3 note chords in a band

[Jim Bloomfield]

For those of you who play primarily country in a noisy bar band setting (not talking about Western swing or jazz), how often do you play a full 3 note chord? Or are you mostly just playing partial chords or single strings? Thanks.

[Erv Niehaus]

It depends on the steel player.
For instance, Curly Chalker was a chordal steel player.
All my tabs are written in the chordal style.
To each his own.
Erv

[Fred Treece]

It also depends on the band lineup. If it’s bass-drums-guitar-steel, then you are going to cover chords out of necessity at times to fill out the sound over a chorus or bridge.

If there are 2 guitars, a keyboard, and 3-part harmony vocals, then most of the time 3- or 4-note pedal steel voicings are overkill. It just contributes to stage volume and clashing of chord tones and holy crap what if somebody’s out of tune.

If your larger band does not rehearse and work out arrangements for the tunes you’re playing, then playing less is definitely more appropriate.

[Jerry Overstreet]

I never really think about it. It's just how it comes out. Sometimes a big 6,8, 10 grip with a&b pedals is good. Mainly I try to play whatever blends with the song, band or the space.

Many times I play solos with strings 5&6 and pedals. You can play good melody on just those 2 strings even if you don't know the song.