Wow, great thread, with a LOT of info. THanks guys.
I always thought that changing the tuning was really hard and complicated, but when a friend left my guitar tuned open E, I realized how much more sense some songs make that way. Even as a total newbie, I've learned stuff about music by looking at favorite songs in non-standard tunings, and trying to sort out why they're that way.
Things I've tried, as a semi-newb retuning-
Grace, by Jeff Buckly. (Drop D makes this a lot easier and more fun than standard, as you can really beat out some of the higher riffs.)
A lot of DYlan. (A lot of his stuff makes no sense at all till you change the tuning. Shelter from the Storm is a fave. )
And virtually everything I know by Joni Mitchell. Tune to an open chord, and you can really attack the rhythm without worrying much about wrong notes; just bar with your finger. Think Big Yellow Taxi.
PS-As a teenager in the years before the internet, I tried to learn to play slide by actually fretting the strings with the slide. (You have to press really hard, and it doesnt work anyway.) And I finally learned where my mistake was...reading this thread. :oops: Thanks guys.
Best,
Ande
