CGCGCD tuning and Song arranging/accompaniment
Feb 6, 2013 13:46:36 GMT
Martin, Phil Taylor, and 6 more like this
Post by davewhite on Feb 6, 2013 13:46:36 GMT
I recently wanted to learn and perform John Doyle’s song and arrangement of “The Cocks are Crowing” from his “Wayward Son” CD and posted my version at “The Plucky Duck”. This song was arranged in CGCGCD tuning and as I had transcribed it to learn it I thought it a good opportunity to give a quick overview of this tuning and into song arrangements using open/altered tunings with this as an example so here we go.
Altered tunings mainly derive from Open major/minor tunings and CGCGCD derives from Open C which is CGCGCE (C major) or CGCGCEb (C minor). The major or minor third (E or Eb) make these tunings definitely major or minor but altered tunings are ambivalent and constructed by suspending the third. This is an advantage when playing music such as that labelled “Celtic” where the modes that the tunes are written in are ambivalent and often flit between major or minor. They are also “resonant” tunings as when playing the melody the open notes support it chordally and support each other – whether played or ringing as sympathetic resonances. Also chords to support the melody are easily formed by fretting only a few notes. This also makes these tunings attractive to accompany songs. In CGCGCD the major/minor third is “suspended” to the second note of the scale, D, on the highest string and so is called Csus2 tuning. This ambivalence can be made overtly minor by fretting the first fret of the first string and overtly major by fretting the second fret on the first string. In terms of the scale intervals the tuning goes R 5 R 5 R 2 – where R is the root – and the R 5 R is a common element with all of the altered tunings. A number of singers use Csus2 tuning – Nic Jones (who often drops the intervals down a tone to Bbsus2), Martin Simpson, Chris Wood and of course John Doyle are a few examples.
Here are some of the main chord shapes in Csus2 tuning to accompany songs in the key of C or G – these are just a few versions, you can find lots more all over the fretboard:
C
0 0 0 0 0 2
4 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 5
0 2 0 0 0 2
G
x 0 2 0 2 0
x 0 2 4 0 0
F
5 5 0 0 0 0
x x 5 0 0 7
5 0 0 2 0 0
D
x x 2 2 2 4
Am
x 2 4 0 0 0
Dm
x 0 2 0 0 3
Em
x x 4 4 4 5
So now let’s think a little about the art of song arrangement and accompaniment. The first thing is to establish the melody of the song and chordally how it can be supported. Generally for song in a major key you only need five chords – the root, fourth, fifth, the second minor and sixth minor. In Csus2 tuning these are C, F, G, Dm and Am respectively. I have transcribed he melody and main chordal sequence for “The Cocks are Crowing” in notation and tab and you can see/download the pdf file here. Note that the tune is played with the Capo on the fourth fret and so is in the key of E but I am showing the chords as if it were being played with no capo in the key of C. The accompaniment basically uses these chords (in variations from those shown above) with occasional melody and counterpoint lines and an alternating bass picking pattern. As the song has ten verses there are other tricks that can be done to break it up like using the sixth minor or fourth as a substitute for the root chord and you can hear this in the last three verses. There also is an introduction which also serves as a bridge after the sixth verse and completes the song. I have also transcribed this and you can see/download the pdf file here.
So there it is – simples. You can hear my version here and for John Doyle’s exquisite version that it is based on get the CD “Wayward Son”.
I hope that this has been of interest and hope that you will have a play around with using this tuning to arrange or accompany songs that you know.
Altered tunings mainly derive from Open major/minor tunings and CGCGCD derives from Open C which is CGCGCE (C major) or CGCGCEb (C minor). The major or minor third (E or Eb) make these tunings definitely major or minor but altered tunings are ambivalent and constructed by suspending the third. This is an advantage when playing music such as that labelled “Celtic” where the modes that the tunes are written in are ambivalent and often flit between major or minor. They are also “resonant” tunings as when playing the melody the open notes support it chordally and support each other – whether played or ringing as sympathetic resonances. Also chords to support the melody are easily formed by fretting only a few notes. This also makes these tunings attractive to accompany songs. In CGCGCD the major/minor third is “suspended” to the second note of the scale, D, on the highest string and so is called Csus2 tuning. This ambivalence can be made overtly minor by fretting the first fret of the first string and overtly major by fretting the second fret on the first string. In terms of the scale intervals the tuning goes R 5 R 5 R 2 – where R is the root – and the R 5 R is a common element with all of the altered tunings. A number of singers use Csus2 tuning – Nic Jones (who often drops the intervals down a tone to Bbsus2), Martin Simpson, Chris Wood and of course John Doyle are a few examples.
Here are some of the main chord shapes in Csus2 tuning to accompany songs in the key of C or G – these are just a few versions, you can find lots more all over the fretboard:
C
0 0 0 0 0 2
4 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 5
0 2 0 0 0 2
G
x 0 2 0 2 0
x 0 2 4 0 0
F
5 5 0 0 0 0
x x 5 0 0 7
5 0 0 2 0 0
D
x x 2 2 2 4
Am
x 2 4 0 0 0
Dm
x 0 2 0 0 3
Em
x x 4 4 4 5
So now let’s think a little about the art of song arrangement and accompaniment. The first thing is to establish the melody of the song and chordally how it can be supported. Generally for song in a major key you only need five chords – the root, fourth, fifth, the second minor and sixth minor. In Csus2 tuning these are C, F, G, Dm and Am respectively. I have transcribed he melody and main chordal sequence for “The Cocks are Crowing” in notation and tab and you can see/download the pdf file here. Note that the tune is played with the Capo on the fourth fret and so is in the key of E but I am showing the chords as if it were being played with no capo in the key of C. The accompaniment basically uses these chords (in variations from those shown above) with occasional melody and counterpoint lines and an alternating bass picking pattern. As the song has ten verses there are other tricks that can be done to break it up like using the sixth minor or fourth as a substitute for the root chord and you can hear this in the last three verses. There also is an introduction which also serves as a bridge after the sixth verse and completes the song. I have also transcribed this and you can see/download the pdf file here.
So there it is – simples. You can hear my version here and for John Doyle’s exquisite version that it is based on get the CD “Wayward Son”.
I hope that this has been of interest and hope that you will have a play around with using this tuning to arrange or accompany songs that you know.