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Topic: Retuning to play a specific melody or song...? |
Doug Beaumier
From: Northampton, MA
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Posted 8 Sep 2017 11:13 am
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Have you ever done this? You want to play a certain melody, let's say a fast song with single notes, but none of your favorite tunings work well for that melody. There's too much bar hopping from fret to fret, and it's not smooth. So you retune your open strings to match the notes you need for that song. Then it plays smooth and easy with minimal bar movement. You're no longer tuned to one of the chord tunings, C6, A6, E7, D9, etc. You're tuned to a series of notes, possibly a diatonic tuning. Of course, it only works for that song (and possibly a few others) and there may not be many chords available, but it does work excellent for that one song. Ever done that? _________________ My Site / My YouTube Channel
25 Songs C6 Lap Steel / 25 MORE Songs C6 Lap Steel / 16 Songs, C6, A6, B11 / 60 Popular Melodies E9 Pedal Steel |
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George Piburn
From: The Land of Enchantment New Mexico
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Posted 8 Sep 2017 11:25 am Boot Heel Drag
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At the Dallas Show Herb Remington did that for Boot Heel Drag.
He also did it by ear during his set; after; he re tuned back to his normal , I believe A6.
Don't know what he actually did note wise, but I have it on video.
If it is good enuff for Herb it's good enuff for me - Ha! _________________ GeorgeBoards S8 Non Pedal Steel Guitar Instruments
Maker of One of a Kind Works of Art that play music too.
Instructional DVDs
YouTube Channel |
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Doug Beaumier
From: Northampton, MA
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Mike Neer
From: NJ
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Doug Beaumier
From: Northampton, MA
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Andy Volk
From: Boston, MA
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Posted 8 Sep 2017 1:16 pm
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One of the key points I wanted to make in my book on open D was that by changing just one string as little as a half step you can really change the character of a tuning, make some passages easier to play, and/or facilitate different different voicings of chords. I tend to do things backwards from what you described, Doug. I'll try a tuning and THEN realize a certain song works well in that tuning. _________________ Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com
Last edited by Andy Volk on 9 Sep 2017 10:12 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Jack Aldrich
From: Washington, USA
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Posted 8 Sep 2017 1:40 pm
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If I only have my C6 (I use a high G - (from bottom) G Bb E G A C E G), I can play most of my B11 repertoire by tuning the middle G down to F#. It is then the same as the B11 but pitched to C rather than A on the top 5 strings. It's nicer to play on a B11 neck, but, when asked, I do my best with this tuning - "(from bottom) F# A C E G. I'm playing Mapuana at the Live Aloha Festival here in Seattle on Sunday, and I'm only bringing my Asher Alan Akaka Special. _________________ Jack Aldrich
Carter & ShoBud D10's
D8 & T8 Stringmaster
Rickenbacher B6
3 Resonator guitars
Asher Alan Akaka Special SN 6
Canopus D8 |
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David Matzenik
From: Cairns, on the Coral Sea
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Posted 8 Sep 2017 1:51 pm
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I have only done that with one string to get a seventh, but then my playing is pretty basic. _________________ Don't go in the water after lunch. You'll get a cramp and drown. - Mother. |
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Erv Niehaus
From: Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 8 Sep 2017 1:52 pm
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That's the reason I played a T-8 Stringmaster. Some songs just lay out better and sound better in a particular tuning.
