Calling all weekend guitar warriors

originally posted by: shagg
Hey tetra, a couple thoughts....

If you're an apple hardware devotee, an iRig and an app called AmpliTube might fit the bill for you. The iRig lets you plug your guitar (or bass) into your iPhone/iPad/mac and use AmpliTube or GarageBand as an amp simulator. Amplitube also has a tuner function built in that might help you get to the alternate tuning you're looking for.

Not exactly along the same lines, but I use the songsterr.com website occasionally when I'm trying to figure out some random guitar part. It's open source, so the info is hit or miss, but sometimes can be surprisingly helpful.

I'm no superstar musician or anything, but I do pretend to be a competent guitar player in a local cover band sometimes. If you have specific questions feel free to hit me up anytime. I might even be able to answer them.

reply to: tetra50

shagg: thanks so much. I dig your style.
however, I'm kinda trying to fill a vacant spot on the net for pseudo musicians like me, and make some money....lol
but I'm happy to have the advice, and hit you up for more. thanks.
tet

a reply to: Naturallywired

Go to your local guitar store and tell them your story. They have plenty of parts and they should give them to you and you can build your own. I was given an old 60s strat neck, a korean body, some tuners and an after market PU, bolted it together and still play it after 20 years.

They also gave me enough parts to make a credible precision bass.

originally posted by: JinMI
a reply to: tetra50

To my ears it sounds like a strat or a tele through a fender or other super clean boutique.

That might be rather difficult to get the brighter tones out of a Marshall. Hard tellin not knowin!

The point is I got the guitar, and the sound, but I can't tune my guitar (which was once his) to that specific song.
Ergo, the thread, and idea....lol However, you and many others have given me some absolutely great programs to refer to and this thread has provided a wealth of info, so thank you, really, to everyone!
tet
thanks so much, JimMI

originally posted by: olaru12
a reply to: Naturallywired

Go to your local guitar store and tell them your story. They have plenty of parts and they should give them to you and you can build your own. I was given an old 60s strat neck, a korean body, some tuners and an after market PU, bolted it together and still play it after 20 years.

They also gave me enough parts to make a credible precision bass.

I just got no extra income anymore. i am on a tight fixed income.

originally posted by: mysterioustranger
a reply to: tetra50

FYI -Guitars are not tuned to different scales. Standard tuning is A 440 with a low E. A scale is a series of notes in a particular order.

There ARE however open tunings...many I use myself...where the guitar... 6-down thru the 1st strings are tuned to a specific chord and gets a certain uniqueness to its sound not available with 1 position or bar chords.

Say a E major chord with E B E C# B E open tuning. You can have the lead player playing a bar chord E 7th fret...the rythmn player playing a bar C position chord at the 4th fret...and you playing the open E. All E...all at the same time...in all different positions.

Still...tuned to the standard old E on the piano. No scales. Good luck!

Ok. thanks for the FYI, but every song is in a specific key. That's a fact. And tuning your guitar to the scale in that particular key is the issue. But thanks for the good luck.
tet

a reply to: tetra50

You misunderstand the point that many, sometimes ALL of the musician-guitarists youre trying to learn....TAUGHT THEMSELVES.

Forget me...guitar is one the easier instruments to learn. Im saying the way you described what youre THINKING is tuned to scale(it is not) and what keys (its E A D G B E low to high) thats it...is incorrect. Period.

Tune your guitar....find the key by playing a single note on the E strings....find it....thats the KEY. Then, figure out the chords with a book or chart.

Hey...we are all GUITAR PLAYERS. Some starting...some long term...thats all...we are all equal in that fact...Guitar players.

Keep pickin........best....MS

a reply to: tetra50

I agree with Mysterious here. Despite what tuning your guitar is in (assuming it's in tune) you can find the key a song is written.

From that you can begin to decipher the song.

A guitars tuning only corresponds to the key that it is at in the open position. (nothing fretted)

I did look and I could not find what key that song is in and I am not practiced enough to tell by ear. Perhaps someone here can tell you what key that song is in and you can go from there.

