M Ward - Vincent O`Brien

[lafenice88]

Amazing...like Caroline too!

[xoEASYox]

Simply amazing

[BEATLESman1988]

fantastic

[Johnnyboycivello1986]

is this dropped D tuning ? does anyone has the tab for this awesomeness :) !!!!

[Jo0niz]

@Johnnyboycivello1986 I'd say open D tuning :)

[alexj89]

@Johnnyboycivello1986 He uses a unique tuning that I'm not sure if (m)any other guitarists use. There's a video on youtube of him playing "Rollercoaster" at St. David's Church in Austin where he stops about a minute into it to tune. From this I've gathered that it's sort of an open Dmaj6/9 chord: D A D F# B E.... So you're almost there, it's just dropped D with the g string (hehehe) tuned down a 1/2 step to F#. Not sure if he uses this on every song though but it's fun to play around with!

[knut]

M Ward is amazing. Sucks that "She & Him" are more popular than his solo stuff. Zooey has more volume than singing abilities.

[donnygong1]

I might love M Ward more than my mother. Don't tell her, please.....it would break her heart.

[Jwats17]

it's the voice of jesus

[andrewptob]

@Mouldytone I think it might be a Gibson Hummingbird...

[jamjarduignan]

Lenka's cover is way better.

[jpsimmlee]

@jamjarduignan I hope your bullshitting. Cause that was awful.

[fungusfaceman]

He's good :)

[natedoggiii]

@awsmkiz

There's a fantastic version of him playing it solo sat at a piano. From Dallas last year I think, I'll try and dig it up.

- -

As for the tuning it's definitely DADF#BE and it's clearly his favourite as he uses it pretty much constantly. Fuel For Fire, Chinese Translation, Rave On, One Hundred Million Years etc.

He uses open D (DADF#AD) on some stuff (I'll Be Yr Bird live) and standard tuning occasionally (Here Comes The Sun, Shangri-La, Let's Dance).

[machineinindia]

@natedoggiii PIANO version? Advance five stars.

[awsmkiz]

Looks like my favorite M. Ward song is just as awesome acoustic. Great song and a great performance. Too bad there's no pro shot of the non-acoustic version...

[emarkwa]

so talented.

[fattycrabrocks]

me too :)

[CaseyLovesBrightEyes]

I love this so very much

[slytown]

D6/9 tuning. I think it's what Fahey used too. Took me awhile to get used to bending my fingers that way on the bridge. Hard as hell.

[mysticalspiral26]

This song reminds me of my stepdad who died 6 yrs ago today.Unfornately, he didnt get himself together before his time ran out.This is such a beautiful song.Great Musician.

[cortezthekiller512]

That man can play the hell out of a guitar.

[aaaSilviaaaa]

So magnificent! thnks for the post...I love this guy

[Eviland]

It's definitely not drop D... I think it's Open D DADF#AD not sure though.

[555170612]

So good.  The Go-Getter was a great movie.

[Folly660]

Beautiful

[oneyearafter]

he's a genius! that's all i can say ;)

[IOWNAPU9]

his music is one of a kind :)

[jrcenina85]

i heard that in high school, his favorite bands were sonic youth and the beatles -- you've got noise (good noise!) on one hand and beautiful, precise pop music on the other.

[fusteretdegavarda]

Wonderful...Just The Best.

[appleturnover1]

thank you, thank you for posting this!

[rp03bs1]

I want him to read me bedtime stories

[onegreenday]

@rp03bs1 yah, under the covers.................

[alexhumphrey1]

This is incredible. The man is a god. I just wish his guitar was in tune.

[stlskateboarding]

its probly supposed to be that way

[goatcheesenog]

Anyone know whether he's playing in open d or drop d tuning? Feels kind of like drop d to me, but I'm not really sure.

[goatcheesenog]

I think it's D A D F# B e

[sk8tf69]

drop d

[yourfuzzyscarf]

I absolutely love him but he slightly reminds me of Adam Sandler.

[davedylan22]

perhaps he just didnt tune his guitar right, it realy means nothing i dont think.

[crayolaryan]

its open tuning.

[nicetimetodie]

christ on a cracker....what an amazing performance.

[thebitchdowntheblock]

Maybe, just maybe it's slightly out of tune 'cuz M. Ward wanted to convey that Vincent O'Brien himself is slightly out of tune... duhh...

[jrcenina85]

you should be a lawyer!

[stevieb89]

nah thats what makes live performing awesome, screw perfection...

[jrcenina85]

who are you disagreeing with? we all seem to think the same thing!

[zanderman15]

HAHAHAHAHA!!!! LMFAO!

That's hilarious!

