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Mining the Sea

Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2018 9:14 pm
by VikingBlues
I don't know what genre this is, but I thought it was about time I threw another of my strange acoustic efforts into the forum here. Been a while!

Not really even a hint of blues I'm afraid, but like the blues can be, it is happily for me entirely improvised. I love improvisations on an acoustic in open and altered tunings where the open string notes are scale notes and can be used to good effect in chord voicing and resonance and drone effect.

I've recently taken my main acoustic guitars out of DADGAD tuning and moved them to Csus2 (CGCGCD) to have an explore.
This one is an exploration of that tuning, but in the natural minor scale.

I hope you find something to like about it.

:music1: https://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=13693370

This was played on the all Mahogany Vintage Gordon Giltrap Signature guitar - cheap but great sound and quality for any price. Just recorded on a portable Zoom H4n portable recorder and no adjustments to eq and no fx added.

Similar to the concept that creativity improves physical and mental health, I see researchers have also studied the effect of music improvisation on health and found that improvising music can have a distinct effect on well-being, separately from other musical behaviours. It is said that engaging in improvisation exercises helps reduce stress and anxiety, which in turn can improve mental health conditions. I used to semi-joke that improvisation was better than medication in making me feel good - seems that there is a basis in reality for having that feeling. :D
I also think that a joy of improvisation is that throwing away of a lot of inhibition ... inhibition being something that otherwise dogs my footsteps. :sad:

Re: Mining the Sea

Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2018 11:31 pm
by 12bar
I found myself walking through the beautiful Scottish Highlands when I listened to it, and it felt good.
A wonderful improvisation, very melancholic. You seem to be able to switch tunings without problems! :clap: :pray:

Re: Mining the Sea

Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2018 4:48 pm
by fenson
VikingBlues wrote: Fri Feb 16, 2018 9:14 pm I don't know what genre this is,...
A cool Celtic dream lovely improvised by a Viking Bard, my opinion though :wink:

Re: Mining the Sea

Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2018 3:04 am
by Hellhoundsonme
Reminded me of the mood I get when I listened to "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," which I believe is kind of Scottish? Either way, excellent playing and recording.

Re: Mining the Sea

Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2018 4:16 am
by Blindboy
This is lovely! I admire the way you can play in different tunings. :pray: I have trouble keeping track just when I switch to open G (DGDGBD) for slide. You may not be playing blues, but I can certainly hear the emotion in your playing on this.

Re: Mining the Sea

Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2018 11:30 am
by VikingBlues
I'm grateful for your positive responses there guys!
It's not a great time of year work-wise, or weather wise and the guitar is a welcome oasis where I can lose myself and forget reality for a while.
To get complements as well is a welcome bonus! :D

Fenson - that Celtic influence seems to have seeped so much into my being that I can't escape it's influence showing through in whatever I play. Not that I am unhappy about that being the case. :D

Hellhoundsonme, you mention "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" which is certainly Celtic sounding, and it has a Scots feel as a result - interestingly the tune that Gordon Lightfoot has for that song is also used by teh wonderful Christy Moore in Bobby Sands song "Back Home in Derry" - in this instance very Irish sounding - but again Celtic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg-Lhlx8uBA

Gerd and Rusty - you both mention the tuning thing. A big plus with Csus2 tuning is the way the scale notes fall on the fretboard - very little need for remembering complicated patterns. :clap:

Here's the C minor scale in Csus2 tuning:-
Image

and here's the C Major in Csus2 tuning:-
Image

The top string is a bit trickier to remember as there's one note out of pattern, but even the segment where the notes don't all line up in a straight line across the bottom 5 strings it's a very memorable "v" shape sort of pattern.
The fact that all 5 bottom strings are the note of C or G, the perfect 5th, which fit in nicely with pretty well anything being played in the key makes improvising easier. All those open strings available for resonance make creating a mood much easier.

I think I find standard tuning one of the more difficult tunings to play in these days! :icon_whoknows:

Re: Mining the Sea

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 6:11 am
by tytlblues
Yep...this is just lovely VB!!!...wonderful sounds from that scale!! Beautiful acoustic tone as well!

Re: Mining the Sea

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 8:45 pm
by VikingBlues
tytlblues wrote: Wed Feb 21, 2018 6:11 am Yep...this is just lovely VB!!!...wonderful sounds from that scale!! Beautiful acoustic tone as well!
Thank you kind Sir. :thumbsup:

I would also thank Vintage, the luthier Rob Armstrong, and Gordon Giltrap, for combining to make such a great sounding affordable acoustic. :clap: