the.com/pedal steel

means A console-style steel guitar played flat on the lap (or on legs/stand), with foot pedals and knee levers that bend specific strings mid-note to slide between chords.

from Descends from the Hawaiian steel guitar tradition, where players slid a metal bar (the 'steel') over the strings to produce its signature glide. As the sound caught on in American country and western-swing music in the early-to-mid 1900s, builders added pedals and knee levers that could tighten or loosen chosen strings while a note rang, letting players bend pitches without touching the bar. The pedals turned a Hawaiian lap instrument into a mechanical, almost organ-like machine for crying, sliding chords — and gave the genre its name.