ACEGACEG C6 on Lap Steel...playing blues / minor? Theory/practical question?

[Doug Anderson]

I have a theoretical type question. My music theory knowledge is pretty good and I'm trying to understand this from a theory and practical perspective.

I have an 8 string lap steel tuned to C6 (ACEGACEG from lowest sounding string to top).

When folks play blues with this tuning, they tend to play the blues from the key of C and move the chords / scales / etc from there. Curious why folks do this instead of using the key of A . With the ACEGACEG tuning, the open position is the minor A7 chord using the ACEG. The open strings are NOT a C minor chord so why do folks tend to play blues from the key of C.

I hope someone can understand what I'm trying to ask because I'm not certain I"m asking it very clearly.

[Noah Miller]

There are a lot more songs out there in major keys than minor ones, though every once in a while I do use the relative minor third as the "main" tuning.

[D Schubert]

I do that, not only on lap steel but also guitar and mandolin, for a blues in A with a primarily pentatonic melody. The Am7 and C scales lay in the same fingering/bar positions. Maybe I'm not understanding the question?

[Doug Anderson]

There are a lot more songs out there in major keys than minor ones, though every once in a while I do use the relative minor third as the "main" tuning.

That makes sense. Thank you!

[Doug Anderson]

I do that, not only on lap steel but also guitar and mandolin, for a blues in A with a primarily pentatonic melody. The Am7 and C scales lay in the same fingering/bar positions. Maybe I'm not understanding the question?

Thank you!

[Jim Fogarty]

If you think of string 1, 2 and 3 as the top 3 strings of dobro tuning, there's a TON of great licks and learning material out there.

[Steven Wilson]

One thing I like about C6 tuning (or A6) is that if you move up 3 frets from the open position, or any straight bar position, you will have a minor triad for that chord on strings 2,3,4 or 6,7,8. In other words, if you want a Cm chord in C6 tuning, move to the 3rd fret and play strings 2,3,4. I got a lot of value out of fretboard diagrams (Lessons with Troy is a good source) in understanding this. You can't get that one-position triad in open G dobro tuning. That said, I don't think anyone chooses C6 tuning because they plan to always play in the key of C (if I understood your post), and C6 may not be the best tuning for strictly playing blues. But it certainly works once you understand the fretboard and movable patterns. Hope that helps.....

[Doug Anderson]

One thing I like about C6 tuning (or A6) is that if you move up 3 frets from the open position, or any straight bar position, you will have a minor triad for that chord on strings 2,3,4 or 6,7,8. In other words, if you want a Cm chord in C6 tuning, move to the 3rd fret and play strings 2,3,4. I got a lot of value out of fretboard diagrams (Lessons with Troy is a good source) in understanding this. You can't get that one-position triad in open G dobro tuning. That said, I don't think anyone chooses C6 tuning because they plan to always play in the key of C (if I understood your post), and C6 may not be the best tuning for strictly playing blues. But it certainly works once you understand the fretboard and movable patterns. Hope that helps.....

That's helpful information. Thank you!

I am a member of Lessons with Troy and his lessons are awesome.

[George Piburn]

Hello from George Boards

I've come out of retirement in terms of online teaching. My Newest series is called "A Lot of Good Stuff to Know about C6 Lap Steel Guitar".

I've been playing C6 since 1984 and have attended week long Buddy Emmons clinics on C6 and studied or observed dozens of the greatest C6 A6 players live.

To get the Blues going on C6 is the best idea for playing Blues in my litle opinion. Unless of course all one want to do is play Slop Overhand bottleneck jive, not actual single note licks.

1st thing is to drop the high G and replace it with a D string, (1 step lower than the high E) to learn the modern means to what Buddy E Herb Remington Doug J paul franklin and all of the other greats called chromatic.

[Tucker Jackson]

One thing I like about C6 tuning (or A6) is that if you move up 3 frets from the open position, or any straight bar position, you will have a minor triad for that chord on strings 2,3,4 or 6,7,8.

Yes, indeed. And it's not just the C6 tuning. On ANY instrument, if you start in the major scale fret, playing a major scale... and then move up 3 frets, you can play the same pattern, only now you have notes from the natural minor scale.

If you want to play, say, a bluesy minor pentaonic thing (a 5-note scale), you would just select the correct notes. You're basically leaving out 2 notes from that pattern.

[Fred Treece]

With ACEGACEG, the only note missing from the A minor/C maj pentatonic scale in a nearly 2-octave range is D. How could that not be a great tuning for playing blues? Plus, there are single notes and diatonic chords or chord fragments in many locations over a 12-fret span.

1st thing is to drop the high G and replace it with a D string, (1 step lower than the high E) to learn the modern means to what Buddy E Herb Remington Doug J paul franklin and all of the other greats called chromatic.

Why did they call it a chromatic? That’s not what a D note is, in C6 tuning. It’s a re-entrant placement, but it’s not chromatic.