Theorizing Musical Motion, Moving with the Steel Guitar

Abstract This article offers a theory of musical motion based on performing and listening to steel guitar music. It highlights this instrument and repertoire as a particular case in which spatial motion can be heard. It models movements along the tonal spaces of Hawaiian lap steel and pedal steel guitars, some instances of which correspond to continuous versions of familiar voice-leading operations from transformational theory. This study proposes and accounts for several types of smooth motion: between, to, from, about, around, contrary, stop motion, and “moving in place.” Utilizing software-assisted continuous pitch plots, traditional transcription, and tablature, it analyzes excerpts of steel guitar music from a range of influential historic and contemporary performers. A haptic interpretation of pedal steel guitar moves relates composite, nondiscrete physical motions to musical effects of disorientation and fluidity that listeners hear in the repertoire. Ultimately, this article suggests thinking away from an idea of movement defined by relationships between discrete, visualized objects in compositional spaces, and more toward a motional sensibility grounded in the multisensory experiences of musical performance.