Tuning Question

you might try tunning your guitar to the recording first and capo if you need to

Roger:  Yes, I do have a capo, and

alvee: I am playing G, D, A7, etc....

So, I will try to capo it on the second, or wherever it may take me

Russell:  I'm afraid I don't know anything about tuning to another key... and to be perfectly honest, I have broken a couple of strings (when restringing) because I don't know by ear what the notes are supposed to sound like, and I've wound too tightly.. I DO look forward to the day when I can tune to a recording, or even another guitarist, but right now, I'm still a newbie at this. 

Thanks all!  I believe I now have information to help me play along with more songs in my songbook.

anastasia

anastasiak112, wut Roger said is correct. You can also try this:

From what I know of the song it is in a 1...2...4...5...1 chord progression.

If you play open chords, key of "D" -   1 , 2=Em, 4=G & 5=A (A7).

If you want another key the same progression would work. In the key of "E" the progression would be -   1=E, 2=F#m, 4=A & 5=B (B7).

What I am saying is that  if you know this numbering system you can take any song and transpose the key into whatever you want the song to be. All into open chords.

When you set down to write down the progressions for any key remember this;
1, 4 & 5 will be Major chords.
2, 3 & 6 will be minor chords.
7 will be a diminished chord.

Here is how you write down the progressions (I'm going to use "C" just because it does not have any sharps or flats)

C...D...E...F...G...A...B...C
1...2...3...4...5....6...7...1

This goes          step - step - half step - step - step - step - half step
                 1.......2.......3..........4............5........6.......7............1
                 C......D.......E..........F............G........A.......B...........C
                 D......E........F#.......G............A........B.......C#.........D

Anyway, I hope this helps. I have more problems spelling yore name than working these progressions so I guess you are way ahead of me.

Nela

NELA: Thanks for the lesson. It is definitely appreciated.  I will look into it more and I am definitely learning more about theory as I go.  (And you can always write "ana" if it's easier for you!! )

Russell and Roger:  Yes, I do have a chromatic tuner.  Roger, just so you understand where I'm breaking my strings, the first time I broke a string was because I was tuning higher rather than lower.  Understand that I have no knowledge of music theory at all.  Having said this, I changed a string once and wound it up too much before I turned on my tuner.  Does that make sense?  Now I always wind up the string and just as it is no longer loose (for lack of a better term), I immediately turn on my tuner. 

Also, when my tuner shows me a note, I don't know what the next note will be.  Perhaps you can clear this up for me:  If my tuner says B and I keep winding tighter, will the next note be C or E?  Meaning: Do the notes on the scale go C-D-E-F-G-A-B or do they go E-B-G-D-A-E? 

(I hope this makes sense.. I always feel like I'm confusing you guys because of my lack of knowledge and attempts to explain my confusion).

anastasia

How's this?

You'll notice that some are shown like F#/Gb. This means next up from F is F# but is also 1 down from G which is Gb. So F# and Gb are the same thing.

But notice that 1 semi-tone (1 fret) up from B is not B# but C and the same with E to F (i.e. not E# but F).

I second Roger's compliment. This is a chart that every guitarist must memorize top to bottom, or bottom to top, however one looks at it. (Bottom is the lowest sounding string, or thickest: Top is the highest sounding string, or thinest)  Good stuff!

If you can get a few lessons done on a piano about theory, go for it. Excellent help.