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4-string epiphany

Posted by Outhouse Instruments on May 7, 2010 at 8:31am in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts
A 4-string guitar can very easily be played on practically any song in chords tuned the same as the bottom 4 strings on a regular 6-string. DGBE
This is the same as a baritone ukulele.

Nice easy 4-string guitar chord chart. Ignore the words baritone and ukulele!

http://www.alligatorboogaloo.com/uke/chords/chords-bari.html


Matt

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Replies

  • Ben May 11, 2010 at 3:53pm
    @ Crow
    I'm glad I didn't come off too bad. I agree with you for the 6-stringers. The exception for me is if you've built that neck yourself. Then you get respect on your building skills. But then for me its more about the DIY aspect of it...the actual Cigar Box doesn't mean that much to me in the grand scheme of things.

    Crow said:
    @ben

    i have to agree. i have a bunch of similar guitars tuned and strung in numerous different ways, and they all sound different and lend inspiration in completely different directions every time i pick one up.

    i kind of feel the same way about guys that build "cigar box guitars" but all they've really done is built a normal guitar with a cigar box for a body. it's played just the same way as all other guitars.. no creativity or change in sound.

    but we all do what makes us happiest, and that's all that matters.

    Ben said:
    Hmmm...that's kinda lame. One of the things that makes different types (not styles) of instruments so interesting is the different voicings you get from the different tunings. An instrument tuned in 5ths sounds different from an instrument tuned in 4ths. Just ask a mandolin player if 1st position chords and "chop" chords sound different. Don't get me wrong, I can definitely get the whole "I don't own an erhu or tanpura but listen to this instead..." thing. There are some instruments that really fill a niche that nothing else can because of the way they are tuned. For example, my ear finds that a tenor guitar or banjo that is tuned in the traditional American CGDA fills out a mix in a different way than a "chicago" tuned tenor (DGBE). Likewise, its kinda hard to replace a serious baritone guitar part with anything that will be acceptable.
    (While looking back over this, I'm hoping that I'm not coming off as too negative or anything. It was something that obviously worked well for him and the people employing him. Speaking for myself, different tunings definitely lend themselves to different styles and I'm inspired to play differently depending on how I'm tuned. This is just my $0.03...adjusted for inflation.)

    Mark Werner said:
    The studio guitar ace, Tommy Tedesco, used to have a monthly column in Guitar Player. He played nearly anything with strings, as you'd get paid more for "doubling". Kept ALL his instruments in standard guitar tuning. Bouzouki, mandolin, banjo...didn't matter.
    Also used a banjo to mimic all sorts of "exotic" instruments like Japanese and Chinese items.
  • Crow May 11, 2010 at 3:16pm
    @ben

    i have to agree. i have a bunch of similar guitars tuned and strung in numerous different ways, and they all sound different and lend inspiration in completely different directions every time i pick one up.

    i kind of feel the same way about guys that build "cigar box guitars" but all they've really done is built a normal guitar with a cigar box for a body. it's played just the same way as all other guitars.. no creativity or change in sound.

    but we all do what makes us happiest, and that's all that matters.

    Ben said:
    Hmmm...that's kinda lame. One of the things that makes different types (not styles) of instruments so interesting is the different voicings you get from the different tunings. An instrument tuned in 5ths sounds different from an instrument tuned in 4ths. Just ask a mandolin player if 1st position chords and "chop" chords sound different. Don't get me wrong, I can definitely get the whole "I don't own an erhu or tanpura but listen to this instead..." thing. There are some instruments that really fill a niche that nothing else can because of the way they are tuned. For example, my ear finds that a tenor guitar or banjo that is tuned in the traditional American CGDA fills out a mix in a different way than a "chicago" tuned tenor (DGBE). Likewise, its kinda hard to replace a serious baritone guitar part with anything that will be acceptable.
    (While looking back over this, I'm hoping that I'm not coming off as too negative or anything. It was something that obviously worked well for him and the people employing him. Speaking for myself, different tunings definitely lend themselves to different styles and I'm inspired to play differently depending on how I'm tuned. This is just my $0.03...adjusted for inflation.)

