Your Musical Evolution

DADFAD (D minor?) is currently one of my favourites. I also discovered the CGCGCE and DGDGBE, and DDDADD seems very good!

I used to be pretty fond of drop D too. Being able to get an easy barred powerchord under more interesting 4 note harmonies was appealing to me for awhile. The pitential voicings are generally similar to standard but the bass becomes so much easier it frees you up to get bold with your rhythm parts experimenting with interweaving 3 distinct diatonic harmonies and stuff that you might not go for otherwise because in standard it might be too big acstretch to chance screwing up on stage. And being 5/6ths the same drop D never held me up from improvising a riff livea nd thats a big deal to me.... going into other tunings really holds up my tendency to combine chords, rock riffage and melody in one performance like Joe Pass doing zep....

Yes, DAF are the 1st, 5th and 3rd respectively in D minor. Thats a zep/stp tuning. But mainly just for acoustic and slide work....

I spoke to a friend of mine recently who is closer to the younger culture than I. He said the wonky tunings are about laziness. Instead of fingering the notes they want, they just bar everything. So instead of playing an E Minor by holding down 2 stings, they tune to E B G G B E... or something.

If this is true, it seems more debilitating to me because you wouldn't be able to play anything else but what you've written in that tuning because the notes that could normally be reach with your left hand are stretched even further apart. Makes chords impossible and limits aperson to play on open notes a lot.

I didn't wanna say it 1st, but I have to agree with your friend in general

its always seemed obvious that the wonky tunigns are either laziness (a la Keef's open G) or a creative crutch (a la swervedriver or soundgarden - not that I don't like those 2 bands, but the alternate tuning songs are entirely driven by the weird voicings and fx pedals usually, cool because it was fresh at the time, but gimmicky nonetheless)...

or kids who can't learn to understand and play in standard past a certain point due to a lack of focus.... I am not saying there's anything wrong with this approach if you are a certain type of musician (if people will cheer for you then what your doing has utility), just don't pitch that you have improved on standard tuning and really know what the fuck you're doing

to paraphrase the Joker in Dark Knight, I know the smack-talkers when I read their posts or listen to their bands... however music should be fun, as long as you are having a good time then do what you like how you like, just don't tell me my business! odss are I kow more about what you're accidentally doing than you do

I am going to defend myself passively. I enjoy the lower tunings. They suit my voice better. I still prefer the tuning to follow the standard, but tuning the whole guitar that step/ half step lower. The drop aspect (drop D, Drop C#, Drop C) is to allow me a few differentiations on voicing. nothing world changing... just something I wanted to include.

Let's not consider what I am doing as gimmicky. Let's call it... Sub-capo application. A capo takes a sound higher, I want to go lower.

We can all only go as deep as our nuts. So make our nuts sound lower!

hahaha, I wasn't accusing you of telling me mah business yall

I find myself needing to tune down sometimes too for the same reasons you do. Especially with acoustic guitar parts as they just have THE SOUND in 1st position.... sure I can find other inversions, takes 2 seconds, but sometimes only campfire chords will do... this is doubly s o when I am writing and arranging on my piano and not a guitar

I wouldn't.

There is no argument. You have a lifetime of classical training and theoretical understandings.

I am a wilder.

I put my fingers where they resonate the most favourable sound for me, and people will then tell me the aug or sus 4 or diminished that I have applied to some derivative.

Cool.

I just remember where I put my fingers for next time.

I do appreciate reading your knowledge. It can confuse the piss out of me. But I still learn so I am happy.

I don't mean to be obscure, really...

Not obscure... I just don't have the theoretical backing for what I do. By all measures, I am at best, an "enthusiastically passable" musician. I do what I do because I couldn't get anyone else to do it better than I felt it needed to be done.

And the feeling of being so confused by someone talking about something that you do... and that you had previously presumed you knew how to gravitate around, to such a stupefying degree that it triggers involuntary urination as a coping mechanism.... well, it leaves you feeling kinda erky and unpleasantly moistened.

