The Chetboard

Hi Guys, What key did Chet play Last Letter? My old record sounds like b flat just wondering if that was the correct key.


Thanks

Tom,
I have it on CD and it is in E flat.
Larry

Eb?
Then it's possible it may have been in E. Chet liked to fool around with his tunings and did not always tune to standard pitch.

Try woriking it out in E and see if it flies.

Tom-

Larry is correct. (And Norm is on the right track, too. ) It does sound in E flat, but Chet is in dropped D tuning (D-A-D-G-B-E, 6th-1st), tuned up a half step. Chet tuned his first Delvecchio (pictured on the first duet LP with Hank Snow, and on the cover of My Favorite Guitars) up a half step quite a bit for some reason. All of side 2 of More of That Guitar Country is tuned up a half step.

Paul and I discussed this, and came up with several possibilities:

1. Chet liked the higher tension from tuning up a half step. (Chet's first two DV's had the short scale, with lower tension.)

2. The higher tuning "fixed" some sort of problem that the DV had. (Possibly a buzz or rattle.)

3. He just liked the way it sounded.

I didn't ask Chet, although we had a conversation about the DV once, and by the time Paul started working with him he was using the second DV (the one with the V cutouts).

Craig

Thanks Craig! That type of information is very helpful to know. Figuring out how and where on the neck Chet played some tunes has never been my strong suit. That is why videos and DVDs are sooo helpful nowdays. On some tunes you can hurt yourself trying to do what seems to be happening.
Larry

Larry, I agree with you. I remember trying to learn "Reedology" from the record and was always trying to play it in "E" because of that low note. Then as time went by I got better at being able to tell how the guitar was tuned when I'd heard a song. I could finally hear the "drop D" tuning and just lowered that 6th string a whole step and everything fell in place. Much of what I've learned about positioning was from watching Chet in live concerts over the years. The more I watched, the less it was necessary. Now it's much easier to decipher alternate tunings as well as to hear fingerings relative to using a capo.

I had the chance to ask Chet about his tuning his DV up a half step, backstage after a concert he gave in about 1970 (I can't remember the year, but could look it up). He told me that since the DV had a short scale, tuning it a half step up "made it sing".

I have no idea about this last key because i am a new user in this forum and just watching the different topic and learning about the guitar and others topic. i hope i will get a good experience from here.