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Topic: Tuning for Resonator |
Sam White R.I.P.
From:
Coventry, RI 02816
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Posted 18 Aug 2011 2:08 pm |
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I need the tuning for my resonator open and the with the bar on the strings..
Sam White
_________________
Dynalap lap 8 String Lap Steel Fender frontman 25B speaker changed Boss TU-12H Tuner.Founder and supporter of the Rhode Island Steel Guitar Association Founder of the New England Steel Guitar Association and the Greeneville TN Steel Jams and now founder of the North Carolina Steel Guitar Jams. Honorary member of the Rhode Island Steel Guitar Association,Member of The New England Steel Guitar Association.
Member of the Florida Steel Guitar Club,and member of Mid Atlantic Steel Guitar Association |
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Larry Robbins
From:
Fort Edward, New York
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 18 Aug 2011 3:56 pm
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Brad provides a lot of information on that site as referenced by Larry, but the most popular resonator tuning by a long shot is what is commonly referred to as "high bass" Open G, as opposed to the lower bass string Open G tuning one would use on a flattop guitar.
Low to high:
G B D G B D
Strings 3 2 1 are an octave higher than strings 6 5 4
Most popular tuning number two is likely to be Open D.
Low to high:
D A D F# A D
The portion of your post you wrote in regards to the tuning when the bar is on the strings - I don't really understand what you are asking for here.
_________________
Mark |
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Steve Lipsey
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 19 Aug 2011 5:31 am
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That open-G is more for squareneck guitars- if yours is a round neck you might like this one, which has lower string tension and will save your guitar's neck
DGDGBD
I use Martin Resonator strings, the whole set works just great for this.....the low D and G strings are a little looser than the others (the set is for the squareneck tuning) but they work fine and the neck benefits... |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 19 Aug 2011 6:37 am
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| Steve Lipsey wrote: |
That open-G is more for squareneck guitars- if yours is a round neck you might like this one, which has lower string tension and will save your guitar's neck
DGDGBD
I use Martin Resonator strings, the whole set works just great for this.....the low D and G strings are a little looser than the others (the set is for the squareneck tuning) but they work fine and the neck benefits... |
Steve - being that this is the Steel Guitar Forum and this is the Steel Without Pedals section, it's probably a pretty safe bet that Sam is asking about a squareneck lap style guitar.
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Mark |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 19 Aug 2011 6:48 am
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Let's not forget the A, high bass, tuning. It is one tone up from the G tuning and is basically a hold over from the Hawaiian origins of the instrument.
One of the earliest tunings for the "Hawaiian" guitar was the A, high bass, tuning.
In fact, there was a player on the Opry, Cousin Jody, I believe, who tuned his guitar to an A. |
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Steve Lipsey
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 19 Aug 2011 11:10 am
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Mark-
Of course, but a lot of folks play lap on regular guitars turned sideways. Even some famous ones..... |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 19 Aug 2011 11:59 am
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True enough Steve. In that case it might be good to take Erv's suggestion and tune it to A, which was Brother Oswald's approach, since his long-time guitar "Herman" was a roundneck, and Os of coure replaced Cousin Jody, aka Clell Summey, in Roy Acuff's band.
That said, it's inevitable on threads of this nature that by the time it's run a couple weeks there will be suggestions for umpteen different tunings.
If someone is just getting into pedal steel the prevailing wisdom is for an overall broad spectrum approach, and availability of learning materials, start with E9th.
For whatever reason the same sentiment often doesn't seem to carry over to suggestions for tuning a dobro as a starting point. There are more tunings than Carter's has pills, but the fact is when it comes to learning materials to get one headed down the path, the overwhelming majority is in high bass Open G.
If one takes a dobro weekend workshop from the likes of a Jimmy Heffernan, or attends a conference like Resosummit in Nashville, you are going to want to tune your guitar to G. Otherwise while the instructor is talking, you are going to have to do mental calculations like "he's showing us that on the 5th fret, which means I am playing it on this fret up here" (depending on one's tuning). Well - that isn't going to cut it for you after you've plunked down a bunch of money to attend these events.
You are going to be in a situation like I was many years ago in taking up golf. I play left-handed. Left handed golf instruction books were pretty rare back in the 70's. Maybe they are more common now because of the success of a lefty like Phil Mickelson.
