5th on the 6th string.
If you add the B pedal, you raise the 3rd degree to the 4th, making a IV chord with root on the 6th string, 3rd on the 5th, and 5th on the 4th string.

This illustrates the three diatonic chords using the 1st scale degree on the 4th string.
Moving to II, you raise the top note to the 2nd degree, making a II (minor) chord with the root on top. With each move to the right, you raise one of the notes, making a new triad.
(The scale degree number are not lined up right; the 2 should be over the II, 3 over the III, etc.)
Notice how the root goes from the 4th string to the 5th to the 6th (Except I skipped the VII chords except for the one with the 7th degree on the 4th string.)

There's a lot of information in there. If you look at all the I's, you see the three ways to make a major triad; if you look at the VI's, you see the three minor triads.

I hope this helps.
Cheers,
Alan Shank

[Sam Briger]

Thanks for all the replies! I will check out Franklin and Hinman's lessons.
Alan, that chart is very helpful, thank you for posting it.
It took me a second to decipher it, but I really like how it shows what's happening to the original chord.

[Bob Hoffnar]

Here is a little thing I did for a student a while back

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-J9l_pjseY