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playing in an open tuning: why does it always have to sound boring????

Posted by Crow on May 20, 2010 at 9:24am in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts
below, you'll find my original post. i feel that it may have generated some unintended friction,
therefore i have stricken out the text.

i apologize for any demeaning tone that may have been inferred. i have the utmost respect for everyone here, and in the future i will aspire to be more critical of my own opinion.

have a great day guys!



i play a three string, fretless slide CBG. i love it, and may never go back to fretting notes again (apart from recording some leads for my album)

but why is it that i often see an "established" cigar box guitar player, with a decent web site and album, it turns out that their idea of playing sounds like endless noodling in the same key, song after song..?

my greatest challenge, and i meet it head on, is to work with a guitar that has no frets and is tuned to an open chord, and play in any key i feel like. i mean, you really have to work at it to get good at chording with a slide, but i do it in every song.

it's the same reason i never got in to mountain dulcimers. the sound of a melody in front of the same drone notes for five minutes drives me crazy. how about some DYNAMICS??

i play covers and write originals, and i rarely come across any songs in the key of A (which my guitar is tuned), and neither do i shoehorn them all to fit. i enjoy playing each song in the key it was written.

it's a little frustrating to hear about a "good" cigar box guitar player, and it turns out he's just playing noodley little melodies on one string for minutes on end, continually strumming the other strings, never changing key. and it continues, song after song.

maybe it's just me, but when a song doesn't change key, at LEAST for the chorus, it gets pretty monotonous (literally, mono-tonal) and VERY repetetive.

 having an open-tuned instrument does NOT mean you're a slave to that key...

what do you guys think?

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Replies

  • PAPA CHARLIE June 28, 2010 at 3:04pm
    I have discovered artist that have really inspired me that I probably wouldn't have ever heard of if I hadn't joined this wonderful community. It is interesting how something that would frustrate one person impresses another. I have allways thought that simple is better. Mississippi Fred McDowell is a prime example of how one chord can be made interesting by the use of phrasing and one string melodies as an alternating bass is being picked in the background. Good Morning Little School Girl is a good example of this. Check out Fred's version of the song and then find Johnny Winter's version. The same simple song yet approached in two completely different ways. It is all a matter of taste. I like Johnny's version but I am more immpressed by the Fred McDowell version. My friend thinks it is boring yet I think it is phenominal. If you can make a tasty soup just from the bones go for it, If it don't tast quite right just keep adjusting the recipe until you get it right.
    Fred McDowell only uses a couple keys but somehow pulls it off. Me on the other hand havn't quite got my recipe perfected yet and I would probably frustrate the hell out of ya. No offense taken dude, sometimes I make myself cringe, but I think I'm getting close to finding the right spices. :-) I enjoy your posts, and I respect your oppinion.
    "Charlie"
  • Hip Bone Bellaire May 21, 2010 at 10:50pm
    Grammy winner David "Honeyboy" Edwards disagree's... He said 1 chord can kill a man dead..
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRgg_9TmI-w
  • Kevin Sprague (Knotlenny) May 21, 2010 at 9:12pm
    Bah . . . no friction, Crow. It was a good discussion.
  • Mike Willmouth May 21, 2010 at 12:53pm
    I think that you make a good point, but you also have to consider the fact that everyone else may not be where you are now in your experience, talent, and taste. That's what make "art" in all it forms so different to everyone. So the best thing that all of you who have playing for a while can do is try to encourage and teach the rest of us to play better (and be patient with us as we work through the process and grow).
  • Ottie(Skydog)Noble May 21, 2010 at 10:34am
    My concern is that all this open tuning has caused the ozone to to be destory just look at the damage it has caused .Rains like we have never seen and not to mention the Nashville flood just pay back because of the open tuning.


    For god sake this is a hobby for most of us.
  • Shane Speal May 21, 2010 at 10:29am
    Play like a badassmutherfucker

    werner said:
    :) !

    HOLLOWBELLY said:
    well, I'd reply to this post (but I'm too busy playing like a badassmutherfucker).

    In the key of A.

    with noodly bits between the strumming.

    ;0)
  • W.M. Peterson May 21, 2010 at 10:25am
    :) !

    HOLLOWBELLY said:
    well, I'd reply to this post (but I'm too busy playing like a badassmutherfucker).

    In the key of A.

    with noodly bits between the strumming.

    ;0)
  • HOLLOWBELLY May 21, 2010 at 10:01am
    well, I'd reply to this post (but I'm too busy playing like a badassmutherfucker).

    In the key of A.

    with noodly bits between the strumming.

    ;0)
  • Keni Lee Burgess May 21, 2010 at 8:15am
    Yes, diatonic instrument is a great way to describe it. One tuned in a Spanish configuration (5135), another in a Vestapol configuration (1351), and a capo. Just like Earl Scruggs and his banjo.

    Knotlenny said:
    Interesting topic. Funny, Reading this I initially had the same moment of self-reflection that Keni Lee did . . ."mmm. maybe that's me?" hah-ha. I guess that's the nature of musicians.

    The truth is, that I have come to think of CBG's (at least the way I play 'em) as almost a diatonic instrument - like a harmonica. I keep a couple handy in different "power chord" tunings. So I'm not continually plowing along in the same key.

    For some reason my favorites have evolved into Ab and Bb. ??
  • Kevin Sprague (Knotlenny) May 20, 2010 at 10:30pm
    Interesting topic. Funny, Reading this I initially had the same moment of self-reflection that Keni Lee did . . ."mmm. maybe that's me?" hah-ha. I guess that's the nature of musicians.

    The truth is, that I have come to think of CBG's (at least the way I play 'em) as almost a diatonic instrument - like a harmonica. I keep a couple handy in different "power chord" tunings. So I'm not continually plowing along in the same key.

    For some reason my favorites have evolved into Ab and Bb. ??
This reply was deleted.