Repetoire for 8 string

[puglisi]

Hi,

I was wondering if any 8 string (one region) tappers would like to share suggestions for repertoire.

Are there any particular songs/music that suit these instruments particularly well?


cheers,
pug

[Jersey Ray]

it depends on the tuning. if you use the "New Standard Tuning for 8 string Warr" (aka NST, aka Crafty, aka Trey Gunn), then there is a pretty good sized body of work. markus reuter, Kuno Wagner, and others have been working on it. See www.kunowagner.com for a whole pile of arrangements.

In fourths, I have personally been trying to coalate the arrangements I made for 8 strings in fourths, low note e-flat. This tuning is not used by too many, but I like it. It gives you the whole guitar range.

My observation has been that a lot of 8 stringers have fourths with B as the lowest note, giving a wide bass range (with very heavy gauge strings). These guys would play bass lines, in a group with other people.

I have been advocating the slightly higher tuning, to facilitate guitar playing, but I am sure you can play lots of great music either way.

With the tuning I use, I often practice out of Daniel Schell's "My Space" volume 2, because he made up a lot of these arrangements with 4ths in the bass, which will work on this 8 string tuning/

Jersey Ray