But while the steel guitar can still be found in country and other types of music, the Hawaiian steel guitar garners little recognition today.

It can whine, cry, and scream, and that is what the pedal steel guitar does on these three iconic country hits.

But while the lap steel guitar can still be found in country and other types of music, the Hawaiian steel guitar garners little recognition today, even on the island of Oahu, its birthplace.

Pedal steel guitar is a staple of country music, but Alcorn bends it around odd corners. Her quintet's new album is beyond category — roaming betwixt jazz and improvised music and rock and country.

The late Pete Drake was a well-known Nashville session player whose pedal steel guitar licks were heard on many of country music’s biggest during the 60s, 70s, and early 80s. Songs like George ...

As the sound of country music has shifted, the emotive whir of its classic instrument has often been sidelined. The complicated antique has found new life in surprising forms.

Kansas City musician Nate Hofer took his pedal steel guitar 30 feet down into an inter-continental ballistic missile silo to record a hopeful reminder that nuclear war is not inevitable.

The addition of pedals made steel guitar a country music staple, while blues and jazz musicians adopted the slide guitar, which utilized a similar gliding technique while holding the guitar upright.

But while the steel guitar can still be found in country and other types of music, the Hawaiian steel guitar garners little recognition today, even on the island of Oahu, its birthplace.