4+20 Stephen Stills tuning DDDDAD

[GavinWilkinsMusic]

Hi!

I love this video. CSNY are a massive influence on me. Check out my new demo 'Yes I would' by my project 'Lets Make Movies Instead...' and let me know what you think, leave a comment etc...

Peace,

Gavin.

[getarslim]

@ strat2caster, sorry here he is as a young guy telling you the tuning is ddddad, I have played it always that way and I and sadly I am an old guy of 61 now and still play it that way. I also have many guitars in all the tunings you mention including dadgad, which works well on celtic songs, I know because I am from Scotland, however the dadgad tuning was thought up by Davy Graham, check him out on you tube. Nice to talk to you.

[getarslim]

@werdz, he explains the tuning in this film and you say he dropped it after years so his voice could cope with it. Sorry but he is still very young in this clip and he is telling you it is ddddad. Are you correcting him?

[strat2caster]

@getarslim

werdz is correct about stills dropping it to ddddad to accomodate his aging voice.

Alas I am 49 years old in this clip and I find the D tuning is more suited for my range too.

as a side note, I know play it daddad to make an easier transition between it and "open D" (d a d f# a d) and "double dropt d" (dADGBd) and of course the celtic "dadgad"

[shurikanslay3r]

4 + 20 = 24

[kristianmovies]

Far out ^^ Love it and I'm wearing a tye-die too now. Peace!

[jertlong]

Sweet dude, you're the first person i've seen use a similar tuning to me, except i tune to DADDAD and play a right handed guitar left handed lol, people call me messed up for playing this strange way in this strange tuning, but hey, i can still make great music ;) Very nice tune and style!

[evronmusic]

amazing video

[frwyguy]

great ride bro! Thanx

[Rikk303]

nice shirt

[friendofanubis]

cool

[superbeavo]

Should be DADDAD

[superbeavo]

Sills uses DADDAD on this "judy" and "word game" full stop!

[pm081]

EXCELLENT

[2012Transformation]

Dude.....this is great!

[G0K3001]

Man that is outstanding-Tuning-Stills Song- Playing-And Voice- t-shirt too! Peace

[getarslim]

He tells you the tuning so why are so many people saying its not right? I play it as he describes it in this clip and it works fine

[wendellpeek]

Nice Stills cover, dude...any friend of DADDAD is a friend of mine...

[davidennew]

ive got the mannassas album and the song on the album called bluesman play has the tuning ebeebe .I worked out the whole song in tune with the same pitch as the record .Four and twenty is exactly the same pitch as bluesman .ive been trying to figure out this tuning for 4 +20 bloody years ,and I own a very rare manuscript copy of the manassas album and i still couldnt work it out .this song is down right awesome well done dude

[TheSlackerdude]

hey man ur guitar in the background strings turn blue man its cool man lol

[Rikk303]

a rolling bass thumb pattern with a few grace notes and a voice that'd make your kitten purr from a mile away. Hope I was of some help!

[emadmadi]

bravo...

[VeritasAmantesVocat]

4+20 elders did worship

20+4 before My Love, I'll Be there

ya, now i want a fatty too

[woollydjw]

I always thought it was DADDAD too. It's the way I play it. Mind you I always play another round after 'life would cease' :) Other than that, quite good.

Cheers - Dave

[Rikk303]

Life would "simply" cease.....important possibly but maybe not. I remember writing down the words to the song for a friend and transcibing one line as being "Beware the tall men in the cupboards" DADDAD makes far more sense!

[woollydjw]

Thanks for pointing that out. Was too busy trying to get the guitar part sorted.

[Rikk303]

Hope those 2 forgotten syllables help

[Rikk303]

DADDAD surely?

[TheFrankFactor]

Nope.

[ioriorioriorio]

Thanks...didn't realize it was a drop d song....now I can really learn it! nicely performed too

[boondawgle]

Groovy man. We play a couple CSN tunes - Thanks for the song. 5*

[cooldeady]

Stills tunes his guitar DADAAD

[getarslim]

Thats just the blue string effect

[hockeynut002700]

whats goin on w/ that guitar in the background???

[DrHeathenScum]

All of the sudden, I want to smoke a fatty!

[johnaeff]

i see a ...very authentic atmosphere !

as well the sound of your guitar fits perfectly...5*****

[ToadMitch]

I use this tuning in E for Stills stuff only I have it as EBEEBE or in D :

DADDAD

[jattlo]

heyyyyy.....i think you did a good job....check out my video response....Im interested to see what you think

[sherrillwallace]

Like it man. Also, Thats the first Epiphone I've seen on youtube. I have 5 1970 FTBARD Epiphones. I love them. Also have Taylors, Gibsons ect. Check out mine on Melissa video I have posted. Check out $7k Taylor Koa on Precious Memories and my 813ce acoustic elect on "America". The're nice but I still like my Epi. give me a rating if you care to. Thanks.

