A steel bar, commonly referred to as a "steel", but also referred to as a tone bar, slide bar, guitar slide, slide, or bottleneck, is a smooth hard object which is pressed against strings to play

steel guitar A steel guitar () is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar i ...

and is itself the origin of the name "steel guitar". The device can either be a solid bar which is held in the hand, or a tubular object worn around the player's finger. Instead of pressing fingertips on the strings against

frets A fret is any of the thin strips of material, usually metal wire, inserted laterally at specific positions along the Neck (music), neck or Fingerboard, fretboard of a stringed instrument. Frets usually extend across the full width of the Neck ( ...

as a traditional guitar is played, the steel guitarist uses one of these objects pressed against the strings with one hand, while plucking the strings with the other to gain the ability to play a smooth

glissando In music, a glissando (; plural: ''glissandi'', abbreviated ''gliss.'') is a wikt:glide, glide from one pitch (music), pitch to another (). It is an Italianized Musical terminology, musical term derived from the French ''glisser'', "to glide". In ...

and a deep

vibrato Vibrato (Italian language, Italian, from past participle of "wikt:vibrare, vibrare", to vibrate) is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch (music), pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. ...

not possible when playing with fingers on frets. The solid bar is typically used when the instrument is played on the player's lap (across the knees) or otherwise supported in a horizontal position, historically called "Hawaiian-style". It is used in many genres of music, but commonly associated with American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

. The tubular model is typically used in

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

music when the player holds the guitar in the traditional position (flat against the body). It is then called a "slide" and the style called "

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...

". Early blues musicians inserted a finger in the sawed-off neck of a bottle to use as a slide and the term "

bottleneck Bottleneck may refer to: * the narrowed portion (neck) of a bottle Science and technology * Bottleneck (engineering), where the performance of an entire system is limited by a single component * Bottleneck (network), in a communication network * ...

" became an eponym for this type of blues guitar playing.

References

{{Commons category, Slide bars, steel bars Guitar parts and accessories Steel guitar Fingers Handwear