    Mark Werner said:
    The studio guitar ace, Tommy Tedesco, used to have a monthly column in Guitar Player. He played nearly anything with strings, as you'd get paid more for "doubling". Kept ALL his instruments in standard guitar tuning. Bouzouki, mandolin, banjo...didn't matter.
    Also used a banjo to mimic all sorts of "exotic" instruments like Japanese and Chinese items.
  • Ben May 11, 2010 at 2:59pm
    Hmmm...that's kinda lame. One of the things that makes different types (not styles) of instruments so interesting is the different voicings you get from the different tunings. An instrument tuned in 5ths sounds different from an instrument tuned in 4ths. Just ask a mandolin player if 1st position chords and "chop" chords sound different. Don't get me wrong, I can definitely get the whole "I don't own an erhu or tanpura but listen to this instead..." thing. There are some instruments that really fill a niche that nothing else can because of the way they are tuned. For example, my ear finds that a tenor guitar or banjo that is tuned in the traditional American CGDA fills out a mix in a different way than a "chicago" tuned tenor (DGBE). Likewise, its kinda hard to replace a serious baritone guitar part with anything that will be acceptable.
    (While looking back over this, I'm hoping that I'm not coming off as too negative or anything. It was something that obviously worked well for him and the people employing him. Speaking for myself, different tunings definitely lend themselves to different styles and I'm inspired to play differently depending on how I'm tuned. This is just my $0.03...adjusted for inflation.)

    Mark Werner said:
    The studio guitar ace, Tommy Tedesco, used to have a monthly column in Guitar Player. He played nearly anything with strings, as you'd get paid more for "doubling". Kept ALL his instruments in standard guitar tuning. Bouzouki, mandolin, banjo...didn't matter.
    Also used a banjo to mimic all sorts of "exotic" instruments like Japanese and Chinese items.
  • Mark Werner May 11, 2010 at 12:22pm
    The studio guitar ace, Tommy Tedesco, used to have a monthly column in Guitar Player. He played nearly anything with strings, as you'd get paid more for "doubling". Kept ALL his instruments in standard guitar tuning. Bouzouki, mandolin, banjo...didn't matter.
    Also used a banjo to mimic all sorts of "exotic" instruments like Japanese and Chinese items.
  • Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates May 11, 2010 at 8:28am
    I've played Spanish/Middle Eastern tunes, Irish tunes, Appalachian tunes... even Hendrix. Truly anything goes.

    Spanish or M/E tunes sound REALLY nice.

    Shane just covered some Led Zep in a video (Audio?)

    -WY

    Ben said:
    Not at all. CBG does not equal Blues. Just ask the people in the bluegrass or tenor guitar groups. I'm a little curious though...on the west side of the Atlantic, tenor banjos and tenor guitars are traditionally tuned CGDA like a viola. It there something different going on over there on the east side?

    bev miller said:
    I've a 4 string. I call it a tenor guitar and it's tuned GDAE same as a mandolin/ fiddle/ tenor banjo, and I play kind of folky stuff on it, not blues. (Is that sacrilage I wonder ? !....)
  • Ben May 10, 2010 at 11:17am
    Not at all. CBG does not equal Blues. Just ask the people in the bluegrass or tenor guitar groups. I'm a little curious though...on the west side of the Atlantic, tenor banjos and tenor guitars are traditionally tuned CGDA like a viola. It there something different going on over there on the east side?

    bev miller said:
    I've a 4 string. I call it a tenor guitar and it's tuned GDAE same as a mandolin/ fiddle/ tenor banjo, and I play kind of folky stuff on it, not blues. (Is that sacrilage I wonder ? !....)
  • Keni Lee Burgess May 7, 2010 at 11:11am
    Yes, and if you tune that high e down to d, you are in Open G tuning; a classic standard for Delta Blues bottleneck playing. Also, Banjo tuning minus the high drone 5th string. Enjoy unlocking the mysteries.
  • Crow May 7, 2010 at 10:57am
    yup. i did this for my first cardboard guitar, it was a kit from musicmakers. i learned a lot from building that guitar!!!

    and i had the same epiphany from it, by using the four high strings of a guitar, i could still play all the songs i could before - AND MORE. with the reduced number of strings, barre chords became easier, so playing songs in different keys and progressions actually became easier.

    problem was, it was too "tenor" in sound for me. it was great for strumming and singing, but in actual performance, i'm usually a one-man show, so my arrangement needed a bit more bass.

    i still keep an old acoustic guitar laying around that is strung up this way, it's great to go back to a regular guitar every so often and fool around, without having to deal with all six strings LOL

    good job! it's always an adventure when playing with different strings and tunings. the DGBe revelation was what changed my WHOLE perspective on strings an tuning.. that started my whole journey, which went from 6 strings to 4 (standard tuned) to 2 strings, Ae (1,5 open A power chord, i discovered the joy of an open tuning!), 1 string, and finally back up to 3 strings, AEa, where i could use what i learned from my two string but still get more volume and tone.

    keep it up, and good luck on your journey. discoveries are great things arent they!!?? :D
  • Outhouse Instruments May 7, 2010 at 8:32am
    BTW - It's nothing more than the bottom 4 strings of a guitar chord.


    Matt
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