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05/10/2005 5:03 pm
Dogbite (AGAIN, sorry!) what gauge strings do you recommend for acoustic, tuning to C6? I have 9's on most of my guitars, the two I've dedicated to open tunings are both strung with 11's....close enough?
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
05/10/2005 5:03 pm
Forget the tabs, we want to hear some good old slide playin in Gm :!: :D :D Your slide playin always makes me smile 8) --the dog
05/10/2005 11:56 pm
C6
A C E G C E
Ummmmmm.........., I don't think that's the most 'effective' version of a C6 I've seen. The most common one is C E G A C E, which will give you a major triad on the three bottom strings, and on strings 1, 2, 4, plus the relative minor on strings 1, 2 and 3.
But more important (at least for me),- the close intervals between the top four strings are extremely handy for melodies and soloing, representing a 5th, 6th, root and 3rd (strings 4 to 1).
Vic, the strings I use for this tuning on my electric goes 15, 17, 20, 24, 30, 36. I'd guess that would work pretty well on an acoustic also (15 and 17 may be a bit heavy for an E and a C on an acoustic, so perhaps go down a step or two for the two top strings)....
Steinar
Topic starter
06/10/2005 1:17 am
Dog, I don't think I can record anything right now, as we're running around packing. I'm getting ready to take off to the Breaks Interstate Park between Haysi, Virginia and Elkhorn City, Kentucky tomorrow afternoon for a medical meeting. Taking Jane, we'll be back Saturday afternoon. Google that park up, it's a cool place.
But I happen to have a couple of nearly two-year-old recordings of the original Open G minor stuff I mentioned online. I'm sure I could do 'em better now, but here they are:
"I Wonder As I Wander" http://guitarchat.net/modules/Andromedia/Ricochet/IWonderAsIWander.mp3
WARNING: CONTAINS SINGING! :!:
"Summertime" http://guitarchat.net/modules/Andromedia/Ricochet/Summertime.mp3
I was going to record a whole bunch of Christmas stuff then, but my computer went down and I never got most of it recorded. I'll get more music up soon, because I'm getting in the mood again. I have to start really early with Christmas music, for one thing because I'm a slow learner, but also because the season's just too short and I love the stuff!
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
06/10/2005 2:44 am
That sounds nice,I liked the vocal also, good job :D I can't wait to hear what you come up with for christmas. I did a christmas song last year, but it was more of a TomWaits christmas " Santa's not Sober this Year" I should write a nicer one this year :lol: Have a good time on your trip, thats some beautiful country in those parts :D --the dog
06/10/2005 12:51 pm
from Brads Page of Steel C6 tunings and alternatives:
C E G A C E ...as Steinar mentions, the most common. and I agee with S. it is a good tuning.
alt tuning
A C E G C E...this is the one Ive been tuning to of late.
C# E G A C E
G C G A C E
E C G A C E
as you can see the relative minor is on the top in most of these tunings. I happen to have chosen the one tuning that reverses that.
jury is still out for me with this tuning. I need to give it another day or two.
Topic starter
06/10/2005 6:44 pm
Thanks, Dog! I've gotta get out of here!
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
07/10/2005 9:24 pm
For what it's worth, I submitted an open G minor lesson today (The Huron Carol)...not a blues or slide lesson, just a simple fingerpicking lesson with music and tab for the Huron Carol, so I hope you enjoy anyway :)
09/10/2005 11:40 am
BTW, I'm sitting here noodling around in G minor. "March of the Kings" works really well in this tuning!
Hi Ricochet,
Haven't listened to any of your recordings yet, unfamiliar with the songs other than summer time (and Ghost Riders- what fun!!).
This is a strange tuning to explore and suitable for some really strange stuff and effects. I think this tuning is implanted in us from movie sound tracks. Spaghetti Westerns? I thought maybe 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' theme would work but I have forgotten it.
I think that whistle actually represented an American Indian animal call (old indian trick)
Once I got past the movie sound track images of desert sand blowing over a dead cowboy hat, then just endless desert I began to discover some strange things. It was fun.
You really have to work with it awhile. I really got into it and in fact thought about writing an opera like piece in that tuning.
Here is a clue to what the opera will be about- these are words from a song that fits into this tuning, the way I remember. I remember when the song came out on the radio.
"Please mister Custer, I don't wanna go..."
The song: "Mr. Custer"
Recorded by: "Larry Verne"
(peak Billboard position #1 in 1960)
Words and Music by Fred Darian, Al DeLory, Joe Van Winkle
Here are the full lyrics:
http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/lyrics2/nov_mrcuster.html
Here is an audio clip from the original song whcich is the better of several versions I have heard:
http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/lyrics2/nov_mrcuster.html
Here is a page where you can download the whole song as a ZIP file- I don't know who did this version but you can hear the whole song, which is pretty good!.
There are two parts to the song, an introduction which is like a sung narrative, then the song. Scroll down to mrcuster.zip, right click and 'save as'.
http://www.filelibrary.com/Contents/Multi-Platform/61/40.html
---------------------------------------------------
Yeah, an opera on Custer's last stand, the Battle of the Little Bighorn. In spite of the humorous nature of the song, this is actually serious stuff. If you have ever been to the Little Bighorn Battlefield (A Natiuonal Monument) you might know what I mean about this G minor slide tuning and stuff. The place is pretty heavy with spirit.
