"Decoration Day" in standard tuning?

[midniterambler]

Anybody know when Jason started doing "Decoration Day" in standard tuning instead of step down tuning?

And before anybody chimes in and says he doesn't play it in standard, he does. I saw it myself in Whitesburg last night and looked up a few recent performances on youtube with my guitar in hand to make sure and indeed he's playing it in standard now. Found some performances as late as '09 when he was still doing it tuned a step down. I know he started playing "Never Gonna Change" in standard tuning at least a couple years ago.

Strangely enough I found a performance from April '08 when they did it in standard.

[midniterambler]

How do you know it's standard? Did he change guitars? Did he put a capo at 2?

He plays Danko/Manuel in standard by Capo 2'ing his tuned down guitar

Jason doesn't use the dropped tuning anymore. At least not much. He almost always plays in standard nowadays. Check out any of his stuff on youtube and you'll see. And I know he played "Decoration Day" in standard that night because he DIDN'T change guitars. He had been playing in standard all night. I came home and looked up several different versions of "Decoration Day" by the 400 Unit on youtube and most of them were tuned a step down, but a couple of fairly recent ones were in standard tuning. I know this because I played along with my guitar.

BTW, for "Danko/Manuel", Jason capo's up a step from standard, meaning that he uses the capo at the 2nd fret when he's already in standard tuning and when he played it with DBT, he capoed at the 4th fret. You can see this on the Live At The 40 Watt dvd.

I think for the most part, Jason's started (or probably returned) to standard tuning after he left the Truckers. I don't know of any of his post-DBT songs that were played in the step down tuning. He continued to use the step down tuning when he played live on some of his DBT material, such as "Decoration Day" but songs like "Outfit" and "Goddamn Lonely Love" were already in standard so I'm assuming that keeping guitars for both he and Browan in step-down tuning with heavier strings just for the purpose of playing 2 or 3 songs a night was too much of a hassle. He started doing "Never Gonna Change" in standard a year or two ago. I was just wondering when he started doing "Decoration Day" that way.

[midniterambler]

I'm pretty sure "Try" is in dropped tuning

Nah it's not. Not trying to be argumentative or anything, it's just the truth. I even went and put the cd on and played along to make sure but it's definately in standard. Do you play?


here's some links to a couple versions in standard...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEdCwlb3d2M


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7f2_Cqb ... re=related

I tried to embed the videos here but it wouldn't work for me

[Clams]

Is not.

Is too.

Is not!!

Is too!!

Is not!!!!!!

Is too!!!!!!!!

[Hood4Pres]

If I am remembering correctly from my guitar lesson when I brought in Try to learn we played it in standard tuning without a capo or anything.

[midniterambler]

I do play, and when I tabbed it for this site, I noted that it was in dropped tuning. Don't feel like re-tuning my guitar to confirm right now

You don't have to retune. If you're tuned a step down, you just capo at the 2nd fret. I'm sure you already know that though.

It's in the key of E, and I've checked this against the studio version and live versions.

[midniterambler]

i meant re-tune from standard down to DBT tuning (I don't usually leave it there). I'll take your word for it (on Try), though I can't believe I wrote dropped tuning if it wasn't ture

Oh ok I gotcha....have a good one.

[ramonz]

Cordial banter at its best. Beautiful.

['Scratch]

Yes, quite.

In standard tuning I play it
C, Em, Am
then throw in a G and another Am after a few of those.

Not that anyone asked.

[midniterambler]

Yes, quite.

In standard tuning I play it
C, Em, Am
then throw in a G and another Am after a few of those.

Not that anyone asked.

Right, well one would play it the same way in either tuning. Jason plays it the same way in standard that he does in the step-down tuning, except of course in the step down tuning the song sounds in the key of Gm, and in standard it sounds in the key of Am.

I actually think it sounds better in the step down tuning. Gives it a more menacing aura although its' a great song either way.

[lendmeflight]

I know this is an old post but I noticed last night that everything Jason played was in standard and then capoed up if necessary. He even plays his slide solos in standard now. I am sure he tuned down a step in the truckers because Hood has to do that for his voice to have more range. It doesn't matter now because he isn't playing someone else's songs.

[midniterambler]

I know this is an old post but I noticed last night that everything Jason played was in standard and then capoed up if necessary. He even plays his slide solos in standard now. I am sure he tuned down a step in the truckers because Hood has to do that for his voice to have more range. It doesn't matter now because he isn't playing someone else's songs.

Yeah I'm sure that was the case, but I know Jason continued to use the "step down" tuning on "Decoration Day" with the 400 Unit for awhile. He went back to standard tuning when he went solo and I assume it was too much of a hassle to carry around the extra guitars for he and Browan (maybe bass too) in that particular lower tuning just to play one or two songs a night. Therefore he started doing "Never Gonna Change" and "Decoration Day" in standard tuning. That's my guess at least. Those were the only two songs from his DBT days that he continues to do live that were in the step down tuning. "Outfit" and "Goddamn Lonely Love" are in standard anyway and "Danko/Manuel" is capoed up.