Tenor Guitar

[tiltman]

MAS sometimes spills over into other areas.
Just got a tenor guitar.
Now I need to learn how to play it.
Any ideas? Tips? Resources?
Kirk

[unclelee]

I own and play Tenor Guitars tuned to standard guitar tuning D G B E-----E being the high note. YOU may want to tune it to Tenor Banjo tuning C G D A then you may use Your mandolin skills playing it. You use the same cord paterns as the mandolin, they are just called different. I enjoy taking turns between it and my mandolin. Have fun

[Bill Snyder]

You can get some information on tenor guitars here.

[delsbrother]

Join the Tenor Guitar Registry Yahoo group. Lots of cross-pollination between here and there, for the reasons unclelee listed above..

[delsbrother]

Jinx!

[Pete Martin]

Get a Martin O-18T, most serious players eventually get one of these. The best are from the 30's thru the 50's. Tune it CGDA, a way more versatile tuning than the top 4 of a standard guitar. You can't play "chop" type mando chords on it, but that is not the instruments strength anyway. It is a great instrument for many kinds of music. The O-18Ts have great sustain and warmth.

Best of luck.

[danb]

I tune mine (a resonator tenor) GDAE Irish tenor banjo style. Works exceptionally well as an octave mandolin.. There is a long tradition of Irish players tuning the CGDA tenors to GDAE with different string gauges, usually an adjustment to the nut and bridge slots as well.

[Peter Mix]

Hi, My name is Peter and I am a tenor-holic. I cannot think of a tenor I've met that I didn't love and I have several that I love dearly, especially my Le Domino. Pete Martin mentions the Martin O-18T and they are lovely indeed. The Martin R-18 is peachy, too, with an archtop and flat back. Elderly has (or recently had) one. They aren't cheap, but they are grand instruments.
I strongly favor tuning them GDAE- octave mando-style. That way I don't have to think too hard. While I like round-hole tenors a good deal, I do find f-hole archtop tenors more satisfying in general to my ears, better able to cut through and to be heard in choro, swing, gypsy jazz, celtic, classical...pretty much any application suits a tenor, though bluegrass could pose a challenge.
Don't try chop chords on a tenor unless you have very large hands like Mike Marshall. Learn chords! Buy a Real Book and go through it. It's an excellent way to learn and to open the ears. Choro and tenor guitars are a magical combination!
my $.02, Peter Mix

[JimD]

I have mine tuned CGDA and finger it like a tenor banjo. This is great for mandocello players as well (in this case it is an octave higher).

The chord fingerings can be quite comfortable (get a tenor banjo method or chord book).

It may be enlightening to some to try those fingerings on the mando as well -- they may be quite different from those you already use.

[GVD]

After watching Peter play Le Domino I recommend wearing red shoes whilst playing your tenor. Even if you don't sound as good as him at least you'll look good! #

GVD

[tiltman]

Thanks for all of the tips. (esp. the red shoes?)
Glad to know I'm not the only one out there.
I've got a tenor banjo chord book - probably a good place to start.
Thanks again,
Kirk

[delsbrother]

Hi Peter -

Could you advise on playing tenor in a Gypsy Swing context? I have a David Hodson EFS (CgDa, long scale) and have been trying to find the "right" chord voicings for that music while trying to stick with Eddie's tuning.. Maybe a losing cause, but fun, anyway. Do you play mostly chord melody type stuff, or do you venture into single note Django-y solos too? When playing rhythm, are you using all 4 strings, or just three note shapes? The reentrant EFS tuning makes "standard" four-sting tenor banjo barre chords sound very.. Je ne sais quoi.. Gadjo?

I'm also thinking about going with an OM for Gypsy stuff, GDAE - which do you (or Dan, or anybody) prefer for swing rhythm playing: OM or tenor?

Darrell

ps I try to wear my Fluevogs when playing my EFS. It helps.

