An alternate tunings guide created by Tom Loredo. Thanks Tom! *************** Version Current as of 1 April 1995 ***************** Alternate Tuning Guide for New Folk Music This list gives alternate tunings used by contemporary singer/songwriters discussed on the folk_music@nysernet.org mailing list. The songs covered here are all vocal songs with acoustic guitar accompaniment, the few exceptions being guitar instrumentals that appear on recordings that are predominantly vocal recordings. For information on tunings, chords and tablature for acoustic guitar instrumental music or music by artists not covered here, check the online resources listed at the end of this file. There you will also find a few references to printed information on alternate tunings. The alternate tunings listed here are arranged alphabetically by artist; and under each artist chronologically by album and then by song title. Entries for unrecorded songs (i.e. live performances of original material or covers) also appear. Since many of the artists covered here so often use alternate tunings, this list sometimes also lists songs that use standard tuning, especially if a capo is used. All tunings are listed low (6th string) to high (1st string). Capo settings, where appropriate, appear in parentheses after the tuning. Some tunings listed here are from "official" sources; others are educated guesses of devoted fans. To distinguish these, each tuning is prefaced by a character as follows: * Denotes a tuning from an "official" source. + Denotes a guess that a fan feels pretty secure about. ? Denotes a guess that a fan is not too secure about. References to the source of the tuning information, be it from an official source or a fan, are given by initials in square brackets. A key to the source abbreviations appears at the end of this file. If the source is a fan who has additional information about performing the song, the initials are followed by a "+" sign. This information may be anything from brief notes about some chords to full tablature. Some tunings are so common that they have names or abbreviations in this list: std Standard tuning, EADGBE Drop D DADGBE, "Dropped D" Open C CGCGCE Open D DADF#AD Open G DGDGBD Open E EBEG#BE In a few places, textual information about the artist's use of tunings appears in their tuning list. Please send additions and/or corrections to: Tom Loredo internet: loredo@spacenet.tn.cornell.edu List Created: May 1994 ================================================================================ Shawn Colvin *Fat City* --- All tunings from [SCFC+] Polaroids *Drop D (capo 4) Tennessee (Colvin and John Leventhal) *CGDGBbD (capo 7) Tenderness On The Block (Warren Zevon & Jackson Browne) *Open G (capo 5) Round Of Blues (Colvin and Larry Klein) *std (capo 6) Monopoly *Drop D (capo 3) Orion In The Sky (Colvin and Larry Klein) *CGDGCD (capo 2) Climb On (A Back That's Strong) (Colvin and John Leventhal) *std (capo 1) Set The Prairie On Fire (Colvin and Elly Brown) *Drop D (capo 2) Object Of My Affection (Colvin and John Leventhal) *Open G (capo 4) Kill The Messenger *Drop D (capo 5) I Don't Know Why *std (capo 2) ================================================================================ Kat Eggleston *First Warm Wind* First Warm Wind +DADGAD (capo 4) [TJL+] ================================================================================ Bob Franke All tunings are from *The Songs of Bob Franke*; see [SOBF] below for further information. All altered tunings listed in that book appear here; tuning and capo information for a few of Bob's most famous songs that use standard tuning is also included. *One Evening In Chicago* (1982) Bob Franke's Dream Come True *DADGAD Hard Love *std (capo 3) That's What the Waltz Is For *Drop D (capo 2) Thanksgiving Eve *std (capo 3) *For Real* (1986) For Real *std (capo 3) Beggars to God *std *Brief Histories* (1989) A Still, Small