Forums

3 String Tabs: House of the Rising Sun

Posted by Paul Alan Tomme on December 9, 2010 at 4:11pm in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts

Does anyone have the tabs for the song House of the Rising Sun? 

 

I'm learning Keni Lee Burgess' tabs for Amazing Grace and just discovered that the Blind Boys of Alabama performed the lyrics of Amazing Grace to the tune of house of the Rising Sun. It really works!  

 

Thanks,

Paul 

You need to be a member of Cigar Box Nation to add comments!

Join Cigar Box Nation

Email me when people reply –
Follow

Replies

  • Rand Moore December 15, 2010 at 12:18pm

    Glad to be of help. Likely you are into the Delta Blues and want to play with a slide, or have a chromatic 3-stringer, in which case, I probably wasn't of much help. There are other folks on CBN that can help you in those areas.

     

    -Rand.

  • Paul Alan Tomme December 15, 2010 at 11:05am

    Wow. This is fantastic.  I'm just starting out and this theory is of immense help.  I appreciate the time you spent here.

    Rand Moore said:

    Hi Paul.

     

    I make and play diatonically fretted instruments modeled after the mountain dulcimer. This class of instruments go by a variety of names, but the one I prefer is 'stick dulcimer'. I get most my tabs from a website named "Digital Tradition Mirror" (http://sniff.numachi.com/). They have the music to House of the Rising Sun. Just click on this link: http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiHOUSESUN;ttHOUSESUN.html

     

    When you get to this page, notice there is a link called 'Dulcimer Tabs'. Click on this link and it will give you a list of possible tunings, some of which don't work. But, with a little experimentation you can probably find some tuning that works. I usually start with DAD or GDG. You can tell if the song doesn't work because the tabs will have some notes marked with 3 Xs vertically oriented as in the following:

    That was House of the Rising Sun tuned to DAD, which doesn't work. I also tried GDG and that tuning works, but the tune is spread over 3 strings. I try to find the tuning that uses the least number of strings, preferably just one string (the melody string or string 1). To do this, I try all the different "1-5-8" tunings (DAD, GDG, AEA, BFB, CGC, EBE, FCF) until I find the one that uses the least number of strings. For this song, it was CGC tuning. Here is that version of the tabs:

     

    This can be played on any 1-5-8 tuned 3-string stick dulcimer using just 2 strings. When reading these mountain dulcimer tabs, remember that the bottom tab line is actually string 1, the middle line is string 2, and the top line is string 3. The mountain dulcimer strings are in reverse order compared to a guitar or stick dulcimer.

     

    Also, I'm thinking, most of these qwerky problems with fining the best 1-5-8 tuning go away when you have a chromatically spaced fretted instrument like a guitar, but you'll have to deal with many more notes. Good luck.

     

    -Rand.

     

  • Rand Moore December 10, 2010 at 11:16pm

    Hi Paul.

     

    I make and play diatonically fretted instruments modeled after the mountain dulcimer. This class of instruments go by a variety of names, but the one I prefer is 'stick dulcimer'. I get most my tabs from a website named "Digital Tradition Mirror" (http://sniff.numachi.com/). They have the music to House of the Rising Sun. Just click on this link: http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiHOUSESUN;ttHOUSESUN.html

     

    When you get to this page, notice there is a link called 'Dulcimer Tabs'. Click on this link and it will give you a list of possible tunings, some of which don't work. But, with a little experimentation you can probably find some tuning that works. I usually start with DAD or GDG. You can tell if the song doesn't work because the tabs will have some notes marked with 3 Xs vertically oriented as in the following:

    That was House of the Rising Sun tuned to DAD, which doesn't work. I also tried GDG and that tuning works, but the tune is spread over 3 strings. I try to find the tuning that uses the least number of strings, preferably just one string (the melody string or string 1). To do this, I try all the different "1-5-8" tunings (DAD, GDG, AEA, BFB, CGC, EBE, FCF) until I find the one that uses the least number of strings. For this song, it was CGC tuning. Here is that version of the tabs:

     

    This can be played on any 1-5-8 tuned 3-string stick dulcimer using just 2 strings. When reading these mountain dulcimer tabs, remember that the bottom tab line is actually string 1, the middle line is string 2, and the top line is string 3. The mountain dulcimer strings are in reverse order compared to a guitar or stick dulcimer.

     

    Also, I'm thinking, most of these qwerky problems with fining the best 1-5-8 tuning go away when you have a chromatically spaced fretted instrument like a guitar, but you'll have to deal with many more notes. Good luck.

     

    -Rand.

     

This reply was deleted.