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Post by Cribbs on Apr 12, 2007 20:58:07 GMT -5
Okay, this is going to sound stupid, but will someone please explain exactly (and simply) what this is? Everything I have learned so far has been standard EADGBE, but one of the new songs I really want to learn specifies a Drop D tuning. Do I just tune the first string E down to a D, and progress each string down a note?
Once that is accomplished, what is the purpose of playing in Drop D? Does it just change the tone of the song a bit? Just looking to learn a little bit about it.
Please advise...my tuner is anxiously anticipating, and I want to try this song tonight.
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Post by t-bob on Apr 12, 2007 20:59:40 GMT -5
tune the fat string down to D
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Post by dradtke on Apr 12, 2007 21:08:39 GMT -5
DADGBE
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Post by Cornflake on Apr 12, 2007 21:15:54 GMT -5
I think El McMeen just wrote a whole book about this.
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Post by Cribbs on Apr 12, 2007 21:20:30 GMT -5
Then take each string down one note, or just tune down the E string?
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Post by Cribbs on Apr 12, 2007 21:21:19 GMT -5
Oh, okay, cross posted there. Sorry.
So....that being said, what's the purpose of this? One string tuned down one note make that big of a difference?
Doing it now...will report back in a few.
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Post by andrewg on Apr 12, 2007 21:22:35 GMT -5
It's a great tuning and a lot of fun playing around with all the different inversions of a D chord just so you can include the fat sounding bottom.
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Post by Cornflake on Apr 12, 2007 21:24:37 GMT -5
What Andrew said. I always thought it was to get that D bass note when playing in D. But McMeen uses it for songs in A, to get that bass note on the 4th.
(If no one has specified, tune down the lowest string only.)
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Post by Cribbs on Apr 12, 2007 21:27:58 GMT -5
I tried it. Sounded like shit. Might be the Indian though, not the arrow. Will tinker more, as I may have been in D#, according to Mr. Sabine D. Tuner
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2007 22:25:29 GMT -5
Cribbs, after you tune down the bass E string to D, check it against the 3rd string (D). They should sound the same only an octave apart. There are a lot of songs that sound cool in the key of D with that big bass but one of my favorites from a long time ago is the Who song on the "Tommy" album, "It's a Boy". Great sounding song with the D bass. Also a lot of Dylan and Neil Young songs are played in Drop D tuning. It's fun. Fool around with it for a while and see how you like it.
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chak
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Post by chak on Apr 12, 2007 22:39:24 GMT -5
I play a bunch of stuff in Drop D. Mostly I stay in the key of D to get that nice low, droning root D in the bass. I've also played some in the key of G. But that's as far as I get, feeling a little stagnant. So, I got El's new book to see how he uses it in the key of A and to steal ideas from the master!
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Post by epaul on Apr 12, 2007 23:13:25 GMT -5
If you like drop D, but want a higher sound for some reason (like singing), you can achieve the same effect by using a Shub-type capo on the top five strings at the second fret and leaving the bass E un-capoed (and open.)
I suppose this is Drop E tuning. Anyway, it is handy and dandy.
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Post by t-bob on Apr 12, 2007 23:55:48 GMT -5
So many good songs written for Drop D. Or sound good transposed to it.
Louise Statesboro Blues Mr. Tambourine Man Fishin' Blues Can't Find My Way Home The Water Is Wide The Snow Leopard and the Tanqueray Cowboy
just to name a few of my favs.
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Post by Doug on Apr 13, 2007 4:12:15 GMT -5
and 3/4 s of the early lightfoot.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2007 5:51:50 GMT -5
Once that is accomplished, what is the purpose of playing in Drop D? Does it just change the tone of the song a bit? Just looking to learn a little bit about it. Until my recent forays into dropped D tuning, I would have asked the same question, and my thanks to other posters who have commented on my new book, and some of the approaches behind it. It is, frankly, still fascinating to me how standard tuning is not as friendly to the sounds I'm trying to achieve on guitar, but the simple adjustment of dropping the low string a step helps the guitar to open up to new possibilities. Some of this is pure arithmetic on intervals, keys and the like--e.g., the only key in standard where the IV chord has the root note on the open bottom string is the key of B, and how many people play in the key of B in standard? This by no means is a condemnation of standard tuning; in fact, the title cut --or another important track--in Pierre Bensusan's recent CD Altiplanos is played in standard tuning, and yet sounds amazingly sinuous and exotic. Let me quickly add that Pierre is no ordinary player either, but has immense physical skills and a tremendously melodic musical soul. I did the book simply to make my music more accessible to guitarists who didn't want to re-tune the guitar in a radical way--and to nylon-string players who were encountering some problems in doing so, due to the physical nature of the strings. As between dropped D and my CGDGAD tuning, I will say, however, that I prefer the CGDGAD tuning. It combines the features of standard--in that it can be played in many different keys in closed positions, with moving chords--and the openness that I have tried to achieve in dropped D tuning. The fingerings are easier than in dropped D; the harmonics seem to be there when I reach for them; and on and on. Nevertheless, dropped D is a great tuning, and far be it from me to diss it My music can translate well to open G tuning, too, as I have been finding...but it didn't make sense to translate arrangements from one alternative tuning to another. Sorry to ramble... El
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Post by Doug on Apr 13, 2007 6:07:53 GMT -5
Drop D tunning for Cribbs. Play a D chord. Stand on a cement porch. Take hands off guitar while D is still ringing. When it hits the floor that's Drop D.
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Post by billhammond on Apr 13, 2007 8:11:37 GMT -5
I love both Drop D and Fake Drop D (the five-string capo approach mentioned above). Among other songs, some well known Drop D tunes include: Embryonic Journey
Louise
Poetry Man (you can hear me play it and Barb sing it here: www.dougyoungguitar.com/billhammond.htm )
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Post by kenlarsson on Apr 13, 2007 8:33:20 GMT -5
I use it alot. Works best for fingerstyle, alternate bass stuff. My duet partner and I do a some stuff with one of us in open D and the other in drop D and that gives us some interesting voicing combinations. We do "Into the Mystic" and "Fishin' Blues" with those tunings and are experimenting with other tunes.
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Post by John B on Apr 13, 2007 8:59:21 GMT -5
1. Drop nose end string to a D, an octave below the third from nose string. 2. Play a D chord, hitting all the strings. 3. Sit back in wonder at the glorious sound. 4. Learn how to play something, because no one else wants to hear you playing that one chord over and over.
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Post by j on Apr 13, 2007 9:39:13 GMT -5
Pretty good Doug, but in order to be a "tuning" system you really ought to drop the guitar on the floor head-first.
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