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Post new topic My T-8 Challenge With Leavitt Tuning
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Author Topic:  My T-8 Challenge With Leavitt Tuning
Carl Mesrobian


From:
Salem, Massachusetts, USA
Post  Posted 21 Jul 2012 7:04 am    
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My T-8 is strung up with the following:

Front - Don Helms E6
Middle - C6/A7
Back - Leavitt

As a challenge to myself I'm learning Don Helms "Walking After Midnight" intro on all three necks. I'm thinking of the Leavitt tuning as sort of an Eb6 with a C7b9, with other goodies thrown in Question
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Doug Beaumier


From:
Northampton, MA
Post  Posted 21 Jul 2012 9:03 am    
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I think of Leavitt (6 string) as C9 over b9. C7 on the middle 4 strings, C9 of the top 5 strings. Whatever you call it, it's not a "strum friendly" tuning like the 6th tunings. The player has to pick very selectively and skip certain strings to avoid a train wreck. It is a good tuning for jazz tunes though, lots of altered chords, partial chords available without slants. I know you like jazz, Carl, so you'll probably like the Leavitt tuning.
Another tuning to consider is Jerry Byrd's C diatonic tuning. I've been tinkering with that lately and there are a lot of cool patterns and sounds available, especially patterns featuring 1/2 steps over sustained chords (on the same fret). It's all good. Cool
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Carl Mesrobian


From:
Salem, Massachusetts, USA
Post  Posted 21 Jul 2012 9:13 am     Edited
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Doug, you're absolutely right about Leavitt - certainly not strum friendly, but lots of stuff there. Another potential tuning train wreck is string 7 (C#) on the C6/A7 Whoa!

EDIT: My Leavitt from high to low is:

G Eb D C Bb G E C#

I got the tuning on an old post by Bill Hatcher:

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=1078252&sid=fcb18aecb76dca36efa39c00cb4b4155
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"The better it gets, the fewer of us know it." Ray Brown


Last edited by Carl Mesrobian on 21 Jul 2012 10:19 am; edited 1 time in total
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Doug Beaumier


From:
Northampton, MA
Post  Posted 21 Jul 2012 10:00 am    
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Quote:
Another potential tuning train wreck is string 7 (C#) on the C6/A7


Yes, but eventually you learn to avoid that string when playing off the "C6 strings" ...and avoid the C string when playing off the "A7 strings". It takes a while to get used to.
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