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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 25
Location: jacksonville, fl | Oh no!!! Say it isn't so......My buddy Tom just informed me at practice that we need to tune down to E flat cause his voice is starting to crack at normal pitch...Now I do realize that there are many guitarists out there that have been tuned down for years....I'm just not one of them...I like the way my elite sounds in standard pitch...
and using the built in E tuner helps out quite a bit....
Oh well....we play our first show with the new tuning this weekend...wish me luck |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | Time t'get a REAL singer . . . . |
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Joined:
December 2004
Posts: 370
Location: Isle of Man, UK | Quite right.
I believe that many people like SRV and Hendrix used to tune down to Eb as they preferred the way their guitars played - if you use a guage (sp?)heavier strings that may help things feel less foreign.
I've been tempted to tune down myself a few times, as brass players are all stuck in Eb or Bb with their instruments, so the Big Band play very few numbers in normal keys. On the plus side, that suits my voice better... oh, sorry. I'll shut up now...
JB |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | I used to jam with a blues guy that tuned down a half step. It had no effect on my playing except that it all sounded just a little off to me.
but what the hell do I know? I am just an idiot that sells gear for a living. |
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Joined:
September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | BrianT and I have been tuned to e-flat for a while now. There are 3 or 4 songs that where it makes the difference in either the lead vocals or the harmony. "Ticket To Ride" & "Natures Way" as an example. We will also capo up to get the vocals out of the mud as needed. Just a fret or two can allow us to get better leverage. I'd love to have a better range but ya gotta work with what ya got. In the next few weeks before the OFC Tour we plan on going back to concert pitch and re-evalutate those songs we tuned down for.
We think that you can have the best sounding guitar this side of Toneville but it's the vocals that are top of mind to most folk we would play for. Any small adjustment needed to make the harmonys any better is worth the effort. |
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Joined:
August 2005
Posts: 616
Location: cincinnati, ohio | I think Brad and Brian T. have nailed the heart of the matter. The type of music that I play solo and in my bands is DEFINITELY vocal-oriented. So far I've managed to stay in standard tuning as far as vocals go, but tuning to "Eb" can really increase a singer's power and projection. Going down a semi-tone has more of an effect than you might think, and yet it doesn't sound totally foreign. Joni Mitchell, a chain smoker, now tunes in "C" to accomodate her ever-decreasing range. I think she scavenges downed power lines to string her guitars.
I have a keyboard player whose vocal range is such that it seems we're always in "Bb." Out comes the trusty capo; slap it on the third fret and play G, C, D cowboy chords,or put it on the first fret and play in "A." My son plays "Bb" trumpet, and everything in guitar-ese is up a half step for him, so we usually end up transposing or capoing. Guitars tuned in Eb are fun and almost effortless to play, as long as they stay in tune. A lot of people tune to "Eb" and just put a capo on the 1st fret when they play with standard tuned guitars. It's usually not too much of a problem unless you pay attention to those dot thingies imprinted on the fretboard. I don't; like John Prine sez, "most of the guitar neck above the 5th fret is virgin territory for me." |
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Joined:
July 2005
Posts: 3410
Location: GA USA | I have to say that tuning to Eb hasn't ever occured to me, but I'll file it away as a tool for the future. I sing with a good high range, and my problem is projecting the lower notes, so on blues in E, I may be singing an octave above some of ya's. |
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Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | I've recently started keeping a couple of guitars in Eb, primarily because I'm trying to learn some Phil Keaggy pieces from his acoustic instructional video (I'll bring it with me in May - some of you have never seen him play), and he tunes his Olsons down 1/2 tone.
Definitely a different feel. |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Go down to Eb and up a guage of string. |
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E flat blues
