7 String Tunings Master List

[Allan Revich]

I thought it would be nice to have reference here on SGF with a list of all the seven string lap steel tunings that players are using. I'll do my best in this first post, but please add any that I miss. Let's try for consistency to post one tuning per line, and all tunings from low to high, using lower case for reentrant strings.


Open A. E A C♯ E A C♯ E

A6/B♭. B♭ C♯ E F♯ A C♯ E (Bobby Koefer9)

A6. A C♯ E F♯ A C♯ E

B♭6/G7. G B D F G B♭ D (Jerry Byrd tuned down)

B11. B C♯ D♯ F♯ A C♯ E

Cm6. A Eb G A C E♭ G (Bobby Koefer)

C6/A7. A C♯ E G A C E (Jerry Byrd)

C6/A7. C C♯ E G A C E (Jerry Byrd)

C6. C E G A C E G

C6. G C E G A C E

C6. C G C G A C E

C6. a C G C G C E

C diatonic. E F G A B C E (Jerry Byrd)

C13. B♭ E G A C E G

C13. B♭ C E G A C E

Open D. D F♯ A D F♯ A D

D6. D A B D F♯ A D

D6. D A D F♯ A B D

D9. D A C E F♯ A D

D9. D A D F♯ A C E

Open E. E G♯ B E G♯ B E

E6. c♯ E B E G♯ B E (reentrant)

E6. E B C♯ E G♯ B E

E9. E B D F♯ G♯ B E

G. D G B D G B D (Russian standard tuning)

G6. G B D E G B D

G6. D G D E G B D (low bass)

G6. E G B D G B D

G9. D G B D F A D

GM9. D G B D F♯ A D

GM9. G B D F♯ A B D

[Allan Revich]

B D E G B D F#

C D E G B D F#

From Fred Bova
https://www.facebook.com/groups/steelbenders.

He calls them "G Hexatonic"

[Tom Dillon]

A7: A C# E G A C# E

[Eric Dahlhoff]

C6: A C E G A C E
I really like the A on the bottom

[Fred]

A6. Bb C# E F# A C# E (Bobby Koefer - A6 add 9?)

This one is A6/F#7 just like C6/A7. It's easier to see if it's written
A# C# E F# A C# E

[Allan Revich]

Kinda forgot about this thread...

Here's an image excerpt provided by Noah Miller in this thread; viewtopic.php?t=377888

[Chris Templeton]

Now that everyone has put pen to paper, so to speak, why not head over to Hawaii, with Radio Garden, and make some sense of all your wonderful notes:
http://radio.garden/visit/honolulu-hi/DmcW9wFe
(Allan, I enjoyed playing at The Halfway, in Saanich/Victoria. Tele master, Redd Volkaert, sat in one night. Wow!)

[Nic Neufeld]

A very minor alteration of the high G C13 above is like Jules C13 but without the lowest C. Better for folks who are used to using the low C and having E on top.

Bb C E G A C E

Fmaj7/G13 (got this one from Alan Akaka)

G B D F A C E
6 1 3 5 7 (FM7, +6)
1 3 5 b7 9 11 13 (G13)

Functionally it is a lot like B11 (discordant 7th/9th and more on the bottom end, sweeter sounding 6th on the top strings...but with an added major 7th) if you added a top string to standard B11. This one maps out really nice for a 7 string as compared to an 8 string...on an 8 string an extra string on either bottom or top doesn't strike me as very useful.

For completeness my theoretical B11 adaptation...call it B13, or AMaj7/B13...same basic harmonic options as above but in a different key:

B D# F# A C# E G#

[Allan Revich]

...
...(Allan, I enjoyed playing at The Halfway, in Saanich/Victoria. Tele master, Redd Volkaert, sat in one night. Wow!)

Sounds like a great night! I can't find any references to the Halfway online. Looks like I won't get a chance to check it out Chris

Meanwhile, I've added another 7 string tuning to the list, G9.
D G B D F A D
5 1 3 5 b7 9 5 (major)
1 4 6 1 b3 5 1 (minor)
You gots yer majors, yer 7ths & 9ths, yer minors, minor 6th, and even a m7b5.

[Allan Revich]

Added a 7 string adaptation of b0b’s D6 over G tuning. It’s his standard 8 string tuning with the high F# omitted.

G B D F# A B D

I’ve labeled it as GM9 (G major 9) in the list. It gives you a 1 chord and a 5 (or 1 & 4) chord on the same fret, and a m7 chord and M7 on each fret too.

This tuning has the advantage of having a prepackaged set of strings available.
https://www.steelguitarshopper.com/b0bs-gauges-d-g/

Also added the old Russian standard 7 string tuning,
D G B D G B D.

[Allan Revich]

A few edits today;
Added a few tunings that probably should have been here all along:
D9 - D A D F# A C E

D9 - D A C E F# A D

E9 - E B D F♯ G♯ B E

Also removed a couple tunings that I came up with on my own, and I’ve never seen referred to elsewhere.

[Mark Eaton]

Great job on the thread "resurrection" Allan.

I remember when you first posted it over five years ago but since that time it faded somewhere into the old memory banks.