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Permalink Reply by turtlehead on January 2, 2017 at 2:30pm

Hi Jim - Ron "Oily" Sprague is the TAB converting maestro, hopefully he'll chime in for you.

In the meantime, here is a chart I made with some one string scales.  Instead of note names, I've come to use the number system which makes it easier for me to remember the relationships between the notes.  The 1 is the root and would be whatever you have your canjo string tuned to (G, A, E etc.)  Different scales are built up from there using different combinations of steps (frets) in between the notes to give you your major, minor, pentatonic, etc.

If this is confusing, don't worry about it too much, just give them a shot working your way up and down the neck to hear what they sound like.  I bet you'll start picking out melodies of some familiar tunes in no time ;)

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on January 2, 2017 at 3:18pm

Nice graphics, Todd!

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on January 2, 2017 at 3:15pm

Jim,

Todd is too kind. However, I have showed people (I hope) how to convert any song in any 6-string tuning chord / TAB form to any 3-string tuning, using fretboard maps. Going from 3-strings to 1 should be relatively simple. Todd's method uses a similar idea, using the numbered intervals. It is a good method, but requires some background musical knowledge. It is not difficult to learn; you can get basic music theory from Wikipedia, for example. My method of fretboard mapping is similar, except that I start by showing you how to create fretboard maps using the note names for each location on the fretboard, from open string to the 12th fret, in this Discussion:

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/forum/topics/how-to-map-your-fretboar...

And in this Discussion:

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/forum/topics/looking-for-tab-for-ligh...

Read both Discussions in their entirety.

You mentioned you are going from 3-string to 1-string. Creating a fretboard map for 3-strings is easy, while creating one for 1-string is even easier! As in the Discussions above, once you have created the fretboard map for the larger number of strings (you can do this very quickly in a spreadsheet program such as Excel, for example - this is what I'm in the midst of doing, for all publicly available 6-string and 3- and 4-string tunings, based on an a suggestion and example from CBN member JL), you can then transfer your chords or tabs to that map. Yes, it can be tedious, but it will reinforce in your mind where notes live on that particular fretboard in that particular tuning. Then, you transfer that info to the fretboard map for the smaller number of strings. Turtlehead's method shows you the interval relationships between the notes, which would be the next logical step, since it is transportable between tunings and any number of strings.

If you have a particular example, I'd be happy to do it for you here in the middle of this Discussion, so others can see and perhaps benefit from the process.

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Permalink Reply by Jim P on January 3, 2017 at 4:59am

Thanks much!!! All this information will be great help!!! I appreciate it.

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Permalink Reply by JL on January 4, 2017 at 1:16am

The easiest way on a one-string canjo or diddley-bow...don't look at the TAB, look at the chord names and play that one note (google <song title> chords)

i.e. C, Cm, C7, Cm7 -> play a C
G, Gm, G7, Gm7 -> play a G

its not fancy but it is an easy start to playing

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