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Topic: Most Favorable Keys for Tunings? |
Steve Duke
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 21 Oct 2016 7:35 am |
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| I read an article the other day that said for the low base A tuning (low to hi - EAEAC#E)the most favorable keys to play in were D,A and E. This statement got me thinking, are there certain keys that are better for E6, C6, A6, E7, E9 etc. If so, how is that determined? Thanks for any responses. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 21 Oct 2016 7:58 am
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When I played a T-8 Stringmaster, I would decide what neck to play the song in dependent on the key the song was written in. I prefer to play in the middle of the neck, not too close to the nut and not up by the bridge.
I tuned my T-8 in A6th, C6th and C#minor7th(basically an E tuning). |
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Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
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Posted 21 Oct 2016 8:18 am
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| I found that I can play in any key whatsoever, just by moving my chair to the right or left. |
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Jeff Mead
From:
London, England
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Posted 21 Oct 2016 10:09 am
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I generally find that, as I don't tend to use open strings, A is the one key I don't particularly like to play in with an A based tuning. I like to play around the middle of the neck and have at least a couple of frets below the root key free so for A6, the keys of D and E are great. C is OK, G a bit high maybe.
But a lot of my steel playing is on a 6 stringer tuned to A6 and can usually find a part to play in whatever key I'm thrown. |
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Kev Conlon
From:
Leeds, England
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Posted 21 Oct 2016 10:13 am
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| Earnest Bovine wrote: |
| I found that I can play in any key whatsoever, just by moving my chair to the right or left. |
 ....Hehehe..... |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 21 Oct 2016 11:54 am
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| Jeff Mead wrote: |
| But a lot of my steel playing is on a 6 stringer tuned to A6 and can usually find a part to play in whatever key I'm thrown. |
Jeff, does your 6-string A6 tuning have an E on top and a C# on the bottom? |
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Scott Duckworth
From:
Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies
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Posted 21 Oct 2016 12:24 pm
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I agree with Erv. To me, that is the sweet spot of the guitar.
_________________
Amateur Radio Operator NA4IT (Extra)
http://www.qsl.net/na4it
I may, in fact, be nuts. However, I am screwed onto the right bolt... Jesus! |
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Jeff Mead
From:
London, England
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Posted 21 Oct 2016 12:31 pm
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| Jack Hanson wrote: |
| Jeff Mead wrote: |
| But a lot of my steel playing is on a 6 stringer tuned to A6 and can usually find a part to play in whatever key I'm thrown. |
Jeff, does your 6-string A6 tuning have an E on top and a C# on the bottom? |
Yes, that's the one. |
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Steve Duke
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 21 Oct 2016 12:36 pm
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| Thanks guys. I thought there might be a magic musical wave link the key and tuning matched up to. Earnest: What tuning do you use for your chair? |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 21 Oct 2016 1:29 pm
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| Jeff Mead wrote: |
| Jack Hanson wrote: |
Jeff, does your 6-string A6 tuning have an E on top and a C# on the bottom? |
Yes, that's the one. |
Jeff, what's your scale length, and what string gauges are you using for 6-string A6? |
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Jeff Mead
From:
London, England
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Posted 21 Oct 2016 1:45 pm
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| Jack Hanson wrote: |
| Jeff Mead wrote: |
| Jack Hanson wrote: |
Jeff, does your 6-string A6 tuning have an E on top and a C# on the bottom? |
Yes, that's the one. |
Jeff, what's your scale length, and what string gauges are you using for 6-string A6? |
All my lap steels are 22.5" scale and I use:
E - .015
C#- .018
A - .022
F#- .026w
E - .032w
C#- .038w
The great thing about A6 is that with the same string set, you can try the C6 with E on top - (E C A G E C).
As a guitar player, A6 makes more sense to me though.
I use this page to work out string gauges (as my guitars are short scale, I use the heaviest option for each string:
http://www.hawaiiansteel.com/learning/gauges.php
I don't know if you've dabbled with 6th tunings but one really cool thing is that (with A6) you get a major chord on strings 123 and the minor chord 3 frets higher on strings 234.
(of course, you also get the major on 235 and 356 and the minor on 346 too).
So apart from country and hawaiian music, it is a useful tuning for most other styles too. |
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Scott Duckworth
From:
Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies
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Posted 21 Oct 2016 2:04 pm
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I am approaching making a D6 out of two Rogue Lap Steels with these tunings:
(1 is the close / low tone string, 6 is the far / high tone string.)
The 6th tunings I came up with (and by all means have probably be used before) lend themselves nicely to playing melody lines, and for doing just comping chords along with the band.
In looking at the two tunings I have in the chart, the E6 makes G, Ab, Bb and C keys appear centered on the steel.
