Johnny Smiths tuning?

[Jarmo Saarti]

Hi,

I have a Johnny Smith record that has a comment in the linear notes about
"... his unusual tuning of the guitar, which makes it comparable to piano,
..." Does someone know what this tuning exactly was?

Jarmo S.

[TomLippinc]

I don't know as a fact, but I've heard before that he tunes to drop D tuning
(standard tuning with the low E string dropped to a D) just to be able to
extend the range of the instrument a bit more. Maybe that's what they meant by
being more like a piano. One whole step's worth.

Tom Lippincott

[william...@l-3com.com]

I have only heard of Johnny using dropped "D" tuning.
Maybe what your hearing are his pianistic vertically stacked chords which
sometimes require 5 and 6 fret stretches?
Maybe someone else can give some insight.

I think Johnny, George Van Epps and Howard Alden are some of the finest
guitarist that study piano playing on the guitar rather than your typical
transcribing horn solos for guitar. That, and they probably come from a highly
trained classical backround.
Howards just on another level than most guitar players out there today.
It's obvious he listens to a lot of Bill Evans

Bill

In article <Pine.A32.3.95.990330...@messi.uku.fi>,

Jarmo Saarti <saa...@messi.uku.fi> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have a Johnny Smith record that has a comment in the linear notes about
> "... his unusual tuning of the guitar, which makes it comparable to piano,
> ..." Does someone know what this tuning exactly was?
>
> Jarmo S.
>
>

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[Harry Avant]

william...@l-3com.com wrote:

>I have only heard of Johnny using dropped "D" tuning.

Yes he did drop the low E to D

>I think Johnny, George Van Epps and Howard Alden are some of the finest
>guitarist that study piano playing on the guitar rather than your typical
>transcribing horn solos for guitar. That, and they probably come from a highly
>trained classical backround.

I don't think Howard is from a highly trained classical background,
but he did have a couple of good teachers. He's just a person with a
geat deal of talent and willing to put in a lot of effort. I'm not
sure that he "studies piano playing". I suspect he listens/studies to
music on all instruments.

>Howards just on another level than most guitar players out there today.
>It's obvious he listens to a lot of Bill Evans
>

I think he has listened to just about everyone and everything and then
internalized it all.

Harry

[Lawren Daltroy]

Jarmo Saarti wrote in message ...

>Hi,
>
>I have a Johnny Smith record that has a comment in the linear notes about
>"... his unusual tuning of the guitar, which makes it comparable to piano,
>..." Does someone know what this tuning exactly was?
>
>Jarmo S.

Jarmo,

I read a Guitar Shop interview with Johnny Smith (September 1996) in which
he said he used a standard set of 12-52's, substituting an extra-heavy bass
string (56), which he tuned down to a D so he could reach more notes.

Best,
Lawren.

[Davbrenn]

Johnny frequently, in fact almost exclusively, used a "dropped D" tuning which
simply involves tuning the 6th string down from E to D. I don't know how that
exactly relates to the piano, but the practical effect for the guitar is to
give the player a great range. Since Johnny often plays in the "sharp" keys,
the open D option is very effective.

Dave Brennan

[Robert Irwin]

He played piano voice chords. He tried to make his chords more piano
like in that they had a five to six fret spread, i.e. play a G major
triad at the third fret---G,B, and D. To play a 6th place your pinky
finger on the low E note of the 5th string vice the high E on the 2nd
string.

Bob Irwin
Check out Bob's Juke Box:
http://pages.prodigy.net/bobirwin/jukebox.htm

[Rick Ireland]

Bill,

Johnny did use the dropped "D" tuning on a lot of his tunes, but not all. The 5
and 6 fret stretches were also a trademark of his style, and sometimes they hurt
to play them.

Johnny is a very close friend of mine, but we rarely talk about the guitar. He
is "retired" as he puts it and has not picked up an instrument in 3 or 4 years.

For those who are interested, there is a Johnny Smith Tribute Concert scheduled
for June 15, 1999 in New York at the Kaye Playhouse. Johnny will be there, but
will not play. The scheduled players are Pat Martino, Remo Palmier, Mark
Whitfield, Joe Puma, John Abercrobie and a special appearance by Tony Mattola.
There are also some other big names who will play, but I am sworn to secrecy on
them. Tickets are $35 and will go on sale soon through Festival Productions
(212) 496 9000.

Rick Ireland

[Ybotha]

Smith's tuning the 6th string down a whole step to D was not even new in the
40s and 50s when he did it. Classical guitarists have been doing that for
centuries! Liner notes are very often written by non-musicians, who don't know
what the hell they're talkin' about.
However, when I was gigging with the late Billy Butler in pit bands, he said
that alot of Smith's solo guitar arrangements were actually copies of piano
arrangements, such as the beautiful "Autumn Nocturne" on the 2nd "Foursome" LP.
I forget the name of the pianist Butler named but I recall checking it out
years ago and not being able to come up with any proof of this.

[Davbrenn]

Dear Rick,

I'm glad you posted because, as Arizona's
#1 Johnny Smith fan, I always eager to hear any news about him. The Tribute,
in addition to being long overdue, sounds like fun. Wish I still lived on the
east coast.

I've been chasing Johnny's music for over 40 years and I am not a whole lot
closer now than I was as a teenager. If you are a friend, maybe you could find
out the notes and fingering he used for the concluding long C maj 7 (add 6th?)
arpeggio at the conclusion to his classic "Moonlight in Vermont." Years ago I
wrote him a letter at his shop but never received a reply.

Coda: Last December I wrote Hal Leonard and Mel Bay asking them to publish
some of Johnny's chord melody arrangements. I won't bore you with the excuses
they came up with.

Thanks for any help.
Dave Brennan

[Tony Beltran]

Hi:

Steve, the guy from Chord Melody Productions
occasionally posts in this group in response
to requests for transcriptions. Anyway, I just
got a bunch of Johnny Smith transcriptions from
him. These are mostly from "Man With The Blue
Guitar" and appear to be well put together.
Each transcription comes with chord charts and
a cassette tape. I bought the entire Steve Crowell
lesson materials and got the tapes in the deal. The
catalog has 13 Johnny Smith tunes transcribed.

You can call them at 1-800-913-9477.

I will be posting more information about the Steve
Crowell materials as I get into it.

Tony

Davbrenn wrote:
[comments deleted]

> Coda: Last December I wrote Hal Leonard and Mel Bay asking them to publish
> some of Johnny's chord melody arrangements. I won't bore you with the excuses
> they came up with.
>
> Thanks for any help.
> Dave Brennan

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