The Tattler - Ry Cooder, against the tuning key

Ry Cooder: "I thought of three good ideas... Putting a banjo tuning on the guitar was a very easy, good thing to do. Another tremendously good idea was playing against the tuning key - if you're in open G, play in the key of D. You get these inverted cords. And rhythm mandolin was a pretty good idea" (Rolling Stone Aug 21, 2008). This video shows how the first two good ideas work out on the Washington Phillips tune, as revised by Cooder and Russ Titelman, assuming the banjo tuning Ry was talking about was open G. Macbook built-in camera and mic. Mark Knopfler uses exactly this idea in Romeo and Juliet, as explained here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igxGkwz6qVA

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• The Tattler
• Washington Philips
• Ry Cooder
• Russ Titelman
• Mark Knopfler

[mlongley777]

From looking at you play this it seems it's actually in a dropped D tuning ie bass E down to D. Am I right on this? Anyway ..really nicely played.

[lonkelly]

@mlongley777 You are correct about the 6th string, but it goes farther than that. The 1st, 5th, and 6th strings are all dropped a whole step. So, if you started with a standard-tuned guitar (EADGBE) this tuning would be, low to high, D, G, D, G, B, D. If you're playing a song in G, that would be V, I, V, I, III, V. For a song in D, like in this example, the same intervals would make I, IV, I, IV, VI, I. Banjos are commonly tuned G, D, G, B, D.

[JoeGancher]

...never mind..got it..but I don't understand your comment "I'm playing a bajo sexto" ...looks like a tele to me :>)

[lonkelly]

@JoeGancher It's a _Fender_ Bajo Sexto: basically a Tele with a neck 3 frets longer, made in the custom shop. They must have made quite a few. If you Google "Fender Bajo Sexto" you'll find lots of info. I don't have any idea why Fender named it as they did, when there already was a different instrument with that name.

[mlongley777]

@lonkelly . Thanks for getting back to me and yes I see what you mean. So probably it could be played in both dropped D and open G...mmm interesting. Gonna give it a try. Happy Trails.

[Baci302]

@lonkelly You are a freaking genius. "Combining open tunings .... " Yikes. You're an inspiration, my friend. Can't wait to hear it! Don't keep us waiting.

[lonkelly]

@Baci302 I've now worked out the first half of I Think It's Gonna Work Out Fine, at least the fingerstyle guitar, bass, and main slide part. It's in E. The finger-style intro and its continuation through the song can be played with a D or G tuning shape capoed at the 2nd fret. I can't figure out which way is better, but I've put most of my effort into the D tuning version. You can also combine the tunings by using a G tuning shape but tuning the 5th string up a whole step from G tuning.

[EddieBeakney]

Nice tone, nice playing.

[Bumptiously]

I'd be willing to live as a floorboard in your house so I could hear you playing this in real life. That was just beautiful..... Instead I'll have to settle for trying to learn how myself. Thanks for the "banjo tuning" idea.

[JoeGancher]

... What exactly is a bajo sexto ?