[jrcenina85]

haha

[Ouis]

ehhhh its not poorly tuned, just that when your that low strumming too hard can actually bend it out of tune for a sec... GOD I LOVE THIS

[jrcenina85]

exactly, so if that happens he could've tuned a bit higher. it's poorly tuned to HIS playing. everyone plays a guitar differently and some musicians (jeff buckley to name one) take the time to compensate for flaws in intonation with the instrument and how they strum/pick naturally by fine tuning before songs. if he knows that he strums hard, and that it sounds flat, he could've tuned his low string slightly higher. therefore, his guitar is not as close to being in tune as it can be.

[Ouis]

good point, either way, awesome song like you said even with the poorly tuned string!

[Pomattic]

I find that one of the nice things about the guitar is that the imperfections add to the sound. Example 'accidental' muting between chords, 'accidental' slide when moving chords, the occasional buzzing from not pressing a string well and such add to the 'raw' sound of a song... for me it sounds perfect. : ) (my thoughts on this)

[jrcenina85]

your thoughts are my thoughts

[jrcenina85]

holy shit, i got the shivers listening to this...that rarely happens to me. fuckin' treasure, poory tuned low string and all.

[rezz110]

yeah me too. Lovely.

[eskoit]

beautiful.

[rc91487]

bantha, can you post the chords you worked out in d6/9?

[fusteretdegavarda]

Es el mejor!!

[onegreenday]

man i just caught this on 88.1 holy cross radio and here it is on the tube .gotta luv the tube. aint this a sweet song. thanks ward m.

[Ouis]

this song is being played on a baritone guitar tuned to low A which would be like tuning to a low D in standard tuning....

[bigbabyjesusicantwai]

are you sure? what makes you say that its a baritone guitar? and what does tuning to a low d in standard mean?

[Ouis]

Im 100 percent positive if your in standard tuning and you tune your top string down a step its the common low D, but on a baritone guitar you're tuned BEADF#B, but he has the top string tuned down a step to A so hes tuned AEADF#B, I'm pretty positive.

[whenifoundtheknife]

yeah i´m pretty sure it's

DADF#BE

[hovogliadicommentare]

i love this guy

[bigbabyjesusicantwai]

i said D9 cuz im fairly certain that he recorded entire albums in that tuning. ive been messing with it today and im fairly certain its D9, its difficult to play like that tho. he plays in a very unconventional style.

[banthafodder89]

what is D9 tuning? DADF#AE?...

i dunno, i worked out the chords with 6/9 and it sounds pretty cool. so, even if i'm wrong, i discovered a pretty damn rad tuning, which is okay w me.

..i'm close by portland...so maybe ill roll down by M.'s place and talk to him about it hah

[banthafodder89]

anybody know what tuning this is in, other than "BEAST"? hah

[bigbabyjesusicantwai]

i believe its open D9. how to do that i have no idea. but he is a BEAST

[banthafodder89]

so... DADGAE?... damn dude im dying to learn this song. i'll let you know when i have the time to figure it out

[banthafodder89]

that's def not right...ill get it tho

[bigbabyjesusicantwai]

im trying to work it out myself i think it might not be D9. ill let you know if i get any breaks.

[banthafodder89]

D6/9 tuning? DADF#BE. i was messing around and that sounds right (kinda awkward to play...but right. google "m. ward DADF#BE" and it looks like he uses it quite a bit. try it out..kinda cool tuning

[banthafodder89]

oops forgot to click reply...anyways, D6/9

[bigbabyjesusicantwai]

he is an open tuning BEAST.

[JordanOgg]

Spellbinding. I think the guitar is an old Gibson.

[JohnnyJohnnyOoh]

Thanks for the contribution, I also thought at first it could have been a Gibson, yet the headstock doesnt seem to a Gibson.

Maton might be a clue, I don't know their guitars much, indeed. Are they as good as it sounds here?

[JohnnyJohnnyOoh]

Would anyone know the model and brand of this guitar - I can't figure it out through the shape of it...

Thanks

[Mouldytone]

@JohnnyJohnnyOoh Finally found out what the guitar is. It`s a Gibson Blueridge made in 1973. Sounds pretty good for a guitar with laminated Rosewood back and sides!

Tony

[julianzfarm]

@Mouldytone more important than the guitar are M. Ward's hands!

[Mouldytone]

@julianzfarm That`s a very good point. Thanks for making it.

Tony

[JohnnyJohnnyOoh]

@Mouldytone Thanks a lot for the info, how did you finally find out the model and the year of production?

[thecicerone]

@Mouldytone It's beautiful

[gustercc]

this guys is unbelievably awesome. You get the whole package too: great lyricist, great guitar player, sweet-as-honey voice. What more can you as for. Kinda Tom waits meets Beck meets John Fahey.

[coop2230]

he's so awesome