Alternate Tunings

[alantig]

Inspired by Darren's thread about the Spider capo...

If you're into alternate tunings, stropes.com is a pretty good resource. A wealth of printed music, discussion forums, accessories, and quite a list of alternate tunings (by song) used by a pretty decent list of artists. I used to go to the site a lot for info about Michael Hedges, but not so much in the last few years. I have picked up all of the Hedges transcriptions from the site (and even learned all...uh, one of them).

Thought it was worth pointing out and figured it might even kick-start a discussion of alt tunings, so...have at it.

Haven't done much with them myself - the one Hedges tune (which was probably the closest he came to playing in standard), and one original. I am having fun w/the Spider capo, though - a neat way to get those ringing open strings w/o changing everything.

 

[László]

I have enjoyed playing open tunings a lot, but have been, well, too lazy to constantly tune and re-tune a guitar...

So that Spider capo seems like a good idea. How's it working out for you?

And Michael Hedges...just wow...saw him in Ann Arbor in a tour with other world class guitarists, and they were all so clearly blown away by Hedges' music and skills that they just sat there in open admiration. As did I. What a creative mind!

 

[sergiodeblanc]

No matter what tuning I'm using I still just play the same thing.

 

[alantig]

I have enjoyed playing open tunings a lot, but have been, well, too lazy to constantly tune and re-tune a guitar...

So that Spider capo seems like a good idea. How's it working out for you?

And Michael Hedges...just wow...saw him in Ann Arbor in a tour with other world class guitarists, and they were all so clearly blown away by Hedges' music and skills that they just sat there in open admiration. As did I. What a creative mind!

So far so good. There are things that you can't get without actually tuning the guitar, but it's giving me a different vibe, and right now, that's working.

Hedges was awesome. The thing that got me was how at ease he was with his playing. Especially on the final tour, he played like it was no more difficult than breathing for him. And his ears - I have a bootleg somewhere where he strums his guitar and there's a bit of woofy feedback. He stopped the strings and told whoever his roadie was that tour "Turn 400 down 2 db." And it was gone. I saw him make the adjustment himself on another boot. After the first time I saw him, someone near us walking out said, "That must be what it was like to see Hendrix. It just shouldn't be possible." And he was an incredibly nice guy. We hung around and talked to him after a couple show - at one, he was showing guys yoga moves. For those few minutes talking to him, it was like there was no one else around - you had his full attention and interest.

I wish I had 1/10th of his command of the instrument.