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Topic: Been experimenting. Anyone ever try this tuning? |
James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 14 Feb 2008 9:53 am |
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From bass to treble: F# C# E G# B E
I've been using open E tuning with my bender system which allows me to raise the B to a C# and the G# to an A. This only left me with one inversion of a minor triad, so tuned the bass B up to C# so I get a minor triad on the 3rd, 4th and 5th strings. I tuned the bass E up to F# so I could still play a 5th "power chord". |
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Michael Papenburg
From:
Oakland, CA
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Posted 15 Feb 2008 9:05 am
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| Very interesting. I haven't tried that tuning but I have tried one where the lowest string is an "A". Greg Leisz called this his "E over A" tuning. I found it to be very useful for some things. You might try it out sometime. |
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Stephan Miller
From:
Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
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Posted 18 Feb 2008 2:51 pm
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I can see how you'd get an expansion of your bender-created C#m chord, plus an A major triad with the 3rd string bender, plus a cool dominant 7th/dominant 9th (minus the 3rd) in the lower strings. A nice move which I bet you found pretty fast is to play strings 6-5-4-3 then change the chord to a nice minor 7th with your 3rd string bender...try it with natural harmonics on the 7th or 12th fret...sweet stuff.
The great Hawaiian player Dick McIntyre played something similar-- (lo-hi)F#-A#-E-G#-C#-E). Are you considering this as your primary tuning? I guess time will tell how versatile it is.
About your 2nd string bender-- I know it gives you a full-step raise, but is there any way do sorta stop halfway and get a half-step change out of it? Either something sustained, or even a quick trill?
--Steve |
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James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 18 Feb 2008 4:57 pm
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| Quote: |
| A nice move which I bet you found pretty fast is to play strings 6-5-4-3 then change the chord to a nice minor 7th with your 3rd string bender |
I just figured that out last night. Sounds great. Eerie.
| Quote: |
| Are you considering this as your primary tuning? I guess time will tell how versatile it is. |
Well, I have a D6. One neck is in C6 and one is in this E-? tuning that we are discussing. I've been using open E for a while but I don't play blues and I'm really bored with the sound of 5 "power" chords. So, the E-B-E strings were being neglected.
| Quote: |
| About your 2nd string bender-- I know it gives you a full-step raise, but is there any way do sorta stop halfway and get a half-step change out of it? Either something sustained, or even a quick trill? |
Yep, I can do that. It's just a matter of bending just far enough and not too far or too short. It works just like a pedal on a PSG. Why? |
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Stephan Miller
From:
Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
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Posted 18 Feb 2008 6:41 pm
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Why? Just curious...I've never used palm pedals or played a PSG. It seems like if the half-step change is a viable way to use a full-step bender, you could do stuff like (with your 3rd string bender already in use) toggle between Asus2 -> Am -> A maj on strings 1,2 and 3. Or, without the 3rd string bender in play, use strings 2-5 and the 2nd string bender to go from C#m -> C#mmaj7 -> C#m7. Anyway, to be able to go up or down gradually by half-steps while holding the rest of the chord stable is cool & useful.
I think of this as a "compound tuning", which can be a good way to get more variety out of 6 strings. The Greg Liesz tuning that Michael suggested is another one. I considered that one for a while, but my focus changed to 8 strings before I got going on it. If you're really tired of the 5 power chord, you could put "A" in place of your F#, give it a whirl. Greg said he used it instead of open E for a while, it tightened up the tuning for more ease in playing melody, as well giving some chordal alternatives. |
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