Abusing C6 with Open E Licks

Josh Cho · From: New York, NY (orig. Honolulu, HI)

I just put together a quick demonstration video showing that the C6 tuning can be used to play blues and blues-rock leads normally associated with E Major (and bottleneck slide style guitar)

There's been much discussion about the C6 tuning. My 2 cents: I believe it's very versatile, especially when you want to play in many different keys, and many different genres of music.

I put this together to show that it's not just for Hawaiian or Country Music Smile

Here's the link
http://www.steelguitarmojo.com/bluesrockc6licks.shtml

You can also find the demo here on my website

Hope you get something out of it....
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David Doggett · Posted 7 Jan 2009 9:53 pm

Great blues C6 demo, Josh. I think you easily demonstrated that a good player who knows his instrument can play slide blues style with that tuning (and others). On the other hand, it is easier to play that stuff, and with more abandon, on a straight blues tuning, without having to skip that quaint sounding 6th string. Also, how many guitar bands are going to want to play blues in C? So there are valid reasons to want to play a style with a dedicated tuning traditionally used for the style.

One clear advantage for a 6th tuning for blues is in playing minor blues. Any 6th tuning is also a minor 7th tuning, which has great minor pentatonic possibilities, and harmony possibilities. I'd love to hear you demo that.

Also, a 6th tuning is great for those jazz chords used in T-Bone Style blues such as T-Bone Shuffle and Stormy Monday.

Unless you want to retune between songs, or drag around several different tunings, minors and jazz chords are big reasons to persevere with the added complexity of a 6th tuning, compared to the simplicity of a straight major tuning.

Me, I'm persevering playing slide blues licks on a 12-string E9/B6 universal pedal steel. It's more difficult than on a simple slide tuning, but the added possibilities make it worthwhile. I also attempt rockabilly, rock, jazz, fusion, country, swing, and even classical music. I just decided I wanted to learn to do any type of music on a single versatile tuning, like keyboard players do.

Josh Cho · From: New York, NY (orig. Honolulu, HI)

David, thanks so much for your insightful comments, they're highly appreciated.

Randy Reeves · From: LaCrosse, Wisconsin, USA

the first time I ever tuned to C6 I found blues notes all over the place. I was very new to lap steel and didn't know any better.

Ray Langley · From: Northern California, USA

Yes, the point of the demonstration being that C6 is a versatile tuning. You are not limited to country or Hawaiian sounds. Only a few weeks ago, I thought that was going to be the case.... So, I delayed the study of C6.

Just as Open D and Open E have the same interval relationship, so does C6, (low) A6, E6, etc. Here is something I have considered: In regular C6, I would like to devote most of my time to really learning the two keys of C and G. Both of these keys share two of the same chords and almost all of the same notes in their scales. I will have a second instrument tuned to low A6, which has the same intervals as C6. This may sound crazy to some, but if I "tell myself" I am playing in C6 (on an A6 instrument) I will ACTUALLY be playing in the key of A. The same is true if I am playing G blues, using G licks on an A6 instrument, I will actually be producing blues in E. So, by becoming very familiar with two keys, I get two more keys for free! Is this a crazy or clever idea?

If someone (Josh?) comes out with some really good instruction on C6, with real Chicago Blues, I will change the strings on my Variax, and probably never look back to Open E tuning! I'll bet "The Thrill is Gone" would sound great in C6.....

Andy Volk · From: Boston, MA

Nice job, Josh. C6th is absolutely much more versatile than many players seem to think. Rock, Blues, swing jazz, latin, Hawaiian, country, and contemporary folk are all playable in C6th. You have multiple inversions of the major, minor, seventh, diminished, augmented, maj seventh etc as well as scale patterns that lay very logically and accessibly on the fretboard.

David hit the nail on the head that you have to be careful about that 6th note in certain styles and that for some kinds of music, other tunings are better suited. If I was playing exclusively blues-based music without complex harmony, I'd go to an E or D tuning. Celtic music, Bluegrass, and modal-type tunes tend not work as well on C6th in my experience.

The key IMHO, is to pick one tuning - whatever it is - and really take the time to explore its possibilities. Try to avoid the common the trap of constantly looking for one perfect tuning that will work for everything. Unless you're only going to play single notes, it doesn't exist. But C6th will take you far. After spending way too much time over the years looking for that elusive perfect tuning and getting nowhere, I settled on C6th and open D and my playing noticeably improved. I use C6th for blues, Western Swing, jazz, Bossa Nova, surf, folk, and once in a while, Hawaiian. Whether tuning or guitar, as Jerry Byrd said, it's what you do with whatever you've got that counts.

Josh Cho · From: New York, NY (orig. Honolulu, HI)

Randy, LOL, you're probably in the minority as many of my new students are claiming you can only play Hawaiian and Swing in C6....

And Ray, if you have two necks, nothing wrong with making the "guitar do the work" transposing to the different keys. In time, this will be become unnecessary as you can play in all keys using C6

You are correct in focusing on only a couple of keys in the beginning, the knowledge you gain from that one or two keys will carry with you to all the other keys!
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Edward Meisse · From: Santa Rosa, California, USA

"Whether tuning or guitar, as Jerry Byrd said, it's what you do with whatever you've got that counts."

