| Author |
Topic: Steel Guitar Tunings |
Derrick Mau
From:
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
|
Posted 22 Feb 2005 3:16 am |
|
I'm trying to establish a time-line for just the basic steel guitar tunings. Is there any information or rough estimates as to when the following tunings were discovered?
A (High Bass)
E
E7
C#m
E13
B11
A6
I purposely left the C6th tuning out of this list, as Jerry as we all know, has already claimed he was using it in the late 30's. It's pretty strange that no one claims credit for discovering these other tunings. The same seems to apply to Slack Key tunings.
People say that in the olden days that they never documented things, but how does one explain the fact that we know the ukulele was bought into Hawaii by the Portuguese in 1879? What about the tons of information we have on the arrival of the missionaries in the 1820's, and Captain Cook's visit in 1778? It was documented. But why wasn't information on steel guitar and slack key documented? Music is a big part of Hawaiian culture.
Just something to think about . . .
|
|
|
|
Rick Alexander
From:
Florida, USA, R.I.P.
|
Posted 22 Feb 2005 12:14 pm
|
|
Derrick,
This thread has a post by Carl Dixon that deals with the evolution of tunings. It may shed some light on your question. |
|
|
|
Al Marcus
From:
Cedar Springs,MI USA (deceased)
|
Posted 22 Feb 2005 1:18 pm
|
|
Derrick, all of those tunings were in use when I started in 1936. I played all of them.
The first time I ever heard the E13th was when Alvino Rey used it, so well in so many Big band arrangements. When I got my D8, I of course, put that right on my top neck...al 
------------------
My Website..... www.cmedic.net/~almarcus/
|
|
|
|
Jeff Au Hoy
From:
Honolulu, Hawai'i
|
Posted 22 Feb 2005 5:54 pm
|
|
Whoa, spooky. The progression of tunings that Carl laid out is the same one that I did a couple years ago while bored in class.
I'd always wondered about the A6 pre-dating the C6 (as seems would be "logical"). However at the same time I was hesitant to mention that because it would lessen the "great independent discovery" of the C6, and lead to all kinds of death threats in my mailbox.
Speaking of Carl Dixon, where is that guy? I hope he's okay, wherever he is. |
|
|
|
Derrick Mau
From:
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
|
Posted 23 Feb 2005 3:03 am
|
|
Just wanted to note that in Jerry Byrd's book, page 120, that his evolution patterns differ from Carl's, originating from a slack key tuning instead of the basic acoustic guitar tuning. For those who don't have Jerry's book, it's as follows:
Slack Key Guitar Tuning "D"
Steel Guitar A Major (low bass)
A Major (high bass)
E Major (low bass)
E7th
E9th
C#m
C#m7
C#m9
E13th & E9th
B11
C6th
C6/A7
C13
D9th
Lorene Ruymar also mentions that the first steel tuning was an A Major (low bass) Her findings were based on published steel guitar arrangements from the Oahu Publishing Company.
What I was looking for in the above are the dates when these were first used.
Thanks Al, your website was very interesting and enjoyable. Do you still have that Vega double 8? |
|
|
|
Jeff Strouse
From:
Jacksonville, Florida, USA
|
Posted 23 Feb 2005 4:21 am
|
|
| Aloha Derrick! Good to see you on the forum! |
|
|
|
Todd Weger
From:
Safety Harbor, FLAUSA
|
Posted 23 Feb 2005 11:23 am
|
|
That's pretty cool, but I thought B11 came about as a result of Buck Owens telling us not to play A11...?
Sorry... couldn't resist. |
|
|
|
Jack Byrd
From:
Kalamazoo, Michigan
|
Posted 23 Feb 2005 12:42 pm
|
|
| Here is some more info on tunings with some dating in the ballpark. It may help. [URL=http://www.comquatrecords.com.au [This message was edited by Jack Byrd on 23 February 2005 at 12:49 PM.] |
|
|
|