Voice *Drop D (capo 1) Nectar of Life *CGDGED (capo 3) *In This Night* (1991) Catfish *Open D The Man Behind the Curtain *CGDGBD (capo 5) After the Fall *Drop D (capo 1) ================================================================================ Greg Greenway *A Road Worth Walking Down* A Road Worth Walking Down *Open G [BTST+] ================================================================================ Nanci Griffith *One Fair Summer Evening* (Video) Working In Corners +DGDGAD [TJL] ================================================================================ Michael Hedges *Watching My Life Go By* Face Yourself +BADGAD [PS] Watching My Life Go By +DADGCC [MG] Woman of the World +DADEBA [BM,PS] (1st string is *lower* than 2nd) All Along the Watchtower (Bob Dylan) ?DAEEAA [MW] +DADEAE [PLK+; tab at csclub.uwaterloo.ca] *Taproot* i carry your heart (words by e. e. cummings) +BbFCEbFBb [TR; MSW] *Road to Return* Sister Soul ?DADEAB or ?DADEAE [PS] ?EbG#EBG#CC [SW] ?DADGAA [BJ] India +BbFCEbFBb [TR] Follow Through +CGDGAE (as on the *Windham Hill Live* video) [TJL] Unrecorded songs and covers Pinball Wizard +CGCFBbBb [MG] From: HotType1@aol.com (Matt Guthrie) Subject: MH's strings Michael uses D'Addario strings. They're all electric strings since they sound better with the Sunrise pickup and the EMGs in the electric harp-guitar. NW = nickel-wound and PL = plain. I'm not sure what the "S" is before the string types for the harp-guitar. Martin D-28: E - NW056 (1.42mm) A - NW046 (1.17mm) D - NW034 (0.86mm) G - NW026 (0.66mm) B - PL017 (0.43mm) E - PL013 (0.33mm) Lowden/Martin low-strung guitar: E - NW064 (1.63mm) A - NW049 (1.24mm) D - NW038 (0.97mm) G - NW030 (0.76mm) B - NW020 (0.51mm) E - PL015 (0.38mm) Kline harp-guitar: E - SNW046 (1.17mm) A - SNW036 (0.91mm) D - SNW026 (0.66mm) G - SPL017 (0.43mm) B - SPL013 (0.33mm) E - SPL010 (0.25mm) All five harp strings are NW064 (1.63mm). From: Chifuru 'Chief' Noda Subject: MH strings - comment The "S" prefix I believe stands for "Steinberger-type", meaning the string has a ball at both ends of strings so that it can be anchored on a head-less design. ================================================================================ Patty Larkin *In the Square* I'm Fine ?std (capo 3) [TJL] *Tango* Tango ?Drop D (capo 2) [TJL] Metal Drums *std [AG Mar/Apr 92, with music] Time Was ?Drop D (capo 3) [TJL] Solo Flight ?Drop D (capo 3) [TJL] Chained To These Lovin' Arms *Drop D [BTST+] *Angels Running* Good Thing ?CGCGCD (capo 5) [TJL] Might As Well Dance ?CGCGCD [TJL] Booth of Glass +CGCGCD (capo 5) [TJL] Winter Wind ?std (capo 3) [TJL] ================================================================================ Joni Mitchell *Night Ride Home* Slouching Towards Bethlehem ?DADGAD [SDB] Passion Play ?DADGAD [SDB] ================================================================================ Pierce Pettis >From *Big Times In A Small Town* Nod Over Coffee (Mark Heard) *Open E [BTST+] ================================================================================ Chuck Pyle *Endless Sky* Endless Sky *Drop D (capo 3) [BTST+] ================================================================================ Martin Simpson *Red Roses* Dreamtime *DADGAD [TJL+] Any Spare Change +DGDGAD (capo 4) [TJL+] Icarus (Anne Lister) *CGCGCD (capo 3) [TJL+] The Turtle and the Asp +DADGAD (capo 2) [TJL+] Unrecorded Songs and Covers Hard Love (Bob Franke) *CGCGCD (capo 3 or 5) [TJL+] ================================================================================ The Story Most of these tunings are partially inferred from live performances. In live performances, Jonatha Brooke (guitarist and writer for The Story) uses two guitars. One is a small-body James A. Olson SJ cutaway, custom made for her by James, a Minnesota-based luthier. This guitar stays mostly in standard tuning, although she occassionally retunes it to tunings not