The Steel Guitar Grip Technique

Grips

Gripping is the primary way steel guitarists play chords. A chord is when more than one note is played at a time. Chords are discussed in more detail in the chords section of this website. For now, developing dexterity is our primary purpose.

Gripping is performed by plucking away from your body with your thumb and towards your body with the index and middle finger. This is done simultaneously. For 3-note grips, you will use all three fingers. For 2-note grips, you can use TI, TM, or IM depending on how close the strings are to each other.

Here are some exercises.

Try exercise 15 with TI first, then try it with IM.

Exercise 15

Exercise 16 can be done with TI, TM, or IM.

Exercise 16

Exercise 17 can be done with TI or TM.

Exercise 17

Exercises 18 through 21 can be done with TI or TM.

Exercise 18 through 21

Exercises 22 through 25 are all 3-finger grips and will require fingers TIM.

Exercise 22 through 25

That's all for now. Once you have mastered all the exercises in the beginner section, you will be well prepared to move on to the other lessons on this website.