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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on May 7, 2015 at 11:50pm

this  is  the  go-to  video    i   post  whenever i see  questions like this  .

 short  ,   simple and funny  . ;-)

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/video/knotlennys-3string-cbg-101

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Permalink Reply by Dane Donato on May 8, 2015 at 12:50am

Thanks for the link. I just watched....great hat he has on. :) I understand the attraction of an open tuning, as you can play chords without knowing how to play chords, in large part. But that limits the instrument severely, I think (but I am not certain about that, not having a lot of experience with open turnings, which is why I started this topic).

At that workshop I did last Friday, I had a few music majors come by and try out a few four sting guitars i had on display tuned to the above E-B-G-D tuning. They were already accomplished guitarists, and immediately were able to play some pretty sophisticated jazz, rock, and pop songs. I told them to pretend that the bottom two strings broke just before they began to play.

I am also thinking that to limit yourself to essentially major and minor bar chords, you limit yourself against a vast array of music you could explore. But....can open tunings let you get there in a different way? A guitarist I admire greatly, Tommy Emmanuel, in a master class at Berklee (my old alma mater, btw) was talking about the concept of finding a way to get the sound you have in your head. That is good advice for any instrument.  

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Permalink Reply by Dane Donato on May 8, 2015 at 1:05am

Also, I was thinking that there is a need to learn a entirely new set of chord fingerings for each open tuning you set your guitar to. Is this so? 

And a secondary thought is with only root, third root / root, third fifth etc of an open tuning, how difficult would it be to find and play sus chords, major and minor seventh and nine chords, chord substitutions, stuff like that? 

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Permalink Reply by turtlehead on May 8, 2015 at 4:05am

I'm mostly a 3 stringer and I like BGD (or from low to high DGB.)  So this is just like your 4 string without the high E, but I approach it as open G - some banjo mixed with Keith Richards' 5 string open G with just a dash of standard.  You should be able to apply your 6 string forms to this (with some new/alternate fingerings) but I think it translates pretty intuitively.  When you get comfortable with that, then it's nothing to add the A string to the low end and tune it to G to get (low to high) GDGB.  Then you have the best of both worlds.  151 tuning on the bottom and 513 on the top end.

You can get sus chords pretty easily and 7ths aren't too bad either.  Beyond that you have to get a little more creative, but I like the challenge of doing more with less.  Limiting? Sure, but that's the whole thing for me. "Can I play this on 3 strings" is something I ask myself all the time and while it doesn't always work, when it does it's a thing of beauty.

I understand the desire to tune standard and just transfer everything over from 6, and plenty of people do it, but it's just not the right sound for me.  The open tunings sound older or more folksy/rootsy or whatever you want to call it and fit the whole CBG thing to a T. 

That said, the other night I was drawing up plans for a 4 string telecaster type build and was thinking I would tune standard to get some of those classic country tele licks.  So in the end, I'd say figure out that sound in your head and listen to Tommy ;)

Here's a great example of the possibilities in 151 tuning by Cpt Nemoff you might have seen recently: (GDG)

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/video/adagio-albinoni-cbg-cover-by-ca...

I was able to get a decent approximation of Classical Gas in 513 (DGB):

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/video/classical-gas-3-string-cbg

Food for thought...

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Permalink Reply by Uncle John on May 8, 2015 at 12:15pm

Listen to the Turtle's stuff to see how good DGB can sound.  I love that tuning. 

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Permalink Reply by Bad Finger (Eric) on May 8, 2015 at 1:27am

This is a very conventional way of thinking.  Open tuning = severely limiting.

I think of standard tuning as a really nice pair of channel lock pliers.  You "can" do about anything with them.  Play in all keys and all types of music.  It is why it is "standard."  Fix the kitchen sink, hold a workpiece, twist a nut off a bolt, use it as a hammer, pry tool, . . . lots of things.

Open tunings are a bit more like a specialized tool that will have features making it good for a particular purpose or purposes.  Like an impact wrench.  You can break a nut off about anything - and fast, but don't try to use it as a hammer.

As a teacher, we are encouraged to start our students with an "I can" statement.  This is often a lot more productive than "With open tuning, I can't . . ."  Focus on exploring the possibilities vs. the limitations.

I use upen G tuning on 3 string and 5 string guitars.  I have a more difficult time with 4 string guitars.  3 = GDg and 5 = GDgbd.  

Keni Lee Burgess has put a lot of work into ADf# (513) tunings that allow a series of movable chord shapes.  I haven't worked with it much myself yet.

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on May 8, 2015 at 2:09am

a wise  man   once  said  .  'whether you  think  you are  limited  ,  or  or  don't think  you're  limited  ,,..

  you are  right  . "  ;-)

 

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Permalink Reply by Uncle John on May 8, 2015 at 2:24am

You are WRONG, Pick. 

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on May 8, 2015 at 2:31am

:-D   ,    right  ,  a dumb  man  said  it   ;-)  lol 

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Permalink Reply by Jim_N on May 8, 2015 at 3:10am

Actually, the quote is attributed to Henry Ford who said, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can't-- you're right.”
Regardless, Pick’s right… a GREAT philosophy.

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Permalink Reply by J.Rob on May 8, 2015 at 1:48am

B G D gives you an open g tuning. If you  play six stringer already this tuning should be not much of a learning curve.

For example on six string A chord is three middle stings second fret. On this tuning same fingering for a chord.

I think this is also banjo tuning as well. Check out Turtlehead Videos on the nation  he has an bum ditty instructional vid on this tuning.

I also got a theory calculator app. Don't let the name scare you.  basically you go thru what chord you want and it shows you the the three root notes for that key.Wala!!!

Great for slide work too.

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Permalink Reply by Dane Donato on May 8, 2015 at 4:29am

Learn the circle of 5ths and you don't need a computer app. :)

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