[acousticphd]

Glad to know I'm not the only one out there.

I'm another one! I have two, a '41 Harmony flattop (actually does sound pretty good) and a '62 Harmony archtop that I will eventually convert to an octave. So far all I've accomplished is filling the old tuner holes. Combined cost of <$200.

While you can certainly tune it like the top 4 strings of a 6-string guitar (but why?), I agree with the other comments that you have a different and unique instrument when you tune it higher, either in 5ths (CGDA, like a mandola or "true" tenor tuning), or perhaps another "Celtic" tuning to take advantage of the sound of open chords. Something I do is to tune my 4-string a step lower, to Bb - F - C - G , and use a capo at the 2nd fret (or the fourth fret, for other keys like A) - this shortens up the scale and makes fingerings and melody picking a little easier.

[Richard Singleton]

I've been playing my ebay Stella by Harmony 50's or 60's tenor for a year now. I keep it CGDA or sometimes CGDG, which gives a good zookish/dulcimer like sound and sounds good for Celtic and folk tunes. I'm reluctant to try octave strings on it, will save that if I can ever afford a Martin tenor.

[Bob DeVellis]

I had my 0-17T tuned GDAE for quite a while but the intonation never sounded quite right. Double-stops didn't have that sweet sound. Different strings never quite seemed to do the trick. When I went to CGDA and standard tenor guitar strings, I was amazed at how much more accurately everything intonated. It's possible that the larger strings were sitting too high in the nut and saddle grooves, I suppose, but since I virtually never play this instrument with others, the CGDA doesn't really have a down side and it's clear to my ear that the instrument was built with that tuning in mind. Your milage may vary.

[danb]

Sounds like you've diagnosed it Bob.. I had to make the nut slots bigger for the G&D to fit. Intonation wise, for some reason the flat bridge on my tenor guitar still works ok without compensations, same the tenor banjo? Maybe my ear isn't quite as sensitive, or maybe I don't go up the neck enough to notice it

[Peter Mix]

My approach to gypsy jazz is first to try to get the feel of the Le Pompe, the rhymthic engine that drives the music. It's deceptively simple and requires real restraint (on my part, at least) so as not to overplay and muddy the pulse. It's very much a work in progress for me.
# I prefer chord shapes that utilize all four strings, but there are exceptions, of course. Voicings that work well on mandolin, for instance, often don't work as well on a tenor or an octave instrument. Using Lady Be Good as an example, the first measure consists of four beats of G6 and one voicing is 4-2-5-3 (fret numbers on G-D-A-E respectively). Another is simply 0-0-2-0. The open G-string may or may not sound right depending on the instrument or the tune, so to add variety and motion, try 9-5-5-7 and 9-9-10-10...find other voicings that suit your ear and fingers as well.
# As a recovering guitarist, I'm comfortable playing melodies on the tenor as well, but comfort doesn't necessarily translate into sounding authentic, so I'm constantly working on it. Chord-melodies are great fun on the tenor and I spend a lot of time pursuing that approach. #
# # As well, I love playing choro on the tenor and I will admit the melody lines can be daunting due to the chromatic nature of so many choro melodies and the stretches involved. Rhythmic support in choro is HUGE FUN! There is room for lots of motion from chord to chord with bass runs to tie them together and support the melody. It's quite intoxicating. Again, you need to learn lots of chord shapes and will frequently have to edit chords to suit the instrument in hand. You just can't add all of those chord colors that are written in when you have only 4 notes to work with, so you need to be judicious and creative.
# #In any event, the melody instrument is likely to play the colors that will be hard to grab quickly in the context of major or minor 6th, 7th or 9th chords, etc, so I don't worry about those unless I have to.
# # I'm very fortunate to be able to play regularly and often with Will Patton who is a chord monster. I hope he gets his chord book out one of these days as it will be a huge benefit to mandolinists of all kinds. When in doubt, I just ask Will and he's always got something delicious to recommend.
# #Interestingly, Will much prefers octave mandolin with 8 strings to a tenor guitar tuned as an octave. They are quite different instruments with very different characters that often require different chord choices, but this is great fun.
# # If you're looking for something specific to work on, I highly recommend JohnMcGann's Octave Mandolin book as a resource.