too different from standard tuning. The other guitar is a larger-bodied Guild with a carved back. She keeps this one tuned as follows, low to hi: Eb Bb Eb F Bb Eb. This is an open Eb sus 2. The hi string is sometimes dropped down to D, making it an open Eb maj 9 (no 3). In this list, some tunings are denoted as "+Guild" or "+Olson", to provide an idea of the tuning based on what guitar Jonatha was seen playing at a live performance. Readers who can resolve the remaining ambiguity (eg, whether the Guild tuning has the 1st string at D) are encouraged to submit changes. *Grace In Gravity* Grace In Gravity +Olson [TJL] The Alarm Is On Love +Olson (?1st, 3d and 4th strings tuned down) [TJL] Always +Guild [TJL] Easier Than Saying That You're Sorry +Guild (capo 2) [TJL] Dog Dreams *std [BTST+] Just One Word +Guild (capo 5) [TJL] *The Angel In The House* So Much Mine +std [TJL+] Barefoot Ballroom +Guild (capo 3) [TJL] At the Still Point +Olson [TJL] The Angel In the House +Guild (capo 3) [TJL] Fatso +Olson (capo 2) [TJL] Love Song +Guild (capo 4) [TJL] ================================================================================ David Wilcox Official tunings for songs from Wilcox's three A&M recordings are from the article, "Tuning In: The Guitar Secrets of David Wilcox," by James Jensen, in the Nov/Dec 1994 issue of *Acoustic Guitar* magazine. These have GSDW as their reference. Wilcox sometimes uses capos that are modified to allow some strings to ring thru uncapoed (see interview exerpts at the end of this section). In this list, use of such a capo is indicated by noting the strings capoed in curly braces. *Nightshift Watchman* The Nightshift Watchman *Open G (capo 5) [reported on WLIST; perhaps 6th is C??] ?Open C [TJL+] Come Away to Sea ?DADGBD (capo 2) [TJL] ?CGCFCE (capo 4) [GSDW; a tuning mentioned in passing] High Hill +CGDGAD (capo 4) [DW] Do I Dare +DADGAD (capo ?) [TJL+] Sunshine On The Land +Drop D (capo 1) [DW] *How Did You Find Me Here?* Eye of the Hurricane *Open C (capo 3) [AG Mar/Apr 92 with tab; GSDW] Language of the Heart *Db Ab Db Gb Ab Db (ie, DADGAD 1/2 step down) [MOB; TJL+; GSDW] Rusty Old American Dream *Open C (starts capo 2, ends capo 3) [GSDW] How Did You Find Me Here *DADEAD (capo 6) [GSDW] Leave It Like It Is *std (capo 4) [GSDW; TJL+] Saturday They'll All Be Back Again *std (capo 4) [GSDW] Jamie's Secret *Drop D [GSDW] It's Almost Time *CGDGBD (capo 1) [GSDW; TJL+] Just A Vehicle *CGDGBD [GSDW] Common As The Rain *Drop D [GSDW] The Kid *CGDGBD (capo 1) [GSDW] *Home Again (For the Very First Time)* Burgundy Heart-Shaped Medallion *EAC#EAC# [AG Mar/Apr 92; GSDW] Farther to Fall *DADGAD [MOB; GSDW] Going Somewhere *Drop D [GSDW] Wildberry Pie Two discrepant tunings published: *Open D (capo{345} 6 and capo 1) [MOB; AG Mar/Apr 92] *DADF#AD [GSDW] Let Them In Wilcox himself doesn't remember this tuning! AG editors guess: +CGCGCD [GSDW] Distant Water *CGDGBD [GSDW] Top of the Roller Coaster Two discrepant tunings published: *EBbDFBbC (capo{12345} 5 and capo 1) [MOB] *EbAC#EAB (capo{12345} 4) [GSDW] Covert War Two discrepant tunings published: *CADGBE (capo{12345} 6 and capo 1) [PS Sep/Oct 93; GP 4/92] *CGDGAD (capo{12345} 6 and capo 1) [MOB; GSDW] Advertising Man *std [GSDW] Last Chance Waltz *Drop D [GSDW] She's Just Dancing Two discrepant tunings published: *D#AC#EAC# (capo{12345} 6 and capo 1) [MOB; AG Mar/Apr 92] *EbAC#EAB (capo{12345} 6 and capo 1) [GSDW] Chet Baker's Unsung Swan Song Two discrepant tunings published: *CADGBE (capo{12345} 5) [PS Sep/Oct 93; GP 4/92] *CGDGAD (capo{12345} 5) [MOB; GSDW] Mighty Ocean *DADF#AD [GSDW] *Big Horizon* New World +Open C (capo 6) [GSDW; listed capo 5, but definitely capo 6] Someday Soon *GCGACG [GSDW] This bizarre tuning is accomplished by using special strings. The 6th string is a double-wound bass string that is so big the holes in the peg and bridge had to be enlarged to fit it. This is