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Topic: Names for tunings |
Brian Evans
From:
Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted 30 Jul 2021 5:33 am |
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| What is the convention for naming a tuning. C6 I get, but why isn't it C13? B11, does it have a dominant 7 in the open chord? I've been playing Low G, but with a low E instead of a low D (low to high EGDGBD) and I think of it as two different tunings - Em7 and G. I guess it could be called G6, which begs the question - is C6 also an Am7 tuning? I'm so confused... |
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Allan Revich
From:
Victoria, BC
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Posted 30 Jul 2021 7:40 am
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Most tunings are named for the open chord that they create when strummed. There are a few exceptions for some older tunings that were “mislabeled†in their early days, or that are named for their “inventorâ€/populizer. There are also occasional tunings that are more well known by enharmonic equivalent names.
I guess you could say that the names reflect a combination of chord theory and historical conventions.
I’ve tried to reflect this on my lap steel tuning database page.
https://papadafoe.com/lap-steel-tuning-database
_________________
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 |
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Joe A. Roberts
From:
Seoul, South Korea
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Posted 30 Jul 2021 6:16 pm Re: Names for tunings
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| Brian Evans wrote: |
| What is the convention for naming a tuning. C6 I get, but why isn't it C13? B11, does it have a dominant 7 in the open chord? I've been playing Low G, but with a low E instead of a low D (low to high EGDGBD) and I think of it as two different tunings - Em7 and G. I guess it could be called G6, which begs the question - is C6 also an Am7 tuning? I'm so confused... |
I have seen old posts saying that C6th used to be called Am7th in the early days.
I recall a relevant post that I failed to find from the early years of this century. Someone was saying that their teacher back in the old days was adamant about calling it Am7th and not C6th, with the justification being somewhere along the lines that "musically a 6th chord does not exist." I wish I could find that thread!
To answer your question, C6th with a Bb string would be C13th. Without Bb (the 7th) it would not be a 13th chord, just a plain 6th.
The only notes that you need for it to be a 13th chord are E, Bb, and A (the third, the 7th, and the 13th).
This means that you do not need the 9th or the 11th.
You also do not always need the root and/or the fifth. In some B11th tunings there is no B...
Food for thought: tuning the 5th intervals in any straight 6th tuning down a half step results in a 9th tuning keyed a whole step above your starting tuning.
(all tunings high to low)
E C A G E C - C6th
E C A F# E C - D9th
E C# B G# E C# B G# - E6th
E C# A# G# E C# A# G# - F#9th
E C# A F# E C# A F# - A6th
D# C# A F# D# C# A F# - B9th
(B11th would be derived from A6th by tuning the middle E to D# leaving the top E alone.
Even with no B it is still B11th.
This also means that you can change between A6th and B11th at the twist of the tuner!)
Naming by chords does not capture enough nuance when there are so many tunings called the same thing.
Here are the variations of 8 string B11th tunings that I have seen.
E C# A F# D# B A B - Basil Henriques
E C# A F# D# C# B A - Doug Beaumier
E C# A F# D# C# A F# - Anthony Locke
E C# A F# D# B F# B - Jules Ah See
E C# A F# D# C# A B - Flavio Pasquetto
E C# A F# D# B A F# - Don Helms
A list of E13ths could be much longer...
Adding the name of known players of a tuning variation can help. You often see "Boggs E13th" "Vance E13th" and "Leon E13th" to give more clarity.
Anyway, example of a misnamed tuning would be C#m7th:
E C# G# E D B - C#m7th... or E13th?
With that name, the D, or b9th is out of place, it can't be C#m7th. This tuning is better called and E13th tuning, and in practice it is used from a frame of reference of E. But tradition persists, and it is a cool sounding name regardless! 
The failings of the system of naming tunings by chord becomes apparent when you start getting into more Consider Jerry Byrd's C Diatonic:
E C B A G F E
It has no D to be a full diatonic scale, but what else could it be called? 
One of my main tunings these days is one John Ely invented that I found on his tuning database that he calls A diatonic.
E C# B A G# F# F D - "A Diatonic)
However, there is no F note in the A diatonic scale... It does have all the notes of the F# harmonic minor scale though. Would it be "F# Harmonic Minor Tuning"?
Where do we draw the line?  |
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Andrew Frost
From:
Toronto, Ontario
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Posted 1 Aug 2021 6:49 pm
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I think some tunings become institutions of a sort, and the name will stay the same even when substantial alterations are introduced that you'd think should change the name of the tuning. For example, it is not uncommon for players to put a re-entrant 9th on the very top of a 6th tuning, or a 4th on the bottom, but in these instances the tuning will generally still be referred to by its basic 6th name, because that name communicates the essence and style of the tuning. C6 will often have a D on top and sometimes an F on the bottom - these are not insignificant details but they don't change the overall identity of the tuning. It is indeed interesting! I think steel tunings are a mix of music theory and colloquial inertia.
Last edited by Andrew Frost on 2 Aug 2021 10:52 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Nic Neufeld
From:
Kansas City, Missouri
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Posted 2 Aug 2021 2:49 am
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Agree with the above...
One other factor...while I will call B11 by its given name, I like to think of it as a split tuning...A6/B9. Because that is how it is usually played. Conventional A6 on the top four strings, B9 on the bottom strings. Some of the most common arrangements in B11 are done that way...melody playing on the normal A6 tuning on top, plus jazzy chordal accompaniment on the lower B9 strings... It is comparable to Jerry Byrd's C6 modification (C6/A7) in that way.
_________________
Waikīkī, at night when the shadows are falling
I hear the rolling surf calling
Calling and calling to me |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 2 Aug 2021 2:58 am
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| Quote: |
| steel tunings are a mix of music theory and colloquial inertia |
Well said, Andrew. I totally agree. When I did my Slide Rules book, I always sided with the Colloquial name. We call Spanish standard tuning (EADGBE) "Standard" tuning but it could be called Em7add 11. Standard is just easier.
_________________
Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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Allan Revich
From:
Victoria, BC
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Posted 2 Aug 2021 12:33 pm
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| Andrew Frost wrote: |
| …steel tunings are a mix of music theory and colloquial inertia. |
I love this! It’s going on my tunings web page with an attribution. Andrew, let me know by PM or FB Messenger if you want your name to link to a specific web page.
_________________
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 |
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Andrew Frost
From:
Toronto, Ontario
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Posted 3 Aug 2021 3:10 pm
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Glad you get a kick out of my wording! Instagram seems to be the best calling card these days, so feel free to link my page up.
https://www.instagram.com/frost_music/
That's a great a great resource you're developing, Allan! |
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