@ambergrey
The Rain Song, Led Zeppelin. It’s a Gsus tuning so thick to thin strings are D G C G C D. I’ve never run across another song that uses this tuning.
Apparently George Harrison complained to Page that Zep never did any really pretty ballads, and cited Something as an example. So to prove that they could do it Page and Plant wrote this song. The opening two chords are actually the opening chords for Something as well, kind of adding insult to injury.
@GuitarSith@ambergrey This would be my suggestion too—spent quite a bit of time with it over the years. I sort of remember that Joni Mitchell used this one too, but don’t know that for a fact. (Also: the live version is a step higher.)
@boxspring@ambergrey
For the recording I believe he used standard tuning. I’ve seen the chord chart for that and it’s absolutely brutal. Even in the Gsus tuning there are a few changes that will stretch your fingers further than you ever thought possible.
@GuitarSith@ambergrey Nope, the album isn’t in standard—I’ve played at least the beginning both ways and it’s definitely in the Gsus tuning. I don’t remember there being any stretches as hard as, say, “Message In A Bottle”. Mostly I could just never get the fingerpicking/hybrid picking at the end to sound right (I.e. I’ve got the notes but the right hand part is beyond me).
@boxspring@NigelTufnel@ambergrey
Andy Summers is definitely a very underrated player. And of course totally overshadowed by Sting, as was Stewart Copeland. An amazing trio of musicians that gave so much to us in their very brief time together.
@boxspring@ambergrey
I know that he’s used standard tuning on it at some point, but definitely not live. Pretty sure I read in a Zep book somewhere (maybe When Giants Walked The Earth) that it was in the studio. It’s possible that the acoustic guitar is standard and the electric is Gsus when I listen to it.
@eyesquash@ambergrey
It's one of my favourite songs too. The initial songbook I was using back in the 70's showed it in standard tuning and I wasn't smart enough then to really think about alternate tunings. I learned it about ten years ago using this tutorial, and it really shows how brilliant Page is at layering parts.
@eyesquash@ambergrey
Actually did a cover of Ten Years Gone back in 2017. It was mixed by guy I was collaborating with at the time, Rick McLure and the lead was done by a guy I was working with, Felipe.
@gogmagog@eyesquash@ambergrey
Keep going, you’re always going to be improving. It’s also good to keep old projects like this for reference too, because it’s a great way to see how much better you’re getting.
@ambergrey Another came to mind: open G a la Keith Richards, but leave the low E. Originally out of laziness (I wasn’t going to use it as Keith takes the low string off) but then discovered a nice Em voicing and wrote a song around that and then wrote this with harmonics: https://nohohank.bandcamp.com/track/absolute-zero-2
@ambergrey DADF#AD and Hawaiian C6 although I haven't practiced the latter for a while, it's still a favorite because it makes instantly available a major triad and its relative minor - like it does on the mighty ukulele.
@ambergrey Open G for Floyd’s Fearless, Zeppelin’s Dancing Days, and most Stones songs! Open D for Street Fighting Man and Bron Y-aur Stomp. Open E for Gimme Shelter. DADGAD for Black Mountain Side. DADGBD capo 2 for Neil’s Ride My Llama. Open C for Friends. Love ‘em all!
@ambergrey I mainly use All Fourths tuning (I think that's what it's called? Where the Band E are tuned up to C and F. I'm not very good at complex chords, but this tuning allows me to shift power chords wherever I want without having to think. I can usually find some open string droney stuff to put into arpeggios if I write something in a common key...
@ambergrey ever since I was playing in a Pink Floyd cover band, I changed one acoustic to that. Hey You is played in Nashville (Gilmour’s is slightly different than standard).
@ambergrey to be honest I think I never changed the tuning of my guitar, except maybe the very rare occasion when I went drop D for some specific heavier song. I'm just too used to the standard tuning (with its advantages and its challenges) to feel comfortable learning new fingerings and positions that are pretty much muscular memory for me by now. I've struggled with the ukulele for the same reason 😂
@lminiero I love how you’ve put this. Regular tuning really has advantages and challenges. There are times when I miss the freedom of piano to have any note anytime. Or even lever harp, which is the same but more limited than piano. But the limits of guitar add a complexity that is just enticing enough… the puzzle is irresistible :blobcatcoffee:
@ambergrey oh piano is a different beast... I took piano lessons for a while and still couldn't do it! 😅 Too hard for me to have different brains in the two hands, which is something that's much easier to go around on guitar instead. If you can play both I'm really envious!
@lminiero I find piano to be …not easier, but more straightforward. But Youre right, I agree about the two minds in the hands. I’d prefer to have more brain space available to sing instead, most of the time :blobcatcoffee:
@lminiero@ambergrey I think I prefer using a capo to alt or open tunings for similar reasons. Chord shapes are the same - just a matter of learning what key I’m in when capo is affixed.
@RyanHyde@NigelTufnel@lminiero I was planning to go back through his vids to see if he talked about using multiple capos. I assumed since he loves baritone, he probably found an interesting configuration with them. One of them was smaller. I’m intrigued and want to try :)
@ambergrey@NigelTufnel@lminiero ohhh, I get it. So one was across the whole board, and one was only across a few of the higher strings. I can sorta understand how that’s useful. Basically gets you alternate tunings on the fly.
@RyanHyde@NigelTufnel@lminiero I think so. Larger one was on (low to high strings) EADGB. The smaller one was on EADG only I believe. So the high E was still unaffected. :blobcatcoffee:
@RyanHyde@NigelTufnel@lminiero ok so he’s using a three-string capo on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th strings (ADG) only for the smaller one. Seems like I have homework to do on capos!!!! :blobcatcoffee:
@ambergrey Drop D and Double Drop D, mostly for Neil Young songs (like most of the Harvest album or Cortez the Killer). I used to know the tuning for Zeppelin’s Rainsong long ago but would have to relearn it now. Funny thing about alt and open tunings I learned years ago: they sound amazing until I realized I was still just playing I IV V chord progressions. 😀
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