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Topic: What did Bill Leavitt...? |
Wayne Cox
From:
Chatham, Louisiana, USA * R.I.P.
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Posted 29 Dec 2010 8:00 pm |
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What did Bill Leavitt call his tuning??? Maybe a C#Dim11th? I am content calling it the " Leavitt tuning ", but I would like to know more about his perspective.
~~W.C.~~ |
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Bill Hatcher
From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
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Posted 30 Dec 2010 11:49 am
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| mike ihde will answer this for you. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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William Lake
From:
Ontario, Canada
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Posted 30 Dec 2010 12:24 pm
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I seem to recall it being referred to as C#dim7
Not sure, just a little memory twitch.
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Bill |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Mike Ihde
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 30 Dec 2010 7:06 pm
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When Bill invented the tuning he had no name for it. He didn't care about names, he was happy just having something he could play his favorite standard tunes with.
I told him when he was in the hospital that I would try to tell the Steel world about his wonderful creation and after his passing I tried to come up with a name for it.
It could be C sharp diminished 7 add C and D, or A7 flat 9/sharp 9 add 11, or C9 over b9 but anyway you look at it, it isn't as easy as good old C6, E7 etc. So to avoid weird names, I decided to call it The Leavitt Tuning.
If you know the tuning, you know it by his name and I think that's the way it should stay. We often times say Jerry Byrd's C6 tuning so why not The Leavitt Tuning knowing it's C sharp, E, G, Bb, C and D.
And thanks to Bill Hatcher and Roy Thomson for expanding the tuning and making beautiful music with it.
Mike |
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William Lake
From:
Ontario, Canada
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Posted 30 Dec 2010 7:12 pm
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"If you know the tuning, you know it by his name and I think that's the way it should stay"
I could not agree more. Honour the man who created it.
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Bill |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Fred
From:
Amesbury, MA
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Posted 31 Dec 2010 3:34 am
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| I always tell those who ask it's the Leavitt tuning, then spell it out. Then the person asking gets a kind of scared look and no one ever wants to try my guitar. |
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Matt Berg
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 31 Dec 2010 7:27 am
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| I have a Tele I play in Em11 tuning with a Em13 bender. |
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Wayne Cox
From:
Chatham, Louisiana, USA * R.I.P.
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Posted 31 Dec 2010 2:57 pm
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Mike,Doug,& everyone else, thank you for your input. I have been playing it as an 8-string tuning with a "Eb" on top and an "A" added on the bottom end. Most of the time I use it like that with Bill's original configuration on the middle six strings. Sometimes for a slightly different tone quality I tune the whole thing down one semitone (one frett).
I have to admit that the Leavitt Tuning has been a challenge to learn but I find that it is only limited by my own ability. I really believe that this tuning will one day take its place at the top of the heap.
~~W.C.~~ |
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Josh Cho
From:
New York, NY (orig. Honolulu, HI)
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Posted 1 Jan 2011 5:23 am
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| Doug Beaumier wrote: |
| I agree. "Leavitt tuning" works fine. I also like C9 over b9. |
C9/Db
Wow, that's not one you see everyday 
Josh
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Lap-n-Console Steel Guitar Lessons |
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Edward Meisse
From:
Santa Rosa, California, USA
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Posted 1 Jan 2011 12:55 pm
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| Wayne Cox wrote: |
Mike,Doug,& everyone else, thank you for your input. I have been playing it as an 8-string tuning with a "Eb" on top and an "A" added on the bottom end. Most of the time I use it like that with Bill's original configuration on the middle six strings. Sometimes for a slightly different tone quality I tune the whole thing down one semitone (one frett).
I have to admit that the Leavitt Tuning has been a challenge to learn but I find that it is only limited by my own ability. I really believe that this tuning will one day take its place at the top of the heap.
~~W.C.~~ |
I agree with this as far as chordal playing goes. For single string work though, I think the 6th tunings will stay around. I think the D8 with the Emmons C6 (D-E-C-A-G-E-C-A) and a form of the 8 string Leavitt is going to be the lap steel standard in years to come.
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Amor vincit omnia |
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