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#16
12-01-2015, 07:37 PM
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Quote:
Before you can decide upon a single tuning, you must first choose between two classes of tunings: Triad tunings (such as open D/E, open G/A, and open C), and close-spaced tunings (such as C6 and A6). This is because the string sets are mutually exclusive. Triad tunings generally work well with standard guitar string sets, while close-spaced tunings require string sets that will accommodate them. Each of these tuning classes has its advantages, and each is widely used. Here are some very general observations about them: - Triad tunings are widely used in bluegrass, rock, blues, and sacred steel music. Players tend to use a lot of open strings, and to stick with a single key; many use capos when it's necessary to play in different keys. The low roots and fifths on the sixth and fifth strings can be very useful if you're called upon to play rhythm while your duo partner is soloing. There are lots of inversions of major chords available. - On the other hand, it's just about impossible to play any other type of chord without using bar slants, which are tricky for a new player to execute. - Close-spaced tunings are widely used in country, western swing, Hawai'ian, Americana, and jazz. Players tend to avoid open strings (you can't vibrate them), and seldom use a capo. Having three inversions of the minor triad (and minor seventh) available at any fret opens up enormous harmonic possibilities: A minor triad gives you the top three notes of major seventh and ninth chords, and there's an easy corner / dog leg / hockey stick bar slant available which supplies the top three notes of a dominant seventh, which also constitute a diminished triad (unlimited tritone substitutions!). Also, the presence of the sixth tone between the fifth and upper root drastically reduces the bar movement required to play fast single-note passages. - On the other hand, you sacrifice the low root and fifth notes so convenient when you have to play rhythm. As I said, these are generalizations, and there are exceptions. For example, you can gain some of the benefits of a sixth tuning even if you're using standard guitar strings, by tuning one of the fifth notes in the chord up to a sixth. Examples include D G E G B D (sometimes used by the world's best unknown steel player, Ken Emerson) and E B E G# C E (first used by Hawai'ian ace Sol Hoʻopiʻi in the 1930s). But if you do this, you'll sacrifice some major chord inversions, you won't have as many minor chord inversions, and you won't have the fast single-note passage capability offered by a close-spaced tuning. I recommend that you get started by trying out E B E G# B E and E A E A C# E with the strings that came with your instrument. Per Rondo Music's Labradoodle page, gauges are 011, .015,.022w,.028,.036,.052. On a 22.75" scale, these are probably way too light for D A D F# A D and D G D G B D, but you should try these tunings anyway, just to satisfy yourself that this is the case. While you're investigating those tunings (and perhaps E C# E G# B E, E B E G# C# E, and E A F# A C# E) with your current strings, do consider the possibility of a close-spaced tuning for your next string change before making a final decision. Note that a single set of strings can accommodate many different tunings without compromising sound quality. You will not be locking yourself into C6 just by using a C6 string set! Here's a chart listing some of the possibilities that can be achieved with a typical six-string set nominally offered for C6 tuning. (Gauges may vary slightly from one brand of string to another, but any six-string C6 set will work well for all of these tunings.) Code:
Str .036 .030 .024 .022 .017 .014 C6 C E G A C E C7 C E G Bb C E A6 C# E F# A C# E A7 C# E G A C# E E6 B E G# B C# E E7 B D E G# B E E9 B D F# G# B E E13 B D E G# C# E B11 B D# F# A C# E JB* C# E G A C E WL** C# E G A# C D **WL = William Leavitt's tuning, designed to play a wide variety of chords without slanting the bar. It's very helpful to have a good grasp of harmony theory to take full advantage of a sixth tuning, but it isn't totally necessary. Most steel players think in terms of patterns and intervals, rather than in terms of letter names for notes and chords. You can go a very long way with a lap steel using only the moves Eddie Rivers demonstrates in this clip: Though Rivers is using A6, exactly the same moves work equally well in C6. FWIW / full disclosure: I picked up the A6 tuning from my teacher, Herb Remington, in 1975, and used it almost exclusively while I was gigging. Currently, I've no one to play with, and am playing self-accompanied on a couple of acoustic flat tops with extension nuts (and sound hole pickups). My Martin 0-15 is currently in Db Ab Db F Ab Db (except when I drop the third string a semitone, and sometimes the first string by a full tone). My Harmony H165 stays in a re-entrant F7 (F C Eb F A C, with the fifth string tuned a fourth below the sixth string). I chose these tunings to accommodate my (limited) vocal range. My tunings illustrate a very important point: Tunings are really defined by their interval relationships, not by their letter names. By choosing appropriate string gauges, you can pitch any tuning in any key. If you're willing to spend the time, you probably can figure out what tuning will best suit the particular needs of your duo. For example, the customary six-string C6 tuning, C E G A C E, has the third on top. You may find that your needs would be better served by a tuning with the same interval relationships (1 3 5 6 1 3), but pitched lower; perhaps G B D E G B or even F A C D F A would suit you better.
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John Pictures of musical instruments are like sculptures of food. 
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