Steinar might appreciate this opera approach. It can be approached from many angles, it was an important battle. You have to understand the history and maybe have some relatives there to fully appreciate the depth of it. For me that would be the Am. Indian side.
btw, I was told by an Apache friend once that the word 'injun' is like the word 'nigger'- and is associated with bad memories, extermination policies, massacres and such.
Anyhow, that's where this tuning took me tonight.
It is a strange one to work with and is good for creating mental images. It is almost like some kind of strange hallucinogenic drug. Not necessarily a good one but strange
Phangeaux
Phangeaux
BadBadBlues
09/10/2005 11:53 am
Hello Dogbite :-)
Thank you and Steinar for bringing us these tunings!
With regard to sliding in the Gm tuning , I think that it takes a place of peace and quiet and the time and convenience to explore this one to get beyond that constant flat which is somwhat like an arrow in a wound, but once I got beyond the intial images I had some wierd fun, like a science fiction landscape, or that wierd drug analogy.
The 'racial epithet' that I used in the comparison of the word 'injun' was the 'nig' word and the site software kindly replaced it with 'racial epithet'
I have to check and see if I gave a link (url) to the lyrics page.
Do you remember that song, Dogbite? We used to sing parts of it when we were kids.
I hope I get a chance to try some of these tunings. I just got a 62 SG reissue (Epiphone G400) set up and I love it!. My first electric guitar back in about 1964 was a Cherry Gibson SG, so even though this isn't an original it has the great neck and body. This is going to be my favorite electric slide guitar I can see that now. I am going to upgrade everything on it.
I've had the good fortune of being able to play more lately, gotta keep off of the computer more though.
Later,
phangeaux
from Brads Page of Steel C6 tunings and alternatives:
C E G A C E ...as Steinar mentions, the most common. and I agee with S. it is a good tuning.
alt tuning
A C E G C E...this is the one Ive been tuning to of late.
C# E G A C E
G C G A C E
E C G A C E
as you can see the relative minor is on the top in most of these tunings. I happen to have chosen the one tuning that reverses that.
jury is still out for me with this tuning. I need to give it another day or two.
Phangeaux
BadBadBlues
Topic starter
09/10/2005 12:55 pm
Opera about Little Big Horn? Great idea! Hope you pull it off!
Another great idea about "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly."
Gotta run, I'm about to be late for church.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
09/10/2005 1:26 pm
phangeaux. I do remember that Custer song. unfortunately too i remember all the racial epithats growing up. being half Italian Ive heard a few sent my way.
when I play guitar, in any tuning, I often stumble on a note or two that remind me of something. very similar to smell, sound can transport me to an experience.
Topic starter
13/10/2005 5:22 pm
I just discovered another one that works terrifically well in Open G minor: "Born Under A Bad Sign."
:D
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
16/10/2005 9:29 am
I just discovered another one that works terrifically well in Open G minor: "Born Under A Bad Sign."
:D
Hi Ricochet. As I mentioned on the IGS board, 'Born Under a Bad Sign' is my song, and I am going to do a powerful recording of that someday.
To me it is a very powerful song and I just can't play it in G minor tuning because that B flat just is too much of a crying note, like really sad, and I can't deem to get around that note.
For me, 'Bad Sign' represents strength and power coming from a hard life and/or hard times, which makes a person very strong, and not a cryer. I just cant relate to that minor tuning for that song.
Am I tuning the G minor correctly by dropping the B string down 1/2 step to B flat?
I discovered that dropping it down another half step to 'A' is more compatable to my ear for that song, HOWEVER, I was playing it in an open E tuning using some two string Jimi Hendrix style lead paterns on the 12th fret and that was working nicely.
I will probably end up playing it in a standard tuning or open E when I record it.
The first recording of this song that I ever heard was CREAM.
As I mentioned on the IGS board, ETTA JAMES has a GREAT version of the song with some really good slide playing! I think that is in drop D tuning (the slide work) but I didn't spend much time trying to figure that out.
Etta James, that little girl can sure sing!!! She has a top class version of that song, I hope you get a chance to hear it.
Since this is one of my favorite songs, I have heard alot of versions. I wish I had every version there is. Mine will be a one of a kind version and it will take some work, the percussion part is going to be special.
It's gonna take some 'Bad' dudes to play this version. Yeah!
Phangeaux
Phangeaux
BadBadBlues
Topic starter
16/10/2005 4:27 pm
I see that song as just pure old down-in-the-dumps lowdown blues, not a hopeful song about overcoming, so I'm fine with the very mournful sound. The minor third (Bb) is heard in the main riff, anyway.
Yeah, Open G minor is, from low to high, DGDGBbD. Just Open G with the second string (the major third) tuned down a half step. What you've discovered, DGDGAD, could be looked at in a couple of different ways. Considering the root to be G (since we started with Open G), it makes a "Gsus2" chord. You could also look at it as a derivative of DADGAD (Dsus4) with the fourth doubled, and I think that's how it's more likely to be heard. Depends on the context, though, and what note you pick to be the tonal center. That's a new tuning to me. Bet you can come up with some interesting things to do with it.
The G tuning equivalent of DADGAD would be to start with Open G and tune the second string up a half step from B to C, making a Gsus4 chord. DGDGCD.
There are whole families of tunings you can derive from the major open tunings by modifying the chords. You can make 7th chords, minor 7ths, major 7ths or "delta" chords, and of course sixth and ninth chords are popular tunings for the steel guitar players. The sky's the limit. There are literally hundreds of guitar tunings on record; somebody's already used the one you just discovered, you can bet.
:D
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."