The Key of E — E9 Pedal Steel

E major harmonises to E – F#m – G#m – A – B – C#m – D#°; E minor to Em – F#° – G – Am – Bm – 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 E9, 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 E9 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.