Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Patrick Curley on March 31, 2014 at 9:40am

Kill the 151 tuning or accept that it's great but you can't play chords? Chords are overrated, especially if you're playing rock. It's the riff that's important, and in 151 these things are riffin' machines.

If you want to play chords with three strings you'd have to retune for nearly every song. It's not the tuning, it's simple mathematics. You need 3 notes minimum for a chord, unless you're playing all closed chords, which means moving the same shapes up and down the neck (boring) you'll never get three notes every time. 7th chords it's impossible.

The 3 string is a killer instrument, I love it, but it's useless for playing chords. Who cares?

This is all still theory, let's get some examples up and see if we can prove this one way or the other.

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Permalink Reply by RTZGUITARS on April 2, 2014 at 5:41am

Maybe killing is the wrong word!

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Permalink Reply by Scruggy on March 31, 2014 at 5:53am

Ok heres my fist attempt at converting 6 string chords to 3 string tabs, I decided to try with Crazy Train by ozzy, as it happens seems to be all power chords which makes things easier!  Excuse writing as its handwritten.  Ps I messed up with first bit ive AA, C, G, A, F, G, A  when it should be AA, CC, GG, AA, FF, GG, AAIF IM WRONG LET ME KNOW THANKS!

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Permalink Reply by Patrick Curley on March 31, 2014 at 9:53am

Well done Scruggy. I don't know the tune so I won't go into you're arrangement but you've grasped the basics fior sure.

The trouble with this approach, and it's unavoidable, is that you're moving your left hand up and down the neck all the time so things can get a bit clunky, not always but it's possible. If you find these big moves are a drag listen to the indivual notes and see if you can find even one of them elsewhere on the neck, preferably closer to the chords around it.

For example I notice you fly up to the 10th fret to play an F. You'll find that F note on the middle string 3rd fret/position. Does it sound any good just playing that note and not the big power chord?

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Permalink Reply by Richey Kay on March 31, 2014 at 10:01am

Agreed. Plus you can play an F power chord with the top and bottom strings on the 5th fret and the middle on the 3rd...

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on March 31, 2014 at 3:37pm

Agreed. And if you crank your 3-string git through a decent amp with some distortion ( or even a little $40 battery solid state jobby), you can get away with partial and implied chords, as your ear and that of your listeners, if they know the original song, will magically fill in the missing notes. Many times, it's not about duplicating the song note for note on a 3-stringer, but getting a reasonable facsimile, that keeps you happy and playing. And believe me, if you've ever tried to reconstruct a song note for note, you begin to understand just how much rock players rely on mostly the 3 middle strings on a standard guitar for the song's basic framework - partially because much of rock is based on blues progressions and tunings.

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Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on April 6, 2014 at 2:47am

Ron, you are absolutely right about the ear "magically fill(ing) in the missing notes."  I proved that to myself by one time playing an entire set of Christmas music on a 2 string CBG tuned 1-5...... Some songs were simple 2 or three chord construction, others more complex.  Yet, the listeners were "amazed" at how much music I was getting from a stick, a box and 2 strings.... That's often the fun of the endeavor.  That magic with the ear and the effect of "lowered expectations" makes the CBG an amazing instrument to play.

 

I sometimes think that fancy 6 string CBGs back the performer into a box where they are now competing with great guitarists playing $ 5000 instruments.  That's not a (sand) box that I would want to be in.

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Permalink Reply by TN Twang on April 7, 2014 at 6:07am

Oh my!

I was just thinking about building a primitive 2-string to prove how rudimentary the instrument could be and still work, BUT, I was gonna' tune 'em a 4th apart instead of a 5th.

Does this mean that even with only 2 strings we can't all agree on the tuning?? Aargh!

TN

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Permalink Reply by TN Twang on April 8, 2014 at 2:28am

Sam,

I've thought about it some, and I've got another question...

What was the "scale" (distance from nut to bridge) on your 2-stringer??

On short-scale instruments (fiddle, mandolin, tenor banjo) I can spread my fingers to play on strings a 5th apart. After the scale gets up around 22" I can only span a 3rd, so I need strings a 4th apart.

On a 34"-scale bass guitar, I have to really stretch to do even a 4th. (I have short fingers.)

TN

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Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on April 8, 2014 at 3:26pm

I've done 2 strings from 14 inch to 34 inch scale length both fretted and fretless.  My fav was a 22 inch scale length with the a-d strings for a medium electric set.  My other fav was 24 inch scale fretless built on an act handle using a Ted Crocker pup, strung with A-D strings from a bass set.  Down and dirty.

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Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on April 8, 2014 at 3:21pm

Not an issue of agreeing.  I've explored many different set ups on every thing from 1-6 strings.  On 2 strings, I have tuned double same note, same note octave, root-3th and root-5th.  Why not try what you want?  not a problem, but a chance to explore.

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Permalink Reply by Patrick Curley on April 8, 2014 at 3:57pm

I agree that it's good to disagree and so must disagree about the benefits of agreeing.

On one hand yes explore but on the other hand once settled on a tuning you can explore its possiblities and continue to explore in a much deeper way than if you're changing all the time. I find that I can do most things, including play in different keys, with the one tuning if I really get to know it well.

That's just me, feel free to disagree.

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