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Topic: Where or how to start |
Dave Seddon
From:
Leicester, England.
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Posted 10 Apr 2010 12:07 pm |
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A friend of mine has just bought himself a lap steel and wants to be able to play along with Hank Williams stuff in the style of Don Helms. The thing is, it is only a 6 string guitar, so which tuning would he use?
I believe Don used a B13 tuning and an E6, and both 8 string. So the other question is does he tune it to the top six strings or the bottom 6strings. Any help would be appreciated.
Cheers Dave. |
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Lynn Oliver
From:
Redmond, Washington USA * R.I.P.
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Posted 10 Apr 2010 12:57 pm
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The easiest would probably be to buy the Don Helms book from the forum HERE and tune to the top six strings of the Don Helms E6 (AKA E13) tuning.
The lower two strings are not used in any of the arrangements in the book. |
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Morgan Scoggins
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 10 Apr 2010 4:12 pm
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Hi Dave,
When I started playing lap steel in August of 2007, I soon purchased the "Your Cheatin' Heart" songbook from Scotty's Music. The tuning for all of the ten H.W.Sr. songs is G#,E,C#, B,G#,E hi to low. The two low strings are not used so it doesn't matter what you do with them, but I tune mine to D and B which gives me an E13 tuning and I can use the two low strings for other songs, assuming there is any music worth listening to that is not Hank Williams ( just kidding).
E6 tuning is a high tuning that sounds like the "honkey tonk" sounds of the 1950's.It was designed that way so the high pitch could be heard above the noise in the joints and dives from those days.
The songs are not difficult( no bar slants) so, anyone with a desire to sound like Don Helms can learn these in a short while. Good luck.
_________________
"Shoot low boys, the're ridin' Shetlands" |
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Dave Seddon
From:
Leicester, England.
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Posted 10 Apr 2010 9:53 pm
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Thank you Lynn and Morgan, My mate John is not on the net so I shall have to order it for him. Thanks again.
Dave. |
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basilh
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 13 Apr 2010 12:47 pm
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Its the E6 with a high G#...
A bit like the E9th with a C# between the E and B notes. BTW Don Helms was NOT the only steel player with Hank Williams, some of his hits were with Jerry Byrd on Steel, and he used C6/A7
from the top down E,C,A,G,E,C#.. |
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John Burton
From:
Manassas, Va
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Posted 13 Apr 2010 1:50 pm
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The Don Helm's book is a must!
Great stuff there.
I always keep one of my steels in E13.
Also, remember you can play a lot of Hank Williams songs in C6 (Lo to High: CEGACE). It's really the same tuning as 6 string E13, just moved down 4 frets.
Another GREAT resource for learning this style is forum member Roy Thompsons' Hank course (which is in C6).
Some good stuff there!
http://www.clictab.com/RoyT/HWC_collection.htm
I learned a lot from Roy's material.
Here is a Youtube of me playing some Hank on a six string tuned c6. The versions I'm playing are mostly from Roy's tabs,(with a little changed and added myself)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Tn-3uHJvJg
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Lynn Oliver
From:
Redmond, Washington USA * R.I.P.
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Posted 13 Apr 2010 2:59 pm
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| Just to avoid any potential confusion, the Don Helms book I recommended purchasing here on the forum is the same as the one Morgan mentions. The full title is: "Your Cheatin' Heart' Steel Guitar Song Book, Compiled and Edited by DeWitt Scott. |
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