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Old 11-12-2017, 08:39 PM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by philjs View Post
...The usual tuning for Irish bouzouki is GDAD (but for me that's just upside-down and is just a "stranger thing") so GDGC is not that much different, string-wise. You might try tuning to ADGC (same intervals as EADG) for an initial foray into the instrument, then adjust as needed, possibly to ADGB (same as the inner four strings on a standard-tuned guitar) or somewhere else...
A couple tunings that might ease the learning curve are traditional Greek CFAD (a whole step down from standard guitar DGBE - capo at the second fret or transpose, depending on the sound you're after) or DGBE, like the highest courses of a 12-string guitar. BTW, I've found the latter to be popular among studio players (FYI the late "Wrecking Crew" guitarist Tommy Tedesco used to do this with all his instruments - and nobody knew the difference when push came to shove) and traditional Greek musicians who cross over into more mainstream repertoire, as well as guitarists looking to add a new sound to their arsenal; you might need a custom-gauge string set, though - I'm not too sure a Greek set can be tuned up a whole step without risking damage to your instrument...
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