Wow- C6 on the 6 string is really great!

[Steve Ahola]

Thanks go to Mike Neer for encouraging us to learn C6! With the high and low versions it is the basis behind countless tunings used today. I only recently learned that the traditional E13th(high) 8 string tuning is practically the same as the traditional C6(low) only moved up 4 frets (I'm referring to the tunings listed on the Strings page here).

The E13th does use different intervals for the bottom 2 strings but you can go 1/2 of the way towards Don Helms's tuning by raising the lowering the 7 string from the b7 to the 6th while leaving the 8th string alone (as the 5th). That will give you exactly the same harmonic structure as C6(low).(The Don Helms tuning does give you a great A major 7th chord on the bottom 4 strings- add the 4th string and you get an A major 9. With the fourth on the bottom you also get what might be called an E6/11.)

In any case I've been playing C6 several hours a day on my 6 string and 8 string studying the Hank Williams catalog. I do need to raise the strings on one of my 6 stringers 4 frets to get the top 6 notes of the E13th(high) tuning. And to give me a different inversion of those notes I just retuned my C6 8 stringer to A6 (which has the 5th on top).

It has been one of my goals and dreams to learn how to play those Hank Williams songs for 40 years but I could never figure them out with the open E "bottleneck" tuning or the open G "dobro" tuning.

So once again, thanks to Mike Neer for pushing us to learn C6, which is the root (no pun intended) of countless tunings. It took me about 4 months to start getting comfortable with it, but now I actually prefer it to the open E "bottleneck" tuning I had always used. I've always loved the jazzy bluesy playing of Don Helms. BTW I have his book but so far have just been figuring out what I can playing along with the records. So thanks to Mike Neer for encouraging us to use our ears to transcribe these songs rather than just searching for the tablature (which I will refer to eventually for those double and triple stops that I just can't figure out).

Steve Ahola

[Doug Beaumier]

Steve, Mike gave you some good advice! C6 is a great all round tuning with lots of harmonies, 3rds, 6ths, full (3-note) minor chords, and a lot of convenient slants. It won't do everything, no tuning will, but it does a lot. There's no doubt that the E tuning is better for blues styles, but the higher, closer intervals of C6 offer a lot more options to the player, particularly in a band situation (with bass, rhythm guitar, etc). It's great to hear that you're getting comfortable with C6 and enjoying it!

[Steve Ahola]

Doug:

I don't know if you had read my posts on another thread but I have added to a new twist to open E tuning that jazzes it up quite a bit. I find that low E string to be just too low- okay for power chords but not very useful for harmonies (besides octaves and fifths... LOL). So I left the top 5 strings alone and turned the 6th string into a "wild card". I usually have it tuned to the C# two frets higher than the B for an open E6 or C#m7 chord. Or I can tune it up the b7th or major 7th. With a smaller gauge string I could even go up to the 9th.

Having the 6th string higher than the 5th might seem unusual at first to a long time blueser, but it is there when I need it to spice things up.

Nothing revolutionary about all of that but it is something that I can dig my teeth into. I really don't need that low E so the "wild card" comes in handy.

Thanks!

Steve Ahola

P.S. Right now I'm working on Don Helm's parts on Hank's blues-based songs- they have such a cool sound to them!

[Doug Beaumier]

I agree with you about the low E. I don't find it to be all that useful except for playing power chords (low root, 5). On my 10-string Morrell E-13 tuning and I changed the low E to B and it works a lot better for the styles I like to play.

[Nils Fliegner]

Yeah! Those block chords on "Moanin' The Blues" drew me into lap steel in the first place!
...and the intro on "Walkin' After Midnight"

[Mike Neer]

When I started playing, I was really opposed to using C6, mostly because I sounded so bad playing it. After so many years of playing guitar professionally, to sound so bad on lap steel wasn't acceptable for me. So now, years later, after I've had time to really re-think my position and put a lot of time into it, I'm an advocate for C6. You can always have another tuning in your arsenal, but learning C6 gets you closer to understanding how to play steel guitar, especially how it's been played by the greats. There are still a lot of possibilities that haven't been exploited yet....

[Steve Ahola]

Yeah! Those block chords on "Moanin' The Blues" drew me into lap steel in the first place!
...and the intro on "Walkin' After Midnight"

Don Helms rocks! I was just reading how he was the one who inspired more people than anyone else to take up steel guitar. Nowadays we have people like Buddy Emmons who completely blow us away, but our first thought is usually not "I need to get a pedal steel and learn how to play like that". <g> Don Helm's playing was often simple but always extremely effective. The expression "perfection in simplicity" comes to mind.

Steve

[Edward Meisse]

Yeah! Those block chords on "Moanin' The Blues" drew me into lap steel in the first place!
...and the intro on "Walkin' After Midnight"

Don Helms rocks! I was just reading how he was the one who inspired more people than anyone else to take up steel guitar. Nowadays we have people like Buddy Emmons who completely blow us away, but our first thought is usually not "I need to get a pedal steel and learn how to play like that". <g> Don Helm's playing was often simple but always extremely effective. The expression "perfection in simplicity" comes to mind.

Steve

Yeah. I found I could pick out most of Don's stuff the first time I picked up a lap guitar. But it's one thing to copy somebody else's childishly simple licks and quite another to be the originator who puts them into a song to the kind of effect Don created. Effect is what music is about, not musical gymnastics. Don is still the king.

[Ray Montee]

If you're truly serious about playing C6th on a 6-7 string guitar, I encourage you to visit the Jerry Byrd Fan Club site so you can treat yourself to all the fablous sounds Jerry used to get out os his little guitar.

Just two finger picks and a single thumb pick PLUS
by today's standards, a dinky little 8 inch Amp.

Great sounds, never again to be dupliacted!

[Steve Ahola]

If you're truly serious about playing C6th on a 6-7 string guitar, I encourage you to visit the Jerry Byrd Fan Club site...

I will do that! I didn't realize that the bluesy steel guitar on many of Hank's songs was Jerry Byrd. For some reason I thought that he just did that Hawaiian thing... my bad!

Steve

[Edward Meisse]

Jerry shows some really great acoustic chops in an old Marty Robbins TV series that never aired. You can find it on yuoutube.

[Nils Fliegner]

To quote Hank Williams' biographer Colin Escott (about the recording of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", done in Cincinnati):
"...it was well worth driving 300 miles for Jerry Byrd's steel guitar solo." TRUE!