I love the way Jerry said it. And he said it about guitars, tunings,amplifiers, everything you can think of.

"If you don't know how to play, it doesn't matter what (insert item of reference here) you have. And if you do know how to play, it doesn't matter what (insert item of reference here) you have." Laughing

The guy had a way with words.
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Jon Nygren · From: Wisconsin, USA

Great demo Josh- thanks for sharing.

I've always been a big believer in just learning where the chord tones are in any tuning, then you can favor/avoid certain ones depending on what you are playing at the time. For blues I just avoid the 6 and hit the b7 b5 b3 tones for effect- depending on the song of course. Not to hard to do once you get the hang of it, and take the time to work it out.

c6/a7 and c6/am7 are two of my favorites!

HowardR · From: N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville

Yes, C6 is powerful......and as stated in previous threads,.....raising string 6 to C# provides a dom7 which comes in very handy when playing blues.....

as mostly an acoustic steel player (ha ha)used to dobro G tuning......I find the G a versatile tuning when raising the 4th string (D) to E or F.....

Andre Nizzari · From: Bronx, NY

That's cool for single notes and or jazzy chords. I always loved the sound of C6 but for mostly other styles of music other than blues because you can never get that original true blues sound that you get with an open major tuning....that Elmore James electric slide sound which involves a triad major chord or that Robert Johnson chord which is open G. I slant a lot for the dominant 7th.

ALSO with open E D A or G, the root with the fifth right on the bottom of it is KILLER for overdrive blues especially. I describe it as the "chainsaw."

Thanks for the demo!
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Josh Cho · From: New York, NY (orig. Honolulu, HI)

Andre,

No doubt about the root-fifth relationship, that gutsy, ballsey sound just cannot be duplicated when using the C6 tuning.

I like your 'chainsaw' analogy, too, very good indeed. Smile

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HowardR · From: N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville

Your solo could be called......"Walsh Across Texas"........

Andre Nizzari · From: Bronx, NY

Hey Josh,

I'm listening to your songs your recorded, it sounds great! What steel are you using?
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Blues in a doggy bag, is what I got to eat!

Josh Cho · From: New York, NY (orig. Honolulu, HI)

Andre, Thanks so much for listening to my little demo clips. They were all recorded using my Georgeboards 2007 Blackburst.

I'll also be updating my demos later this winter, so as the clips come out Ill post em.

HowardR, if I only knew I woulda named it that, awesome Laughing

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Andre Nizzari · From: Bronx, NY

Rick the Dustpan Master showed me this great tuning that I fell in love with! Bm7/D6. Its basically open D with the second high string tuned to B instead of A.

I can do all my pull offs in open D...I still got the root/5th interval and my root octave intervals for leads.

Now I can get some real nice chords 6th, and or minor chords, and the two top high strings are like playing in open G riffs too.

I can always go back to open D with hardly no effort to get that elmore james sound.

Man this is got to be the coolest tuning I ever crossed! Anybody else ever try this tuning?
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Blues in a doggy bag, is what I got to eat!

Fred · From: Amesbury, MA

Andre

Gene Jones · From: Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)

****
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Andre Nizzari · From: Bronx, NY

is there anyone that has a tab chart for the chord possibilities of the Bm7/D6 tuning?
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Paul Honeycutt · From: Colorado, USA

I keep my National in Open E and I'm working with C6 using an old Harmony acoustic with a bad neck and a raised nut. I put a Lace acoustic pickup on it and run it through my amp. I'm having a lot of fun with it. Right now I'm working on remembering what I forgot since I put it down for a while. I charted out some major scales and where the major and minor chord layout as well as working with some things I've downloaded.

Keep the C6 stuff coming, Josh! The more I listen to someone playing it the more I know what it's supposed to sound like!

Brad Bechtel · From: San Francisco, CA

George Piburn · From: The Land of Enchantment New Mexico

Andre Nizzari · From: Bronx, NY

hi george,

that sounds real nice! but i'm beginning to think from yours and previous samples of blues, that the c6th tuning lacks "power chords", I haven't heard any chords or intervals, only single notes and appegieos from people that play blues in the C6 tuning.

even thought I'n new to D6 tuning, I feel it is much better because it provides minor, major, and power chords that go real good with blues. you can;'t deny the sound of the root/5th interval which is a very important part of the down home blues.
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Josh Cho · From: New York, NY (orig. Honolulu, HI)

George, that was/is absolutely "thrilling" I LUV IT!!! And as usual, your guitars sound and look amazing Very Happy

Andre, You are absolutely right, no power chords, that's one of the "drawbacks" if you will

However, when you look at the kind of music that one plays: jazz, hawaiian, western swing, blues, and even the rock examples that I've posted here on this forum, it's approached in a completely different "head", you can be agressive within the C6 framework, you just have to be a little more reserved.

Plus if you want power chords, hire a rhythm guitarist with a Marshall and a stomp box, they're a dime a dozen LOL Laughing

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Mike Neer · From: NJ

Andre, if you have an 8 string and put the G or even A on string 7 and C on string 8, you've got your power chords if you need to have them.
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