The 12-string guitar has a long history and we find some astonishing playing among roots-musicians like Huddy Ledbetter (Leadbelly) , Blind Willy Mc Tell and Big Joe Williams. Contemporary musicians like Leo kottke and Michael Hedges showed the world some of the finest 12-string-playing ever done.
The 12-string guitar is magic. A lot of guitarplayers stop playing the 12-string guitar after a few attempts. Why? Well, most start playing the things they are used to on a 6-string. And then it sounds brilliant or lousy. They discover that some chords are generous in sound and others are bad. They experience it as a limited instrument. Wrong, I think: it is a different instrument. Accept that and a new guitar-world is opening. I have been in love with 12 string for a long time and before I ever heard of the artists I mentioned, I learned to play the instrument by endless excercises and by discovering it's possibilities. Also, I discovered that things I composed on a 6-string wouldn't sound at all on a 12.
Here I will give you some basic information about the 12-string guitar, some helpfull tips and some examples in tablature.
Tips: First of all: you need to lower your tuning with two notes. So if you have the common spanish tuning (eadgbe) lower it down to DGCFAD . This means: all strings one note down. This will give convenience when playing in normal tuning.
Secondly: don't use light string-gauges, but use medium instead. If you want to play the 12-string, you shouldn't be afraid of heavier strings. Personaly I use very heavy strings from 058 to 014. But of course you need a guitar that can handle the tension of the strings, oherwise your guitar will be broken into two pieces.
So let's start with a medium gauge-set, meaning about:
Lower strings 052 040 032 022 015 012 022 018 012 012 015 012 You will find out that the sound becomes better and even if the string-gauge is heavier, the playing is easier.
Third tip is that you should use a wired string for the octave-A string. Most sets deliver an unwounded octave-A string ( 10-th string). This string rings badly if not wired.
Fourth tip: use a thumb-pick , but no fingerpicks on your fingers. Tuning to C Well let's do some excercises. But I prefer it in an open tuning, because a twelve string sounds great if you use an open tuning.
Let's start out with an open C. Tuning: CGCGCD Excersise 1. a country lick , The measure is 4/4 You can play it slow as well as fast
1
_______________________________________________ _______________________________________________
__________0___________0_________0____________0__ _______0_/_________0_/________0_/___________0_/__
__0h2_/
_____0h2_/________0h2_/_________0h2_/______
__|_________ |____________|_____________|_______
2
_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________
___________5___________5____________5__________5_ _______5_/__________5_/__________5_/_________5_/___
__5h7_/________5h7_/________5h7_/________5h7_/______ __|___________|____________|_____________________
3 4 end with:
________________________________________________ ___________|______________0_____________________
_repeat 1____|___________0_/_______________________
___________|___3 h 4__/_______ \___________________ ___________|___|______________2h0________________
___________|__________________|______2___0_______
The second and last example is part of a tune from my cd 'Behind the Dunes', named 'As Dreams Go By'. It is a very slow piece in 4/4 We use the same C-tuning as in example 1.
1
_________________0_____________________
_______________/_0______________________
_____________0_____\_0______0___________
__________0_/__________\_0_/_____repeat___
______ 4_/_|_____________|______________
___4_/_|________________________________
|
2
___________________0___________________________________ __________________/__\__0_______________________________
_______________0_______________0_______________________
___________ 9_/____________\_9_/______repeat and go back to 1 __ _______10_/_|_______________|___________________________
__10__/_|_______________________________________________ |
Click here for mp3 audio
BEHIND THE DUNES Gert de Meijer The Dutch Master is back with an album that acts as a worthy successor to the recordings of Leo Kottke, John Fahey and Michael Hedges., while at the same time boasting a highly original voice. Gert de Meijer is a fingerstyle guitarist who uses an enormous repetoire of creative techniques, experiments with various tunings and conjures highly individual sounds from his 6 and 12 string acoustic.
To visit Gert's website, click here
Click here for the main Acoustic Guitar Workshop site