Topic: Dave Van Ronk Tunings

[simplelines]

Hello.

I've been listening to Dave Van Ronk a lot more than I had been lately, so I've been paying attention to more things. One of the main things is all of the different tunings and capo positions he used throughout his career. The following is a list of tunings he used and the highest capo position I've seen or heard him play some of them. I've compiled it from multiple sources: all 3 of the tab books Mel Bay released, the instructional DVD, the 2 live performance DVD's, videos and comments on Youtube, message boards and bootleg audio.

Feel free to contribute.



Standard

Another Time and Place (capo 4)
Antelope Rag
Ballad of the IRT
Buckdancer's Choice
Buddy Bolden's Blues (capo 4)
Candyman
Cocaine Blues
Come Back Baby (capo 2)
Don't You Leave Me Here (capo 2)
Down South Blues (capo 3)
Dry Land Blues
Freight Train
Garden State Stomp
Gaslight Rag
God Bless the Child (capo 2)
He Was a Friend of Mine (capo 2)
Hesitation Blues (capo 6)
Jelly, Jelly (capo 2)
Mack the Knife (capo 7/9)
Mamie's Blues (capo 3)
Maple Leaf Rag
Mean World Blues
Midnight Hour Blues (capo 2)
One Kind Favor
One Meatball
Rocks and Gravel (capo 7)
Saturday Night Shuffle
Somebody Else, Not Me
Sometime (capo 4)
Spike Driver's Moan (capo 4)
St. James Infirmary
St. Louis Tickle
Stackerlee
Sugar Babe
Swinging on a Star
That Will Never Happen No More (capo 4)
Willie the Weeper (capo 4)
Wilson Rag
Yas, Yas, Yas (capo 3)
You've Been a Good Old Wagon (capo 3)



Drop D

Blood Red Moon
Buckets of Rain (capo 6)
Did You Hear John Hurt? (capo 2)
The Entertainer (capo 2)
Frankie's Blues
Green, Green Rocky Road (capo 2/4)
Kansas City Blues (capo 2)
Left Bank Blues
Losers (capo 2)
Old Blue (capo 4)
Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out (capo 2)
Song to Woody (capo 2)
Sportin' Life Blues (capo 2)
Sunday Street (capo 2)



Drop C (CGDGBE)

Keep It Clean (capo 1)



Open D (DADF#AD)

Bad Dream Blues (capo 4)



Open C (CGCGCE)

Head Inspector
River (I'm not entirely sure about the tuning of this, but it is in a low C tuning)



Various

Jesus Met the Woman at the Well (CGDGBD) (capo 2)



That's all for now.

[dspilkia]

He did a cover of the Joni Mitchell song Urge For Going.  I have always loved his arrangement and wonder if the tuning he used on it is not one of the tunings you have listed.  I forget which album he recorded this on.

[Bob B]

"Urge for going" was recorded on an album simply titled Van Ronk.  It was released by Polydor.

Bob

[Laura]

I'm going to add "Old Blue" from his album "Somebody else, not me" in Drop D, capo 4th.

[simplelines]

I'm going to add "Old Blue" from his album "Somebody else, not me" in Drop D, capo 4th.

Thank you.

I just reorganized the list and added that.


For anyone curious...

In May, the following DVR albums were rereleased as digital-only downloads at Amazon.com, iTunes, among others:

(1964) Dave Van Ronk and the Ragtime Jug Stompers
(1964) Just Dave Van Ronk
(1966) No Dirty Names
(1968) Dave Van Ronk and the Hudson Dusters
(1971) Van Ronk
(1973) Songs for Ageing Children

This is great news since most of the vinyl rips around the web sound pretty rough.

Most of his discography is available in non-LP/vinyl form now.

[Issaquahbob]

Newbie to site and am seeing some great stuff especially on Dave's tuning. Thanks to all who contribute! Will try to do the same. Have found that many of Dave's songs are not tabbed online yet. Am working on several (keep it clean, that'll never happen no more, yas yas yas, dry land blues) and can figure out a lot on my own with help from you tube watching folks like Tandelgen play their versions but some chords or shapes are very hard to spot or figure out without tabs and shapes. Also not knowing tuning differences can add to difficulty there but sometimes folks will share that if you ask. Does anybody have access to tabs for these or other DVR that they can share? Even a few shapes in form of XXXXXX format showing chord shape would really help towards learning the songs. Thanks.

[simplelines]

Newbie to site and am seeing some great stuff especially on Dave's tuning. Thanks to all who contribute! Will try to do the same. Have found that many of Dave's songs are not tabbed online yet. Am working on several (keep it clean, that'll never happen no more, yas yas yas, dry land blues) and can figure out a lot on my own with help from you tube watching folks like Tandelgen play their versions but some chords or shapes are very hard to spot or figure out without tabs and shapes. Also not knowing tuning differences can add to difficulty there but sometimes folks will share that if you ask. Does anybody have access to tabs for these or other DVR that they can share? Even a few shapes in form of XXXXXX format showing chord shape would really help towards learning the songs. Thanks.

