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Topic: e7 tuning on a six string |
John Burton
From:
Manassas, Va
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Posted 26 May 2009 6:00 am |
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I spent some time fooling with the old Mel Bay lap steel book this past weekend which uses e7 tuning (B-D-E-G#-B-E) low to high.
It seems like it could be a very useful tuning for a lot of stuff, though I get the feeling it's not used much these days. Is anyone here using it a lot? Where could I find some more tab or other instruction or examples using this tuning?
Any recommendations? thanks! |
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Ron Victoria
From:
New Jersey, USA
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Posted 26 May 2009 6:19 am
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I use the open E and bring the 4th E string down to D. This will give you open E7th, great for blues.
ron |
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Chuck Fisher
From:
Santa Cruz, California, USA * R.I.P.
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Posted 27 May 2009 12:33 pm
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| me too, Ron |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 27 May 2009 5:23 pm
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| As Ron said, E7 tuning is great for blues. It used to be pretty well the standard for blues. I imagine it still is. |
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John Bechtel
From:
Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.
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Posted 27 May 2009 5:33 pm
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John; The way you have it looks fine to me. I'd want it exactly like that! B~D~E~G#~B~E. You can also use the C#m7 variation: B~D~E~G#~C#~E
_________________
<marquee> Go~Daddy~Go, (No), Go, It's your Break Time</marquee> L8R, jb
My T-10 Remington Steelmaster |
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Matt Berg
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 27 May 2009 5:43 pm I like this setup for E7
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low to high:
B E G# B E D
Most of the cooler forms of barred 7th's on the fretted guitar have a trebley 7th, not buried in the middle as the common lap setups. I use the same gauge for the top 2 strings, and I find it easier to have the 7th on the very top so I don't hit it by accident when I just want a triad sound. Make sense?
I wanted to have a treble string on the bottom (a la Freddie Roulette), but didn't want to replace or destroy the nut. Also, my experiment with a G bass string for doubled octave E's on the bottom would've required a nut recut, because the extra height of the thick string was causing bar rattle on the 5th string. So I settled on a 5th in the bass. |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 27 May 2009 6:27 pm
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That (B D E G# B E) and C6th (C E G A C E) are my two preferred 6-string tunings.
For what it's worth...
_________________
-πππ- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video |
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John Burton
From:
Manassas, Va
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Posted 28 May 2009 5:35 am
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Good suggestions all.
But the e7 (B D E G# B E) I've been messing with is right from The "Mel Bay Complete Steel Guitar Method" by Roger Filiberto first published in 1968.
I've been trying to follow along with the book page by page.
The book and tuning are presented as instruction to note reading and melody chord style playing.
I already read standard notation a little (tab has spoiled me over the years!!) and have some piano fake books and such.
Normally I use c6 and e6, and on my lap style resonator I use open D for blues and such.
This tuning (and instruction) just seems like a really good way to apply steel to standard notation and get a bunch of standards from piano fake books.
I'm just wondering if anyone here has went through the Roger Filiberto book or knows of similar material.
fwiw: The book is available right here from the forum.
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Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 28 May 2009 7:04 am
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That's the only book using that tuning that I know of (and, btw, it's the first instructional book I ever purchased back in the 1970s). That's not a commonly used tuning; I'm not sure why Mr. Filiberto used that for this book.
The concepts taught in the book apply equally well to other tunings if you ignore the tablature and focus on the standard notation.
_________________
Bradβs Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 28 May 2009 7:15 am
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Knowing how to read on those 6 strings would also be very helpful on the E9th pedal steel. It's a good book for that, in my opinion. It's like the old piano and guitar method books I went through as a kid.
_________________
-πππ- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video |
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Steve Ahola
From:
Concord, California
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Posted 5 Feb 2010 4:45 am
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| John Bechtel wrote: |
| John; The way you have it looks fine to me. I'd want it exactly like that! B~D~E~G#~B~E. You can also use the C#m7 variation: B~D~E~G#~C#~E |
With the C#m7 variation the 5th string D would be the flatted 9th (or 2nd). Is there any problem working that in or do you just avoid the 5th when playing the C#m7 chord? Kinda like raising the bottom C to C# so that you can have dominant 7th chords with C6 tuning (you use the bottom 4 strings for A7 and the top 5 strings for C6). I think it was Doug who recommended that on his tutorial page- its very slick and easy to use!
Thanks!
Steve Ahola |
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Laurence Pangaro
From:
Brooklyn, NY
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Posted 5 Feb 2010 5:42 am
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The Filiberto book is great, isn't it? Unfortunately it's over right when it starts to get good! I've been exploring E7 myself lately, and like you quickly discovered that there's not much material out there. It must have been a common tuning some years ago because in addition to this book much of the old Oahu and Mastertone instruction is in E7. You can often find huge piles of this stuff on eBay, but it's not always very interesting. Let me know if you find anything else!
