Tunings

Brother Rabbit Speaks

the tree	DADGAE, CAPO III, 2-6
rain dog	DGCFAD (twelve string)
black rabbit	DADGAD, CAPO VI
train bound for evermore	EADGBE
moon of the geese…	BbFCFBbC (twelve string)
midwife	BbFCFGC (twelve string)
the weremoose	CGCFAD (twelve string)
juda	BbFCFBbC (twelve string)
rain song	DADGAE
imamu	EADGBE
september dawn	CGDGCD

Rain

(general note here: these tunings may be a half step further down, which is to say three half steps sub standard. i was depressed.)

smell the future	DGCFAD
november	DGCFAD
little foot	DGCFAD
birgit	DGCFAD
no wonder	DGCFAD
all in good fun	DGCFAD, CAPO IV
the prince	DGCFAD
no one else	DGCFAD
the dreams	CFCFAC
the way that i love you	BbFCFBbC
september dawn	BbFCFBbC

Rapture

(this is when i started using extremely low notes. from this point on, whenever you see a tuning that begins, “GG” or “AA” or such, the fifth string is lowered a few steps to that value, and the sixth is lowered until it is an octave below the fifth. my answer to the often asked “how do you get the guitar to hold a note value that low?” is: i don’t. there’s a general wash of highly oscillating noise somewhere down there coming from the sixth string, and then a definitive value on the fifth that gives the illusion of value to the wash. the two strings are always fretted together. it’s all smoke and mirrors.)

rapture	GGCFBbC
on the way up	DGCFAD, CAPO II
question mark	CGCFBbD
smell the future	DGCFAD
so much more	DGCFAD, CAPO II all, CAPO IV 3-5
if love is not enough	F#GCFAD, CAPO IV 1-5
the whole of the moon	BbFCFBbC
half the time	CFCFAC
black rabbit	DADGAD, CAPO IV *
black snow	DGCFAD (twelve string)
dog talk/the dreams	CFCFAC (twelve string)
the whole of the moon	BbFCFBbC
aurora borealis	DGCFAD (twelve string)

* black rabbit is capoed IV on this record because the capo i had didn’t fit across the wide neck of the julius borges 1930’s martin OM-18 replica at the sixth fret. now i have a wide capo, and it’s back where it oughta be.

Goodbye Bob

sign ‘o’ the times	CGCFBbC
if love is not enough	F#GCFAD, CAPO IV 1-5
deep blue	EbEbCFFC
on the way up	DGCFAD, CAPO II
the dreams	CFCFAC

Deep Blue

grace	CFCFAC (twelve string)
smoke	CGCFGC, CAPO IV
midwife	BbFCFGC, nashville strung (twelve string tuning without the bass strings)
take this	CGDGCD
no sense of humor	BGCFBbD, CAPO IV 1-5
deep blue	EbEbCFFF (first 3 strings all same value, different from bob version)
every mother’s son	AADGBE
birgit	DGCFAD
out here	DGCFAD, CAPO VII
clap hands	GGCFAD, CAPO II
forever nightshade mary	DADGAE

Glencree

trouble with poets	CGCFBbD
tender blindspot	BbFCFAD, CAPO IV
a better way to go	BbFCFAD, CAPO IV
ithaca	DGCFAD, CAPO IV
hard times…	CGCFGC, CAPO IV
‘64 dodge	BbFCFAD, CAPO VI
stephen’s green	BbGBbFGD
smoke	CGCFGC, CAPO IV
if i were	FFCFGC, CAPO II
stretched on your grave	CGCFBbC

The Trouble With Poets

the trouble with poets	CGCFBbD
words too small…(studio)	BGDGBE capo IV
words too small… (live)	G#FCFAD capo VI strings 1-5
check me out	BbFBbFBbC capo IV
every word…	CGCGCD
wings of the…	BbGBbFGD capo II
you meet the…	DGCFAD capo II
eyes front	DADGAD capo II
all the way home	EADGCE
bright idea	CGCFBbC capo II
tender blindspot	CGDGBE capo II
home	EADGBE

Ten Thousand Mornings

note on tunings: i know, i know: DGCFAD capo II is (sort of) standard… but it’s also (sort of) not. the note values are standard, but the tensions are loose and the frets are smaller, and it’s just… different.

stranded in a limousine	GGCFAD, capo V strings 1-5
inner city blues	BbFBbFBbC, capo III
comes love	DGCFAD, capo II
two janes	FFCFFC
running up the stairs	CGDGBE
mama, you been on my mind	DGCFAD, capo II
caleb meyer	BbFBbFBbC, capo VI
in germany before the war	DGCFAD, capo IV
oliver’s army	DGCFAD
for no one	DGCFAD, capo II
rain and snow	GGCFAD, capo V strings 1-5
the ocean	CFCFBbC, capo VI

Kitchen Radio

just a note: i used goody’s 1930’s Martin OO-17 on the whole record, except on 29¢ head and bloomington (where i used my Martin OM-15).

road to mallow	standard, capo IV
shirt	CGCGCD, capo II
29¢ head	AbFCFAbC, capo III 1-5
falling	standard
charlie	standard
denver, 6a.m.	EACGAE
rise	DGCFAD
bloomington	standard
me & albert	EADGCE capo V
you	standard
thirty	CGDGBE
toad	DADGBE
sad, sad, sad, sad	standard, capo IV

The Knuckleball Suite

Old Simon Stimson	Standard
Abilene	Standard, Capo II
The Fly	Standard, down a whole step
Girl in the Hi-Tops	Standard, Capo IV
You and Me and the Ten Thousand Things	Standard
Horse	Standard
Thorn	Standard, Capo III
Lila Blue- Standard	Standard
Marty and Lou	Standard, Capo V
Brady Street Stroll	Standard
The Knuckleball Suite	Standard
The Fix is On	CGCFAD
Ballymore	Standard

Notes from Elsewhere

Shirt	BbFBbFBbC, capo IV
Better Way to Go	BbFCFAD, capo IV
The Dreams	CFCFAC, capo II
Old Simon Stimson	DGCFAD, capo II
Rapture	GGCFBbC
The Trouble with Poets	CGCFBbD
Grace	CFCFAC
Black Rabbit	CGCFGC, capo VI
If Love is Not Enough	F#GCFAD, capo IV strings 1-5
The Knuckleball Suite	AFCFAC, capo IV strings 1-5
Every Word Except Goodbye	BbFBbFBbC, capo II
Charlie	FFCFFC, capo II
Tender Blindspot	BbFCFAD, capo IV
On the Way Up	DGCFAD, capo II
Wings of the Ragman	BbGBbFGD, capo II
Words Too Small to Say	G#FCFAD, capo VI strings 1-5
Little Foot	DGCFAD, Capo II

Letters from a Flying Machine

Kids in the Square	Standard, Capo II
Some People	Standard, Capo III
Windshield	Standard, Capo III
What’s Keeping Erica?	Standard, Capo II
… Plus the Many Inevitable Fragments	Standard
Dynamite Bill	DFBbFBbC, Capo IV Strings 1-5
Shoulderbirds (You Know Me)	DGCFAD Capo I
Mailman	Standard, Capo IV
Bears	Standard
Vlad the Astrophysicist	DGCFAD
On a Wing and a Prayer	BbFBbFBbBb capo IV
Our Love is Here to Stay	Standard