Guitar question opinions required please

Subject: Guitar question opinions required please
From: GUEST,muppitz at work
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 03:43 AM

Is it acceptable to play guitar accompaniment for a song on the 9th fret? (I usually got nosebleeds above the 5th!)
If not, can someone advise me on transposing in open tunings!!!

muppitz x

Subject: RE: Guitar question opinions required please
From: Peace
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 03:56 AM

Re transposing in open tunings--what do you need to know specifically?

Subject: RE: Guitar question opinions required please
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 04:00 AM

Absolutely no reason why not if it sounds OK and if your fingers can fit into the remaining space.

I do "Gairdner Child" in DADGAD with capo at 9th fret - the guitar sounds better at root, but the top note of D is then in the wrong bit of range for my voice - so at the 9th fret it is a B and the overall voice tone better.

I do "Step it out Mary" in standard tuning at the 8th to put it in Cminor

Subject: RE: Guitar question opinions required please
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 04:02 AM

seems to work for James Blunt

Subject: RE: Guitar question opinions required please
From: Peace
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 04:04 AM

I'm with these guys. If it sounds good, go for it!

Subject: RE: Guitar question opinions required please
From: mooman
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 04:04 AM

Quite acceptable if you can manage it. Occasionally in DADGAD I would capo at 10 to play in C (and I have big hands) although I have reverted more to standard tuning these days.

Peace

moo

Subject: RE: Guitar question opinions required please
From: Peace
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 04:11 AM

That's difficult without a cut-away guitar. I have often played in the key of A using the open D tuning. The drop to the seventh gives a great sound in 'rock'-type folk.

Subject: RE: Guitar question opinions required please
From: Striper
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 06:45 AM

It most definately acceptable.
remember if it sounds good and is fits the song it will
be ok. There aren't any rules when playing cultural music,
'in my humble opinion'. Go for it.

Subject: RE: Guitar question opinions required please
From: Mooh
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 06:55 AM

I concur, though some tweaking of the tuning might be necessary as capoing sometimes drives the pitch a bit sharp.

I'll send you a good capo transposition chart if you send an off-Mud email address.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: Guitar question opinions required please
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 08:52 AM

Remeber the Fielding capoing lore.

1. Never capo tighter than you absolutely have to.
2. Put the capo as close to the fret as possible - I take this one stage further, and aim to get the very edge of the capo rubber actually pinching the string to the fret, but not so far forward as to damp the string.
3. Put grooves for the fat strings in a capo to be used on a 12-string, otherwise the fat strings are bent more than the thin ones and go sharp.

Subject: RE: Guitar question opinions required please
From: GUEST,muppitz at work
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 09:12 AM

Peace, what I mean with the transposing this is that the songs in question, I'm playing in DADF#AD but if I were in standard tuning I would be able to say, change the starting chord to something more convenient and work the rest out around it but with open tunings I have no idea what the chord shapes I'm playing are so I couldn't change a D to a G and work out the rest from there, if you see what i mean!

Mooh, I'm using my work net connection at the moment as my home connection is down (Hench, no cookie!) and I can't PM so I'll have to be brave and tell you that my e-mail address is [e-mail]
It's a secondary one as the home e-mail comes with the home net connection!

Thanks for the advice and opinions everyone!

muppitz x

Subject: RE: Guitar question opinions required please
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 10:29 AM

There is this Chord Voicings - you set the tuning and get positions for various chords in that tuning. If you're looking to find which are the chords for fingerings you're already using it's a bit of a cumbersome way to do it, but assuming you're playing in D you can start by looking up the shapes for D, Em, F#m, G, A, A7 and Bm - that should let you see most of what you're doing already. It will also let you find suitable fingerings for other chords you might need.

Mick (who never uses anything apart from standard or dropped D)

Subject: RE: Guitar question opinions required please
From: PoppaGator
Date: 27 Jul 05 - 10:44 AM

Hey, there are hard-and-fast rules about what's "acceptable." You have to decide for yourself if a given song in a given capoed-way-up-the-neck key a) is playable and (b) sounds OK.

My feeling is that a guitar choked up to the ninth or tenth fret sounds a bit thin by itself, but can add a nice interesting sound when played along with another instrument or two, like a standard-tuned guitar with no capo or maybe capoed at the 2d or 3d fret. Just last week, some old friends kicked off a song I normally play in D, but they were in the key of C. I clamped that capo onto the tenth fret, scrunched up my left hand as small as I could, and proceeded to pick ~ sounded great!