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  #1  
Old 02-18-2018, 07:06 AM
maxr maxr is offline
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Default 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
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Old 02-18-2018, 09:30 AM
stanron stanron is offline
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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.
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Old 02-18-2018, 10:32 AM
JonPR JonPR is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by maxr View Post
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
If you want to play fiddle tunes, why bother with the 6th string at all? Take off the 1st string too, leaving G D A E, and you can play fiddle tunes in the original fingering (an octave down of course).

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.
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Old 02-18-2018, 12:46 PM
DukeX DukeX is offline
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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
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Old 02-18-2018, 01:20 PM
macmanmatty macmanmatty is offline
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how often does that B string break? I'm assuming the tuning is

C2
G2
D3
A3
E4
B4
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Old 02-18-2018, 01:53 PM
maxr maxr is offline
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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.
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  #7  
Old 02-20-2018, 09:06 AM
westman westman is offline
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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
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Last edited by westman; 02-20-2018 at 09:12 AM. Reason: sp
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