From: owner-wanderer-digest@smoe.org (wanderer-digest) To: wanderer-digest@smoe.org Subject: wanderer-digest V3 #14 Reply-To: wanderer@smoe.org Sender: owner-wanderer-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-wanderer-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk wanderer-digest Monday, August 25 2003 Volume 03 : Number 014 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: My Crazy B tuning set ["Susan E McNamara" ] Re: My Crazy B tuning set [Catherine McKay ] Amelia [tlr7425@garnet.acns.fsu.edu] RE: My Crazy B tuning set ["Kate Bennett" ] RE: My Crazy B tuning set [Catherine McKay ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2003 10:31:17 -0400 (EDT) From: "Susan E McNamara" Subject: Re: My Crazy B tuning set Catherine: Boy is this a good question. The first thing I do is try to cheat: find out if anyone has posted a tuning for a song anywhere on earth before I try to figure it out myself!! :-) Then I try a tab (like John Kean who has done a lot of good tabs). If I don't think it quite works, I listen to the album for what I think might be an open chord or a barre chord. I did this relentlessly with Eastern Rain. The great thing about that recording is that Joni is playing around with the chords while she is talking to Gene Shay so I was able to try and mimic her strums and find something that clicked. Also, does the song sound like another song that you know the tuning for. With Joni in her live sets, if she was playing a song right before the song you are trying to figure out there's a good bet that it's in the same tuning. That's how I recently got Blue on Blue. She played it right after Chelsea morning or Cactus Tree so I knew it was in DADF#AD. If you have no clues whatsoever, resort to the piano. This is a hard task for me because I am not a piano player but it's important to find out what key the song is in and then you can experiment in tunings and try to find chord shapes. I've worked on a couple of Shawn Colvin songs and she really likes drop D (DADGBD) and double drop D, (DADGBD) plus what I call the sarah maclaughlin tuning (because she uses it for almost every song she plays (EADGAD). If I know an artist likes a particular tuning, I try it in that tuning and if it doesn't work play around. Finding chord shapes once you've found the tuning either becomes a simple process or a rubic's cube of frustration. Most artists, especially Joni, are not going to use alternate tunings to then use difficult chord shapes so the shapes are usually your basic two finger (like Em in standard), three finger (like A in standard or Am in standard) or barre chords. I usually try to start with the barre chords in the song before working out the details. Yes, this is a painstaking pasttime but for me it becomes an obsession until I figure it out and I can get some sleep!! :-) Oh yeah, and I forgot the most important part. When in doubt, email Marian and Howard!!!!!!!!!! take care, sue > There's a website that has a lot of tabs (and chords) > on it - here's the url: > http://johnkean.digitalrice.com/Tabs/TabsByArtist.htm > > This is sorted by artist, but you can also sort it by > song name. There's a lot of good (looking) stuff on > it. > > The one song I was trying to get was "Orion in the > sky" by Shawn Colvin. On this one (John Kean's), it's > chords in standard tuning (well, dropped D, but > otherwise, standard). On another site (that I can't > remember) one guy says this song is in an alternate > tuning. I've tried playing John Kean's version along > with the CD but it doesn't sound quite right, so it > may indeed be in an alt tuning. > > How do you (Sue) figure out what tuning these things > are in? Can you tell by the way the songs sound, or do > you make an educated guess, try it out & see if it > fits? This has always been a mystery to me & I'm > amazed that you can do this. > > > ===== > Catherine > Toronto > > > ______________________________________________________________________ > Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2003 10:40:13 -0400 (EDT) From: Catherine McKay Subject: Re: My Crazy B tuning set --- Susan E McNamara wrote: > > > I've worked on a couple of Shawn Colvin songs and > she really likes drop D > (DADGBD) and double drop D, (DADGBD) plus what I > call the sarah > maclaughlin tuning (because she uses it for almost > every song she plays > (EADGAD). Thanks, Sue. I do have a couple of Shawn songbooks & I've noticed she seems to like these tunings (at least she doesn't have a million of them like Joni!). Unfortunately "Orion in the sky" isn't in either of them. I do notice sometimes (with Joni at any rate) that a tuning in one song sounds like another, so I will experiment with that a bit. This will be my project for this year. I need to do something really intensively guitar-related, as I've dropped the classical lessons for this year (couldn't afford them anymore & I think it's time I moved back into the non-classical realm anyway). I LOVE the guitar! > > Finding chord shapes once you've found the tuning > either becomes a simple > process or a rubic's cube of frustration. Most > artists, especially Joni, > are not going to use alternate tunings to then use > difficult chord shapes > so the shapes are usually your basic two finger > (like Em in standard), > three finger (like A in standard or Am in standard) > or barre chords. I > usually try to start with the barre chords in the > song before working out > the details. > > Yes, this is a painstaking pasttime but for me it > becomes an obsession > until I figure it out and I can get some sleep!! > :-) > Solving puzzles can be a lot of fun (or a complete pain!) Thanks for explaining all this and oh, by the way, has this particular list ever been so busy? ===== Catherine Toronto ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2003 14:20:10 -0400 From: tlr7425@garnet.acns.fsu.edu Subject: Amelia hi all, the only song i wish check out the chording on is Amelia. i've seen some tabs -but i don't do tab. i saw one where it said the low was tuned to C, maybe that true, regardless i believe there is a capo being using, no? and if so what fret? thanks ted ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2003 18:38:40 -0700 From: "Kate Bennett" Subject: RE: My Crazy B tuning set catherine, orion is one of my favorite songs & i think i started learning it awhile back...all i can find now is that i wrote the following tuning down for this song: cgdgcd ... i'll try looking around for some more clues as i must have more than this somewhere...someone must have sent me the chords as i am not good at figuring out tunings like sue is... >The one song I was trying to get was "Orion in the sky" by Shawn Colvin. On this one (John Kean's), it's chords in standard tuning (well, dropped D, but otherwise, standard). On another site (that I can't remember) one guy says this song is in an alternate tuning. I've tried playing John Kean's version along with the CD but it doesn't sound quite right, so it may indeed be in an alt tuning. How do you (Sue) figure out what tuning these things are in? Can you tell by the way the songs sound, or do you make an educated guess, try it out & see if it fits? This has always been a mystery to me & I'm amazed that you can do this.< ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2003 22:26:01 -0400 (EDT) From: Catherine McKay Subject: RE: My Crazy B tuning set --- Kate Bennett wrote: > catherine, > > orion is one of my favorite songs & i think i > started learning it awhile > back...all i can find now is that i wrote the > following tuning down for this > song: cgdgcd ... i'll try looking around for some > more clues as i must have > more than this somewhere...someone must have sent me > the chords as i am not > good at figuring out tunings like sue is... Kate, I think you're right. I did find something on ANOTHER website (that I can't find now, but I guess doing a search on Shawn Colvin guitar chords would re-find it.) I do recall this tuning being mentioned - this particular site had the tunings things were in, but not the actual chords - how frustrating is THAT? ===== Catherine Toronto ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca ------------------------------ End of wanderer-digest V3 #14 *****************************