Randy,
Analyzing a tuning like E9/B6 is a tall order, especially if you don't have a good method. I'll suggest one:
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use only the open (no bar) position and analyze every possible note to be used as the root of any chord you can build from it
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1. Write down every open string note and every note in open positions that pedals or levers can provide. Depending on your setup, you may end up with the chromatic scale -- so you'll be analyzing all 12 note names.
2. Use each note as the root of a chord and anchor your thinking based on what string(s) the root is found on.
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realize that a chord's personality is shaped by the third, fifth, seventh, and also the 'even' scale tones -- 2nd/9th, 4th/11th, 6th/13th -- so analyze in that order. In the example I'll use we'll go beyond the usual analysis of chords based on the open E, A and B positions -- we'll start looking for chords in the key of F# and see what we find.
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3. Look for a third -- is it major or minor? e.g., you are looking for F# as root -- you may use the one on string 7 -- A is the minor third and A# is the major third. Your B pedal will give you the minor third and the B6 pedal that raises 5 and 6 a whole tone gives you the major third.
4. Same for the fifth -- look for natural, augmented, and diminished fifths. In the example, C# is the natural fifth (D the aug and C the dim). The pedal referred to in #3 gives both the major/natural 3rd and perfect/natural 5th, so that pedal gives you a major triad on strings 7,6,5.
5. How 'bout the seventh? DON'T STOP THERE -- keep building until you run out of bricks. The 4th string is E -- that's the b7 in F#, so now we can build an F# major chord and an F#7 (on 7,6,5,4). If you need a major 7th, you have to raise the E to F. That's a new chord. On strings 7,6,5,4 with P7 (or wherever you have that pedal change) AND THE F LEVER. This is not a position you will find in any Jeff Newman book. You may not even find it useful, but the analysis found a full MAJOR, DOM7, and MAJ7 chord, so far -- just from this one B6 pedal.
6. Other tones??? Add the third string, and it's F#9, since G# is the 2nd/9th tone of the scale.
NOTE: I'll bet you just found a set of chords you don't use.
Out of the open E position (root on 11,8,4) you can get a II7 family chord -- you can play the three note major triad, four note dom7, or five note dom9. There's also another root tone on the first string.
That's the kind of stuff you'll find with this methodology.
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write down all positions, organized by root tone, as you go.
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To summarize: Take every scale tone you can get open. Then start building chords that are as full and diverse as you can, based on that root. This will give you a set of pedals/levers/strings without the bar. Write down ones that work, organized by root tone. Once you're done, you may find it helpful to group chords by type rather than root -- e.g., where are all the minor chords. REMEMBER that if you start with 3 note chords (Major triad: 135 Minor triad 13b5 Dim triad 13b5b Aug triad: 135#), you can build other chords by adding 7ths (major or dominant/minor), 9ths, 11ths, 13ths, and by altering those notes as well (like 7b9 for example). You will end up with families of chords based on those triads and can think about similarities and differences that way.
Some chords, particularly those that include 5 or more notes, are often voiced for three notes by leaving out notes the band will play (the tonic may be played by the bass and the 5th by the guitar, for example). So you can play some more complex chords without having all notes.
There are a million variations, but this gives you a good basis to analyze the chords found in a tuning. Hope this helps.
I think of the E9/B6 tuning as a single set of possibilities and combinations. I have never played 10-string E9 or C6, so I don't suffer from the bias of thinking about those tunings as separate entities. They do very different things, so I find there's a lot that's complementary. I can get a diminished chord the B6 way (Eb lever, plus pedals 5 and 6) or the E9 way (F lever, etc.) -- I also realized early on that THEY'RE THE SAME. There are many equivalences -- like the B pedal and the C6 lever that raises A to Bb -- that are there for the universal player to use.
Another equivalence I use a lot is to go back and forth between the 6th chord position you get with your Eb lever and the one 2 frets up with the A+B pedals. If you think of A+B as E9 (I don't but some do) and the Eb lever as B6, this can serve as kind of a 'gateway' from E9 to B6.
I could write another 10 pages or more on this topic. EMail me if you want to discuss further.
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Larry Bell - email:
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2000 Fessenden S-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Larry Bell on 15 August 2002 at 08:01 AM.]</p></FONT>
