| Author |
Topic: My T-8 Challenge With Leavitt Tuning |
Carl Mesrobian
From:
Salem, Massachusetts, USA
|
Posted 21 Jul 2012 7:04 am |
|
My T-8 is strung up with the following:
Front - Don Helms E6
Middle - C6/A7
Back - Leavitt
As a challenge to myself I'm learning Don Helms "Walking After Midnight" intro on all three necks. I'm thinking of the Leavitt tuning as sort of an Eb6 with a C7b9, with other goodies thrown in 
_________________
--carl
"The better it gets, the fewer of us know it." Ray Brown |
|
|
|
Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
|
Posted 21 Jul 2012 9:03 am
|
|
I think of Leavitt (6 string) as C9 over b9. C7 on the middle 4 strings, C9 of the top 5 strings. Whatever you call it, it's not a "strum friendly" tuning like the 6th tunings. The player has to pick very selectively and skip certain strings to avoid a train wreck. It is a good tuning for jazz tunes though, lots of altered chords, partial chords available without slants. I know you like jazz, Carl, so you'll probably like the Leavitt tuning.
Another tuning to consider is Jerry Byrd's C diatonic tuning. I've been tinkering with that lately and there are a lot of cool patterns and sounds available, especially patterns featuring 1/2 steps over sustained chords (on the same fret). It's all good. 
_________________
My Site / My YouTube Channel
25 Songs C6 Lap Steel / 25 MORE Songs C6 Lap Steel / 16 Songs, C6, A6, B11 / 60 Popular Melodies E9 Pedal Steel |
|
|
|
Carl Mesrobian
From:
Salem, Massachusetts, USA
|
Posted 21 Jul 2012 9:13 am Edited
|
|
Doug, you're absolutely right about Leavitt - certainly not strum friendly, but lots of stuff there. Another potential tuning train wreck is string 7 (C#) on the C6/A7 
EDIT: My Leavitt from high to low is:
G Eb D C Bb G E C#
I got the tuning on an old post by Bill Hatcher:
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=1078252&sid=fcb18aecb76dca36efa39c00cb4b4155
_________________
--carl
"The better it gets, the fewer of us know it." Ray Brown
Last edited by Carl Mesrobian on 21 Jul 2012 10:19 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
|
|
Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
|
|
|
|