I also chose a neck according to the key the song was written in, I liked to play in the middle of the fret board. |
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Doug Beaumier
From: Northampton, MA
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Posted 8 Sep 2017 2:14 pm
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Quote: |
I'll try a tuning and THEN realizes a certain song works well in that tuning. |
Sometimes I do that too. Like when I put E13 (Tom Morrell's) on my 10-string Epiphone and strummed across the middle strings... the melody for "Sleepy Lagoon" popped out! It was right there. Just strum across the strings. As Jeff Newman used to say... "a monkey could do that!" But other times I'll spend a couple of hours trying different tunings to play a song and none of them work smoothly. So I retune the strings to the exact notes I need to play that song and it works great. Just don't ask me what that name of that tuning is... ! _________________ My Site / My YouTube Channel
25 Songs C6 Lap Steel / 25 MORE Songs C6 Lap Steel / 16 Songs, C6, A6, B11 / 60 Popular Melodies E9 Pedal Steel |
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Kay Das
From: Los Angeles CA
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Posted 8 Sep 2017 11:44 pm
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Prefer using separate necks (C6, A6, B11, Dmaj); on occasion (e.g., "Waikiki") will retune but limit tuning any one string up/down to one semitone. Reason: I am rather particular about the string gauges I use and I like the feel of uniform string tensions as I move across the strings. |
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Jack Hanson
From: San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 9 Sep 2017 4:16 am
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Kay Das wrote: |
Prefer using separate necks (C6, A6, B11, Dmaj) |
Me too. But since all my lap steels are single necks, I use different guitars for different tunings. |
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Bill Galvan
From: California, USA
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Posted 9 Sep 2017 8:29 am Retuning
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Doug: I certainly have done this. See my posting, "Morphing' Is More Fun",
in this section on July 4th 2017. Any new D.B. tab in the works? |
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Greg Booth
From: Anchorage, AK, USA
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Posted 9 Sep 2017 8:50 am
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I do that a lot, probably more than most dobro players. Coming to the dobro after playing the psg most of my career is probably why. Here is an example, Jobim's Corcovado. Starting with my drop E tuning EBDGBD low to high I realized I could get the melody easily by raising the high B to C which yields a whole tone interval on the top 2 strings.
https://youtu.be/XvqAH9tLlKA _________________ Greg
Kathy Kallick Band
www.youtube.com/user/aksliderdobro |
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Doug Beaumier
From: Northampton, MA
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Posted 9 Sep 2017 9:41 am
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Thanks for the great replies. I'm glad to hear that other players sometimes tune a string(s) up or down to get licks in certain songs. Like I said earlier, I used to think it was somehow "cheating", but it's actually being creative. Guitar players have been doing it for years... i.e. Chet Atkins' version of Black Mt. Rag, drop D (string 1). I spent many hours trying to play his version before I realized that it was drop D... just tweak the tuner and there it was!
Greg, I really enjoy all of your videos! Awesome technique and style. One of my favorites is Little Rock Getaway, but all of your stuff is great.
Bill, I know what you mean about morphing from tuning to tuning. It opens up a whole new world of possibilities. I was surprised to read that you play the old standard "Tangerine". I recently discovered that song and I like it a lot. _________________ My Site / My YouTube Channel
25 Songs C6 Lap Steel / 25 MORE Songs C6 Lap Steel / 16 Songs, C6, A6, B11 / 60 Popular Melodies E9 Pedal Steel |
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Andy Volk
From: Boston, MA
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Doug Beaumier
From: Northampton, MA
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Ian Rae
From: Redditch, England
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Posted 9 Sep 2017 1:27 pm
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I'm a novice pedal steel player who used to play bass, so I've never really taken much notice of what guitarists get up to; but my impression is that they do from time to time retune for a particular song and that this doesn't strike anyone as unusual.
Or maybe I've got it all wrong and these are just repeated attempts to get in tune in the first place. _________________ Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
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Barney Roach
From: California, USA
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Mick Hearn
From: United Kingdom
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Posted 19 Sep 2017 11:56 am
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My main guitar is my National D8. The tuning buttons are still original so even putting on new strings or tuning I have to gently put some pressure on then release then a bit more for fear of them breaking. Changing tunings would have my heart in my mouth. I know I can replace them but I would sooner keep it original. _________________ ShoBud 6139, Remington Steelmaster D8, National D8 Console x 2, George Boards Lap Steel, National New Yorker. |
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David Mason
From: Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 19 Sep 2017 3:37 pm
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Sure. I don't have much... luck? Skill? PATIENCE with getting a roar out of a wee winkie 0.012" or 0.011" string, so on a ten-string I'm pretty much set with a spread of a 0.014" or 0.015" down to a 0.070", but what ARE they? Heh. I devolve backwards from pedal steel back to slide guitar, more or less. I finally have enough of the buggers around that I can now LEAVE one in a, say, Croatian Upsilonic b7*, which is critical - it's the retuning to get "back to normal" that'll take the fun out. I've heard of people who actually WRITE THEM DOWN, yikes!
*(Which is admittedly just the 3rd mode of the ol' Sumerian/Assyrian "whistle-while-you-sacrifice" Morphonic-scaled theme song. Joni Mitchell used like SIXTY different tunings on a mere six-string, and look at them teeth!) |
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