It's not really a tenor guitar, but sometimes I switch the strings on my regular guitar around and make a modified version with 5 strings, tuned to like an octave mandola/mandolin at CGDAE. Highly recommended for good times if you don't want to buy a whole new instrument. I think several of the tenor guitars out there are just slightly modified guitars anyways.

[delsbrother]

Thanks for those suggestions, Peter!

As well, I love playing choro on the tenor and I will admit the melody lines can be daunting due to the chromatic nature of so many choro melodies and the stretches involved. Rhythmic support in choro is HUGE FUN!

Are you familiar with the Brazilian Violao Tenor (apparently nylon strung) and its role in Choro, if any? I've seen a lot of pictures of very interesting ones - including resophonic Del Vecchios - being used in Samba bands. I wonder if the playing techniques are the same, or if they're played more like regular guitars (i.e. fingerstyle).

Interestingly, Will much prefers octave mandolin with 8 strings to a tenor guitar tuned as an octave. They are quite different instruments with very different characters that often require different chord choices, but this is great fun.

Hmmm.. That is interesting. OMAS is certainly raging right now..

Darrell

[billkilpatrick]

according to information supplied on this site:

http://www.rycooder.nl/pages/tunings.htm

an alternate tenor tuning is g-c-e-a (bass to treble) or re-entrant, ukulele tuning.

i know what it would sound like on a uke and it's 4/5ths of the tuning i use on my charango but is anyone familiar with this? are there tabs in this tuning? exercises? ... do tell.

regards - bill

[mandolooter]

I have a all mahogany 32 Gibson Plectrum guitar and tune it GDAE, and it just roars in that tuning. I had to do some a little set-up work on it for intonation purposes...mostly on the G string by compensating the saddle. With the 26 3/8ths scale length getting around on it chord wise can be a stretch (no pun...ok it was) but melodies are a charm. It has a BIG sound to go along with its big size! I tryed tuning my Regal tenor as such but it was meant for CGDA to my ears or my string gauge choices were bunk. Im a total tenor-holic like Peter, just not near as talented. I currently spend at least 60% of my time on the tenors and probably would spend more if it weren't for my love of bluegrass. (and mando's of course) As a sidenote and all interested parties take note...the Regal with its X braced top scheme and 23" scale is louder and sounds better than a LOT of the older Martins and Gibsons which sell for double or triple or more! Thats not just my biased opinion either. I have a few of the others also along with some other interesting tenors and it stands out in the crowd. Every tenor nut I let touch it goes WOW as I did when I got it. Here's some pic's of the 2 for size comparisons. The deep body on the Gibson Plectrum adds a lot to the tone and volume it pulls but the little Regal holds it's own no problem with the extra string tension helping. My guess on that one folks...

[mandolooter]

Altho they don't appear to be in the photo, the bridges are lined up to show the size difference. here's a different view

[mandolooter]

one more for the road...

[mandolooter]

A future favorite when i finish repairing it...Kalamazoo from mid 30's or so. I can't wait to hear this baby strung up. What ya can't see is the 4 piece(s) back. On the positive side the neck angle is good so no reset needed.

[mandolooter]

ok I got the camera out so here's the rest of em...1st up, a Roy Smeck Vita Tenor and 42 0-17T Martin
Not quite F holes...but weird as it looks its one of the best sounding ones of the lot. The baby seal holes give it a little more cut in the mix and the deep body helps. Altho the pic's don't show it this thing has a curly spruce top to go with the super curly mahogany sides and back. A Ebay score, I regretted the money spent till it arrived and i strung it up...it's a total keeper! (shouldn't they all be?)