The A6 makes C, Db, Eb and F appear centered on the steel.
These are keys that the "traditional" gospel songs are written in when using the "red backed church hymnal", Heavenly Highway Hymns, Mulls, and other convention books.
This keeps (IMHO) the playing in the optimum range, not getting into the "squeakiness" of the high range, nor getting into bar lifting when near the nut.
_________________
Amateur Radio Operator NA4IT (Extra)
http://www.qsl.net/na4it
I may, in fact, be nuts. However, I am screwed onto the right bolt... Jesus! |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 22 Oct 2016 11:17 am
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| Jeff Mead wrote: |
All my lap steels are 22.5" scale and I use:
E - .015
C#- .018
A - .022
F#- .026w
E - .032w
C#- .038w
The great thing about A6 is that with the same string set, you can try the C6 with E on top - (E C A G E C). |
Thanks, Jeff; that's interesting. I use similar gauges on my gaggle of vintage 6-string Gibsons, which are also 22.5" scale:
E .017
C .020
A .024p
G .026w
E .030
C .038
I normally play in C6, but also dabble with A6, B11, & D9.
From standard C6, raising the 2nd and 6th strings a half-step and lowering string 4 a half-step gives you the A6. By additionally lowering the 5th string a half-step, you get a B11 (without the root). Also from C6, by lowering the fourth string a half-step you get a D9 (without the root), which is similar to one of the old Speedy West tunings. |
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Jeff Mead
From:
London, England
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Posted 22 Oct 2016 11:41 am
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[quote="Jack Hanson"]
| Jeff Mead wrote: |
All my lap steels are 22.5" scale and I use:
Thanks, Jeff; that's interesting. I use similar gauges on my gaggle of vintage 6-string Gibsons, which are also 22.5" scale:
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My 6 stringer is a Gibson BR-9 which was my first lap steel. The others are all Fenders - a mixture of short scale Stringmasters and the earlier model - all 22.5" |
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Steve Duke
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 22 Oct 2016 5:33 pm
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| Jeff: You ever do anything with E 7 tuning? |
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Jeff Mead
From:
London, England
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Posted 22 Oct 2016 11:40 pm
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| Steve Duke wrote: |
| Jeff: You ever do anything with E 7 tuning? |
Strangely enough, I used it for the very first time on this recording which was released recently.
I retuned the E13 neck of my double 8 to E7 (went back to the A6 neck for the choruses).
https://sarahvista.bandcamp.com/releases |
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Wayne D. Clark
From:
Montello Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 26 Oct 2016 5:27 pm
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| Erv, I also play the [C# Minor 7th] in fact I'm so hooked on that tuning I play it most of the time. It has such a beautiful sound. [My opinion] |
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Garry Vanderlinde
From:
CA
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Posted 26 Oct 2016 8:57 pm
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| Earnest Bovine wrote: |
| I found that I can play in any key whatsoever, just by moving my chair to the right or left. |
...and if you want to play higher or lower you can raise your chair up or down as required. |
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Tony Lombardo
From:
Alabama, USA
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Posted 27 Oct 2016 2:28 am
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I play in A6 tuning. While all of the keys are manageable in that tuning, there are a couple of keys that are more challenging than the others. To me, the keys of Ab and A are the most challenging because they do not offer as many obvious home base frets for easy chord/melody manipulation as the other keys do in that tuning. The key word in that assessment, of course, is "obvious." Opportunities exist in all keys, but those opportunities might not be as obvious to me in A or Ab, but they are on the A6 fretboard, but not obviously so. With a little thought and creativity, one can find it all.
Tony L, |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 27 Oct 2016 7:42 am
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Wayne,
Yes, you can do a lot with that tuning. When you start adding things to a straight major tuning, you really need to go to an 8 string guitar or else your range suffers.  |
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Wayne D. Clark
From:
Montello Wisconsin, USA
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Posted 27 Oct 2016 3:52 pm
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| Erv, I should have mentioned I have a Melbert 8 string here at home, however Bob Allen is making me a 6 string to keep at church for playing with the gospel gang, so I don't have to keep packing & unpacking.I'll probably tune that top to bottom E,B,G#,E, ? ? [B,G#] OR [C#,B]. got any suggestions? |
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Scott Duckworth
From:
Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies
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Posted 27 Oct 2016 4:10 pm
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Wayne, look at my E7 tuning in the chart above...
_________________
Amateur Radio Operator NA4IT (Extra)
http://www.qsl.net/na4it
I may, in fact, be nuts. However, I am screwed onto the right bolt... Jesus! |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 28 Oct 2016 7:18 am
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Wayne,
That C# on the lower strings would come in handy. |
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