By the way, if you haven't already seen it, the chord finder on John Ely's website includes this tuning and is extremely useful for finding all kinds of tasty voicings.
ciao,
LP |
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John Burton
From:
Manassas, Va
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Posted 5 Feb 2010 6:21 am
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| Laurence Pangaro wrote: |
....in addition to this book much of the old Oahu and Mastertone instruction is in E7. You can often find huge piles of this stuff on eBay, but it's not always very interesting. Let me know if you find anything else!
ciao,
LP |
Yeah, I have found some Oahu things on Ebay that used this tuning as well as some old sheet music at a used book store. Other then that not a lot of stuff out there. I was using keyboard "fake books" and big note songbook kind of stuff with it to play melodies and as a starting point for more harmonized arrangements a little.
I've since kind of given up on that tuning and just stuck more with C6 and E9 (pedal steel). |
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Laurence Pangaro
From:
Brooklyn, NY
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Posted 5 Feb 2010 7:18 am
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Wow! I didn't notice how olde the original post here was. I was just excited to see some E7 talk.
LP |
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Jerry Hayes
From:
Virginia Beach, Va.
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Posted 5 Feb 2010 8:20 am
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Hey John, I have one of my lapsteels in that E7th tuning (BDEG#BE) with a unique twist. I have Keith/Scruggs banjo tuners on strings 1 and 3. I lower the 1st string to D and the 3rd string to G and then it becomes a G6th tuning (BDEGBD) which I find myself using a little more than the E7th. I like the E7 for the more rock or blues edged things. Also, I can do some things in the E tuning with the 1st string lowered to D for a high dom7 and keeping the E triad on strings 2, 3 & 4. You can get a set of the Keith type tuning pegs from Stewart/McDonald for about eighty bucks or so. What's nice doing it this way is that you can have two different tunings in about two seconds and only on one neck!...JH in Va.
_________________
Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!! |
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Ryan Barwin
From:
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 6 Feb 2010 7:48 am
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That E7th is my main lap steel tuning, and I often tune the D down to C# for an E6th. It relates well to E9th pedal steel, and it's really good for blues and rock, as well as country and swing kind of stuff.
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www.pedalsteel.ca |
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Roman Sonnleitner
From:
Vienna, Austria
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Posted 6 Feb 2010 1:35 pm
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| I use E6th (C# instead of D) on my Duesenberg Multibender-equipped 6-string, and have one of the 3 bender levers set upt to bend that 6th/C# up to the 7th/D. |
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Matt Berg
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 9 Feb 2010 10:38 am
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Anyone give this one a try?
low to high:
B E G# B E D
The D is a whole step below the E. I find it useful, especially if one wants to go nuts at the end of the night and rock out with a flat pick. Easier to include/exclude the 7th if it's at the very top. Kind of inspired by Freddie Roulette putting a middle octave 7th at the other end on his 8 string. |
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Bob Russell
From:
Virginia, USA
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Posted 8 Aug 2011 9:34 am Old thread, but what the heck...
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| I stumbled across E7 (low to high, B D E G# B E) a couple of weeks ago whilst playing around with my six-string. I freakin' love this tuning for old country stuff or bluesy stuff. If you're willing to chase after some bar slants, there are a lot of faux-pedal licks to be had. Big fun. |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 8 Aug 2011 9:43 am
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Bob, tune that 4th string E up to F# and it becomes even cooler--an E9! I do a lot of stuff with that tuning.
_________________
Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Bob Russell
From:
Virginia, USA
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Posted 8 Aug 2011 11:44 am
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| Mike Neer wrote: |
| Bob, tune that 4th string E up to F# and it becomes even cooler--an E9! I do a lot of stuff with that tuning. |
Yeah, I plan to check that out on an 8-string neck very soon. I saw a couple of your posts about that; makes a lot of sense. BTW, thanks for all the helpful stuff you share on the SGF! |
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Guy Cundell
From:
More idle ramblings from South Australia
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S.M. Johnson
From:
Oregon, USA
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Posted 8 Aug 2011 1:22 pm Just a tho't about instructional materials..................
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Doesn't JERRY BYRDs' BIG INSTRUCTIONAL BOOK for SERIOUS MINDED STUDENTS.........
focus considerable attention on the 'E tunings'?
Scotty in St.Louis sells them. Everything a player should want, I understand. |
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Frank James Pracher
From:
Michigan, USA
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Posted 8 Aug 2011 6:59 pm
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Greg Cutshaw's website has some E7 tab on it. It's for 8 string, but most of it works out fine with 6.
(He also has some great C6th tabs too!)
_________________
"Don't be mad honey, but I bought another one" |
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Bill A. Moore
From:
Silver City, New Mexico, USA
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Posted 9 Aug 2011 6:42 am
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| I recently discovered this tuning from a guy on e-bay. I bought his DVD where he does some cool pulls with his finger behind the bar, sounds a little like pedal steel! |
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