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Do you use alternate tunings?


RABid

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I was poking around YouTube, looking for songs that I used to play back in the late 1970's while trying to learn guitar again. I remember going to college in 1977 and learning guitar. Someone on my dorm floor taught me The Rain Song which I loved. Had no idea it actually used an alternate tuning, Gsus4. But two of the three videos I just watched on how to play it showed it using the alternate tuning. Should I be learning it with the alternate tuning? I do have an old guitar in the closet that I could tune that way and leave it. Can you think of any other songs that use the same Gsus4 tuning? It would be much easier to justify an alternately tuned guitar for more than one songs. Or ... do you just retune, play the song with alternate tuning, then to back to standard? After some practice at it, is it a pretty quick change?

This post edited for speling.

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I was poking around YouTube, looking for songs that I used to play back in the late 1970's while trying to learn guitar again. I remember going to college in 1977 and learning guitar. Someone on my dorm floor taught me The Rain Song which I loved. Had no idea it actually used an alternate tuning, Gsus4. But two of the three videos I just watched on how to play it showed it using the alternate tuning. Should I be learning it with the alternate tuning? I do have an old guitar in the closet that I could tune that way and leave it. Can you think of any other songs that use the same Gsus4 tuning? It would be much easier to justify an alternately tuned guitar for more than one songs. Or ... do you just retune, play the song with alternate tuning, then to back to standard? After some practice at it, is it a pretty quick change?

 

Hey again, RABid! 'S funny you should ask; not only have I spent a LOT of time in Open and Alternate Tunings- 's been years- I very recently started toolin' around in Open-A again, A LOT.

 

If you've enjoyed playing an adapted version of "The Rain Song" with the guitar in Standard Tuning, by all means, continue!

 

If you simply want to sound more like the original studio and live recordings that Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin released, yeah, the Open Tuning that Page used will let you nail it- and you'll feel amazed playing it and having it come out of your guitar that way, I promise you!

 

Note that there's a difference between the tunings used for original studio version and the live version(s): if I recall correctly, the guitar is tuned to Open-Gsus4, D G C G C D, lo-to-hi, on the original studio tracks; while live performances had it tuned to Open-Asus4, E A D A D E, lo-to-hi. Open-Asus4 is the same relative tuning, same intervals string-to-string, just everything up a whole-step from Gus4; and it only requires two strings to be tuned differently from Standard- easier as long as your 3rd and 2nd strings can take the increased tension.

 

If you tune to Open-Gsus4, you can slap a capo on at the 2nd-Fret for Open-Asus4...

 

 

If you can play it both ways- Standard AND Open Tuned- you'll be ready to break it out anywhere, anytime, right?

 

 

Can you think of any other songs that use the same Gsus4 tuning?

 

Hmmmmm.... .... ... I can NOT. However, if you settle on either Open-Gsus4 or Open-Asus4, it's not terribly difficult to retune to Open-G or Open-A from either of them- and a LOT of songs can be played in THOSE two tunings, particularly loads of Keith Richards' stuff with the Rolling Stones, and lots of Classic Blues and some other Led Zeppelin songs. Open-G and Open-A are a LOT of FUN, too. Pretty versatile and easy to get along in. Great for slide as well as fretted; great for making up new music of your own!

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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I haven't used open tunings in decades. Recently a good friend of mine was getting married and hired my band to play the reception.

She wanted to sing The Chain, it's one of her now Husband's favorite tunes.

 

I tried it in standard tuning, it just did not have that sound. I found this tutorial, it's a bit of a mish mash of the original Rumors version and the later live version.

Ignore the player when they call out notes, they are WRONG. Just do the tuning and the capo and follow what he does with his fingers, that is good stuff.

 

The tuning is "Double Drop D" - you tune the two outside strings down a whole step to D. Then, capo on the second fret and follow the video.

 

I learned it in E, our bandleader learned it in D. I am faster at adapting so we played it in D. It sounded OK considering we had 3 days total to try and learn it and one brief practice on the first day where we failed and I realized I needed to find out what was going on.

