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  #1  
Old 02-16-2018, 11:27 PM
okie143 okie143 is offline
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Default Very Beginner with very beginner question

I have an acoustic electric 24 fret tuned to EADGBE.

I have read a lot of the postings on scales, changing a key to a song by using barre chords, or using a capo.

I also read the articles on Alternative Guitar Tunings.

I don't have much experience with music at all and I am a disabled veteran trying to learn music to help out in church with music. We only have a couple of people who can play anything and if one is not there the pastor has to play the piano and that is about all we have.

My questions are:[LIST=1][*]My guitar is tuned, if that is the right word, to EADGBE, which gives me an open strum E chord.
[*]If I want to play a song in the key of D, with the guitar tuned to EADGBE where do I put a capo? Would I say the chord is E, because all strings strummed at the same time give an open E, and go up the octave, if that is the right word, to D? F,F#,G,G#,A,A#,B,C,C# (Capo 9th fret?)
[*][I read about octaves and know that each string will change 1/2 to 1 octave as I go up the neck till I reach the 12th fret then they should be the same as the 1st fret. But what about all 6 strings strummed at the same time to give the key of D? Would that require an alternate tuning of all 6 strings?

I hope this makes sense.

Thanks in advance for your patience and understanding.
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  #2  
Old 02-16-2018, 11:34 PM
gfa gfa is offline
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Hi Okie. EADGBE is not open E. It's commonly referred to as "standard tuning" and is how the vast majority of guitars are tuned. But, it's not an "open" tuning. When you strum those 6 open strings without fretting anything you are not making a chord. As a beginner, I'd suggest you stick with standard tuning (EADGBE) and learn some chords, rather than try to learn alternate tunings.
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Old 02-17-2018, 01:07 AM
1neeto 1neeto is offline
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Like gfa said, EADGBE is the standard tuning of a guitar. You can play in any key with that tuning without a capo, all you have to know is the chords that will fit in that key.

In the key of D, there’s 3 major and 3 minor chords that fit:
D
G
A
Bm
Em
F#m

Learning D G and Em chords is a good place to start since those chords are very popular.
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Old 02-17-2018, 03:42 AM
Bunnyf Bunnyf is offline
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Hi okie! You might just want to check out something like Justin Guitar for some basic free fundimental lessons. Get a few chords down in the standard tuning. Lots of folks, especially men and alto women, can sing in the key of G. So if you just learn G,C and D chords (that's the I, IV, and V chords of the key of G), you'll find you can play a ton of simple old school praise songs. Good luck!
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Old 02-17-2018, 09:19 AM
okie143 okie143 is offline
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Thanks all for your input.

I am following Justinguitar on line for learning as well as several other folks and have learned, but still need lots of practice fingering the chords in succession. I learn better by watching than reading.

I mentioned open tuning as I also have a banjo, just learning that as well, and you can open tune it so you can eliminate fingering the G chord. I didn't know guitars were not the same.

Hank Williams has a song titled The Battle of Armageddon which says it is in the key of D.

With the standard tuning I am set at the sound from my guitar doesn't sound as high as his. He must be tuned to a different tuning?

Thanks again for the info.
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  #6  
Old 02-17-2018, 09:21 AM
Puerto Player Puerto Player is offline
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If you want to change the key of a song, especially for a beginner, go online and find one of the sites that has the song and chords and also allows you to change the key of the song by selecting the key you want to play it in, and it automatically changes the chords in the song to that key.

Not to mess you up, but many songs you can still play open chords and change the key. You don't automatically have to start playing barred chords.
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Old 02-17-2018, 09:23 AM
SunnyDee SunnyDee is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by okie143 View Post
I have an acoustic electric 24 fret tuned to EADGBE.

I have read a lot of the postings on scales, changing a key to a song by using barre chords, or using a capo.

I also read the articles on Alternative Guitar Tunings.

I don't have much experience with music at all and I am a disabled veteran trying to learn music to help out in church with music. We only have a couple of people who can play anything and if one is not there the pastor has to play the piano and that is about all we have.

My questions are:[LIST=1][*]My guitar is tuned, if that is the right word, to EADGBE, which gives me an open strum E chord.
[*]If I want to play a song in the key of D, with the guitar tuned to EADGBE where do I put a capo? Would I say the chord is E, because all strings strummed at the same time give an open E, and go up the octave, if that is the right word, to D? F,F#,G,G#,A,A#,B,C,C# (Capo 9th fret?)
[*][I read about octaves and know that each string will change 1/2 to 1 octave as I go up the neck till I reach the 12th fret then they should be the same as the 1st fret. But what about all 6 strings strummed at the same time to give the key of D? Would that require an alternate tuning of all 6 strings?

