Uploaded October 2011 | Updated September 2026, 14 minutes ago
A beautiful popular Hawaiian song in the less popular E9th tuning, which is tuned treble to bass: E - B - G# - F# - E - D. If you're used to playing C6th, just lower strings 2,3 and 4 one half tone and then raise string 6 to a D note and you've got the E9th tuning!
The backing track is very nice, which I made with Band-in-a-Box, freely available as an MP3 on my website steelc6th.com. I also added some island birds and waves to make it sound more tropical. I think it came out pretty nice.
The E9th tuning is beautiful, far more popular in country music on the pedal steel guitar. You could play this EXACT tuning on your E9th pedal steel, using strings 4 through 9. The tuning is note-for-note the same. Of course, you wouldn't use and pedals or knee levers on a pedal steel if you want the song to sound authentic Hawaiian. E Mama E is easy to play. There are also free tabs on my website to teach you how to play the song.
I recently visited a tourist website for Maui, Hawaii and they were playing E Mama E in the background. If you just strum across all 6-strings and then slide up 12 frets (an octave), people will think they are in Hawaii, and if you're in Hawaii they'll come running on the beach to hear the pretty music. God bless and enjoy!
A beautiful popular Hawaiian song in the less popular E9th tuning, which is tuned treble to bass: E - B - G# - F# - E - D. If you're used to playing C6th, just lower strings 2,3 and 4 one half tone and then raise string 6 to a D note and you've got the E9th tuning!
The backing track is very nice, which I made with Band-in-a-Box, freely available as an MP3 on my website steelc6th.com. I also added some island birds and waves to make it sound more tropical. I think it came out pretty nice.
The E9th tuning is beautiful, far more popular in country music on the pedal steel guitar. You could play this EXACT tuning on your E9th pedal steel, using strings 4 through 9. The tuning is note-for-note the same. Of course, you wouldn't use and pedals or knee levers on a pedal steel if you want the song to sound authentic Hawaiian. E Mama E is easy to play. There are also free tabs on my website to teach you how to play the song.
I recently visited a tourist website for Maui, Hawaii and they were playing E Mama E in the background. If you just strum across all 6-strings and then slide up 12 frets (an octave), people will think they are in Hawaii, and if you're in Hawaii they'll come running on the beach to hear the pretty music. God bless and enjoy!
