Major Chord Tunings and Minor Chords

[Allan Revich]

An observation. Like most people starting out on lap steel I began with open tunings like D/E and the two flavors of G. Then, like many others, I embarked on Adventures in Tuning so that I could play minor chords and 7ths. I learned a lot and my playing slowly improved.

Recently I’ve gone back to playing in open G, high bass. It’s funny, but now that my theory knowledge is MUCH stronger, and my ability to play the instrument has significantly improved, I’m finding it pretty easy to get all kinds of chords out of this tuning. Probably the easiest is just to “pretend” that I’m tuned in Em7 and let the bass carry the root note. And of course there are several other ways too.

[b0b]

I find that retuning the 2nd and 3rd strings down to A and F# (from B and G) gives me a a lot more positions for melodies. It's not just about the chords.

[Allan Revich]

I find that retuning the 2nd and 3rd strings down to A and F# (from B and G) gives me a a lot more positions for melodies. It's not just about the chords.

Since my original post I’ve added a reentrant e to the open G tuning. One of the advantages to the re-entry tuning is that it fits more easily into melody work.

[Brian Evans]

I tune in EGDGBD as well, but not re-entrant, I call it Em7/G. Which "E" pitch do you use? 4th string second fret, or first string second fret? I play a lot of chord based stuff and I like the root in the bass, so the Em7 tuning works well for me. I have been thinking that if I had a 7th string, I'd add an E to the first string so that I had EGDGBDE, or that I might re-tune to more of a G6 sensibility with GDGBDE.

[Allan Revich]

I tune in EGDGBD as well, but not re-entrant, I call it Em7/G. Which "E" pitch do you use? 4th string second fret, or first string second fret? I play a lot of chord based stuff and I like the root in the bass, so the Em7 tuning works well for me. I have been thinking that if I had a 7th string, I'd add an E to the first string so that I had EGDGBDE, or that I might re-tune to more of a G6 sensibility with GDGBDE.

4th string, 2nd fret.

The root in the bass for Em makes more sense, but I prefer the way that the reentrant e sounds and plays. I think it sounds much better when played as part of a G6, or up a fret for G7, and sounds OK as Em / Em7 too.

[Andy Volk]

I like the E on the bottom as a low E. Greg Booth flat out kills it in this tuning.

[Allan Revich]

I like the E on the bottom as a low E. Greg Booth flat out kills it in this tuning.

Thanks for turning me on to Greg Booth! He’s terrific on the Dobro. I generally prefer the reentrant e, but also like the E on the bottom, depends on what I'm playing.

Greg's tuning is slightly different then mine, EBDGBD, rather than EGDGBD. But he is in a whole 'nother league then I am.

[Jerry Wagner]

I'm down with b0b. But I like G; like playing it open, and like a 13-gage Hi-G string on top. Also like the re-entrant b-flat in the bottom. Great 2-fret playing slots between treble & bass with this "hybrid" tuning. Current Tunings:

b-flat C E G B D G (7-string)
G b-flat C E G B D G (8-string)

[Allan Revich]

I'm down with b0b. But I like G; like playing it open, and like a 13-gage Hi-G string on top. Also like the re-entrant b-flat in the bottom. Great 2-fret playing slots between treble & bass with this "hybrid" tuning. Current Tunings:

b-flat C E G B D G (7-string)
G b-flat C E G B D G (8-string)

Those are very versatile and useful tunings. As a hard-core fan of reentrant 7-string tunings, your 7-string tuning is especially interesting to me.

Extended tunings aren’t the theme of this thread, which is about the chordal possibilities that can be found in simple, major triad, tunings. Examples of this would be the substitution of G major for E minor, or playing a 1-b3 dyad instead of a minor triad.

It would be interesting to learn how other players are exploiting simple tunings to solve complex harmony problems.

[Dan Koncelik]

It would be interesting to learn how other players are exploiting simple tunings to solve complex harmony problems.

Alan— I play on one of the same tunings as you (L-H eGBDGBD) on a 7-string re-entrant resonator. Here are some of the options for minor chords I've explored:
[tab]
D. 1________________|_______________|_________________|___10____________|
B. 2________________|__________5____|_________________|___10*___________|
G. 3________________|_____5____5____|_________________|___9_____________|
D. 4________________|_____5_________|_________________|_______10________|
B. 5______1_________|_______________|________10 ______|_______10*_______|
G. 6_____ 2_________|_______________|________9________|________9________|
e. 7______3_________|_____5____5____|________8________|_________________|[/tab]
Examples 1 and 2 are Am7, the rest are Am.

Examples 1 and 4 utilize bar slants and the re-entrant string (and are very cool voicings to my ear, at least).

Example 5 and 6 are the same but an octave apart. The * indicates a bit of downward pressure with the tip of the bar for better intonation. I got that 'tip' from a youtube video of a Hawaiian master (sorry, don't remember who).

Needless to say but I'll say it anyway: all can be played as chord 'grips' or arpeggios either with a static bar or with a moving bar tip.

A newbie's observation: Even on a relatively limited, open tuning any chord, no matter how 'out' or extended the harmony, can be articulated with the tip of the bar….right?

[Allan Revich]

It would be interesting to learn how other players are exploiting simple tunings to solve complex harmony problems.

Alan— I play on one of the same tunings as you (L-H eGBDGBD) on a 7-string re-entrant resonator.
[……]

A newbie's observation: Even on a relatively limited, open tuning any chord, no matter how 'out' or extended the harmony, can be articulated with the tip of the bar….right?

Thanks Dan! I’m just happy to see that someone else sees how awesome the tuning is!

[Steve Lipsey]

There is a hidden treasure in Dan's split slants, also...his Am chord notes are ACE, which also make Fma7 and C6....the 1, the 3, and the 5 all have chords that come from that position....nothing really fancy, but some useful extensions of every major chord from a "simple" GBDGBD tuning.
...And now slide the Am up 3 frets and you get Am7b5...now we're getting jazzy.
That split slant also appears on strings 3,4,5...at fret 2 that is AEC...or Am
These slants and substitutions were a revelation to me...lots of options for positions and chords...you don't even really need that 7th string....

[Miles Lang]

I seen to have settled on open G, hi bass, with the 4th string raised from D to E. That gives me an open E minor chord on strings 6-2, with the dom7 on top. Also becomes a Cmaj7 (Cmaj9 with the top string) and, of course, G6

[Allan Revich]

I seen to have settled on open G, hi bass, with the 4th string raised from D to E. That gives me an open E minor chord on strings 6-2, with the dom7 on top. Also becomes a Cmaj7 (Cmaj9 with the top string) and, of course, G6

Right. I’ve also settled on G6 tunings, eGBGBD on 6-string, and eGBDGBD on 7-string.

The idea behind this thread when I started it was to look at the various ways to play minor chords while using a strictly major triad tuning. Like the common 135135 and 151351 tunings.

[b0b]

The idea behind this thread when I started it was to look at the various ways to play minor chords while using a strictly major triad tuning. Like the common 135135 and 151351 tunings.

Right. I think of D/G (G B D F# A D) as 135 in G on the low strings and 1351 in D on the high strings. The fact that it includes Bm7 on the middle strings is just a happy coincidence.