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Post new topic E13 with notes in actual ascending order
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Author Topic:  E13 with notes in actual ascending order
Stan Schober


From:
Cahokia, Illinois, USA
Post  Posted 25 Jan 2012 10:09 am    
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Does anyone here play ( or know of any older players ) that play an E13 tuning with all of the notes in their natural ascending order ? What would you deem as good or bad ideas about this tuning ?
    1 - (E)
    2 - C#
    3 - A
    4 - F#
    5 - D
    6 - B
    7 - G#
    8 - E

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Mike Neer


From:
NJ
Post  Posted 25 Jan 2012 10:27 am    
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Stan, an E13 doesn't contain an A note. The 11th extension (A) is skipped over. Get rid of that and use a G# and you have Noel Boggs' E13 tuning, very close to an E9 tuning I use (I use both, actually, by simply tuning string 2 back and forth between B and C#).

The tuning you have listed is half A6, half E7. I have a few hybrid tunings of my own, but I'm not so sure I see the value in this one.
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Morgan Scoggins

 

From:
Georgia, USA
Post  Posted 25 Jan 2012 11:05 am    
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Stan,
I am with Mike on this one. My E13 tuning is G# E C# B G# E D B hi to low.If you are like a lot of us, you will need to have the high G# on the first string to play all those Hank Williams songs like Don Helms did.IF you primarily want to play Western Swing, Hawaiian or Blues,you can leave off the G# and have a low E 8th string.You can also replace the 6th string E with an F#. I like the root note E on my sixth string. I have used the F# but, I always find myself working around that string.E13 is a great tuning and is fairly close to the E9 pedal tuning and the overall sound is very similar to a pedal steel
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Stan Schober


From:
Cahokia, Illinois, USA
Post  Posted 25 Jan 2012 11:08 am    
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Thanks for the insights Mike !
I was wondering why I never saw it in any of the tunings I found here. (It IS listed in the piano version, which is why I left it in.)
I've been pouring over old posts and comparing different E13 tunings and how varied they are. I can't tell you how many times I've re-tuned my 9-string...
Smile
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Jerome Hawkes


From:
Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA
Post  Posted 25 Jan 2012 12:32 pm    
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i've collected about 15 different 8 string E13 tunings, its easily the most varied of all the tunings out there. None contain the A.

9 strings is really perfect for the E13, its one of those tunings that benefits from that extra string. when you have 8 strings, you have to make choices.
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Stan Schober


From:
Cahokia, Illinois, USA
Post  Posted 25 Jan 2012 12:37 pm    
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Jerome Hawkes wrote:
i've collected about 15 different 8 string E13 tunings, its easily the most varied of all the tunings out there. None contain the A.

That's about 7 more than I've found. Smile
would you mind PMing me or listing them here ?
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Steve Ahola


From:
Concord, California
Post  Posted 25 Jan 2012 12:38 pm    
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Morgan Scoggins wrote:
Stan,
I am with Mike on this one. My E13 tuning is G# E C# B G# E D B hi to low.If you are like a lot of us, you will need to have the high G# on the first string to play all those Hank Williams songs like Don Helms did.

Don Helms usually tuned the bottom two notes to C# and A for an E6 variation on that. Incidentally the intervals in Don's E6 are identical to one of the C6 variations used by many people here:
Tab:
C6/FM7
F-A-C-E-G-A-C-E (lo to hi)


Just mentioning that to point out that you can use that C6 tuning to play the Hank Williams songs, only you will be pitched 4 frets lower. You can also raise the bottom two strings to G and Bb to get the same intervals as the E13th that Morgan spelled out. BTW many of Hank's recordings featured Jerry Byrd and others playing C6; for a long time MGM did not want Hank to use Don Helms on the recordings even though he was a member of Hank's touring band. (I think that was partly because Jerry Byrd was also an MGM artist.)

Stan- with your 9 string I would recommend the E13 that Morgan spelled out but add an F# on top and moving the rest of the strings down one position.

Tab:
E13 w/ F# on top
B-D-E-G#-B-C#-E-G#-F#
(lo to hi)


The F# is pitched between the E and G# so it is "out of order" but very useful there. You get all of the slants from Morgan's E13 but the added F# on top expands your harmonic options for chords and facilitates fast picking for solos. (That is why E9 PSG'S have those "weird notes" on the top.)

EDIT There are lots of other E tunings that you might consider like the E9th tuning that Mike Neer likes (which has been my favorite tuning the past year):

Tab:
E9th
E-G#-B-D-F#-G#-B-E

(for your nine string you could add the G# on top. I just got a 10 string and am using a G# for the 2nd string and a F# for the 1st string. Also as Mike mentioned you can raise the high B to C# to get Noel Boggs' tuning which is very cool. Or lower the F# to E for a more straight-forward dominant 7th chord.)

Tab:
Leon McAuliffe's E13 (with variations)
E
C#
B
G#
F#/E
D
B/G#
G#/E

(for your nine string you could add the G# on top)

IMO having the high C# (the 6th) gives the tuning more of Major (ionian) flavor while the E9th tunings that lack that high C# have more of a Dominant (mixolydian) feel. That high C# also gives you a very full C#m7. (The E9th tuning gives you a B minor triad on half of the strings- the 2nd, 4th, 5th & 6th strings. The other strings are the 11th and 13th of B, not that useful without the b7- the A.)

Good luck!

Steve Ahola
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Last edited by Steve Ahola on 25 Jan 2012 6:34 pm; edited 5 times in total
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Jerome Hawkes


From:
Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA
Post  Posted 25 Jan 2012 1:49 pm    
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it depends on what you want to play regarding which E13, as Morgan says - i wouldnt use the same E13 for classic country that i would for swing, where you need more chord "colors".

the great thing about Morgans E13 tuning is you just have to tune the E up to F# AND tune the HIGH G# down to F# - this gives you a hybrid Morrell tuning that really swings and you can play some really fast lines in this tuning cause its got close tetrachord shapes in it. sure, its only got 1 E in it, but for swing, i dont think you need the lower E as much - someone is usually covering this note (or better be).
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Ray Montee


From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
Post  Posted 28 Jan 2012 12:09 pm     Always interested in 'the facts'.............
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Steve Aloha........I noticed in your remarks about Hank Williams your comment about JERRY BYRD at that time being an artist for MGM?

Perhaps you could clarify that for me? Specifically when was he with MGM? That is something that I have missed and I do want to get it straight.
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Stefan Robertson


From:
Hertfordshire, UK
Post  Posted 11 Feb 2022 3:50 am     Re: E13 with notes in actual ascending order
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I play in ascending order as did Tom Morrell.

Re-entrant tuning is not necessary and also the high G# is only necessary if you have 10 strings or less but that is even debatable as Tom rarely used his.

I don't use a high G# no need as the same voicings are found elsewhere.

In Ascending order achieves fastest speed with no wastage on E13.

Stan Schober wrote:
Does anyone here play ( or know of any older players ) that play an E13 tuning with all of the notes in their natural ascending order ? What would you deem as good or bad ideas about this tuning ?
    1 - (E)
    2 - C#
    3 - A
    4 - F#
    5 - D
    6 - B
    7 - G#
    8 - E

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Robert Murphy


From:
West Virginia
Post  Posted 11 Feb 2022 11:58 am    
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I play A13 in ascending order but re-entrant. Lo-hi A C# E G, Lo-hi B D F# A. This is like two 4 string tunings. The advantage is the inversions I find most useful like C6 or open tunings provides.
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