 

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Ignore the player when they call out notes, they are WRONG.

 

Erroneous TABs and YouTube tutorials run rampant across the ever expanding internet. I'm sure Kuru's right. You'll run into A LOT of wrong info out there- maybe even mostly wrong- trust your ears.

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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Ignore the player when they call out notes, they are WRONG.

 

Erroneous TABs and YouTube tutorials run rampant across the ever expanding internet. I'm sure Kuru's right. You'll run into A LOT of wrong info out there- maybe even mostly wrong- trust your ears.

 

He is calling out the notes that would be correct in standard tuning with no capo!!!!

Habit probably.

There is a Bb in the live version, in the Rumors version it is a C. He mentions the C but means D. He's a whole step lower when he calls the note.

 

I'm not good for much but I do know my fretboard and I know where C is, capo or not. In the end, it's a good lesson to watch. It got me through the gig!

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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There is a Bb in the live version, in the Rumors version it is a C. He mentions the C but means D.

 

For another example, I've noticed that it seems that every time I see a video of Eric Clapton performing "Sunshine of Your Love" live- whether it's with Cream in their heyday or at a reunion, with his own touring band, or with others at a jam type affair- he plays it in a bit differently, varying position, with more or fewer notes, barre chords or not, whatever. It always sounds like the right way for the most part. :laugh:

 

So, I'll do it whichever way I feel like, depending partly on the other players and instruments- usually a combination of the different ways I've seen him do it. The overall feel and sound are more important.

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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For another example, I've noticed that it seems that every time I see a video of Eric Clapton performing "Sunshine of Your Love" live- whether it's with Cream in their heyday or at a reunion, with his own touring band, or with others at a jam type affair- he plays it in a bit differently, varying position, with more or fewer notes, barre chords or not, whatever. It always sounds like the right way for the most part. :laugh:

Sunshine Of Your Love is the very first tune I ever played on guitar. Just single notes those first few days. Every once in a while I still play it (of course now in full chords :rawk:)

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Yes I do. Besides E Standard, my other major tuning is Robert Fripp"s NST (CGDAEG). I have one guitar tuned to DADGAD, and a pair of electric guitars I want to convert to full-time slide duties in either an Open G or Open C tuning. (Maybe each one gets a different one, IDK.)

 

That last one is a bit of a fairytale, though- I"ve been waffling on that for a few years now! ð¤ª.

Sturgeon's 2nd Law, a.k.a. Sturgeon's Revelation: âNinety percent of everything is crapâ

 

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Nope. I made a decision a few years ago to instead get into world instruments. If I want an alternate tuning, I use a stringed instrument from a different culture. I don't know how people like Joni Mitchell and David Crosby kept track of things! I personally find it more inspiring to pick up a different instrument than to use an alternate tuning on an instrument that I specifically spec'ed for how well its innate properties gel together.

 

Not judging those who do. But I do a lot of studio work, so I get very picky about maximizing quality. I'd have to change strings and gauges for each re-tuning if I was going to do alternate tunings on actual recordings.

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For fretted guitars no. (Drop D don"t count).

 

For steels and Dobros yes. I play open G on Dobro. That is the standard. I use an extra heavy low string so I can drop it to E on the bottom giving me a G6 or Em7 tuning. That gives you some nice voicings and major and minor grips. Pedal steel I play Nashville E9 and C6 tunings.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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Nope. I made a decision a few years ago to instead get into world instruments. If I want an alternate tuning, I use a stringed instrument from a different culture. I don't know how people like Joni Mitchell and David Crosby kept track of things! I personally find it more inspiring to pick up a different instrument than to use an alternate tuning on an instrument that I specifically spec'ed for how well its innate properties gel together.

 

Not judging those who do. But I do a lot of studio work, so I get very picky about maximizing quality. I'd have to change strings and gauges for each re-tuning if I was going to do alternate tunings on actual recordings.

