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Topic: Looking for suggestions for playing reso in G minor |
Dave Zirbel
From:
Sebastopol, CA USA
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Posted 4 Jan 2019 11:55 am |
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I have a session coming up and the singer is doing Wayfaring Stranger in G minor. I tune my 6 string reso in standard open G. My reso skills are more limited than my pedal steel skills. My first thought is to tune down to F so I get the hammer ons and pull-offs in the second fret....or capo up on the third fret...
I'm open to any advice and suggestions..
Thanks and Happy New Year!
Dave
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Dave Zirbel-
Sierra S-10 (Built by Ross Shafer),ZB, Fender 400 guitars, various tube and SS amps |
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Dave Zirbel
From:
Sebastopol, CA USA
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Posted 4 Jan 2019 12:33 pm
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Well....I may have answered my own question.....after playing through and trying a few things, tuning my thirds a half step down and making a G minor chord works really well.... 
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Dave Zirbel-
Sierra S-10 (Built by Ross Shafer),ZB, Fender 400 guitars, various tube and SS amps |
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Howard Parker
From:
Maryland
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Posted 4 Jan 2019 3:14 pm
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Easiest thing is to play it out of the Bb position. No need to capo. It's a slow tune. Sure, you can flatten the 3rds but there are major chords in that tune.So, whatcha gonna do when you get there?
h
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Howard Parker
03\' Carter D-10
70\'s Dekley D-10
52\' Fender Custom
Many guitars by Paul Beard
Listowner Resoguit-L |
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Dave Zirbel
From:
Sebastopol, CA USA
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Posted 4 Jan 2019 4:01 pm
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| Quote: |
| Sure, you can flatten the 3rds but there are major chords in that tune.So, whatcha gonna do when you get there? |
Dunno...avoid the third or find the interval somewhere else if I need it........or punch in on another track tuned G major 
I like playing off the open strings. It's make my simple style a tiny bit more interesting.
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Dave Zirbel-
Sierra S-10 (Built by Ross Shafer),ZB, Fender 400 guitars, various tube and SS amps |
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Clyde Mattocks
From:
Kinston, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 4 Jan 2019 4:29 pm
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What Howard said. Tuning your 3rds down will help in the Gm home chord, but will probably put you at a disadvantage in the other chords. Since the chorus goes to Bb with the first chord being Eb, I believe you would find playing out of the regular G tuning more useful.
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LeGrande II, Nash. 112, Fender Twin Tone Master, Session 400, Harlow Dobro, R.Q.Jones Dobro |
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Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 4 Jan 2019 5:34 pm
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Bar your middle G string at the third fret and play the G and D strings open (don't hit your B strings) - voila! G minor. You could also play Gm7 by playing the Bb chord (Bb-D-F) and letting someone else play the root.
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Brad’s Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 4 Jan 2019 5:47 pm
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Search for forumite Fred Kinbom's music. Fred uses G min tuning almost exclusively. Check out what he's done on both acoustic and electric in that tuning ... maybe some ideas in there?
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Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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Dave Zirbel
From:
Sebastopol, CA USA
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Posted 4 Jan 2019 6:45 pm
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All good suggestions, thank you!
| Quote: |
| Search for forumite Fred Kinbom's music. Fred uses G min tuning almost exclusively. Check out what he's done on both acoustic and electric in that tuning ... maybe some ideas in there? |
Today was the first time I ever played G minor tuning....it's actually a really good tuning.
| Quote: |
| What Howard said. Tuning your 3rds down will help in the Gm home chord, but will probably put you at a disadvantage in the other chords. Since the chorus goes to Bb with the first chord being Eb, I believe you would find playing out of the regular G tuning more useful. |
Actually after messing with it I find the G minor advantages out weigh the disadvantages...but that's just me. That open Bb string gets used a lot! Try it! It's pretty fun.
Anyhow I have time so I'll figure it out......if I could only install a knee lever that raises the Bb to B....
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Dave Zirbel-
Sierra S-10 (Built by Ross Shafer),ZB, Fender 400 guitars, various tube and SS amps |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 5 Jan 2019 9:44 am
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The typical arrangement for this song contains two minor chords which show up a lot, so one can certainly make a case for flatting the B string(s) but were I to take that approach, I think I'd go with the 2nd string B and leave the 5th string alone.
But I like to play it the way Rob Ickes does - in B minor, in regular old GBDGBD. I have the tab book from his Big Time album which came out in 2004 and it's included. Best dobro tab book I've ever seen and sadly out of print.
I'm guessing in Dave's session someone will be handling rhythm guitar duties on the song, so I'm not really sure why the dobro player needs to have the frequent full minors at their disposal.
I favor Howard's approach to playing the song in G minor with the Bb thing. You have the pentatonic minor scale - the X shape on a dobro:
Starting below the Bb "x" shape - G open on string 3 then there's
Bb - fret 3, 3rd string
C - fret 5, 3rd string
Eb - fret 4, 2nd string
F - fret 3, 1st string
G - fret 5, string 1
And the relative G minor pentatonic scale: G Bb C D F
I'm not really pointing this out specifically for Dave - he is one of the best musicians I know, and doesn't need basic music theory lessons from me - it's more for the newbie who might be following the topic.
