TIPS & TUNING TECHNIQUES

Beginners (cont’d)

It's a good idea to experiment with both Spanish and Vrastapol to get a feel for how they sound (There is quite a difference -Vrastapol is harder edged and slightly darker than Spanish)

Well known Open E players: Tampa Red, Derek Trucks
Well Known Open G players: Robert Johnson, Son House

I personally play about 50% in G and 50% in D and have two acoustic and two electric guitars in G and D to avoid major retuning during a set.

I tend to use G mostly for electric, where my soloing technique is stronger and D for acoustic which gives a little more scope for solo instrumental work. The tuning you chose may be based on your vocal range or because of other musicians if you are playing in a band. It's good to be accomplished in both tunings but a lot of players tend to favour one or the other.

More tunings: E minor tuning favoured by the weird and wonderful Skip James. The same deal as Spanish and Vrastapol – you can tune up or down.

E minor: E B E G B E
D minor: D A D F# A D

Faux Hawaiian: I don't know if this is real Hawaiian or not but it does give tunes a Hawaiian accent:

From open D or E tune up the second string two semitones and in open G or A tune up the first string two semi-tones.

Open G – D G D G B E
Open A – E A E A C# F#
Open D – D A D F# B D
Open E – E B E Ab C# E