I hope this makes sense.

Thanks in advance for your patience and understanding.
Different recommendation here. When I first started and didn't know music, I found standard tuning and all the different chords pretty difficult. It sounds to me like you need to be up and running very quickly. I'm going to recommend you make it super easy to do that by retuning your guitar to open G. D-G-D-G-B-D, that means you just lower the heaviest (6th) string, the 5th string, and the highest (1st) by one note. Now, you've got a nice, extremely common in church music, open G major chord with no fretting at all. If you fret all strings on the 5th fret, you have the C major and the same thing on the 7th fret is the D major. You can play boocoodles of simple church songs with these three chords alone. They are the I IV V chord that you may be familiar with.

If you really want to play in D, you could do the same with Open D tuning, D A D F♯ A D. Lower the 1st (high-E), 2nd (B), and 6th (low-E) down a full step. Lower the 3rd string (G) down half a step to F♯. Then you could capo on the 2nd fret to play in E. But G is much more common and easier for congregations to sing along to. The thing about picking a key is you want to pick the key that people will sing in, not necessarily the way the recording star sang it.

However, if you want an answer to the original question, you can't do what you are asking, play open strings with a capo to get to D from standard tuning. What you would do is either play the open chords that are found in the key of D or play the shapes associated with chords in C with a capo on 2. Either of those options means knowing more chord shapes than it seems you are ready with right now.


Playing in open tuning will give you time to explore the rest of the guitar stuff you'll want to know. And match what you are doing on banjo, I assume. I don't know banjo.

Quote:
Originally Posted by okie143 View Post
I mentioned open tuning as I also have a banjo, just learning that as well, and you can open tune it so you can eliminate fingering the G chord. I didn't know guitars were not the same.
Guitars are the same. That's what I've described.
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Last edited by SunnyDee; 02-17-2018 at 09:37 AM.
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  #8  
Old 02-17-2018, 12:59 PM
Big Band Guitar Big Band Guitar is offline
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First off throw away the capo it will stunt your growth as a musician.

Yes I know lots of well known players use one but you and I are not them. So no need to waste space with pictures.

A little basic chord / music theory will go a long way.

Find someone to show you the right fingering for the basic chords.

Use a metronome.

Not really last but practice at least 20 minutes 3 times a day. Increasing to 5 or 6 times a day after 6 months.

Check back after a year.
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  #9  
Old 02-17-2018, 01:05 PM
auggie242 auggie242 is offline
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If you're in standard tuning (EADGBe) and you play an "E" chord, you can get the same sound by playing a "D" shape with a capo on the second fret.

Re: the Hank song. If you're playing it and it doesn't sound as "high" as his recording, try putting on a capo but using the same chords as you were before. Keep moving the capo up until you hit the pitch you're looking for. If you're capo'd at fret 5 or above, it gets a bit clumsy to finger the chords. If you're capo is above 7, don't bother trying.
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  #10  
Old 02-17-2018, 02:04 PM
Denny B Denny B is offline
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Justinguitar is a wonderful starting point for absolute beginners...Justin makes learning and understanding open chords easy, and he has a couple of lessons there on the basic use of a capo...

If you need to get up and running quickly, a capo can be your best friend...

You don't need to understand how an internal combustion engine works to learn to drive a car...keep it simple...

Use Justin's beginner course, practice the basics, and try to have some fun...you can tackle the tough stuff down the road if you stick with it...

Good luck to you...
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  #11  
Old 02-18-2018, 11:12 PM
Matt.S Matt.S is offline
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If you follow Justinguitar I believe he has a section on chords that taught me a lot. You don’t really need to find it as it is a simple concept - Take a few chords, in this case the ones in the Key of D sound like a good start, and make your own strum and keep the strum at the same pace and switch chords. You’ll very likely be sloppy and mess up a lot in the beginning but as you keep playing at the same rhythm, a metronome could help, your brain will eventually work out the kinks. Then you can speed it up and next thing you know you can change chords quickly and you know chords that sound good before or after another to get a certain emotion you are after.

Just keep it simple at first. Some may scorn me but may want to focus on non barre chords first just to speed up your progress. Good luck!
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