Aloha Tears (E13th)

[Joe A. Roberts]

Andy Volk recently posted a story about an encounter Jerry Douglas that had a good quote --
"If you can't play the melody well you can't improvise around it."

It inspired me to revisit one of my very favorite tunes, Aloha Tears by Dick McIntire.
It ended up being a good time, so I threw together a quick video and added the lyrics on top so you can keep tabs on any flubs and/or tasteless departures from the melody

I am using the Jules Ah See / Noel Boggs E13th, which I think is often overshadowed by the other E13th tunings:
E
C#
G#
F#
D
B
G#
E

https://youtu.be/PF_Shu1yjFw

[Steve Cunningham]

Nice!

[Allan Revich]

A lot of very cool stuff going on there. Nicely done!

[Levi Gemmell]

Great stuff, Joe - I've been enjoying your posts lately. Give us more!

Am I correct in saying you keep a 6th tuning, the E13th, and G11th on this steel?

[Steve Cunningham]

Nice!

[Joe A. Roberts]

Nice!

Thanks Steve! I love your F#9th videos by the way, I would love to see more in that tuning

A lot of very cool stuff going on there. Nicely done!

Thanks Allan I really appreciate it!

Great stuff, Joe - I've been enjoying your posts lately. Give us more!

Am I correct in saying you keep a 6th tuning, the E13th, and G11th on this steel?

Thanks for the words of encouragement Levi! More is coming

On this steel I ended up with are:

Furthest E C# A F# D# C# A B - B11th
Middle E C# G# F# D B G# E - E13th
Closest d E C A G E C Bb - C13th

Unfortunately, there is some kind of electrical issue or something on the C13th neck that needs to be sorted out.
Looks like the pickup is not original, and there is a rattle or something that spoils recordings... So I have mostly been playing the other two.

I don't use the G11th as a main tuning, but I often retune to it for fun. Maybe if I had a quad neck
I encourage anyone who is interested in the G11th tuning to check out this recording of Lovey Lui Conn if they haven't, some astonishing playing...
Only 800 views in 10 years, a damn shame

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XD0wuO3Qe0

I love their version of Na Ka Pueo, last song starting at 26:25
Killer riff, and on the bridges she swings as hard as Jules Ah See with some stunning chord solos!

[Andy Volk]

Cool stuff, Joe! Ralph Kolsinana played that inversion.

I somehow missed the Lovey Lui recordings. Man, does that swing!

[Joe A. Roberts]

Cool stuff, Joe! Ralph Kolsinana played that inversion.

I somehow missed the Lovey Lui recordings. Man, does that swing!

Thanks Andy! Funny you mention that, in a thread a week or two ago I happened to mentioned that Ralph Kosiana Night and Day track here on your soundcloud:
https://soundcloud.com/aev/ralph-kolsiana
What an awesome band... Do you know if they recorded any more tunes?


Some self reflection after rewatching my video today: I played the song way too fast, and I made some mistakes and intonation suffered a couple times.
Jumping around the neck with bar is kind of like reading music, your eyes have to be were you are going, not where you are in the present moment.
I was playing it at 140 BPM. Not sure how I arrived at that, I think I just had the metronome set to that before.

I checked the original Dick McIntire recording, and it is only around 100 BPM! What a player...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1rObfc_5nw

Dick McIntire's SGHOF plaque:

DICK KAIHUE McINTIRE

MOTION PICTURE SOUND TRACK AND RECORDING ARTIST FROM THE 1930's TO 1950. BAND LEADER, COMPOSER, AND PROFOUND INSPIRATION TO SCORES OF STEEL GUITARISTS WHO FOLLOWED. THE MASTER OF PURITY, TASTE, AND EXPRESSION OF HIS DAY.

BORN: APRIL 6, 1902 HONOLULU, HAWAII
DIED: MAY 20, 1951
INDUCTED: 1982

[Joe A. Roberts]

With E C# G# on the top, I'd say with this E13th you can get 75% of the way copping those old C#mth and F#9th tuning sounds (while being a bit more versatile than those).

Vance Terry apparently thought that this E13th was different enough that he had both it AND his own E13th on his Fender Custom! (With the other tuning being A6th)
That one string difference makes a world of difference:
E C# B G# F# D B G# - Vance Terry E13th (Al Marcus supposedly used this tuning even earlier, he said he was using it in 1938!)
E C# G# F# D B G# E - Noel Boggs, Jules Ah See, Ralph Kolsiana

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A rough transcription of my playing if anyone is interested...