But here is a link for you to check out to hear how Rob approaches it in Bm with GBDGBD. And it was actually filmed down the road from Dave's house in Sebastopol at the Community Center in 2011. Rob and the amazing Jim Hurst on guitar, a show put on by our Sonoma County friend and music compatriot Kevin Russell. I think I was sitting a little off to the right so the back of my head doesn't make an appearance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_F5T3hxeFA
Dave - are you still playing that old Cyclops Dobro?
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Mark |
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Dave Zirbel
From:
Sebastopol, CA USA
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Posted 5 Jan 2019 10:16 am
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| Quote: |
| Dave - are you still playing that old Cyclops Dobro? |
I'm afraid so, but it isn't an original. I think it's a reissue from the '80's. It works....
....and Mark, I need all the theory lessons I can get, seriously.
I'm going to work on it some more in G minor and good old G major. I think I'm favoring G minor at the moment because it's new and fresh.....it's also a great way for me (lazy and stubborn to change) to exercise my brain!
Seriously though I recommend trying different tunings for everything. Every time I do it I learn something new on my "old" tuning.....I tried Sneaky Pete's B6 on pedal steel for awhile. It was a great education, even though I didn't master it but it gets the wheels turning!
With G minor, I found a Cm7 in the third fret by barring the low D to E flat while playing 2 & 3 open. It's also an E flat triad. Move the bar up two frets, play strings 3 and 4 barred and keep 1 and 2 open and you get a nice B flat....I think.....Then I have a D7 (minus the third) by barring strings 2 and 3 in the second fret while playing 1 and 4 open....and there's more cool stuff like that. 
BTW the session is for Molly Tuttle"s younger brother. I think his name is Sully.....and he rips on the guitar! Also doing pedal steel on a Dylan tune on the same session. I need to be on my game
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Dave Zirbel-
Sierra S-10 (Built by Ross Shafer),ZB, Fender 400 guitars, various tube and SS amps |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 5 Jan 2019 2:57 pm
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Capo 3rd fret for Bb. It would be like playing in Em with no capo.
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Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Bob Stone
From:
Gainesville, FL, USA
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Posted 7 Jan 2019 11:09 am
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I play steel in a Cajun band and have been flattening the B strings of G tuning to B flat for a some minor tunes, specifically Mardi Gras chanson (capoed to Am), Cornerpost, and La Belle Josette. They all work great with that tuning. Lots of drones and unisons are easily available. The latter two would be very difficult in std tuning. Mardi Gras is easily played out of G tuning, but the drones or unisons are not there.
Frankly, I love using the G minor tuning, and it's a quick re-tune on stage. With a little practice, you can quickly re-tune by ear. And you don't need to re-tune the low B string if you are not going to use it.
Last edited by Bob Stone on 8 Jan 2019 10:06 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Dave Zirbel
From:
Sebastopol, CA USA
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Posted 7 Jan 2019 11:25 am
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| Quote: |
| Frankly, I love using the G minor tuning, and it's a quick re-tune on stage. With a little practice, you can quickly re-tune by ear. And you don't need to re-tune the low B string if you are not going to use it. |
Thanks Bob. I'm way deep into the G minor tuning at this point so I'm gonna roll with it for this session. It really is a great tuning.
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Dave Zirbel-
Sierra S-10 (Built by Ross Shafer),ZB, Fender 400 guitars, various tube and SS amps |
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Bob Stone
From:
Gainesville, FL, USA
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Posted 7 Jan 2019 12:16 pm
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| You are welcome. Glad to hear you are enjoying it, too. It's lots of fun. |
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K Maul
From:
Hadley, NY/Hobe Sound, FL
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Posted 7 Jan 2019 8:07 pm
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A little late to this party but I do have one suggestion. I sometimes just tune the low B to Bb flat and then play around melodically on the top four strings. So when I want a full minor chord I just play the bottom four strings.
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KEVIN MAUL: Airline, Beard, Clinesmith, Donner, Evans, Excel, Fender, Fluger, Gibson, Hilton, Ibanez, Justice, K+K, Live Strings, MOYO, National, Oahu, Peterson, Quilter, Rickenbacher, Sho~Bud, Supro, TC, Ultimate, VHT, Williams, X-otic, Yamaha, ZKing. |
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Dave Zirbel
From:
Sebastopol, CA USA
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Posted 8 Jan 2019 6:26 am
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| Quote: |
| I sometimes just tune the low B to Bb flat and then play around melodically on the top four strings. So when I want a full minor chord I just play the bottom four strings. |
Thanks Kevin. That crossed my mind. Great suggestion!
Dave
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Dave Zirbel-
Sierra S-10 (Built by Ross Shafer),ZB, Fender 400 guitars, various tube and SS amps |
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Fred Treece
From:
California, USA
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Posted 8 Jan 2019 10:53 am
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| Greg Booth drops his low G down to E for some nice m7 sounds. Capo at 3rd fret for Gm, obviously. |
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