I'm pretty sure tanDlegen (from Youtube) learned his covers from the instructional Dave Van Ronk DVD and the 3 books Mel Bay released. He plays most of the ones from them note-for-note from the transcriptions. The Guitar Stylings of Dave Van Ronk is OOP and sells for ridiculous prices, but the others are still available.

Since you asked, and it's OOP, here's "Dry Land Blues" from The Guitar Stylings of Dave Van Ronk:


<link removed by slack, see post below>

[westside ryan]

I had emailed MelBay a while back about getting a copy of the book and was told that it was slated to be reprinted.  Instead of waiting, I just ended up paying quite a bit for a used copy off of Ebay.  Also, I dont mean to be a prude, but while the book may be out of print, it is still copywritten and you probably shouldn't be posting copies of it unless you have permission to do so. 

[Slack]

Hi folks,

I've removed the link to the Dryland tab jepg.  Posting commercial copyrighted tab is a tricky one for us.  We walk the line on a lot of stuff, which is subject to our subjective standard (with which you may or may not agree).  But in this case, we would feel more comfortable if you all exchanged tab that you had scanned from some book and put on your personal sites - off-channel.

Thanks for your understanding!
Slack

 

[Stuart]

There is a provision for what is known as "Fair Use." As Slack says, it's best to not to post copyrighted materials, but there are provisions for copying materials for educational use--"Fair Use." There is no shortage of info about this provision available on the web.

[JTO]

Hi, this list is very helpful. I didn;t see Honey Hair on it any tuning fo that DVR song?
JTO

[Laura]

Hi JTO.  It sounds to me like "Honey Hair" is another one in Drop D.

While I'm here..can anyone tell me the list of songs covered in the out of print book?

Thanks.

[glasalle]

Thanks for the compilation.  One thing to note, Dave changed capo positions frequently.  When i took lessons from Dave in the early 80's, he always taught the tunes without a capo.  He also pretty much settled in on Standard and dropped D (or as he liked to call it, English D).  He didn't teach me any songs other than those 2 tunings. 

Some additions:
 - Dave taught me Jivin' Man Blues, which is Dropped D
 - Death Letter Blues is in G in standard

Glenn

[glasalle]

Hi JTO.  It sounds to me like "Honey Hair" is another one in Drop D.

While I'm here..can anyone tell me the list of songs covered in the out of print book?

Thanks.

Following is list:
 - Sugar Babe
 - Freight Train
 - Buckdancers choice
 - Spike Drivers Moan
 - Candy Man
 - Cocaine Blues
 - Dry Land Blues
 - Come Back Baby
 - Blood Red Moon
 - Sunday Street
 - St Louis Tickle
 - The Entertainer
 - Maple Leaf Rag
 - Antelope Rag
 - Gaslight Rag

Dave liked to start new students off with Sugar babe and Freight train.

Glenn

[Laura]

Hi Glenn.  Thanks very much for the list.  There are quite a few songs that are covered in his other CD/DVD lessons but I wonder if the arrangements are very different?

You must feel very lucky to have taken lessons with Dave.  Did you study for long with him?

[glasalle]

I believe the arrangements are similar.  Yes, taking lessons with Dave was "an experience".  i went into greenwhich village for about a year to take lessons with Dave. Although, I think there were some breaks  here and there.

Glenn

[EricFlatpick]

Thanks for the tunings, Simplelines.  There I was feeling smug, having worked "Keep it clean" in open C, with a way to keep that bass line rolling like on the recording ...  I'll give it a try in the dropped C you've identifed, but may I ask what it was that clued you that it was that tuning?  Are there parts that it makes it easier to play--or anything else you'd care to comment on?  Thanks.

[yogi]

I tried to pick out Another Tme and Place last night but my ears aren't great... According to the list it's played in standard tuning but to me the F# base for the D chord doesn't sound right. I decided it sounds better with a double D base and drop D tuning. Capo at the second fret.
Do any of you wizards know which base he played on the D chord?

Thanks in advance
 Yogi

[Laura]

Hi Yogi.  Johnm kindly tabbed "Another Time and Place" for me some time ago.  He has it in standard in E and I'm pretty certain that's how Dave would have played it, too.  Though I'm sure it could sound good in drop D.  I think I might record this song this weekend it's so lovely

[yogi]

E! That's a surprise, I could have sworn it was in the key of D.
Looking forward to hearing your version should you decide to post it for us.
 /Yogi

[Laura]

Well there's a challenge then!

