#1
|
|||
|
|||
Fiddle tuning (5ths) for fiddle tunes - chords?
As a fiddle player getting back into playing fiddle tunes on guitar, I experimented with various tunings on a 21 1/2" scale parlour guitar, and ended up with (Duh!) fiddle tuning - parallel 5ths, low to high:
C G D A E B I find I can now rip off fiddle tunes from memory, with partial chords. The only intractable stringing problem I found is the C 6th, where I just can't get enough string tension using commonly available strings - I've had to take it up an octave. However I find in this tuning I can play fiddle tunes by ear, adding partial chords as I go. So: * Does anyone make a higher than usual tension .052 or.054 wound 6th? * Any good sources for playable chords in 5ths tuning please? Thanks, Max |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
One place you could check out is mandolincafe.com. The mandolin is also tuned in fifths and there are chords questions on there in this sub forum;
https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/f...ips-and-Tricks Of course the thing that makes fifth tuning so good for fiddle tunes is exactly what makes chords that little bit more tricky. Still a search for mandolin chords gets results. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
And then you can use mandolin chord shapes - which (as you might guess ) are the same as guitar chord shapes on strings 6-5-4-3 upside down. So a G chord for GDAE tuning is 0-0-2-3. One 6-string tuning you might like to check out is Robert Fripp's "new standard tuning", CGDAEG (same as a cello on bottom 4). On that low C, btw, plenty of guitarists tune that low, so you should be able to find something. Failing that, a bass guitar D string ought to work. I guess you need something between 60-70.
__________________
"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." - Leonard Cohen. |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Harvey Reid arranges/plays a lot of fiddle tunes on 6-string guitar. He may use one of the partial capos he has designed. He is well worth a look/listen.
www.woodpecker.com/harveyreid.html |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
how often does that B string break? I'm assuming the tuning is
C2 G2 D3 A3 E4 B4 |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Thanks for all that advice, guys.
I haven't had it strung this way for long enough to judge reliability of the B 1st string. However this guitar is only 21 1/2" scale length, and I'm using a .009 plain steel string - D'Addario's online string tension calculator suggested a .010. If it breaks too often I'll try D'Addario NY Ultra High Carbon strings for the top two, they say those are tougher than regular plain steel. I'm finding the high B string has its uses - it adds a mandolin like 'chime' to chords, which gives a fuller sound when there's very little bass there. It sounds half way between a guitar and a mandocello, except of course it's single strung. |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
outwith the flat top guitar there's -
been a fair bit of interest in 5ths guitar tuning see here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_standard_tuning for chords just use a mandolin chord book and fill in the 'blank' notes or don't like ya do with guitar chords in certain positions play them. I toyed with this a couple of decades ago and other than single line melodic playing with occasional double stopping (playing an accompanying harmony / pedal note) I found myself 're' tuning the bottom two strings to suite the key I was playing in so it became part 5ths and 'open' tuning. And yeah a shorter scale would be better, I have quite long fingers and found myself capoing @ 2nd fret to accommodate some fingerings. Do look at Irish bouzouki and cittern tunings and picking techniques, it's all part of the same thing. good luck
__________________
I play an 'evolved' (modified) Cowboy guitar Not sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Last edited by westman; 02-20-2018 at 09:12 AM. Reason: sp |