 

Now that you mention it, I do play a bit on a Bell Boucher banjo kit I picked up and built custom (added a walnut fingerboard).

It is a fretless long scale nylon string banjo, like they used to play before the Civil War. I think it's a C tuning which is just a lower version of the G tuning but the high fifth string does change things a bit.

It would require more hours than I've given to really play it well but I've written a couple of songs on it so there's that.

 

It has strings in common with a guitar but that's it.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Do you use alternate tunings?

 

I messed with them early on in my guitar player odyssey. Have not used them in 45 years or so.

 

+1 I stay in Standard tuning. I have an easier time remembering my chords and scales that way... :cool:

Take care, Larryz
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Oh. I've played a lot of Acoustic tracks with the Nashville tuning. Two high string are normal. The Low strings fare the high strings rom a 12 string set. The gauges I use are .010, .014, .009, .012, .018, and .027. It works great in a recorded mix. Flatpicking lead lines can be cool when paying downward but the notes go up an octave.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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Oh. I've played a lot of Acoustic tracks with the Nashville tuning. Two high string are normal. The Low strings from a 12 string set. The gauges I use are .010, .014, .009, .012, .018, and .027. It works great in a recorded mix. Flatpicking lead lines can be cool when paying downward but the notes go up an octave.

 

I have an Ibanez Gio Mikro I found thrift shopping that I tune Nashville. The bridge allows correct intonation so you can play well up the neck without any tuning problems. Capoed on the 5th fret is pretty cosmic.

Key of C is played in "G" up there so transposing is pretty natural.

 

Cool instrument but still the same fingering as standard tuning. A studio staple for me. I've found that mixed under an acoustic guitar you would be hard pressed to identify it as a solid body electric guitar.

It's just some lovely added chimey goodness. :)

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Open-G and Open-A (the same, just an octave higher) are GREAT Open-Tunings to play in; great for slide OR standard fretting (and you can get fancy with fretting-behind-the-slide 'n stuff like that, but I digress ;) ).

 

The 'middle three' strings- 2nd, 3rd, and 4th- will still be familiar territory for single-note lines and three-note chords.

 

The real fun starts with "Keef" licks and fills (Rolling Stone Keith Richards); barre across all the strings with your 1st finger, then hammer-on with 2nd and 3rd fingers on the 2nd and 4th Strings in what would normally be an "Am7" ('A minor 7') shape. It's just SHAPED like an Am7 barre, though. The straight barre and this barre-chord grip back and forth sounds like a I-IV-I move (presuming that 1st Finger barre across five or six strings to be the I, the root-chord of the key you're in at the time).

 

Strum at different "zones", groups of the strings lower and higher in register, sideways across the fretboard for accents while you're picking and making those on and off barre moves.

 

Slide the whole shebang back a whole-step, two frets back, repeat... hey, is this part of an old Stones or Black Crowes song... ? ;):D

 

Do it all again, this time adding your li'l 4th finger another fret up from where your 3rd finger is, adding a Bluesy 7th. Pull that note just a li'l sharp, a quarter-tone or less, and it'll sound REALLY Bluesy, clangin' out, "like a-ringin' a bell"!

 

Sounds great on acoustic, electric, clean, clean-ish, overdriven, screamin'... 's all good, 's cool. Reverb and echo and tremolo... YES. Throw a swishy phaser on it and visit Keith and Ronnie's late '70s nebulae... :D:cool:

 

Find three-note grips up and down the neck on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Stings, that go with the remaining three open strings ringing out underneath. Try the same with the 1st and 3rd Strings, leaving the 2nd-String in between 'em open to ring out, as well. Repeat this process on the "middle" three strings- the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th You might wind up writing some new songs that way...

