What tuning is that in?

[railthin]

Hi All

I’ve played for years in standard tuning and not really had to think about this before….. can any one give me some advice/tips on this one……

I’ve started with the slide, working through Michaels DVD and want to expand my repertoire beyond walkin blues, rollin and tumbling, can’t be satisfied etc in order to improve my playing.

I’ve never particularly got on with tabs and I think for me to improve both my playing and my “ear” I want to pick up new stuff from recordings…….. but ……..I can only get a foot in the door if I know what the tuning is, once I got that, with a bit of knowledge of I IV V and blues scale I can really make some headway.

What’s the best way to work out the tuning….any tips?

cheers

railthin

[Michael Messer]

Hi Railthin,

It is all a part of learning to play. I guess to identify and work out what tuning a piece is in you have to look for characteristics withing the piece that match licks and harmonies of tunes in tunings that you know. For example; I Can't be Satisfied is a definitive open G tuning blues, so when listening to tunes such as....Come On In My Kitchen, Walking Blues, Crossroads Blues...as examples, you should be able to hear the intervals of notes and as I said, the characteristics, of that particular tuning.

It does take time & training to master all these skills. I remember learning whole pieces in the wrong tuning, and then when found out the right tuning....I was extatic! I still go through it on my journey of discovery through all this music.

Shine On
Michael.

[blueshome]

You are right Michael half the fun is getting it "wrong" and coming out with your own version of a song. As you get more and more into listening and playing blues it gets easier as you begin to relate patterns of sounds to various keys and tunings.

For quick entry into identifying tunings and keys, John Miller has some great lessons you can download. Go to www.weeniecampbell.com and look around.

[railthin]

Thanks for your replies, I guess it's an experience thing. No short cuts. But as you suggest there's fun to be had in the journey

cheers

John

[Deleted]

Experience definitely makes it easier. I would suggest splitting your time equally between the two principal slide tunings, things will eventually become clear when listening to a recording. There are certain things that will give it away (at least as far as bottleneck is concerned, the lap steel guys who play in keys other than the tuning they're in definitely complicate matters). For instance, if the high tonic tone only appears as a fretted one, there's a good chance it isn't a tuning that offers the tonic as an open string, pointing to Spanish tuning. Conversely, if it is obviously an open string, most likely it is in Vestapol.