The Key of F — C6 Pedal Steel

F major harmonises to F – Gm – Am – A# – C – Dm – E°; F minor to Fm – G° – G# – A#m – Cm – C# – D#. Most of the country repertoire in this key lives on three of those chords — the tonic, the subdominant and the dominant — plus the relative minor when a song wants one darker turn.

The pedal steel chair carries the intro hook, a pedal-bend fill between lines, and a long pad holding the chorus up. The bar lies straight across 10 strings tuned to C6, and the chord is whatever those strings sound under it — until a foot or a knee retunes one of them, which is how the next chord of a song usually arrives without the bar moving at all.

Under each called change below, every change is drawn as a pedal move on the C6 neck: where the bar sits, which pedals and levers go down or come up, both charts, and a Hear button that bends the ringing strings into the next chord.