Being exposed to this wealth of knowledge and understanding will make me a better person... but it comes with a wet sock discomfort that goes to 11.

well, no need to piss yourself, you can just get a book if you are that interested, class helps with the finer points, but books are good for people who already have some grounding

its funny, when I jotted down those chord changes for that song you like, I ahd to think it over because in classical we don't do the chord naming thing and its something I stopped thinking about after I stopped playing in a big band where its the linchpin of the guitar charts.... on piano or guitar I build chords through basic counterpoint, a more classical approach, generally using 2+ moving diatonic harmonies to generate the chords or having a melodic top, bassline type bottom moving with a less busy diatonic or triad middle

I always have to backtrack and remember my jazz years tow rite a pop lead sheet, fortunately I remember the chord naming conventions, but while those terms generally come from classical the more complex naming and the symbols and stuff come from jazz/blues and its a real Americana thing that grew out of the need to improvise as American music diverged from European folk as the 20th century began --- and most musicologists will tell you that improvisation was born out of the demands of drunken dancers looking for longer and longer tunes with hotter grooves at the end (or whatever they called it back then)... totally un-clasical

Chair cushion soggy... but two thumbs up. I will just go google half of what you just said... so I can come to terms with half of it.

well, for guitar purposes a diatonic harmony is a doublestop, so my chord approach is often to couple up double stops, often just a pair of them will do fine... they move independently and form denser, more emotive harmonies but can easily resolve to a triad.... the more advanced power chord guys are doing something similar, but only half of it, allowing the bass and the elad to make up the 2nd diatonic group that at its best will be simple counterpoint in the top and bottom

a good way toa ttempt this approach is to begin with the bass and extreme high part and then when they counterpoint nicely to harmonize each separately and then find chord voicings that allow you to whack through them as chords easily, usually it can be done very easily... it will help if you have a solid draft of the melody when beginning the harmonization

I think I am watching woody harrelson playing flatted fifths on a hagstrom on you tube. I am trying to drink every time he says flatted fifth.... but barely getting swallow time

link?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7zrS0Y-JMA

YMMV on actual Woody.

I'm thinking not Woody, man.... he reminds me of Jeff Baxter of Steely Dan and the Doobies a bit too, but its not him either

anyway, a good overview there for general uses of the old tritone

I just bought beer. maybe alter I will try your 'flatted 5th' drinking game....

on alternate tunings, I think this is my best drop D song, where I think I wrote it on piano and in standard and then took it to drop D with totally weird open voicings

there's also some very cool guitar sounds in the electric parts.... a dual showman, a regular showman with the trem engaged, a 50s Magnatone 'mother of toilet seat' 1x10 combo that has a real distinctive ring from the 6SJ7 pentode in the preamp.... an old supro aginst a top hat portly cadet in the bridge.... probably a 60s original or 90s reissue plexi or my purple JMP for slide, maybe a tweed bassman, can't remember, probably a plexi and not my hot rod though.... I think there's a marshall 18 or 20 watter in it too... guitars were a new LP TV special, a 90s tele, a 70s LP jr, a couple of older LP standards, my 80s carvin thinline and of course an old Madeira acoustic

I was always thoroughly put out by how Elissa's lyrics collapsed after the 1st verse.... it started s strong, but she refused to revise a word even though it gets kinda dumb, progressing from dopey in verse 2 to idiotic in the bridge and 2rd verse

I enjoy your music postings. The part I find most interesting is the tempo and feel of the songs. It's like, your music is on a different wave length than mine. I almost want to say you write slightly faster than me, but even my fast metal-y songs feel like they are in a different.... wave or something. Your music makes me feels slightly rushed and uncomfortable. I'm not knocking it, I just find this very interesting.

I need to record something and post it for you. I'm wondering if my music would feel boring and slow to you.