B11th is a very beautiful tuning; A6th on top as you say with great voicings for 9th chords on the bottom. Jerry Byrd & (I believe) Jules Ah Se recorded "Sand" in B11th. "Mapuana", "Hana" "How D'Ya Do", "Rainbows Over Paradise" and "Nani Waimea" are other Hawaiian tunes that lay perfectly in the tuning. Duke Ching has some CD's with B11th songs. Byrd's "Steel Guitar Hawaiian Style" is on CD and has "Sand" and "How D'Ya Do". I arranged Jimmy Day's tune "Blue Wind" after hearing it on Buddy Emmons' "Amazing Steel Guitar" CD. Yet another song that fits B11th like the proverbial glove.
More B-11th info from the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association site:
From Alan Akaka:
The B11th tuning possesses a richness that no other tuning has. If you don't mind doing forward bar slants then this tuning would have endless possibilities. For starters, you can strum full 9th and dominant 7th chords as well as 11th chords (if you strum all strings except for the 5th). There are of course the 6th and minor chords - both straight and 2 fret slants over strings 2-4. There's a straight bar augmented played one fret below the tonic using strings 2,3 and 5. The list goes on. Along with "Sand" and "How D'ya Do" try "Mapuana" and "Hanalei Moon". Search for songs that has a 9th chord in the melody. What about "Moonglow" in Bb (Ebmb9: try strumming strings 2 to 5 with the bar on the first fret for the top 2 strings and leaving the other strings open; C9th: strum strings 2 to 5 on fret 1; F7th: pick string 2 with the bar on the 1st fret and open strings 3 and 5 - have fun!!!). With the B11th let your imagination and creativity go wild.
Weakness of the B11th: Cannot do a straight bar full chord octave gliss with the root or third at the top.
From John Ely:
Alan's description of this remarkable tuning pretty much says it all. Another potential weakness of this tuning is the lack of major triad inversions other than the one on strings 1, 2, and 3.
However, missing elements of this tuning are more than compensated for in the standard C6th. That's why the B11 is such a great tuning to use alongside the C6th. The B11th has a dimension and lushness that beautifully complements the C6th.
[This message was edited by Andy Volk on 02 March 2001 at 06:36 PM.]
