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Open G - origins in the blues

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Zischkale:
Anyone know of good resources describing the rise in popularity of open G guitar tuning in the early 20th century?

I know one narrative describes the introduction of Spanish open guitar tunings to Hawaiian musicians, who developed their own slack-key style, which in turn became popular in the late 19th/early 20th century as American began its obsession with Hawaiian culture.

But there seem to be three interrelated sources of the open G tunings in the US, from what I can tell - the gDGBD banjo tuning from early banjo instructors (I know the standard tuning was gCGBD), open G tuning from Spanish guitar, and open G in parlor guitar music. Did all three of these sources equally influence blues guitar tunings in the 20s and 30s?

Johnm:
Hi Zischkale,
There is no way of determining conclusively the comparative extent to which the three strains of use of open G tuning influenced blues guitar tunings.  About the best one can do is guess on a case-by-case basis which strain most likely influenced particular performances.
All best,
Johnm

Zischkale:

--- Quote from: Johnm on May 07, 2019, 12:28:00 PM ---Hi Zischkale,
There is no way of determining conclusively the comparative extent to which the three strains of use of open G tuning influenced blues guitar tunings.  About the best one can do is guess on a case-by-case basis which strain most likely influenced particular performances.
All best,
Johnm

--- End quote ---

Do any specific examples come to mind of open G performances influenced by different sources?

Johnm:
Hi Zischkale,
I would say that Libba Cotten's playing of hymns in open G tuning, as in "When I Get Home", "Til We Meet Again" and "Jesus Is Tenderly Calling" sounds influenced by the Parlor Guitar tradition.  I would say pretty much everything Jimmy Tarlton played sounded Hawaiian-influenced.
Incidentally, I'm not sure what you meant by "open G tuning from Spanish guitar" in your initial post in this thread.  I'm not aware of Spanish guitar music employing open G tuning in any regular sort of way.
All best,
Johnm

Zischkale:
Thanks, Johnm!

Was a little purposefully vague regarding Spanish influences. Trying to learn anything I can. Read in a wikipedia article on slack-key guitar (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slack-key_guitar) that Hawaiian slide guitar might have been influenced by "Mexican cowboys in the late 19th century." I assumed there might be some use of the tuning going back to guitar music of Spain.

I think I was just hung up on "Spanish Fandango." Googling a bit more this afternoon, found this excellent article (http://jasobrecht.com/blues-origins-spanish-fandango-and-sebastopol/) regarding Worrall?s Original Spanish Fandango, copywritten in 1860 (article also describes the origins of Vestapol tuning). This would lead me to believe that use of the tuning in the US can be traced back pretty directly to parlor guitar music of the late 19th century. A fantastic Stefan Grossman video on open-G () also mentions Worrall and parlor guitar origins, noting how many blues players had the tune in their repertoire (with many changing the time signature to 4/4).

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