Blues in D - C6th/A7 for new lap steelers

Andy Volk · From: Boston, MA

For beginning lap steel players, here's an original blues showing some ideas for C6th/A7 tuning. It's really just a blueprint but you can see how powerful that C# on the 6th string is for covering the dominant chords. The alternative blues turn around makes a great exercise for practicing moving in and out of forward & reverse slants. 'Hope this helpful.
-----------------------------------------

BLUES IN D - C6th/A7 Tuning



      


       D                                    D


               -- GLISS--                    -- GLISS--


  E-------------1--2--1--2-------------|-----1--2--1--2----------- |


  C-------2-----------------------2----|--------------------2----  |


  A------------------------------------|-------------------------- |


  G------------1--2--1--2--------------|-------------------------- |


  E-------2-----------------------2----|-----1--2--1--2-----2----- |


 C#------------------------------------|-------------------------- |


      


        D                         D7


         -- GLISS--                    -- GLISS--


  E------1--2--1--2-----------|------------------------------- |


  C-------------------2--1--0 |------------------------------  |


  A---------------------------|--------5--7--8--9-----10------ |


  G------1--2--1--2-----------|------------------------------- |


  E-------------------2--1-0--|------------------------------- |


 C#---------------------------|--------5--6--7--8-----10------ |





      G7                                    G7


                                      GLISS


  E-------------------------------|----------------------------- |


  C-------------------------------|--------------12------------- |


  A-----10-------------10---------|----11-12------12-11-10-------|


  G----------------10-------------|------------------------10--- |


  E-----------10------------------|----------------------------- |


 C#-----10------------------------|----------------------------- |








         D                                D


               -- GLISS--                  --- GLISS---


  E-------------1--2--1--2-------------|------------------------------ |


  C-------2-----------------------2----|------------------------------ |


  A------------------------------------|---2--3--2--3--2-------------- |


  G------------1--2--1--2--------------|---------------------2-------- |


  E-------2-----------------------2----|------------------------2----- |


 C#------------------------------------|---------------------------1-- |








       A7                                  G7


        --GLISS-----PICK                                        


  E------------------------------------|---------------------------- |


  C------------------------------------|---------------------------- |


  A-----9--10--11--12--12--12----12----|-----10--10--10------10----- |


  G---------------------------12-------|-----------------10--------- |


  E------------------------------------|---------------------------- |


 C#-----9--10--11--12--12--12----12----|-----10--10--10------10----- |








          D  __3__                        G7


        |   |     |                                                   


  E-----------------------------------|---------------------------- | |


  C-----2--2--2--2---5--4--3--2--1----|---------------------------  | |


  A-----------------------------------|----10--11--12-------------- | |


  G-----------------------------------|---------------------------- | |


  E-----2--2--2--2---5--4---3--2--1---|---------------------------- | |


 C#-----------------------------------|--- 10--11--12-------------- | |








Alternate turn around for Bars 11 & 12. A blues cliche, this is tricky


'cause you've got to gliss from a forward slant to a straight bar to 


a reverse slant and back in proper tempo. the lick  also works well


played as triplet arpeggios.





       D                                     G7





         GLISS    GLISS    GLISS                  GLISS                             


  E----10-10--10--10---10--10--10---10----|-------4-----5--------------- | |


  C---------------------------------------|----------------------------  | |


  A----9--9---10--10---11--11--10----9----|-------3-----4--------------- | |


  G---------------------------------------|----------------------------- | |


  E---------------------------------------|----------------------------- | |


 C#---------------------------------------|--- ------------------------- | |

[This message was edited by Andy Volk on 15 February 2004 at 08:55 AM.]

[This message was edited by Andy Volk on 15 February 2004 at 08:57 AM.]

Jay Fagerlie · From: Lotus, California, USA

Andy, thanks for this post, I can't wait to work on it....
I have a silly question here....I can see that the G in this tuning makes it an A7, but how does the C# fit into the picture? I am not the greatest at theory, and am probably missing the obvious, but I just don't get it.
What am I missing here?

Thanks,

Jay, alone in the dark and ponderin'.....

OK,OK the light came on...DUH!!! it's the 3 in the key of A....SORRY!
I need more coffee.....

One more thing....the C then makes it A minor 7, right?

One of these days I'll get this all straight....

Jay

Thanks Billy, I was thinkin' 3 but typed 5....

[This message was edited by Jay Fagerlie on 15 February 2004 at 09:29 AM.]

[This message was edited by Jay Fagerlie on 15 February 2004 at 09:56 AM.]

[This message was edited by Jay Fagerlie on 15 February 2004 at 10:16 AM.]

Billy Wilson · From: El Cerrito, California, USA

The notes in an A7th chord are A C# E G

Michael Johnstone · From: Sylmar,Ca. USA

If you put this tuning on an 8 stringer as strings 3 thru 8 and add a high G as string 2 and a B note as string 1,you'll have the Joaquin Murphey tuning and it will take you even further down the blues/jazz road. This is what I have on one neck of my Stringmaster and I couldn't do without it - it doesn't make me play like Joaquin however...
Note: the B note is actually the pitch between the A and C strings but positioned out of the way as the 1st or as Joaquin placed it - as the 8th string.This is done so as not to disrupt the core C6 tuning.
Another variation is to have a D string instead of the G string. Taken to a 10 string,you'd have all three of these extra notes plus a low F at the bottom and then you'd have a real jazz machine. -MJ-

Andy Volk · From: Boston, MA

And we all know what Joaquin did with this tuning, Mike.

Jay, the straight bar C6/A7 open tuning gives you these chords:

Cmaj - ECG- two inversions
C6 - ECGA
Am - ECA - two inversions
Am7 - ECAG
Amaj - C#EA
A7 - C#EGA
Fmaj7 (no root) - ECA
Fmaj9 (no root) - ECAG
D9 (no root) - ECA
C#dim - Edim -Gdim

When you add in the slants you get more inversions of dominant 7ths, dominant 9ths, minor, maj7, dim & augmented chords. A very powerful tuning useful for many (but not all) styles of music.

[This message was edited by Andy Volk on 16 February 2004 at 04:09 AM.]

Jay Fagerlie · From: Lotus, California, USA

Thanks Andy, that is alot of help.

Now it's time to get busy!

Jay

Don McClellan · From: California/Thailand

Thanks Andy, this is good. I'd like to add that one can also get these chords at the open position:
non-root F#m7b5 EAC,
a NR Eb13 C#GC,
an A7#9 C#GAC,
an Em6 C#EG,
a C# minor/maj7 C#EC,
a two note augmented harmony with strings 6 and 3,
and a very cool minor chord using string 6 as the minor third and playing strings 3 and 2 also. Its a Bbmin/maj7add9 or something like that I guess but it works. Don

[This message was edited by Don McClellan on 20 February 2004 at 03:14 PM.]

Jay Fagerlie · From: Lotus, California, USA

Geeze you guys....
now my brain hurts.....

Andy Volk · From: Boston, MA

There are a few additional complex chords that also contain those notes not to mention octaves on the first and fifth string. It's a powerful tuning and tough to beat for a whole lot of musical styles. For Celtic and folk music however, the 6th tone is in the way and a tuning like open D - mostly roots & fifths - works better.

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