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Topic: Joaquin Murphy Tunings |
Roger Shackelton
From:
MINNESOTA (deceased)
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Posted 20 May 2011 12:20 pm |
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Here are 3 tunings used by Joaquin. Can someone identify these tunings?
E,C,A,G,E,C,A,F#
E,C,B,G#,F#,D,B,E
E,C#,A,F#,E,C#,A,F# |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 20 May 2011 12:36 pm
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One of the 8 string tunings that he favored, and I say that because when he was working with Spade, he would be experimenting with different tunings on a weekly basis and show up for the gig with whatever was on the guitar at that time, was:
B C# E G A C E G
C6 over A7 with a hi B on the bottom.
When he was playing pedals, he had:
B C# C# E G A C E G
basically the same tuning except for the 2nd C# that was an octave below the other one. |
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Herb Steiner
From:
Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064
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Posted 20 May 2011 2:16 pm
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Roger
On your second example, if I'm not mistaken s.2 is a C#, so the tuning is spelled
E C# B G# F# D B E
which Murph referred to as "C# minor" tuning, and is commonly known as E13th. Remington also called it C# minor, FWIW.
With the Plainsmen on a 32 bar solo, Murph would frequently play the first half on C6 for 16 bars, then the fiddle or accordion would take 8 bars on the bridge, then Murph would follow with the final 8 bars on C# minor. They had a pattern.
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My rig: Infinity and Telonics.
Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? |
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Roger Shackelton
From:
MINNESOTA (deceased)
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Posted 20 May 2011 2:47 pm
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The 3 tunings I listed are from a Tom Bradshaw publication printed in 1971.
Chas, I recall the statement Joaquin made after playing the 9 string pedal guitar you built for him. "I always wanted to sound this good".  |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 20 May 2011 4:02 pm
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Herb is right, that second tuning is wrong. It should be a C#.
There is another tuning that Murph used in the later years of Spade Cooley, a C6 variation:
G E C A G E C# A#
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Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Stephan Miller
From:
Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
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Posted 23 May 2011 7:31 pm
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Mike, that looks like the same intervals as Billy Hew Len's A6 based tuning-- his being 3 half steps lower, and called A13b9 by some. I never knew Joaquin had it too. But they were both jazzers and must have been attracted to that 4-note diminished chord in the bass, among other things.
I stumbled across it when I was still pretty new to 8 strings-- trying to combine Jerry Byrd & Junior Brown by sharping the bottom 2 strings-- and thought maybe I'd invented something!   |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 24 May 2011 3:24 am
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I first heard it on the Billy Hew Len tapes, so I was already familiar with the sound. I recognized it immediately on the Spade Cooley Dance-O-Rama recording.
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Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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