A6 Tuning

Patrick Newbery · From: San Francisco, California, USA

I have been using the following (lo to hi) on one of my guitars:

C# E F# A C# E

I think this is A6 (?)

Any ideas on recordings/artists using this? It seems very versatile, as the first 5 strings also have the same intervals as the top five of a C6.

Is there an eight string version of this?

Thanks

Jeff Au Hoy · From: Honolulu, Hawai'i

Steinar Gregertsen · From: Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.

I like the sound of the A6 tuning, it's become my favorite for 8-string along with one of the many E13 variations.

Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com

Ray Minich · From: Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra

Cut my eye teeth on A C# E A C# E circa 1963 thanks to Mel Bay (neat yellow book on Hawaiian that I still have).

[This message was edited by Ray Minich on 17 September 2004 at 03:55 PM.]

Bill Bosler · From: Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, USA

I got a Remington Steelmaster D8 a few months ago and set the front neck up with b0b's A6 tuning. I love it!

Roger Marshall · From: Arroyo Grande, California, USA

I've been messing around with this tuning also. Does anyone know if there are any good instructional materials utilizing this tuning? Thanks!

Roger

Blake Hawkins · From: Florida

Herb Remington has instructional materials for the A6th tuning.

Blake

John McGann · From: Boston, Massachusetts, USA * R.I.P.

A6th is the "same" as C6th, but down a 3rd. Many players like the lower pitch. Top 4 strings:

E C# A F# = 5 3 1 6
G E C A= 5 3 1 6

So all the shapes and such are the same in both tunings, but at a different pitch level. So, you can learn from C6th tab, depending on the lower part of tuning (most of the melodic "action" is on the upper strings, usually).

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Info for musicians, transcribers, technique tips and fun stuff.

Dana Duplan · From: Ramona, CA

This is my main tuning as well. The Cindy Cashdollar videos are in C6, but with the same intervals ie G on top, so the material is interchangable. I sometimes use that C6, depending on the guitar. I know many folks prefer to have the 3rd vs 5th on top, but I get a lot more out of having the 5th, as I would rarely use the 8th string if I had the 3rd on top. So, other instructional materials using a 6th tuning with a 3rd on top can easily be adapted, just by playing everything down one string.
DD

Roger Marshall · From: Arroyo Grande, California, USA

Thanks Guys! So Dana, are you saying that Cindy Cashdollar uses a C6 with the 5th on the 1st (highest in pitch) and the 6 on the 4th string? So for a six string it would be tuned EGACEG? Sorry, I get confused about the low or high thing. Thanks again.

Roger

Steinar Gregertsen · From: Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.

Roger,- that's correct. She has the 5th (G) on top.
Some (like me) feels that anything higher than an E on top sounds too thin, but that's all about personal taste and preferences.

Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com

Roger Marshall · From: Arroyo Grande, California, USA

Thanks Steinar. I really like the sound of the A6 tuning. Since most of the lessons offered are in C6, it's nice to know that after learning the material I can just tune down.

Roger

basilh · From: United Kingdom

I use an A6 base for my Fender 1000 set-up
Baz

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Al Marcus · From: Cedar Springs,MI USA (deceased)

I like A6 real well, used to use it a lot in the late 30's etc.

It is so easy to change to different tuning during the night while playing.

I tuned the 3rd string A to G# and got a nice C# minor.
Tune the 2nd string to B along with that and get an E Maj. tune the 6th string C# to D and have a nice E7, I used to use that for "In the Mood", different songs and you can change tunings fast and easy to adapt to differnt styles of songs. Easry for an E13th too.

We did what we had to do in those days without pedals, and were glad to graduate to Double and Triple necks....al

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My Website..... www.cmedic.net/~almarcus/

Craig Prior · From: National City, California, USA

Patrick, as I recall Jerry Byrd's covers of How D'ya Do and Sand were recorded in A6, sometimes referred to as F#m7:

lo to hi: C# E F# A C# E

Craig.

Patrick Newbery · From: San Francisco, California, USA

Craig,
Do you know which of jerry's recordings of those songs was in A6? In his course book, he has those tabbed in B11.

Thanks everyone for you input. Not knowing much about music theory, I am finding that in A6 I still get a lot of the nice voicings I get playing B11, C6, and E13. Guess it's time to learn more theory!

Mike Fried · From: Nashville, TN, USA

Those two songs were recorded in B11, which is very closely related to A6. Careful listening will reveal that Jerry never plays the fifth (on the fifth string) under the third-string root (that's because it's flatted a half-tone in B11). Those songs can be played in A6, but it requires frequent slanting to get the many dominant 7th and 9th chords, and some of the trademark dense chord voicings are lost. For B11 on an A6 six-stringer, simply lower the fifth string E to D#. Depending on the song, you might also want to lower the sixth string to B for the B11 root note. It's really a gorgeous tuning in 6, 7, or 8 strings and a very useful alternative to the A6 it spawned from.

George Keoki Lake · From: Edmonton, AB., Canada

Listen to a lot of Billy Hew Len recordings...he used A6th on many of them.

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