The Steel Guitar Forum

10-string non-pedal steel E13 tuning (high to low) G#, F#, E, C#, B, G#, F#, E, D, B

1940s Epiphone (Alkire Eharp, the first version). I hope you like it, Thanks for looking!


CLICK ---> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11GvfD93l44

Nice one Doug, once again.

Beautiful tone, great "playing".

I'm sending this one to my friends and family on the Islands.

And sharing it on my FB page.

Thanks guys, I'm glad you like it. I first heard this tune on Sneaky Pete Kleinow's 1979 album, and it instantly became one of my favorites!
I've been told that there is another section of the song, and that's a surprise to me. I learned it from sheet music and there was no other section included, but after listening to several versions on youtube, yes, some of them include an additional short section... but many don't. Thanks again

Beautiful tone there Doug and I love the harmonics, you make it look too easy Bro.

This song goes back to the early 30's. I remember it when Harry James had a hit record in 1942. I really enjoyed Doug's version. IMHO this should be a Steel Guitar Standard !

Thanks Andy, Billy, and others. Billy, I agree that this song should be a steel guitar standard. It's a dreamy melody and it really captures the spirit of 'a sleepy lagoon' IMO. The lyrics are pretty dreamy too.

The melody lays out very nicely on this 10-string tuning. The first 16 notes of the melody are all on the same fret. When they all sustain together it sounds really smooth. And the II9 chord is a nice change. I used a Boss delay to draw out the notes a little longer and broaden the sound. Thanks again for the kind replies.

Amazing! I love your tuning- I think it is a lot more musical than the 10 string Leavitt tuning and jazzier than the 10 string Billy Robinson tuning (gotta have those 7ths, 9ths and 13ths!)

One suggestion that you might want to try: switch the top two strings so that the F# is on top. Besides facilitating banjo rolls (like the top 3 strings with Buddy Emmons' C6th PSG tuning) you get to use the same slants from the 8 string E13th and C6th tunings (the ones with the 3rd on top):

F#
G#
E
C#
B
G#
F#
E
D
B

Steve Ahola

Thanks Steve, I tried switching the top two strings a few months ago when you first mentioned it, but I couldn't get used to it. Maybe I'll try it again. You know what they say about old dogs and new tricks!

Doug Beaumier wrote:Thanks Steve, I tried switching the top two strings a few months ago when you first mentioned it, but I couldn't get used to it. Maybe I'll try it again. You know what they say about old dogs and new tricks!

I forgot I already suggested that to you. My bad! I think that you have been playing long enough that you don't need little tricks like that- I'm sure that you can do banjo rolls just fine with the strings in chromatic order...

Steve

I'm surprised none of you caught the miming... watch at 2:46-8... what you're watching is not what you're hearing.

Sorry Stephen, but it's live playing, with a couple of edited spots in the audio, punching in to correct an occasional bad note. Hence an occasional mismatch in the video, but 99% of it is live. Yes, it's me playing...

Doug Beaumier wrote:Sorry Stephen, but it's live playing, with a couple of edited spots in the audio, punching in to correct an occasional bad note. Hence an occasional mismatch in the video, but 99% of it is live. Yes, it's me playing...

M'kay.... just sayin'... I can tell the difference.

You have a keen eye! I seldom play an entire song without making a mistake or two, and it's very easy to punch in a correction nowadays... in the audio anyway, but not in the video.

A really great performance Doug!

Not only was your playing smooth and wonderful to listen to, the tune on that tuning was a perfect match.

THANX once again....for sharing.

Thanks Ray! Like I said earlier, this song "lays out" perfectly on this tuning. The first part of the melody is all across one fret... the same fret. So the notes melt together nicely. When I first tried this 10 string E13 tuning I strummed across the strings... and immediately heard "Sleepy Lagoon". I like it when that happens. It's not the perfect tuning for every song, but it sure works for this one. BTW, notice that the bottom 6 strings are the same as E9 pedal steel guitar, which is familiar territory for a lot of players.

That was very nice, Doug. Particularly liked the second part [1:16 to 2:32]. Enjoyed that!

Yes, regarding the audio-video mismatch, that happens when the recording system, or more likely the software in the video compression, gives up syncing the audio with its current video frame. Personally I prefer "seeing" with my ears.

Much aloha,

Kay

Thanks Kay, I appreciate it. I'm pretty happy with the video, except for that short "freeze" at the end. That happened in one of my other videos too (Blue Skies), and I don't know why. I record them on an iMac, and for some unknown reason every once in a while a video will stop dead for about 1/2 second (on the playback), although the audio keeps playing... and the video quickly resumes. It's extremely frustrating when you record three or four takes of a song, and the best performance has a freeze in the video! That's what happened in this one, but I decided to keep it anyway. Thanks again!