Software-wise, I know there's at least one application on the market that's supposed to be able to transcribe guitar parts from MP3 files, but I've never tried it and frankly am a little skeptical. From a technical standpoint it's one thing to pick out a certain pitch in a frequency range, but I don't know how software could interpret which string on an instrument is making the sound. When you're dealing with alternate tunings it can really make learning by ear a frustrating effort.

Music-wise, there are lots of alternate tunics but only a handful that are relatively common. Regardless of the tuning though, they don't change the notes in a scale, only the way you finger those notes or the shape of the chords you're playing. (Some chords that are impossible in standard tuning become super easy that way, a good example is the black crowes she talks to angels.).
I'll take a look at that video you posted sometime between now and this weekend and see if I can figure out what's up.

a reply to: tetra50

originally posted by: mysterioustranger
a reply to: tetra50

You misunderstand the point that many, sometimes ALL of the musician-guitarists youre trying to learn....TAUGHT THEMSELVES.

Forget me...guitar is one the easier instruments to learn. Im saying the way you described what youre THINKING is tuned to scale(it is not) and what keys (its E A D G B E low to high) thats it...is incorrect. Period.

Tune your guitar....find the key by playing a single note on the E strings....find it....thats the KEY. Then, figure out the chords with a book or chart.

Hey...we are all GUITAR PLAYERS. Some starting...some long term...thats all...we are all equal in that fact...Guitar players.

Keep pickin........best....MS

Hey MS: I deeply respect and appreciate your point.
I'm approaching you from a business angle, trying to find the anticipated need/want for a cross platform to increase players' abilities. That's all.

I get we all taught ourselves. I did the same, actually. I respect that, but I've had an idea, and am trying to see if it could work or is needed or useful. That's all.

No disrespect to self teaching at all. I wouldn't have ever played if it weren't for self teaching, and grasping at all available straws. Still, I think accessibility is key to absolutely everyone, and in this sense, I'm trying to find ways to make my ideas make money, quite frankly......
tet

originally posted by: JinMI
a reply to: tetra50

I agree with Mysterious here. Despite what tuning your guitar is in (assuming it's in tune) you can find the key a song is written.

From that you can begin to decipher the song.

A guitars tuning only corresponds to the key that it is at in the open position. (nothing fretted)

I did look and I could not find what key that song is in and I am not practiced enough to tell by ear. Perhaps someone here can tell you what key that song is in and you can go from there.

Hey again JimMI: I don't have perfect pitch, but I can find the key a song is written in. What I've outlined here is a business proposal, and am describing it here for other weekend musicians, or professionals to give me their take on its facility, usefulness or need.

What I am proposing herein is "wouldn't it be handy if....."

A song is written and played in a specific key, the key of b flat, c major, etc. As a singer, many songs are in a key that my range is not atune to. Therefore, if I had a way to easily transpose the key of a specific tune to what suited me better, as in an application that could provide such a transposition, I'd find that quite handy.

I frankly didn't expect this idea would be met with such , hmmmm, resistance. I just thought it might make making good music more accessbile to everyone. I obviously discounted the competitiveness of such an endeavor.
tet

a reply to: tetra50

My apologies. I did not read this as an idea. I thought you were looking for help with a tone or song. My mistake.

I don't know if tech like you describe exists. However on acoustic, lets say. You could use a capo to get into the higher ranges. A piano has quite a few octaves, pardon my ignorance on this instrument .

You could always raise/lower the octave of the song and transpose it that way should you choose to. Still, unsure if there is a program that does this automatically.

originally posted by: JinMI
a reply to: tetra50

My apologies. I did not read this as an idea. I thought you were looking for help with a tone or song. My mistake.

I don't know if tech like you describe exists. However on acoustic, lets say. You could use a capo to get into the higher ranges. A piano has quite a few octaves, pardon my ignorance on this instrument

.

You could always raise/lower the octave of the song and transpose it that way should you choose to. Still, unsure if there is a program that does this automatically.

Hey JinMI: yeah, I gotta a capo and have used it for many years.
But I think I'm finally getting to the core of what I've proposed, and what I mean to access in this thread, knowledge-wise. I know how to transpose keys of different songs, but it takes some time, and I have to have the sheet music specifically to do it.