tuned to the G *below* the usual open low E. The 5th string is a normal *6th* string, tuned to the C below the usual open low E. The first string is replaced with an electric guitar string and tuned up to the G above the usual open hi E. That's What the Lonely Is For *CGDF#AD (capo 2) [GSDW; TJL+] Show the Way *Open C (capo 5) [GSDW (listed capo 6); TJL+] Block Dog *Open C [GSDW; JP notes recorded version is 1/2 step lower: BF#BF#BD#] Break In the Cup *CGDGAD (capo 3) [GSDW] ?DGDEGD (capo{12345} 3) for old live performances It's The Same Old Song *Open C [GSDW] Farthest Shore *BGDF#AD [GSDW] Strong Chemistry *DADGAD [GSDW; tab included] Make It Look Easy *BGCGCD (capo 3) [GSDW] Please Don't Call *CGEbFCD [GSDW] Big Mistake *std (capo{345} 5, capo 3) [GSDW] All The Roots Grow Deeper *Drop D Hold It Up To the Light *Open C (capo 1) [GSDW; no capo setting listed] Missing You *CGDGBD (capo 2) [GSDW] >From *Big Times In A Small Town* Little Piece At A Time *Open C [BTST+] Unrecorded Songs and Covers Seeds (Pat Alger) ?Open D (capo 6) [TJL+] Give Yourself to Love (Kate Wolf) +Drop D (capo ?) [TJL+] Johnny's Camero *Drop D or *Open C, depending on location in the set [MOB] The Long Road (Cliff Eberhardt) +AF#DF#AD [DW] Somewhere Over New York City (Jim Infantino) +std [DW] Old (Peter Nelson) +DADGAD [DW] Blow 'Em Away (Chuck Brodsky) +DADGAD (capo 2) [DW] ----David Wade [DW] notes: Keep in mind that DW plays the same same song in different tunings often. I've heard him come on out on stage and say,"I wanted to start the set with this song, but it's in a real weird tuning, and I didn't want to start in that tuning, so I started playing around backstage with the song in another tuning and said 'Hmm...that'll work!', so here's the song in the new tuning." ----Excerpt from *Acoustic Guitar*, Mar/Apr 92 (Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers): These days he uses a dizzying number of tunings, mostly variations of open C, open G, and open D. As examples, he mentions DADGAD, D minor (DADFAD), DADEAD, and open G with a lowered sixth string (CGDGBD)---and that's just the beginning. He likes EAC#EAC# for classical-style pieces, such as "Burgundy Heart-Shaped Medallion" on *Home Again*. Wilcox says one of his current favorites is a variation of open C: CGDGAD.... As if the tunings aren't enough to keep him on his toes, Wilcox has experimented since 1978 with cutting capos to let some strings pass through.... His discovery of Kyser capos allowed him to cut capos so that he could let not only a bass string pass through, but also treble strings. Now he has four Kysers: one standard; one that barres all the strings except the sixth; one that barres all the strings except the first and second; and one that barres only the third, fourth, and fifth strings. On some songs ("Covert War," for instance) Wilcox plays chords where he straddles a cut capo with his left hand, fretting some notes above the capo in standard fashion as well as *below* the capo on the sixth string, which passes through the cut section of the capo.... On stage, one would expect Wilcox' ever-changing tuning and capo combinations to cause plenty of waiting and retuning agony for the audience, but it's not so. The Kyser capos rest on the headstock of his guitar and go into place with a one-hand swoop, and Wilcox is surprisingly agile in changing tunings on stage. "I started playing in a concrete stairwell where you could really hear the guitar," he recalls. "I remember, I would hear it be a little out of tune, and I would try moving one string and moving another.... You know how when you are starting, whenever you tune, you tune strings higher, so that the guitar gradually gets sharper and sharper. I could hear it so well, and I just had the time to really listen, not to concentrate on what my fingers were doing. It's more than just matching tones---you listen for that harmonic to really kick