Joined:
August 2005
Posts: 616
Location: cincinnati, ohio | Hey, guys--
I finally joined the "Eb Club." I played a gig this past weekend doing it. I don't really need it for vocal issues; I'm doing it for playability. I'm tuning down and putting a capo on the first fret. These middle aged fingers are getting a touch of arthritis, I fear, or maybe a smidgeon of carpal tunnel, but there are certain little nuances I just can't do anymore with a regular set up. Without a capo, I seem to have problems with "C" shaped chords, like--of all things-- the baby "C" chord, and Fmaj7. C/G doesn't seem to be a problem, oddly enough, and neither do "F" barre chords. Fmaj7, the one where you wrap your thumb around the first fret of the 6th string, is a total bear to do without buzzing. Now, if I just put a capo on the first fret, it's a breeze. It got to the point where, if a song was in "C" and had a lot of "C"'s and "F"'s, I'd just put a capo on the 5th fret and play in "G." I resisted it (tuning down) for quite a while, feeling like it was a concession to age, like a baseball player choking up on the bat to pick up some bat speed. Then I got to thinking-- that's pretty dumb if it'll help me play better. I mean, I'm not a virtuoso by any means. I'm a pretty mean fingerpicker (people always compliment my James Taylor songs)and a decent rhythm guitarist. So I took the plunge. Why work any harder than you have to? |
Tuned to e-flat revisited