I would read an instructional book by say Jack Nicklaus or Ben Hogan, and they would write something like "make sure to keep your left arm straight on your backswing" and I would have to convert it by thinking "in my case, that means keep my right arm straight." It would get a little mentally fatiguing after awhile as I would wade through these books.
I have gotten a few people started on the instrument, and the first thing I tell them when we get going is "there are all kinds of ways to tune these things, and down the line you mgiht want to explore alternate tunings, but for our purposes we are going to use the most popular version, which is called high bass Open G and your practice materials are written in that tuning."
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Mark |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 19 Aug 2011 12:17 pm
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| What style of music? |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 19 Aug 2011 2:26 pm
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We need for Sam to make an appearance back in the thread he started, but I'm going to go out on a limb and guess the he isn't going to play one very specific genre of music, so Open G is still the ticket.
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Mark |
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Sam White R.I.P.
From:
Coventry, RI 02816
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Posted 21 Aug 2011 3:00 pm
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Sorry Guys I fell asleep on this thread.I have a Square neck Johnson Resonator and I have it tuned
G-B-D-G-B-D . I'm wanting to know what the cords are when you place the bar on the strings.I play Steel Guitar but not that good. I have been on the steel since 1998 and still not good at all. I never played a instrument in my life until then.
Sam white
_________________
Dynalap lap 8 String Lap Steel Fender frontman 25B speaker changed Boss TU-12H Tuner.Founder and supporter of the Rhode Island Steel Guitar Association Founder of the New England Steel Guitar Association and the Greeneville TN Steel Jams and now founder of the North Carolina Steel Guitar Jams. Honorary member of the Rhode Island Steel Guitar Association,Member of The New England Steel Guitar Association.
Member of the Florida Steel Guitar Club,and member of Mid Atlantic Steel Guitar Association |
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Sam White R.I.P.
From:
Coventry, RI 02816
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Posted 22 Aug 2011 4:09 am
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[quote="Samuel E. White"]Sorry Guys I fell asleep on this thread.I have a Square neck Johnson Resonator and I have it tuned
G-B-D-G-B-D . I'm wanting to know what the cords are when you place the bar on the strings.I play Steel Guitar but not that good. I have been on the steel since 1998 and still not good at all. I never played a instrument in my life until then.I play nothing but the good old country music and some Gospel.
Sam White
_________________
Dynalap lap 8 String Lap Steel Fender frontman 25B speaker changed Boss TU-12H Tuner.Founder and supporter of the Rhode Island Steel Guitar Association Founder of the New England Steel Guitar Association and the Greeneville TN Steel Jams and now founder of the North Carolina Steel Guitar Jams. Honorary member of the Rhode Island Steel Guitar Association,Member of The New England Steel Guitar Association.
Member of the Florida Steel Guitar Club,and member of Mid Atlantic Steel Guitar Association |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 22 Aug 2011 6:42 am
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Sam,
You have your guitar tuned to an open G so open the chord is G, 5th fret is C, 7th is D, 10 is F, 12 is G again and so on. |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 23 Aug 2011 9:23 am
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Sam,
You should get yourself a dobro chart and put it up in the room where you practice. A good visual tool to help you memorize notes & chord positions. You could go through the trouble of making one yourself, but for 9 bucks plus shipping, why bother?
http://www.melbay.com/product.asp?ProductID=20638
Or here is a simpler version from dobro player (touring with Peter Rowan this year), teacher, and all-around good guy Mike Witcher, where the notes on the fretboard are being "modeled" by his beautiful koa Clinesmith:
http://www.mikewitcher.com/store.html
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Mark |
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Sam White R.I.P.
From:
Coventry, RI 02816
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Posted 23 Aug 2011 5:38 pm
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Thank you Mark for the Info. I have a music store where I can get one of Mel Bay's cord Charts.
Thank You
Sam White
_________________
Dynalap lap 8 String Lap Steel Fender frontman 25B speaker changed Boss TU-12H Tuner.Founder and supporter of the Rhode Island Steel Guitar Association Founder of the New England Steel Guitar Association and the Greeneville TN Steel Jams and now founder of the North Carolina Steel Guitar Jams. Honorary member of the Rhode Island Steel Guitar Association,Member of The New England Steel Guitar Association.
Member of the Florida Steel Guitar Club,and member of Mid Atlantic Steel Guitar Association |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 23 Aug 2011 5:40 pm
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My pleasure, Sam!
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Mark |
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