[Rikk303]

Buying a 10 grand Martin won't make you sound any better if you;re a beginner

[bopplayer]

Nice man!

[call3328]

what a rediculus tuning. haha that sounds way good

[celloprofundo]

Good job! Is this the tuning he uses for Black Queen? That song is NASTY full of blues...thanks..tuner! ; )

[drchickolas]

nah you need DADGBD for Black Queen.

[getarslim]

I went along with what he says in the video DDDDAD and it sounds fine

[debmo1]

really amazed how many of the same songs we do!! Interesting tuning. I pick it with only the Bass E dropped to D and the rest standard. Play ON!

[colbrot]

rock on hippie!!!

[MartinGuitarLover1]

E E E E B E

[Vincecouk]

Nice..

[babyrapor]

I thought it was EEEEBE. In fact...I'm certain it is. I can't play along with there songs with the D tuning...in fact...there's never a D that low in any CSNY songs.

[MartinGuitarLover1]

Your Correct that's exactly how it's tuned

[adam327901]

it's a bit higher than Eb, in the studio version

[thewerdz]

Indeed. In multiple interviews Stills has confirmed that the tuning is E E E E B E. He also uses this tuning for Suite:Judy Blue Eyes, Word Game, Crossroads, and probably a few others. Of course DDDDAD works just fine sine it's simply a step lower...

[xalevedi]

@thewerdz EEEEBE is indeed what Steven used @ Woodstock, but after years he dropped it to DDDDAD. So his voice can cope with it.

[chest002]

Killer performance!!! Thanks for the tunning lesson. Will work on it now. Wow I never would have thought about that tuning. Thanks for sharing!!!

[bluemeany]

Nice. Love DADGAD. Good voice too.

[SeaspineEdu]

Say strat. Sorry bout the tuning thing. Most anything works. Hope you like the video. Can do more if you want.

[physiologyanatomy94]

fucking groovy cover brother.

[rancidthomas]

all i have to say is FUCK YES.

[U2ForNow]

Very nice

[itchyundies]

nice cover champ

[herbiesnerd]

Friggin' awesome.

[georgieporgie321]

Well thats a nice easy tuning to learn every note of :p

[sonnenberg]

Heartfelt and enlightening.

[100grapes]

OMG Wut is that guitar behind hime glowing??? LOl AWOsme

[samburger]

pretty groovy

[darklynx69]

that was pretty amazing. ive been stuck on this song since i had to borrow my dads ipod for school cause my ishit wont sustain a charge anymore. CSN is spectacular.

[SeaspineEdu]

Still like Bruce Palmer EEEEBE but I sing lower. I'bump up my capo. Sounds great!

[Pelio85]

Great cover

[Styxx7690]

I love your stuff, not only because of the songs from the 60's and 70's, but also for your commentary. CS&N has always been my favorite group. I have written a lot about them and played most of their tunes. I look forward to enjoying more of your work.

[choreographedstrings]

i like your style, u feel what you play

[bettsaj]

Very good... But wrong I'm afraid.

The tuning used by Steven on this song is open E dropped down to D. Therefore the tuning would be D A D F# A D. This is also the same tuning that he uses for Suite:Judy Blue Eyes, although I believe the key of that song is in E so wouldn't be dropped down a tone.

[jannooz1]

no dude, you're wrong. search youtube for an actual interview with stephen himself and he discusses his EEEEBE tuning and then eat crow.

[jannooz1]

my first comment was posted in response to bettsaj who dissed stratcaster's kind offering which was right, albeit dropped down a key

[SeaspineEdu]

It's based on Bruce Palmer tuning EEEBE really. try it against the Deja Vu recording.

[fpetrozz]

oh man...are you muscians or what, sometimes he changes the fucking tune.

Sometimes he plays it EEEBE and sometimes DDDAD.

Try them on every version on Youtube. Then come back. SAME THING with Suite Juddy Blue Eyes. Its DADDAD.

[SeaspineEdu]

check your video box or at SeaspineEdu. Hope you didn't mind but I didn't mean to offend.

[itchyundies]

im parched as bro and im beached

beached as bro thx for the vid champ

[staff72]

Nice!!!! Even nicer on WEED!!!

Thx

[Rikk303]

Was taught this but in a slightly different tuning and it worked well. A basic D open tuning but with the G string tuned down to D..DADDBE..you can do the normal rolling bass but double pick the G(down to D) to make that echoey effect that Stephen's made his signature sound. Try it, it might work for you. Feel so good that people still have time for this innocent and weighty music. Love you all xxxx

[Chesbay53]

Nice cover. That open tuning definitly nailsit! I have played it for years in standard tuning but don't capture it anywhere near that level of detail. great job.

