G9 vs Gmaj9 Tuning

Allan Revich · From: Victoria, BC

Today’s project was trying out G9 and Gmaj9 tunings on my 7 string lap steels.

G9 - D G B D F A D
Gmaj9 - D G B D F# A D

Many of you will remember that Gmaj9 G B D F# A D was b0b’s favourite 6 string tuning.

Like all lap steel tunings, it seems that every tuning that gains some advantage, does so at the expense of something else.

G9 gives you, on open strings, G, G7, G9, Dm, Bm7b5
Gmaj9 gives you G, Gmaj7, Gmaj9, Bm, Bm7, D.
There are a couple of 6/11 inversions, and a myriad of partial chords in both tunings.

I found that I preferred the major 9 tuning for most music improvisation, with the 9th tuning having a slight edge for blues. For now I’m sticking with Gmaj9 on my 7 strings and low bass G on my 6 strings. Low bass G remains my favourite blues tuning, and the 7 string Gmaj9 can cover just about anything. It’s also nice having that low D string available.

I believe that quite a few players are using 9th tunings, especially E9, but I’m curious to know if other players are using Major Ninth tunings?
_________________
Current Tunings:
6 String | G – D G D G B D
7 String | G9 – D G B D F A D
https://papadafoe.com/lap-steel-tuning-database

Joe A. Roberts · From: Seoul, South Korea

The most common major 9th tuning is probably the 8 string C6th based on the pedal steel C6th. Adding F and A to the bottom of C6th makes for an Fmaj9th tuning. Don Helms played the same intervals up a major third.
E -> G#
C -> E
A -> C#
G -> B
E -> G#
C -> E
A -> C#
F -> A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HDxImv7F6o

I often retune the D# string on B11th to a D. Playing the fat low B on string 8 only occasionally, it is effectively a D major 9th tuning
E
C#
A
F#
D
C#
A
B

Another tuning with a major 9th in it that I can think of is an 8 string variant of the G11th tuning, which has Fmaj9th on the top strings.
G
E
C
A
F
D
B
G

John Ely's "A Diatonic" which is more of a F# harmonic minor, also has a straight D major 9th in it. With the F string, you also have a straight Dmin9th at hand!
It is a beautiful tuning full of chordal possibilities, but is hard to play.
E
C#
B
A
G#
F#
F
D

Except for the B string, Jerry Byrd's C diatonic is an F major 9th. Very pretty and interesting.
E
C
B
A
G
F
E

--
In my experience, the dominant 9th tunings are more versatile in all genres, and are less "weird", but major 9th tunings can really shine on the right tune.
With B11th and the two tunings in the OP, it's convenient that you only need to change one string a half step to switch between to wildly different sounds!
Like a fancier version of tuning the major third string on open E or D tuning down to a minor third.

Mark Perrodin · From: Tucson Arizona, USA

i am using the same intervals but tuned to E. the notes are E, G#, B, D#, F#, A# and C#. these notes are also the same as an E Lydian scale and are borrowed from the B Major parent scale. i prefer tuning to E because it makes it easier to relate to fret positions. there is a bunch of music in this tuning including 2, 3 & 4 note chords that can be played without slants. it's a lot of fun.

Joe A. Roberts · From: Seoul, South Korea

I played an E Lydian tuning for a couple months too, with very close intervals:
E
D#
C#
A#
G#
F#
E
B (same B as your middle B string)

Tuning down the B string (whatever pitch is the fifth in other Lydian scale tunings) gives a straight 13th, rooted a step above (i.e. E lydian becomes F#13th).

Like the John Ely tuning, and despite the pretty chords, I ultimately found the close intervals to be too stressful Laughing

might have to give yours a try.

Allan Revich · From: Victoria, BC

Andrew Frost · From: Toronto, Ontario

Any 6th chord with a '4th' on the bottom will yield a Maj9 tuning...
I like that low D on your Gmaj9 Allan.
To me its a D tuning with the bonus of that 4th ( G ) on the bottom akin to D6
pedal steel which I understand bOb prefered over C6 for its brighter timbre.

E
F#
D
B
A
F#
D
B
G
D

Allan Revich · From: Victoria, BC

Mark Perrodin · From: Tucson Arizona, USA

when i started playing this tuning i charted out the major, minor and modal scales. it really helped me wrap my head around it. now if i know the key of a song i'll stick with the major scale, the relative minor scale and the lydian scale. can't hit a wrong note with those 3 scales. there are a ton of 2 note chords so in essence there are double stops all over. plus a bunch of 7th chords can be easily had. it works for me. this is the first time i ever really studied a tuning and stuck with it. mapped the tetrachords too but discovered that 95% of what i play can be had with the 3 scales i mentioned. kinda feels like i'm playing lead guitar sometimes.
reading mike neer's posts really encouraged me to stretch a little and take my guitar playing more seriously.

Allan Revich · From: Victoria, BC

Thanks for all your comments. I spent some time today playing over backing tracks. Perhaps because of my background as a blues musician (50 years of blues harp), I found that G9 felt more intuitive than Gmaj9. Also, the dominant 7 is so integral to blues. For a more “jazzy” feel I found the Bm7b5 just as useful as having the M7 chords.
_________________
Current Tunings:
6 String | G – D G D G B D
7 String | G9 – D G B D F A D
https://papadafoe.com/lap-steel-tuning-database

Allan Revich · From: Victoria, BC

As an interesting aside, from another thread, https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=399860, I noticed that Don Helms’ “E13” is actually Amaj9. Just Gmaj9 a full step higher.

Joe A. Roberts · From: Seoul, South Korea

I mentioned that tuning a bit at the start of my first post above.
A lot of pretty sounds, and probably convenient for pedal players used to that C6th, but I have never heard Don Helms use that low A string.

Al Marcus said that in the late 40s him and other players tuned down the low B string in a straight E-on-top E6th tuning to A:
E C# B G# E C# A E

He said he would also sometimes from there tune the low E to F#, giving an F#min11th:
E C# B G# E C# A F#

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