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Tenor Guitar/Baritone Guitar
- Thread starter BigAlBass69
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It should, you'll be playing chords and leaving off the problematic Low E string.
I owned a tenor acoustic guitar for a while. Traditionally they are tuned CGDA Like a tenor banjo, but variations are DGBE (like the last four guitar strings) or GDAE like a mandolin or fiddle. Purists will tell you CGDA is the correct tuning, but I used GDAE because I also play the mandolin.
During the jazz era of the 1920s the tenor banjo (AKA plectrum banjo) was used for Dixieland and other jazz genres. The tenor guitar was introduced later to allow tenor banjo players to double on guitar.
I believe the baritone guitar was used in some Western movie soundtracks as well.
During the jazz era of the 1920s the tenor banjo (AKA plectrum banjo) was used for Dixieland and other jazz genres. The tenor guitar was introduced later to allow tenor banjo players to double on guitar.
I believe the baritone guitar was used in some Western movie soundtracks as well.
This thread is making me pull my VI out of the closet. Watch it, that's what I really meant. It needs more play. Mr. Bruce is rolling in his grave on this very point....
EDITWhat follows is what happens when you don't read ll the posts before you post something.. end edit...
Thought he was using a Bass VI? Not sure what the bassist is using at 1:45 in the first video, but GC calls him the bass player.
The baritone is for guitarists who like the sound of seven strings but are pressured by there peers to keep the traditional number of strings because "Eddie only needed 6!"
I actually think baritones sound really good, but most of the songs I can think of that use them are Nashville style Country/Western songs. Taylor made a very nice (expensive) 8 string acoustic baritone tuned B-B with double courses on the A and D strings.
Edit: I just remembered Stained and Dave Matthews Band feature baritones on quite a few of their songs.
I actually think baritones sound really good, but most of the songs I can think of that use them are Nashville style Country/Western songs. Taylor made a very nice (expensive) 8 string acoustic baritone tuned B-B with double courses on the A and D strings.
Edit: I just remembered Stained and Dave Matthews Band feature baritones on quite a few of their songs.
I think the plectrum banjo has a longer scale length then a tenor banjo.
Into even the 60’s and 70’s Gibson and Gretsch would custom make tenor or plectrum versions of their electrics. There’s others online. The P90 has fretboard dots where the 2 outside pole pieces would go. The humbuckers have custom covers with 4 screws. Neat stuff.
- Jan 1, 2014
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- Decendant from the Clovis culture. "Emitting that wonderful bass effect since 1970".
My fave Bass VI players include Robert Smith, et al. in The Cure, and Steve Kilbey in The Church.
I have one tenor fave, and that's Warren Ellis - see Grinderman (and very less often, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds).
I have one tenor fave, and that's Warren Ellis - see Grinderman (and very less often, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds).
I am quite fond of my PRS SE 277 Baritone, tuned B-E-A-D-F#-B. You use the same chord shapes as you would on a standard guitar, but the pitch is a perfect fourth lower. You can use it as a lead instrument, a rhythm instrument, a higher-pitched bass, etc. It's also great for playing alongside detuned guitars, e.g., I can play as many Smithereens tunes (that band usually tunes to E♭ standard) as I want without having to alter my tuning.
Yes, it does. I own a 1927 Gibson Mastertone Plectrum banjo.
Piccolo bass tuning is a full octave up from standard. EADG.
Stanley Clarke plays in ADGC a lot, calling it "tenor bass" tuning.
Yep. In big bands they used tenor banjos because they were loud. Then when people figured out how to put magnetic pickups in archtop guitars and use amps it left the banjo players out of work. So electric tenor guitars became popular as a transitional instrument, either until they learned how to play regular guitar or retired.
I'm not sure at what point acoustic tenor guitars were invented, but they have a whole other trajectory in folk music.
If you want to hear a good electric tenor player, check out Two Man Gentlemen Band. They do novelty songs, but Andy Bean is a smoking player.
- Jan 1, 2014
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- Decendant from the Clovis culture. "Emitting that wonderful bass effect since 1970".
or could it be this:
"The "James Bond Theme" was recorded on 21 June 1962, using five saxophones, nine Invalid Link Removed, a solo guitar and a rhythm section.Invalid Link Removed The guitar Invalid Link Removed heard in the original recording of the theme was played by Vic Flick on a 1939 English Clifford Essex Paragon Deluxe guitar plugged into a Fender Vibrolux amplifier. Flick was paid a one-off fee of £6 for recording the famous James Bond Theme riff.[2] John Scott played the saxophone. Barry, who was paid £250 for his work, was surprised that his theme appeared so often in Dr. No. He was told by Noel Rogers, the head of United Artists Music, that though the producers would not give him any more money or a writing credit they would get in touch with him if there was another Bond film made.[3]"
Santa Cruz and Lowden both have acoustic baritone guitars among their production models, as do numerous bespoke builders. Acoustic baritones definitely aren't bass guitars, both because they don't reach the low end register of a true bass guitar and because they aren't designed to to fill the bass role in an ensemble setting. They're just a fifth lower and provide a deeper, richer timbre (they are usually tuned B-B, but A-A and C-C are fairly common). They have a notably bigger body and longer scale length (usually 27-28"). I think they sound great for fingerstyle and Celtic music.
Much has already been said about the tenor guitar so I won't go into too much detail. It has a long history with a peak popularity in the 2nd quarter of the 20th century. It is often tuned in 5ths, like a mandolin, bouzouki, or tenor banjo. If you know how to play any of those, you can play a tenor guitar. It is usually found in the folk scene and can serve as either a rhythm or lead instrument.
Much has already been said about the tenor guitar so I won't go into too much detail. It has a long history with a peak popularity in the 2nd quarter of the 20th century. It is often tuned in 5ths, like a mandolin, bouzouki, or tenor banjo. If you know how to play any of those, you can play a tenor guitar. It is usually found in the folk scene and can serve as either a rhythm or lead instrument.
If they sound good, then sheeiiiiieellll I'll pay a few bucks to play whatever instruments people come up with.
As for how to deal with it when someone plays one, I mean, if they need you to slam a beater on a bass drum and call that the bass, long as you're getting fun and $ from it, you're still a professional bass player.
Some of these baritone guitar guys like to play the bass line, so if you just play it with them, then you're literally doing a half song's work for full money (well...lemme recommend a lawyer if you're NOT getting the money).
Also, good baritone guitar playing sounds REALLY cool, so maybe it's worth picking up a little guitar and playing one. Twin Peaks intro music, for example.
As for how to deal with it when someone plays one, I mean, if they need you to slam a beater on a bass drum and call that the bass, long as you're getting fun and $ from it, you're still a professional bass player.
Some of these baritone guitar guys like to play the bass line, so if you just play it with them, then you're literally doing a half song's work for full money (well...lemme recommend a lawyer if you're NOT getting the money).
Also, good baritone guitar playing sounds REALLY cool, so maybe it's worth picking up a little guitar and playing one. Twin Peaks intro music, for example.
I am looking forward to experimenting with my baritone as a rhythm guitar (against a standard lead guitar and bass), which I suspect can sound really good if done right. Also, baritones in my experience are good candidates for well-chosen digital/analog effects.