 

 

It seemed that my Ruby Les Paul with P-90 "soap-bars" that I used to have was happiest in Open-A, as opposed to Open-G or similar enough Open-D or Open-E (Duane Allman, Derek Trucks). Odder still, the same goes for my Ibanez hollow-body arched-top 'Jazzbox'- with heavy-gauge flat-wounds. :crazy: If I tune that guitar- the hollow-bod with the flats- down a whole-step to Open-G, it just doesn't sound as nice, even with loosening the truss-rod and raising the action a hair 'n a 13th... But I digress. ;) Open-A seems to be a "Happy" tuning! :laugh:

 

Oh. I've played a lot of Acoustic tracks with the Nashville tuning. Two high string are normal. The Low strings from a 12 string set. The gauges I use are .010, .014, .009, .012, .018, and .027. It works great in a recorded mix. Flatpicking lead lines can be cool when paying downward but the notes go up an octave.

 

I love that sound. It's NOT exactly an 'alternate' tuning, yet, in a way, it is.

 

And it's fun and cool to just replace the 3rd/G String with a lighter gauge string and tune it up an octave from normal, you'll get a similar enough sound as chords will most often have the highest note ringing from that 3rd-String, instead of the 1st or 2nd Strings. A little of the best of Standard 6, Standard 12, and Nashville Tuning worlds all mixed together.

 

I have an Ibanez Gio Mikro I found thrift shopping that I tune Nashville. The bridge allows correct intonation so you can play well up the neck without any tuning problems. Capoed on the 5th fret is pretty cosmic.

Key of C is played in "G" up there so transposing is pretty natural.

 

Cool instrument but still the same fingering as standard tuning. A studio staple for me. I've found that mixed under an acoustic guitar you would be hard pressed to identify it as a solid body electric guitar.

It's just some lovely added chimey goodness. :)

 

Cool... ! I'd love that, I'm sure...

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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I use alternate tunings for slide guitar. I have one of the much-maligned Gibson Les Paul guitars from 2015, with the adjustable nut everyone hated, and the G Force robo tuning everyone hated. I got a hard-metal retrofit to replace the brass nut, and by adjusting it as high as possible, and moving the bridge up a bit, the guitar has basically become dedicated to slide guitar. In that context, being able to do open tunings with the G Force is very cool. By that time the robo tuning had most of the bugs worked out, but its negative reputation from the Min-eTune persisted, so people didn't exactly flock to the 2015 guitars.
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I use alternate tunings for slide guitar. I have one of the much-maligned Gibson Les Paul guitars from 2015, with the adjustable nut everyone hated, and the G Force robo tuning everyone hated. I got a hard-metal retrofit to replace the brass nut, and by adjusting it as high as possible, and moving the bridge up a bit, the guitar has basically become dedicated to slide guitar. In that context, being able to do open tunings with the G Force is very cool. By that time the robo tuning had most of the bugs worked out, but its negative reputation from the Min-eTune persisted, so people didn't exactly flock to the 2015 guitars.

 

Which Alternate and Open Tunings do you use? Do you mix string-gauges to compensate some for changes in string-tension with the changes in Tunings?

 

I used to keep a P-90 equipped Les Paul with three "Benders" on it dedicated to Open-D Tuning (D A D F# A D, 'lo-to-hi'), for both fretted and slide playing; it was very easy to change to Open-Dm (D A D F A D) and "DADGAD" with a quick twist of the 3rd-String tuner, down or up by a half-step. I used custom-ordered sets of DR Pure Blues, .012" - .015" - .024" (w) - .028" - .038" - .052" .

 

(I would have preferred a lighter gauge wound string for the 3rd; if I were doing that again today, I'd go with a 0.021" "BeBop Jazz Round-Wound" from Thomastik-Infeld, still pure/solid-nickel wrap on a round core-wire, similar to the DR Pure Blues but a little warmer, smoother, with a subtler upper-midrange and attack.)

