C6 with Chromatics

[Paul Strojan]

Any thoughts on adding chromatic strings to the C6 tuning (D, B, E, C, A, G, E C)?

[Jim Mckay]

Hi Paul.
I have C6th on one neck with a "D" on top D-E-C-A-G-E-C-Bb Hi to low. Very useful with D as re-entrant and not in the way
to confuse normal C6th grips.
The "B" certainly would give some nice options. Not sure as re-entrant or between the C and the A.
I sometimes drop the "C" to a "B" for some songs.
Good luck with your experiment. Keep us posted with your result.

[Greg Cutshaw]

The 12 string D13 tuning gives you some great chromatic sounds:

https://www.gregcutshaw.com/D13%20Coped ... ounds.html

This guitar also does that:

https://www.gregcutshaw.com/Excel%2012% ... yless.html

Putting a D on top of the C6 tuning gives you one chromatic string which you can also raise to a D# on the 8th floor pedal giving a ton more useful sounds.

[Twayn Williams]

Any thoughts on adding chromatic strings to the C6 tuning (D, B, E, C, A, G, E C)?

Looks like the re-entrant strings on E9 PSG. Is that what you're going for? If you already play PSG I imagine it'd feel pretty homey.

For myself, I hate re-entrant strings, makes my brain wiggle too much. On my PSG (when I played it) I ended up almost never touching them.

OTHO I was talking with Jeremy Wakefield the other day (he was playing a gig up the street from me) and he uses re-entrant strings on the bottom 2 strings on his D-8 necks to facilitate some alternate chordal grips. I forget the exact details, but I think on the front neck he had a C#m7 tuning on the top with a pair of re-entrant strings on the bottom to get a C13 tuning. Whatever it was, man, he rocked it!!

[Paul Strojan]

Yes, I am inspired by the pedal steel chromatic strings. I asked myself, “Where would the steel guitar gone had pedals not been developed?”

[Twayn Williams]

Yes, I am inspired by the pedal steel chromatic strings. I asked myself, “Where would the steel guitar gone had pedals not been developed?”

I think it would've gone where it did: mulitneck monstrosities

[Fred]

I did it a long time ago except the high B string was on the low end next to the low C because that's what Joaquin Murphy did. At first I had a G on top like Murphy, but also tried the D. I didn't really know what to do with them at the time and eventually landed on an eight string version of the Leavitt tuning.

The B was pretty cool. Especially with the low C tuned up to C# for an A9 and dim and m7b5 stuff. It made some ii V7 I stuff lay out really nice.

[Landon Jarrel]

I use an A6 tuning with re-entrant strings on the bottom, which would be the following in the key of C:

G
E
C
A
G
E
(b) - pitched beneath string 3
(d) - pitched above string 3

I use the thumb to work the re-entrant strings. Between the straight bar combinations and slants, there is a wide range of possibilities.
Here's something interesting to think about. Take the above tuning and pitch it in A:

E ------ (1)
C# ------(6)
A
F# ------ (2/9)
E
C#
(g#) ------(3/13)
(b) ------ (5)

The parenthetical numbers represent the scale degree of that string pitch in E major; these parenthetical strings yield the voicings of several of the old-school E9 and E13 tunings. You can raise the C# on the bottom to D, thus giving a minor 7th, and then you have the ingredients for a proper 9th or 13th tuning.

[Christopher Woitach]

Hi!

I use Maurice Anderson’s 12 string tuning, but in Bb. Since I play Bb6 12 string pedal steel, it seemed safer, somehow…

High to low:

C
A
F
D
Bb
G
F
D
Bb
G
Eb
C

The A and C on strings 1 and 2 are reentrant - lots of things possible here. If I wasn’t so used to my pedal tuning I’d raise the low Bb to B, maybe I will sometime.

[Michael Kiese]

Yes, I am inspired by the pedal steel chromatic strings. I asked myself, “Where would the steel guitar gone had pedals not been developed?”

Aloha Paul,

Just my 2¢ on a sleepless night…

It went exactly where it is right now. Both straight steel and Pedal Steel are equally obscure instruments. Both are difficult instruments that are featured in musical genres that are past their golden eras. Steel guitar still has its magic despite it all.

I’m always intrigued by the notion some players have that the pedal steel is superior to straight steel (not saying this is you or anyone on this thread). From my observations, PSG players rely too much on their mechanisms to make the changes they need. They don’t really know their tuning, voicings, and slants.

It’s kinda akin to how GPS technology allows drivers to mindlessly follow the next direction, without a full understanding of how objects on the map are oriented in relation to each other.

I’m convinced that straight steel is actually much more challenging and difficult than PSG because getting around on it requires a much deeper understanding of harmonic substitution. All the changes you need are there, but the pedals and levers are in your head.

Most PSG players primarily use the E9 neck, and the popular music genres played on E9 PSG have simple chord progressions with V7 to I relationships.

Honestly, had PSG not been developed, and had Steel guitar music still been economically viable, I think incredible players would have come out of the woodwork and demonstrated how deeply you can apply and adapt simple tunings.

All you need is knowledge of how to stack and pair major and minor triads with each other to get any sound you want.

Ex) C major Triad and a B minor triad played together will give you a Cmaj7#11 chord. Fancy Jazz chord.

Ex) C (whole half) diminished scale has a series of major and minor triads in it.
- Major triads that are minor thirds apart: B major, D major, F major, and Ab major.
- Minor triads that are minor thirds apart: B minor, D minor, F minor, and Ab minor.

Ex) if you needed to get a dominant chord (some kind of G7), just stack a G major triad with a D minor triad, and you get a G9 chord.

So just with major and minor triads (both readily available in C6 tuning), you have major, minor, dominant, and diminished sounds. What more do you need?

There is still a lot of undiscovered real estate on straight steel, and steel guitar in general.

[Paul Strojan]

The way you are talking seems to assume that you are playing as a part of a band where the steel is backing up a vocalist or a lead instrument. Sadly, I am playing by myself and I feel the need to be able to harmonize as well as play the lead.
One frustrating thing is that my local guitar stores don’t sell individual strings.

[Michael Kiese]

The way you are talking seems to assume that you are playing as a part of a band where the steel is backing up a vocalist or a lead instrument. Sadly, I am playing by myself and I feel the need to be able to harmonize as well as play the lead.
One frustrating thing is that my local guitar stores don’t sell individual strings.

Aloha Paul,

You can achieve exactly what you're describing on both straight steel and PSG. Just listen to Mike Neer. He's demonstrating that stuff all the time on YouTube.

The language and structure of music works the same way across all applications.

I don't bother with local guitar stores, I order custom string sets online at Stringsbymail.com. Or juststrings.com.

For some reason, halfwounds have fallen out of popularity, so they're very hard to find in guitar stores as full sets, much less individual strings.

Good luck and enjoy!

[Paul Strojan]

I put a set of E9 Pedal steel strings on and tuned them: F#, D#, G#, E, C#, B, G#, E. I have really enjoyed having the chromatic strings available to play melodies.