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Old 09-02-2020, 03:54 AM
KarenB KarenB is offline
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Default Write your altered tunings down!

I've been working on recreating some of my songs that I wrote and recorded in tunings. I play in many different ones, most that I've made up to suit the song. Some tunings I remember, some I don't, some I can recreate, some not. I am really annoyed at my former self for not writing them down. So a word to the wise...write those tunings down somewhere, whether on computer or in a special folder, somewhere that you can find them in a different time of your life.
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Old 09-02-2020, 06:19 AM
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Good advice which I try to follow and sometimes regret the occasions when I do not.

On the other hand, like revisions of tempo (recalling your recent thread on this) I have sometimes enjoyed redoing a tune in another tuning, either deliberately or not
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Old 09-02-2020, 06:32 AM
mawmow mawmow is offline
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Sorry, I do not get this...

In many songbooks I have seen with alternate tunings, tuning is written over the first staff...
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Old 09-02-2020, 06:54 AM
jansch101 jansch101 is offline
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So years ago I wrote many piano based songs, I still have the manuscript book crammed with words but only too vague outlines of melody or chordal changes, in the “creative rush” in the moment with the manuscript in front of me on the music desk it seemed laborious to accurately represent key signatures and rhythms in traditional measures....oh well !
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Old 09-02-2020, 07:06 AM
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David Eastwood David Eastwood is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mawmow View Post
Sorry, I do not get this...

In many songbooks I have seen with alternate tunings, tuning is written over the first staff...
The OP was referring to songs she’d written, not songbooks.
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Old 09-02-2020, 07:59 AM
brad4d8 brad4d8 is offline
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Slightly off topic, but this reminds me of a joke. Flatpicker goes to a Fingerstyle camp, and after he plays a few tunes, is approached by a couple of the listeners with a question.
Q. What's that unusual tuning you use?
A. E-A-D-G-B-E
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Old 09-02-2020, 08:31 AM
JerrysGuitarBar JerrysGuitarBar is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brad4d8 View Post
Slightly off topic, but this reminds me of a joke. Flatpicker goes to a Fingerstyle camp, and after he plays a few tunes, is approached by a couple of the listeners with a question.
Q. What's that unusual tuning you use?
A. E-A-D-G-B-E
Or as Tony McManus calls it eeYADgubee
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Old 09-02-2020, 09:21 AM
KarenB KarenB is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jansch101 View Post
So years ago I wrote many piano based songs, I still have the manuscript book crammed with words but only too vague outlines of melody or chordal changes, in the “creative rush” in the moment with the manuscript in front of me on the music desk it seemed laborious to accurately represent key signatures and rhythms in traditional measures....oh well !
Ah yes, the creative rush. Gotta love it when it happens. Inspirations do get lost, some remain, I hope the best remain.
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When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down, “happy.” They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life. —John Lennon
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Old 09-02-2020, 09:23 AM
KarenB KarenB is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RodB View Post
Good advice which I try to follow and sometimes regret the occasions when I do not.

On the other hand, like revisions of tempo (recalling your recent thread on this) I have sometimes enjoyed redoing a tune in another tuning, either deliberately or not
Rod, this has happened to me occasionally, too often it's just frustrating, and too many hours spent trying to find something that is lost down the tunnel of time.
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When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down, “happy.” They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life. —John Lennon
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Old 09-02-2020, 09:24 AM
KarenB KarenB is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eatswodo View Post
The OP was referring to songs she’d written, not songbooks.
Yep. This is true.
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When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down, “happy.” They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life. —John Lennon
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Old 09-07-2020, 07:24 AM
JonPR JonPR is offline
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Have you checked out Joni Mitchell?:
https://jonimitchell.com/music/tuningpatterns.cfm

I don't think Joni herself thought up that number system of classifying all hers, but it's a good shorthand.

Another inspiration for weird and wonderful alternative tunings is Nick Drake, although he didn't invent nearly as many as Joni:
http://nickhealey.com/chndtabs/tunings.htm
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Last edited by JonPR; 09-07-2020 at 07:30 AM.
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Old 09-07-2020, 10:18 AM
JKMartin JKMartin is offline
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Post deleted

Last edited by JKMartin; 11-04-2020 at 04:31 PM.
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Old 09-07-2020, 11:54 AM
FrankHudson FrankHudson is offline
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With my compositions I try to, and usually succeed in noting the tunings--or I can sort of figure it out from listening for a couple of my favorites. Where I need to work on is noting the chord voicings in the alt tunings.

This is hard to do, because you can't play and transcribe at the same time. It really takes time for me to notate all the fingerings and then to audit myself to see what strings I'm actually picking.

I sort of envy piano players who can form chords with the left hand and then write them down with the right as they compose.
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Old 09-07-2020, 12:25 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mawmow View Post
Sorry, I do not get this...

In many songbooks I have seen with alternate tunings, tuning is written over the first staff...
Not quite what you mean, but I write most of my own songs out, so indeed, the tuning is in the "tab" right on the first line. That way I can later on remember both the tuning and the song!
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Old 09-07-2020, 12:35 PM
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I use GuitarPro, not paper. I have to argue with it sometimes to get the note duration as I play it, , but it makes life easy. Inserting bars and copying sections is a lot easier than doing it on paper.
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