deleteduser7593 Posted August 17, 2017 Posted August 17, 2017 Last night I was watching a few performances from their recent set in Oakland and just noticed this ''awkward'' tuning bit. ''Jesus of Suburbia'' is on C# but, here, they're playing it in D with the instruments tuned down a semitone lower. So, yeah, the key is actually correct but I was wondering why they had to change the string tuning for a type of song they usually play in standard setting. If you notice, after the first ''...don't believe in me'' verse Billie Joe plays the C#, G# and F# (open D, A and G in this case) guitar section turning back to Trè, smiling, as he sometimes does when hits a wrong note or chord. Who knows
greendepent Posted August 17, 2017 Posted August 17, 2017 Seems a way to keep the song fresh to himself. They played Waiting half step up last year. Then they played with the song with the Eb instruments and it sounded like the normal version.
deleteduser7593 Posted August 17, 2017 Author Posted August 17, 2017 7 minutes ago, greendepent said: Seems a way to keep the song fresh to himself. They played Waiting half step up last year. Then they played with the song with the Eb instruments and it sounded like the normal version. ...and here the guitar goes back to standard tuning! Billie Joe plays ''American Idiot'' in the original G# position and what you hear is exactly a natural G# chord. According to ''the awkward tuning bit'' during ''Jesus of Suburbia'' they should've played this one in A position on the 5th fret X0 Spoiler
Mato Posted August 17, 2017 Posted August 17, 2017 ^^You must've missed it, cause if you look closely, his Junior is still tuned half step down during American Idiot. See 1:27 for proof - he plays open A and D. And that makes sence, since he wouldn't have time to tune back to standard between such short break between two songs. AND it would often go out of tune cause of that. What's still interesting is that he tuned his Junior half step down in the first place and played JOS like that. He's never done that live with black Juniors, as a matter of fact, with any Junior (except drop D for Whatshername back in the day). It's especially interesting because hence the tuning, he can't do that harmonic intro chunk at the beginning of American Idiot.
deleteduser7593 Posted August 17, 2017 Author Posted August 17, 2017 2 hours ago, Mato said: ^^You must've missed it, cause if you look closely, his Junior is still tuned half step down durring American Idiot. See 1:27 for proof - he plays open A and D. And that makes sence, since he wouldn't have time to tune back to standard between such short break between two songs. AND it would often go out of tune cause of that. What's still interesting is that he tuned his Junior half step down in the first place and played JOS like that. He's never done that live with black Juniors, as a matter of fact, with any Junior (except drop D for Whatshername back in the day). It's especially interesting because hence the tuning, he can't do that harmonic intro chunk at the beginning of American Idiot. Ohhh, yeah, true... lazy me! Then, yes, there are no tuning or playing motivations to do something like that. I mean, it's not a lower key so a way to help the vocal performance(s), stated they aren't 30 years old anymore. Mh... Now I'm wondering if this is a one-night-only case but... again, it's all about the guitars and the switch between power chords and open chords sections, I don't know what that could mean for all of the other instruments.
Spike Posted August 17, 2017 Posted August 17, 2017 They were probably just trying it out, JOS in flat tuning is a bit easier to play and also allows you to hit some beefy open chords, so I definitely see the sense in it.
walking_c0ntradicti0n Posted August 18, 2017 Posted August 18, 2017 I just assumed whatever song they did before JOS was also half step down does anyone know what they played
deleteduser7593 Posted August 18, 2017 Author Posted August 18, 2017 2 hours ago, Spike said: They were probably just trying it out, JOS in flat tuning is a bit easier to play and also allows you to hit some beefy open chords, so I definitely see the sense in it. Yes, I think ''just trying out'' is the key (sorry) X'0
deleteduser7593 Posted August 18, 2017 Author Posted August 18, 2017 1 hour ago, walking_c0ntradicti0n said: I just assumed whatever song they did before JOS was also half step down does anyone know what they played I tried to give a listen with ''Bang Bang'' and ''Still Breathing'' but no, they are performed in their respective original keys. Maybe they've just tuned down guitars they normally use for the last part of the set, like that black Billie Joe's LP Junior. For playing purposes (fingers/left hand less stretching or ''just trying out''), as I said before, not strictly vocals
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