I am proposing an idea for a website that does this at your finger tips, with any song you enter into its searchable database, so you can play that tune either the way you're hearing it, if your guitar isn't tuned to that key, or to change it to what's best for you.....

thanks, again, for your participation.
tetra

I actually read it the same way. Sorry, tetra, didn't mean to sound like I was pushing back. The idea has merit I think, I'm just not sure how it could be executed. There are smarter people than me on here though (fortunately).

The closest thing I've heard to what you're talking about is a program called "Transcribe!" I don't know anything about it other than what's in their demo, and don't know anyone who uses it...


a reply to: JinMI

a reply to: tetra50

Surely it could prove useful. You get a vote from me!

originally posted by: shagg
I actually read it the same way. Sorry, tetra, didn't mean to sound like I was pushing back. The idea has merit I think, I'm just not sure how it could be executed. There are smarter people than me on here though (fortunately).

The closest thing I've heard to what you're talking about is a program called "Transcribe!" I don't know anything about it other than what's in their demo, and don't know anyone who uses it...


a reply to: JinMI

Thanks, Shagg. My bad, to you and JinMI, and everyone else for not being clearer in my OP.
Just trying out the idea on other armchair, and perhaps, professional ,musicians, seeing how everyone receives the idea, and if it has merit.

... also, sort of off topic now, but gave a quick listen to the video. I don't have a guitar with me right now to figure out what's going on but my hunch is that the dude might be using "Nashville tuning" for at least part of the song. Nashville tuning is quirky and a PITA to deal with; the bottom 4 strings on the guitar are tuned up a full octave. All the chord shapes and scale forms stay the same, it just gives chords a "shimmery" sound. The downside is you can't use a normal set of strings to tune that way.

a reply to: tetra50

originally posted by: shagg
... also, sort of off topic now, but gave a quick listen to the video. I don't have a guitar with me right now to figure out what's going on but my hunch is that the dude might be using "Nashville tuning" for at least part of the song. Nashville tuning is quirky and a PITA to deal with; the bottom 4 strings on the guitar are tuned up a full octave. All the chord shapes and scale forms stay the same, it just gives chords a "shimmery" sound. The downside is you can't use a normal set of strings to tune that way.

a reply to: tetra50

having seen him perform this song publically, I completely agree, though unfamiliar with "nashville tuning," per se.
However, I watched how he adjusted the tuning on his guitar part way through each of those songs, so.....

That's my point vis a vis this proposed app, really.....tuning is an all important quotient in the sound, which is why I propose such an app. LOL that some musicians visiting the thread aren't very happy about it, as in i.e. the "we taught ourselves" approach to the subject matter. I taught myself, too, but.....
why not share?
I'm not so insecure that I think anything I do artistically can be that easily outdone and challenged by those I show the way to do the same....

But, maybe that's just me.....
Again, thanks for your input and time and attention.
tetra

a reply to: tetra50

Ok. Of course. Ive been a performer my entire life. You do not tune your guitar to a scale: any scale. The ROOT note or basic note of the song...denotes the key.

Scales are successions of notes playable in any key: major, minor, 7th, major 7th, melodic minor, major, chromatic...all are SCALES played in the same order in any KEY, but in the same order...only starting at the root of the key.

A major scale is Whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, half step. In C for example: starting at C you play C D E F G A B C=a Major SCALE.

So one finds the basic starting root note of any song...one note...that is the KEY. Then figure its chords out.

a reply to: tetra50

Understand totally. I started teaching guitar at 18 at the local rock n roll music store....so over the years, Ive taught everything...reading music, tab, open tuning, rock lead, fingerpicking...you name it....and Ive always played by ear either guitars, pianos, keys...whatever....Ive been fortunate.

I agree there is a great need for a simple to follow cross-referencing platform to guide new (and older) players through the maze. It would be nice. If you discover anything...lets us all know, ok? We'd all appreciate it!

Best....Keep pickin n grinnin.....MS

a reply to: tetra50

For all of the amp and effects things, one of my friends recommended an apple app. Might have to pay for it. The name escapes me, as I got Nokia Lumia.
As for changing the key of the tune. I was messing about with a program called guitar pro, and there was an option on that to change all the notes. The tabs for the times are freely available written by enthusiasts all over most tab sites.
Hope this helps.