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Topic: Open Tunings Question |
Ron Randall
From:
Dallas, Texas, USA
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Posted 22 Jan 2003 7:58 am |
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John Kavanagh's thread above got me to thinking.
What is meant when a tuning is described as
"G Major Tuning raised to C" ??
Does this mean putting a capo on the fifth fret, or, retuning the guitar 5 half steps higher?
G Major is DGDGBD (Low to high).
Ron
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Fender Stringmaster T-8
Fender Custom D-8
National TriCone, Benoit 8, Dobros.
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Jeff Au Hoy
From:
Honolulu, Hawai'i
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Posted 22 Jan 2003 8:14 am
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...
Last edited by Jeff Au Hoy on 16 Jan 2018 2:58 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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nick allen
From:
France
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Posted 22 Jan 2003 8:20 am
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"What is meant" probably depends who is saying it... 
I'm not sure of the thread you're referring to, but in general I think people refer to e.g. a "G major"-type tuning (which can be either, as you say, DGDGBD, or more commonly in lap-style playing, GBDGBD) to represent any tuning where the scale notes are 135135 (or 515135)
Thus in your example the "G tuning raised to C" would probably be CEGCEG...
Equally, people often refer to an "E tuning", meaning the scale notes are 151351. Even if the actual "key" the guitar is tuned to is C, D, E or F.
Hope this is clear...
All tunings given low to high! |
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Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 22 Jan 2003 8:52 am
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Although you don't normally find capos used by electric lap steel players, they're quite common in the Dobro® world.
Here's a selection for squareneck guitars from Paul Beard's web site.
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Brad's Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars
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Roy Thomson
From:
Wolfville, Nova Scotia,Canada
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Posted 22 Jan 2003 10:36 am
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The steel guitar capos I have seen are "T"
shaped aluminum. Used upside down with felt on the bottom. Used to have one, and I recall Jeff Newman used one in his arrangement of "Friends". I have heard them
used also for Cajun steel effects.
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http://www.clictab.com/royt/tabmenu.htm
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Ron Randall
From:
Dallas, Texas, USA
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Posted 22 Jan 2003 11:24 am
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I was reading the liner notes from a CD. Brozman and Pahinui. "Four Hands-Hot and Sweet"
"GMajor raised to C"
another song is
"GMajor raised to Bb".
So, does one capo at the fifth or third fret, or tune up to either C or Bb?
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Bob Stone
From:
Gainesville, FL, USA
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Posted 22 Jan 2003 12:13 pm
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Ron,
Capos are used on acoustic steels--especially in bluegrass--fairly frequently. I wasn't aware that Brozman used one. I own one, but don't use it much. When I do use a capo it's rarelyabove the 2nd or 3rd fret.
Even without hearing the recording, I would bet Brozman has raised the pitch with a capo. If he was retuning, I think he would have said so. By the way, he uses low bass G tuning: 6-DGDGBD-1.
Try using a capo and see if it sounds right. |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 22 Jan 2003 12:22 pm
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| Brozman retunes; he does not capo up. His Bear Creek Kona for instance is kept in a high C tuning. |
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Jerry Hayes
From:
Virginia Beach, Va.
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Posted 22 Jan 2003 12:23 pm
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The Beard or Scheerhorn Dobro capos work very well on 6 string lap steel. I use them a lot for bluegrass type things in my G6th tuning (B D E G B D low to high). Try it sometime. The rest of the band will love it.......JH
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Livin' in the Past and the Future with a 12 string Mooney Universal tuning.
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Gene Jones
From:
Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)
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Posted 22 Jan 2003 12:42 pm
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| I own a LENO capo that I used on a dobro. I have never used it on a steel but it's design is such that it could be if someone wanted to. www.genejones.com |
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Ron Randall
From:
Dallas, Texas, USA
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Posted 22 Jan 2003 3:23 pm
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Andy,
Interesting. I guess you gotta restring, too.
Going from Gmaj to Bb or C is a big jump.
This is starting to sink in. The 12 string roundneck that Pahinui plays is in Cmaj on some songs and Cmaj slacked to Bb. Therefore, Brozman raises his Gmaj tuning to match.
Duh. I got it.(I think)
Ron |
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