Estimated reading time 7 minutes
Table of Contents
Introduction
Want to get the authentic sound of country blues guitar? Frustrated that your guitar sounds different from your favorite blues artist? The guitar’s tuning impacts the sound. Read more to learn how to tune country blues guitar to achieve an authentic blues sound.
In this post, we’ll look at one country blues player and two country blues teachers (who studied with famous country blues players). We’ll examine each of their guitar tunings. Also, the post includes videos on how to play country blues.
This article uses musical terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the post.
How Rory Block Tunes Country Blues Guitar
Block’s Tuning on Video
Country blues guitarist Rory Block learned:
…firsthand from Son House, Reverend Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt, Fred McDowell, Skip James, and others… (Block 4).
This list reads like a who’s who of country blues guitarists.
In the video The Power of Blues Guitar with Rory Block, Block shows you how to play country blues in open G and drop D tunings.
- However, when she tunes the country blues guitar alternate tunings, she doesn’t use any frets to get into the tunings.
- As a result, open G in particular doesn’t conform to equal temperament (ET).
- In the video below (at 2:22), Block gives a brief description of how to get into open G. However, she doesn’t demonstrate it.
Nevertheless, later in the video (22:45 – 23:19) you can see her checking her open G tuning after she’s moved her capo. She adjusts the tuning on her sixth and fifth strings while strumming all of the open strings.
The Power of Blues Guitar with Rory Block Video
Block’s Tuning on CD
Here’s how Rory Block tunes country blues guitar in open G:
D1 = 203 cents
B2 = 1096 cents
G3 = 700 cents
D4 = 203 cents
G5 = 700 cents
D6 = 203 cents
I got the cent values off of the tuning track from the CD that came with her method book: Rory Block Teaches Classics of Country Blues Guitar.
- As you can see, her open G doesn’t conform to ET.
- Note that the major third between the third and second strings is low.
- Nevertheless, the second string does not go as low as a just major third (386 cents).
- For a review of cents, click here.
- However, it will sound similar to the major thirds in some of the historical mean-tone and well temperaments.
- When the major third goes very low, it can make doing alternate chord voicings difficult.
- Nonetheless, it can be worked around by using arpeggios, partial chords, and limiting the number of chords used.
We see all three techniques used effectively in the 19th century method book Guitar Without a Master:
Also, it can be worked around by restricting the music to parallel, or mostly parallel, chord voicings, such as we find in rock music. For a practical example of how Keith Richards does this see:
Bock’s major third in her open G tuning would not be a problem when using a variety of open chords.
How Robert Belfour Tunes Country Blues Guitar
Gerhard Kubik
Richards hails from Britain and Block from New Jersey. What about an authentic southern African American blues guitarist? In 1997 Gerhard Kubik interviewed the Memphis singer and blues guitarist Robert “Wolfman” Belfour. Kubik describes how Belfour tunes country blues guitar:
He plugged in his pick-up to a small amplifier and first tuned the guitar to the standard tuning, which he calls ‘natural,’ the third string slightly flattened, with his fingers in an E-chord position. (Bourdon, Blues Notes, and Pentatonism in the Blues 12)
Kubick’s description of Belfour’s method of tuning shows how the guitarist favors one chord shape in his tuning.
- Belfour holds an open E major chord while playing all of the strings on his electroacoustic guitar, ending up with the third string somewhat flat.
- When playing an open E chord, the third of the chord (G#) lies on the guitar’s third string. By lowering the third string, Belfour pushes the G# a little closer to a just major third. However, Kubick does not make it clear how far down the third goes.
- So, I decided to test it. See the next section to learn what I found.
(Not comfortable getting into standard tuning without using the frets? Try this free online guitar tuner for country blues standard guitar tuning!)
Robert Belfour’s “Pushin My Luck” Video
Geoff Tunes Country Blues Guitar Using Robert Belfour’s Method
The ideal just tuned major chord, starting with string 1:
E1 = 400 cents
B2 = 1102 cents
G#3 = 786 cents
E4 = 400 cents
B5 = 1102 cents
E6 = 400 cents
As I tuned the country blues guitar, I held an open E chord and adjusted the tuning machines until the chord stopped beating. The open strings:
E1 = 404 cents
B2 = 1110 cents
G3 = 678 cents
D4 = 200 cents
A5 = 885 cents
E6 = 401 cents
When I held the E chord I got:
E1 = 404 cents
B2 = 1110 cents
G#3 = 778 cents
E4 = 400 cents
B5 = 1085 cents
E6 = 401 cents
My tuning does not exactly match the ideal just intonation chord. Much of the variance can be chalked up to inharmonicity.
- However, like Block’s open G tuning, the third of the chord trends down toward a just major third.
- Unlike Block’s open G, the E blues standard tuning has a major third cent value below the cent value of a just major third.
- Nevertheless, the E chord will have a major third that sounds better than an equal tempered major third (400 cents).
Conversely, other chords, such as open A and open D, would have major thirds that’d be slightly more out of tune. This shows another example of chord coloration.
- If the string doesn’t go under 5 cents or so below ET, playing various open chords will work.
- Here the third remains flat enough that that’s not the case.
- Breaking up the chords with licks, as Belfour does, helps a lot, as does playing parallel chord voicings.
That is, the E-form barre chords, where the roots of the chords sit on the sixth string, will sound good.
How Stefon Grossman Tunes Country Blues Guitar
Blues guitar teacher Stefon Grossman studied with country blues guitarist Reverend Gary Davis and also met and knew many other great country blues guitarists. Most likely Grossman learned his tuning method from Davis.
In any case, Grossman demonstrates his style of tuning open D in the video Stefan Grossman Teaches “Vestapol” (Pt. 1 of 3).
- Grossman starts with his guitar in standard tuning.
- He uses the open fourth string as a reference for lowering the first string to the note D. The 12th fret harmonic on the fourth string can be used to check the first string’s tuning.
- Next, the sixth string gets lowered to D using the open fourth string again as a reference. The harmonic at the 12th fret of the sixth string can be used as a check.
- Then, the second string gets lowered to A using the fifth string as a reference. The 12th fret harmonic on the fifth string can be used as a check.
- The third string gets lowered to F# while comparing it to the open fourth string D. He instructs the student to continue to slacken the string until the note “locks in”.
- At this point, Grossman claims the guitarist has not finished yet.
- He tells the student to play all of the open strings while fine tuning them until everything sounds right.
Stefon Grossman Teaches Vestapol Video Parts 1 - 3
Taking a Closer Look at Grossman’s Open D
Grossman seems to be giving guitar students a transitional step.
- Many students might be uncomfortable with jumping right into tuning in the same manner as Richards: by comparing the adjacent open strings.
- Instead, Grossman has students tune each string using reference strings.
- This gets them close to the correct cent values for the open tuning.
Then, he has them complete the open tuning (in Grossman’s last step) in the same manner as Richards.
Here’s how Stefon Grossman tunes country blues guitar in open D:
D1 = 198 cents
A2 = 902 cents
F#3 = 589 cents
D4 = 195 cents
A5 = 902 cents
D6 = 200 cents
I pulled these cent values off of a tuning track on the CD that came with Grossman’s method book Country Blues Guitar in Open Tunings. Once again, the major third is flat. As with Block and Belfour, this tuning does not conform with ET.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are different ways to tune country blues guitar to get an authentic blues sound.
- It can be tuned in open G, open D, open E, crossnote tuning, drop D, or standard tuning.
- However, all of the tunings discussed above don’t use fretted unison notes as a reference when tuning open strings.
- Also, they don’t conform to equal temperament.
Try out Block’s/Richards’ open G, Grossman’s open D, and Belfour’s E blues standard tuning and see which you like best. Have fun!
© 2022 Geoffrey Keith
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