[X599]

I am always interested in the right-hand action on this tune.

More a dreamer of music than a performer, I cannot work it out on my own, but that is just the case for many other pickings, too... ;-)

[sidthinker]

hey man, very smooth, nice. is that an open tuning? interesting fingering.  I'm more of a pianist, so I don't really know, but it sure looks unique.

[strat2caster]

hi thanks! it is a wierd tuning, i play this and "carry-on" in it and thats it ;o)

[Brackett632]

@sidthinker Awesome job man.Really diggin what you do. Keep on keeping on.

[ParadiseEarth1]

Hello there Bro :^) Good to be back in here.... I was just over at Ayavner just a fine a version.

Nice to see You in those fun ToobStock vids so far... :^)

[strat2caster]

hey Em i havent talked to you in a long time bro, sorry ive been slammed man...how are you?

[ParadiseEarth1]

Hello Bro :^)- My fault... I've been slacking off Tubing slammed by work's backlog. Otherwise I'm good. Spent lots of time figuring out why the new Bass I picked up gets distorted when recording into Zoom H4 recorder... new project rendering right now with Bass :^)... but just to see if everything works...

Gotto check your ToobStock vids and eventually all of the vids... Hope you and Virgil got some ideas for organizing Woodstock's Golden Celebration :^)... You've been slammed Bro?

[DiCkRiChArDz]

mellow

[strat2caster]

coolio

[PsychedelicRain69]

Great job, is one of my favorite CSNY songs. You should try Suite judy blue eyes.

peace and love friend

[strat2caster]

thanks, i love 'suite' but i would need some harmonists to help ;o)

[knomedude18]

awsome cover great job

[strat2caster]

thanks a lot man ;o)

[FreedaPeople138]

im either trippin way too hard or your guitar strings in the backround are really having a rave

[strat2caster]

or both !

[ianb4music]

Good one strat! BTW I changed my account name.

[strat2caster]

thanks bro, from what?

[ianb4music]

from poesgesiggie, hope you'll subscribe again!

[cantstoptbird]

what song are you playing here? im too high to read the description to the left

[strat2caster]

oh then youre to high to read this then

[staythecourse123]

the guitar is way too fucking load

toehrwise, nice job, man!

[strat2caster]

heheh thanks man

[damagedangel08]

sTILL WISH HE WAS STILL SINGLE

[strat2caster]

me too! ...jk...heheh

[lysolbombs470]

Sounds good! I wish my Ovation produced that deep drone. Good job again! And thanks for sending those folks my way!

[strat2caster]

hey thanks bro, its my first guitar and was $120 30 yrs ago but it has aged into a fine instrument...and your welcome man

[RockMA7]

Great stuff man..Its a pity asnt my era, nice wrk anyway

[strat2caster]

thank you ;o)

[brianm1314]

great job man love it.  CSNY 4 eva!

[strat2caster]

thank you ...i agree brian!

[campbell53]

Dude...that was awesome....Stills is one of my favorites and this is a beautiful and haunting song. You have done it justice my friend.

[strat2caster]

thanks bro , thats a great compliment!

[hamnhock]

excellent tune man..thanks for the band bio too ;-)

[strat2caster]

coolio bro !

[mulc242]

Nice job.....Stephen Stills is one of my favorite guitarists.....often overlooked.

[strat2caster]

glad you like it thanks ! a genius of his time for sure

[FuriousFork]

is this the song from which you fucking potheads get that 420 bullshit?

[strat2caster]

thats Mr.fucking pothead to you pal.

listen to the words bub, it has nothing to do with drugs

[sickatheart]

rofl!

I thought you played this song beautifully, keep on keepin' brother.

[strat2caster]

thanks a lot man, i apppreciate it

[pcollenYT]

The 5th in this tuning ,EEEEBE (or DDDDAD), is a natural, not a sharp.

[fingercheese]

I play it in ebeebe

[strat2caster]

i believe stills did it in E#E#E#E#B#E# he may have changed over the years tho

[burninsome]

In response to some of the coments about Strat's tuning, Strat tunes it to d, but I have the orig. sheet music, and Stills plays it EEEEBE. Whatever works for you in your range, and also to make it your own.

[strat2caster]

exactly ...;o)

[dyamarick]

This was one of my favorites to play. I used the same tuning except I kept the A string an A. I was an inexpensive Yamaha so you sound better than I did in any tuning!

[strat2caster]

thanks but this is a $120 Epiphone...not expensive but a sweet over 30 yr old git ;o)

[dyamarick]

Ok, interesting. I have an old FT150 Epi that I love to play because the neck width is larger fitting my fingers better.