in, listen for the tones to really reinforce each other. "The interesting thing is, if I play one guitar for a couple of weeks, I can learn how to tune that guitar really fast. But if I play another guitar, I have to start over because it's slightly different. And I'm talking about even the same kind of guitar. I have these two Larivee guitars. If I switch from one to the other, I can't tune as fast." ----Excerpt from *Guitar Player*, April 1992 (James Rotondi): Wilcox favors composing from open tunings, an inheritance from influences like Joni Mitchell, John Martyn, Nick Drake, and James Taylor. To keep his material fresh, he likes to sample the unknown: "If I'm writing something just with what I know, the song can come out relatively unmoving. But if I make up a new tuning and get really lost, I can find a new way home, and I'll have the surprise, the joy, of hearing brand-new things." ... His plucks, hammer-ons, pull-offs, strums and slaps on his custom-built Olson acoustic strung with D'Addario Bluegrass strings display his patience with phrasing and reverence for the guitar's tonal possibilities. "In every tuning there are certain chords that really ring," David says. "At a certain capo position there will be this resonance where the guitar is just the right size. My current favorite tuning is BAEG#BE...." ----Excerpt from *Performing Songwriter*, Sep/Oct 1993 (Lydia Hutchinson): To make sure he stays in the learning mode, Wilcox composes in a dizzying number of tunings. "They free me from preconceived notions about technique," he explains. And just to keep things even more interesting, he experiments with cutting Kyser capos to let some strings pass through. In the past, Wilcox has used up to four capos that sit on his headstock, gliding them into place with the swoop of his hand.... These days, however, his capos have gone into hibernation while he challenges himself to find those new sounds without them.... LH: With all of the tunings that you use, is there a trick to tuning quickly? DW: It comes little by little when you learn your way from one tuning to another, and gradually make paths in the forest in terms of how you think about getting from one to another. But a lot of it is just, like anything, dividing it into its simplest components and taking the time to focus on each component. If you want to be able to switch from one tuning to another really fast, you can pretty much learn it in your wrist. You learn how much you crank each string and study how many turns it might take for a certain string to go from this pitch to that pitch. You know, a quarter turn for this and a half turn for that. So if you just kind of learn that, it comes out very close and you just strum it through and adjust it here and there. ================================================================================ Brooks Williams Tunings listed here for the songs on BW's first two albums are taken from the official lyric sheets, available from: Red Guitar Blue Music PO Box 644 Northampton, MA 10161 Tunings for songs on later albums appear in the liner notes to those albums. *North From Statesboro* Faces of Light *DADGAD (capo 2) Frenzy at the Feeder *DADGAD Aquainted With the Night *std Good Man Down *std Postcard From Gulfside *std On the Rollin' Sea (Joseph Spence) *Drop D (capo 2) Big Blue Wonder *std Jericho *Open D Promises/What the Builder Left Behind *DADGAD (capo 2) Pavillions (Until the Time Is Right) *std We Will Dance Someday *DADGAD (capo 2) Over the Hill (John Martyn) *DADGAD Geography *Drop D Bush Pilot *DADGAD Engulfed *std Blues to Stay *DADGAD (capo 2) *How the Night-Time Sings* Blues is First *Drop D (capo 1) Jubilee *DADGAD How the Night-Time Sings *Drop D (capo 2) Los Padres *Open D Happy All the Time (adapted from Joseph Spence) *Drop D (capo 4) Hard Love *std What Do I Need to Do? *std Look What the Cat Dragged In *std Railwalker *DADGAD Dusty Road *DADGAD The Monte Vista No tuning listed Streets of Heaven *Open D Reina's Lullaby *std When I Reach *DADGAD Weather the Storm *DADGAD (capo 2) Great Dream of Heaven *DADGAD *Back To Mercy* See liner notes *Inland Sailor* See liner notes ================================================================================ Dar Williams *The Honesty Room* When I Was A Boy +DADGAD [TJL+] ================================================================================ ================================================================================ Sources: Songbooks: BTST Big Times in a Small Town --- Christine Lavin Presents The Vineyard Tapes (c) 1993 by Cherry Lane Music Company, Port Chester, NY ISBN: 0-98524-799-2, $19.95 This book contains piano arrangements and chord diagrams. SCFC Sean Colvin --- *Fat City* (c) 1993 by Cherry Lane Music Company, Port Chester, NY ISBN: 089524-736-4, $14.95 This book contains lead sheets with chord diagrams. SOBF The Songs of Bob Franke (c) 1992 by The Folk Project A compilation of music for Bob's songs, compiled by fans in The Folk Project, "an organization of musicians, dancers, and other enthusiasts based in northern and central New Jersey." Melodies, lyrics and chord names (but not diagrams) are provided for all four recordings listed above, and for Bob's *Epiphany Cantata*. Notes on the songs, and a discography, are also included. For copies, send $15.00 plus $2.00 for postage to: Telephone Pole Music Publishing Company 106 Winona Street Peabody, MA 01960 Periodicals: AG Acoustic Guitar Magazine PS Performing Songwriter Magazine GP Guitar Player Magazine Newsletters and Fan Clubs: MOB Midnight Ocean Bonfire (David Wilcox Newsletter) TR Taproot, the Michael Hedges listserver WLIST wilcox-list@hubcap.clemson.edu, David Wilcox listserver Listeners: PLK Paul ? TJL Tom Loredo DW David Wade MW McClain Watson MSW Steve ? PS Phil Schappert BM Billy McLaughlin, who refers to Hedges tunings in his own book of tablature, and who helped with the upcoming Hedges tab book. MG Matt Guthrie SW Steve Wimmer SDB Scott D. Bigelow BJ Brian Jarboe JP Josh Pincus Other online resources for acoustic guitar tunings, chords, and tablature: ftp.uwp.edu The Music Archives. Connect by anonymous ftp; guitar music is in /pub/music/guitar. Numerous README files will guide your explorations and provide information about submissions. ftp.nevada.edu A general anonymous ftp server. Connect by anonymous ftp; guitar music is in /pub/guitar. README files will guide your explorations and provide information about submissions. I believe The Music Archives mirrors this site pretty closely. rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic ("rmmga") The USENET news discussion group on acoustic guitar, with many daily posts of queries, answers, and comments on all facets of the acoustic guitar. An email listserver gateway to this group is available for those without USENET access. This list provides daily digests of rmmga postings, and users can make posts by email to the server. To join this list, send mail to rmmga-request@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu with "subscribe rmmga " in the body of the message. After subscribing, posts to rmmga can be made by sending them as email to rmmga@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu. csclub.uwaterloo.ca This anonymous ftp site archives tablature posted to the rmmga USENET news group in the directory /pub/u/dgaudet/guitar. A README and Index file there document the archive. Some published resources on alternate tunings are: Mark Hanson: "50 ways to leave standard tuning" (Frets Magazine, Oct. 1986) Mark Hanson: *Pocket Guide to Alternate Tunings* (?) A small-format booklet describing about half a dozen popular alternate tunings (how to tune to them, fingerings for chords and scales, discography), and listing dozens of songs that use other alternate tunings, with the tunings used.