About the 7 String C9 Tuning

This distinctive 7-string guitar tuning, famously used by Papa Dafoe, is tailored for lap steels, offering a rich and versatile sonic palette. It's designed to provide a full, resonant chord right from the open strings, making it exceptionally expressive for various musical styles, particularly those that benefit from lush harmonic voicings like jazz, blues, country, and Hawaiian music.

Technical Analysis

The open strings are tuned to C2 G2 C3 G3 A4# D4 E4. Enharmonically, A4# is Bb4, which reveals the core of this tuning:

• C (Root)
• G (Perfect 5th)
• C (Octave Root)
• G (Octave 5th)
• A# (Bb) (Minor 7th)
• D (Major 9th)
• E (Major 3rd)

This arrangement of notes forms a complete C Major 9th (C9) chord (C-E-G-Bb-D) spread across the open strings, with strategic doubling of the root and fifth in the lower register. This provides an incredibly full and resonant sound when strummed open.

Open Chords and Accessibility

• Open Tuning: The most prominent open chord is a powerful C9. This means rich dominant 9th harmonies are immediately available without any fretting.
• Barre Chords: By simply barring all strings at any fret, you can easily transpose the C9 chord into any other X9 chord. For example, barring at the first fret yields a C#9, at the second fret a D9, and so on. This makes navigating through dominant 9th chord progressions very intuitive.
• Related Chords: The strong C-G-C-G foundation on the lower strings allows for solid root-fifth support. The presence of the Major 3rd (E), Minor 7th (Bb/A#), and Major 9th (D) makes it possible to imply various dominant 7th, major 7th, and minor 7th voicings with minimal finger movement or by selectively muting strings. For instance, removing the Bb could suggest a Cmaj7 or C6/9.
• Lap Steel Suitability: The open C9 chord makes this tuning ideal for lap steel players, allowing for complex harmonies to be played with a single bar, facilitating smooth glissandos and rich melodic lines over a stable harmonic foundation.

How to Tune Your Guitar to 7 String C9

To achieve the 7 String C9 tuning, you will adjust your strings from their standard setup (which is typically E A D G B E for a 6-string, but for a 7-string lap steel, it varies, so refer to your current string notes). The movements below are relative to a baseline to reach the target notes. Note: Tuning up by more than 4 semitones (a major third) or down by more than 4 semitones generally suggests that a different string gauge might be more appropriate for optimal tone and string tension, and to prevent string breakage.

• 7th String (Lowest): Tune up 1 semitones to reach C2.
• 6th String: Tune up 3 semitones to reach G2.
• 5th String: Tune up 3 semitones to reach C3.
• 4th String: Tune up 5 semitones to reach G3. Caution: Tuning up 5 semitones is a significant increase in tension. Consider a lighter gauge string if this is a permanent tuning.
• 3rd String: Tune up 3 semitones to reach A4#.
• 2nd String: Tune up 3 semitones to reach D4.
• 1st String (Highest): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones) to remain at E4.