[strat2caster]

yup , more like a gibson neck, thats why i like it for open tunings

[jwheaney]

Not a drop d dufus-d 5# tuning!!!

Nice effort

[Cameragirl803]

sounds great with the drp tun ~always loved this song and all of S.Still he was my favorite of that bunch:) You pulled it off nicely *****jane

[strat2caster]

thanks a lot Jane, you and i have very similar taste in music ;o)

[dawgfacedgremlin]

You guys rock strat!

[Cameragirl803]

Wow I haven't heard this for three months:)

I bet you won't even find this comment;0) ha,ha Great job:)

[strat2caster]

hmmm 10 minutes to zero in on cameragodess, i'm slipping ;o) thanks and come by anytime ..i'll leave the light on!

peace and Love

[arundelthomas]

very cool. I always play it in drop d. I picked up my box just now and played in d world and its nice and thick. Thnx man

[strat2caster]

thanks Emilie , i collect tiedyes ;o) you have to tune all the strings DOWN to D , except the 2nd string which is tuned DOWN to A...

[ShockDoc]

Dont know if anyone's brought this up (there are 116 comments)butI heard Bruce Palmer of Buffalo Springfield taught this tuning to Stills, but i thought it was all strings tuned to E w/ the 2nd string tuned to B (like it already was). I think that's what Suite Judy Blue Eyes was, as i know it's in E. Perhaps he just capo'd up. Great sound!

[strat2caster]

yup i tune it down to D coz its better for my ltd vocal range

[ShockDoc]

Did you have to do any neck adjustments to make it intonate okay? Do you still use a normal set of strings, or custom?

[strat2caster]

nope just d'addario lights phosphour-bronze

[cb18201]

stills plays it like you said in that E tuning but this guy just took that tuning an tuned it down a whole step.

[strat2caster]

exactly ;o)

[carlguage]

Great Man, Really Nice, 5 stars, aint heard this in a long Time, you Flashed me back to a good Time!!!

[strat2caster]

coolio bro thanks !

[mikejarguitar]

crazy tuning. Is that how stills did it? I heard that he wrote it on stage during an improv jam.

[strat2caster]

yup this is stills tuning, wierd eh....try it sometime, cool stuff jumps out at ya!

[lysolbombs470]

Stills would be proud. You've even got the cool shirt too!

[strat2caster]

thanks very much !

[lespaul13]

is it just ironic that they chose 4 and 20 or am i missing something?

[strat2caster]

no, youre not missing anything, it is ironic ;o)

[JohnnyBazooka]

Sounds really cool :-) Nice song, too. I never heard it anywhere.

[strat2caster]

thanks dude!

[KrisShred]

Man that's a great song. Thanks for covering it! :)

[strat2caster]

its one of my favorites thanks !

[KrisShred]

In my faves now ;)

[strat2caster]

wow thanks very much Kris ;o)

[tuskaiae]

Wow!! Cool...spot on!! Great Guitar on this one. Awesome!!

[strat2caster]

thanks a lot its one of my faves ;o)

[RjThisper]

Nice rendition - but what the HELL is goin' on with that light sabre guitar, man ?!

[strat2caster]

oh yeah the strat2matic by RonCo ;o)...its strung with EL wire

[RLSguitar]

Cool Strat! Thanks for the beautiful music, man.

God bless,

- Robert

[strat2caster]

thanks a lot bro and youre welcome ;o)

[ParadiseEarth1]

Nice, and thanks, a tuning tutorial of one of my favourite song.

[strat2caster]

cool ! this tuning is really fun to play with beyond this song too !

[ParadiseEarth1]

I still listen to 4 + 20 frequently. Woodstock and Carry On would be good to cover... I'll go check you other songs... :)

[strat2caster]

me too! i play carry on (in this same tuning) but i need the back-up vox for that one !

[ParadiseEarth1]

We'll be hear to listen...

[michalo2]

Hey! Blindboy is back! see "deltabluestips"

[strat2caster]

thanx bro i know! life just got better eh?!

[elisabethbette]

It sounds fine to me, I don't know the song...but keep up your dream. Talking about "Blindboy" or blind...Sh** Jeff Healey has just been here in Denmark.

[strat2caster]

thank you Bette

[ourmathew]

That sounds so nice great job.

[strat2caster]

thanks bro !

[billybrews40s]

kewl man i like

[strat2caster]

thanks bud!

[Isodig]

Just Awesome! This one is going into my mp3 player. Legally, of course.

[strat2caster]

thanks dude !

[zbct]

Hello strat

I enjoy your playing and have also been checking this page for blindboy updates. It seems as if he has returned under the name deltabluestips.

[strat2caster]

thanx very much dude !

[Truant62]

just came by to listen again...

[strat2caster]

thanks buns

i glad ya do...thank you ;o)