Lap steel guitar is played with a bar (or slide) laid flat across the strings, so every chord is a straight barre across all six strings at a single fret position. The tuning determines which chord you get at each fret. ChordColor supports five open tunings: C6 (CEGACE, the standard Hawaiian and country tuning), Open D (DADF#AD), Open E (EBEG#BE), Open G (DGDGBD), and Open A (EAC#EAE). Each tuning creates a different harmonic landscape along the fretboard.
The interval coloring reveals something unique about lap steel: since you cannot fret individual strings, the chord quality at each bar position is entirely determined by the tuning. C6 tuning gives you a C6 chord at the open position, an augmented chord at some frets, and diminished voicings at others. The color map shows the interval content at every bar position, so you can see the full vocabulary of your chosen tuning at a glance.
C6 tuning is the foundation of Hawaiian slack-key and Nashville country steel playing. Open D and Open E are popular in blues slide guitar. Open G connects to the bluegrass and rock slide traditions. ChordColor helps you compare what each tuning offers by showing the interval structure of every bar position across all five tunings.