 

 

And Craig- Put some Bowden B-Benders on your Open-Tuned Les Paul, the "Stop Bar 2018" Model; you'll love them! I had three (of the Epiphone-branded EZ Benders, Bowden's design, he does 'em all in-house now) on that Les Paul; one on the 2nd/Hi-A, one on the 3rd/F#, and one on the 5th/Low-A, set for Whole-Step, Half-Step, and Whole-Step up bends. Pressed full-up simultaneously while barring at any given fret or slide position, they yielded a "Keef" style I-IV-I move (considering that barre or slide-stop to be "I"). "Brown Sugar" on a slide... ! :cool:

 

Each could also be actuated individually or in a pair, and also didn't have to be used for the full throw you'd set it for, for example, you could do a half-step bend by ear with one set to a whole-step stop... (Jimmy Page Wa- IIIRR! inserted here... :D:cool: )

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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I was thinking of dedicating a guitar to Nashville Tuning until I looked it up and realized how radically different the tensions would be on the bridge, getting me back to my theory about using an instrument for how it was designed, in order to get the best out of it. Do people use beater guitars, for Nashville Tuning? I'm still curious about it, but scared of wrecking a top-notch pricey instrument! Would a baritone 'ukulele suffice?

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I also thought of getting a guitar specifically for Celtic tunings, and still may do so at some point, but I'm more likely to just buy another Cittern instead (I sold the one I had, years ago).

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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Of course I use different tunings for resonator guitar and lap steel, and now have two lap steels so I can have two different tunings at hand, and am considering a third.

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

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I have an Ovation in the closet that I am not using. Gonna tune it up for The Rain Song and leave it that way. That will be my first trial. If it goes well I may tune another guitar for the drop D tuning. My worry is that being a new player, combined with getting old, will lead to confusion. If it does I will tune everything back to standard and learn the alternate method of playing Rain Song.

This post edited for speling.

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I have an Ovation in the closet that I am not using. Gonna tune it up for The Rain Song and leave it that way. That will be my first trial. If it goes well I may tune another guitar for the drop D tuning. My worry is that being a new player, combined with getting old, will lead to confusion. If it does I will tune everything back to standard and learn the alternate method of playing Rain Song.

 

Haahh! :laugh: Yeah, I'd spent the last couple of weeks playing my Jazzbox with heavy flat-wound strings (13's), tuned to Open-A- and really enjoying it, finding various chord-fingerings that combined fretted and open stings, by 'ear', and coming up with original fingerstyle tunes.

 

Switching back to my Les Paul in Standard Tuning, (A) there were occasional moments of "Waitaminnitt- " and (B) despite being 11 - 50 strings, they suddenly felt really light 'n goosey... ! :laugh::D:thu:

 

Play on, Goode Sir. Play on.

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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I've never tried alternate tunings. I've thought about trying slack-key for a while now, if I do I will use my Squier. The lesson are $14.95 a month, cheaper if you buy longer periods.

 

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I hope you do, and I hope you have a blast! And I look forward to your telling us about it if you do...

 

 

Oh, man... I've fooled around with both fretted and slide in Open-G6 Tuning (D - G - E - G - B - D, lo-to-hi) on a nylon-strung classical style guitar; not as weird as it may seem, considering how the roots of Hawaiian/slack-key/steel guitar styles included nylon and/or gut strung guitars.

 

Anyway- Oh, man, what a beautiful, fun sound! Those fat, round nylon-string tones in this tuning... What a gas! Super cool for fretting-behind-the-slide moves (my concave/flared Dunlop Harris Slide worked best for that). Instant Hawaiian/Western-Swing/Sponge-Bob, spontaneously morphing into quasi New-Age modal/suspended sounding moves turning on a dime! Too cool! I just dreamily meandered about in open-string-ring fingerstyle mystery-chord Heaven for hours...

 

Open-G6 Tuning is like Open-G Tuning, but with the 4th/D-String tuned up to E.

 

It sometimes forces you to think a little about what you play in your bass-string picking; the usual auto-pilot stuff that would work in either Standard or Open-G tuning sometimes sounds kinda strange with that D-G-E configuration... Sometimes in a cool way, and sometimes NOT! :freak::crazy::D

 

If that tuning leaves some of the strings too slack (pun not intended!), especially for slide, trying Open-A6 Tuning might help. E - A - F# - A - C# - E, lo-to-hi.

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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