[Laura]

Here ya go, Yogi.  Sorry about all the mistakes I haven't played this for a long time and had no time to practice.  I totally cheat on the B chord because it's quite a complicated little pull-off thing he does but this sort of works! Oh and to completely confuse things I'm tuned down a whole step and capo'd up to the first fret   

[yogi]

Cheers for that Laura, I really appreciate it! Practice or no practice, it still sounds nice, I think you should be proud. And you have a lovely voice as well! When I try to sing it it sounds like sh*t.
I'm still playing it in D, it sits so well there and one can play it almost efforlessly though I probably miss out on some of the sounds and I do have to battle the "drone" from the base.
Thanks again for posting this and accepting the challange :-)

Yogi

[michael]

Hey ,

I know I'm a bit late but is "Another Time and Place" featured in any of the music-books?

[Slagathor]

it's awesome you took lessons from Dave Van Ronk. I've been trying to learn Jivin Man Blues for a couple of days now. Do you think you might have the tabs for that song?

Thanks for the compilation.  One thing to note, Dave changed capo positions frequently.  When i took lessons from Dave in the early 80's, he always taught the tunes without a capo.  He also pretty much settled in on Standard and dropped D (or as he liked to call it, English D).  He didn't teach me any songs other than those 2 tunings. 

Some additions:
 - Dave taught me Jivin' Man Blues, which is Dropped D
 - Death Letter Blues is in G in standard

Glenn

? edited by Rivers to fix the quote formatting of a previous post ?

[Aaron]

Hi everyone. I'm a few years late, but here's my contribution. One correction to the original list is that "Jesus Met the Woman" is in Drop D.

Standard

• Baby Let Me Lay It On You
• Boll Weevil Song
• Chicken is Nice
• Michigan Water Blues
• The Old Man
• The Pearls
• Urge for Going
• Winin' Boy

Drop D

• In Conditional Support of Beauty
• Jesus Met the Woman at the Well
• Jivin' Man Blues
• The Katoomba Rumba
• Nobody Knows the Way I Feel This Morning

[davidbeinct]

I know this is a bit of a zombie thread, but does anyone know where a recorded version of Dave Van Ronk playing The Katoomba Rumba might be found? My teacher took some lessons from him and has taught it to me but I would love to hear Dave's original.

[Stuart]

Hi David: If all else fails, ask Elijah Wald.

[Johnm]

According to the Dave Van Ronk discography at the Stefan Wirz site, Dave never recorded the piece on a commercially available disc or LP.

[davidbeinct]

Hi David: If all else fails, ask Elijah Wald.

Thanks Stuart. I had already done that, he didn't know of one so I thought I would crowd source here. Looks like John Miller gave me my answer.

[Stuart]

Hi David: I did the standard searches before posting. I went though Stefan Wirz's Dave Van Ronk page, but didn't see the song. I assumed you had too. I guess I should have posted that I didn't see it listed as it would have saved John the time and trouble.

Dave was a relatively young man when he died at age 65. Since he taught the song, I thought he may have recorded it on a "student tape" for reference -- or perhaps he may have recorded it in the studio, but it was never released. If so, I thought Elijah might know.

I think it belongs in the category of the great intangibles of life. Perhaps he thought of doing something more with "The Katoomba Rumba," but like a lot of things, it just was not to be.

[davidbeinct]

Hi David: I did the standard searches before posting. I went though Stefan Wirz's Dave Van Ronk page, but didn't see the song. I assumed you had too. I guess I should have posted that I didn't see it listed as it would have saved John the time and trouble.

Dave was a relatively young man when he died at age 65. Since he taught the song, I thought he may have recorded it on a "student tape" for reference -- or perhaps he may have recorded it in the studio, but it was never released. If so, I thought Elijah might know.

I think it belongs in the category of the great intangibles of life. Perhaps he thought of doing something more with "The Katoomba Rumba," but like a lot of things, it just was not to be.

Hi Stuart, I did not do the standard searches, other than just using Google and the various spellings of “Katoomba” and “Rumba” that I could think of. Your post is the first time I came across Dave Wirz site. There’s a wealth of information there for sure, so thanks for pointing it out to me.

[Stuart]

Hi Stuart, I did not do the standard searches, other than just using Google and the various spellings of “Katoomba” and “Rumba” that I could think of. Your post is the first time I came across Dave Wirz site. There’s a wealth of information there for sure, so thanks for pointing it out to me.

You're welcome, David, but thanks should go to John Miller as he was the first to post that he checked Stefan Wirz's site which contains a wealth of information. As for searching, I didn't want to come off as patronizing or suggesting a person be told things they already know. It's the internet and misunderstandings abound. I agree that it's more efficient to simply ask people who may know the answer without wasting time reinventing the wheel (--or reinventing the flat tire in my case). I do it all the time, so you're not alone.

[EyesNotChops]

Alas, one of the songs Dave did that wasn't discussed was "Ain't No Grave Can Keep My Body Clean."  I wonder if anyone knows the tuning for it?

Thanks in advance.

[Johnm]

Hi EyesNotChops,
I believe the song is "Ain' No Grave Can Hold My Body Down". Dave Van Ronk played it in C position standard tuning, capoed up.

[EyesNotChops]

Thank you