255. THE Gm7 MINOR (Bb AEOLIAN MODE) TENOR GUITAR AND CORRESPONDING BARITONE OR TENOR UKULELE AND BOUZOUKI

THE PREFERENCE OF THE B FLAT SCALE

It seems that in various cultures there is a systematic preference of the Bb major scale and its minor mode G in various chromatic versions natural G minor, harmonic G minor, double harmonic G minor, etc

1) Most of the old centuries folk Greek songs (dimotika) seem to be ton Bb scale

2) Most of the Greek rebetika seem to in G chromatic minors  and D chromatic minors

3) The natural scales of Trumpet and clarinet is in Bb.

4) It seems that early new Orleans Jazz (that utilizes trumpet and clarinet) is in Bb scale (e.g. see Tuba skinny https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk64II0TGCk )

What is the real reason? Difficult to say. But the next video finds the reason on the pineal gland the the link of the soul to the body https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vP72lFnrDk

Thus a guitar with privileged scale  the Bb instead of the standard G major would be advantageous to play such music.

And as 4-strings (or 4-double strings) tenor guitar version this Bb major scale tuning would be

(from lower pitch to higher)      F3-Bb3-D4-G4

it is an open Gm7 tuning.

The next 3 pictures are from a baritone ukulele tuned in this way. 
A baritone ukulele  usually has scale length of 48 cm, which for the E4 string of the standard guitar is about the note A4.
 Actually I have subtracted the second double string from the higher 3 pairs of strings and have left it only to the lower pitch pair of strings to make the sound more sweet.

An ordinary tenor size with 4-double strings ukulele can also have very well a Bb major or G minor tuning as follows

There is also the Bb major or G minor tuning as follows

(F2:F4 Bb2:Bb4, D3:D4, G3:G4)

or 

(F3:F4 Bb3:Bb4, D3:D4, G3:G4)

4-DOUBLE STRINGS TENOR GUITAR (GUITAR-LELE)

(The range is about the vocal range of a female contralto singer)

A tenor guitar  has scale length usually 58 cm which is about the F#4 at the E4 string of the standard guitar. 

With the nylon strings the G minor or Bb major tuning  in other words 

(F2:F4, Bb2:Bb3, D3:D4, G3:G4) 

is supported as follows:

So for the G4 of the 1st pair, I use an E4-guitar nylon string. For the G3 of the 1st string I use an nylon G3-string of the guitar. For the D4 of the 2nd pair, I use a nylon B3-string of the guitar. For the D3 of the 2nd pair, I use a nylon D3-string of the guitar. For the Bb3 of the 3rd pair, I use again a nylon G3-string of the guitar. For the Bb2 of the 3rd pair, I use a nylon A2 string of the guitar. For the F4 of the 4th pair, I use a nylon A4-string of the tenor ukulele . And for the F2 of the 4th pair I use a nylon E2-string of the guitar. 

This (F2:F4, Bb2:Bb3, D3:D4, G3:G4)  tuning is supported also with usual guitar metal strings

So for the G4 of the 1st pair, I use an E4-guitar metal string. For the G3 of the 1st string I use a metal G3-string of the guitar. For the D4 of the 2nd pair, I use a  B3-string of the guitar. For the D3 of the 2nd pair, I use a metal  D3-string of the guitar. For the Bb3 of the 3rd pair, I use again a metal G3-string of the guitar. For the Bb2 of the 3rd pair, I use a   A2 string of the guitar. For the F4 of the 4th pair, I use a  E4-string of the guitar . And for the F2 of the 4th pair I use a  E2-string of the guitar.

Of course we may as well have this Bb or G minor tuning with single strings

(F3, Bb3, D4, G4)

Such a Bb tuning can very well apply to the 2/3 children 6-string guitar of about 58 cm too, with the full 6-string version

(G2, C3, F3, Bb3, D4, G4)



As alternative the Bb tuning can be in the normal position open Gm7 tuning

G3-Bb3-D4-F4

Which can very well apply for a Bb 4-single strings Bouzouki

 The above 4-course Bb guitar can be extended to 6-courses or 6-strings Bb guitar as in post 273.

THE UKULELE-BOUZOUKI-PANDURI TUNING on 6-strings

This tuning sometimes is used in the instrument Dobro too.

We apply the 3M-3m-4-3M-4  tuning in intervals

This is best realizable in shorter an 2/3 or 1/2 children guitar :

The F3-Bb3-D3-G4  part is a 4-string Greek Bouzouki or a ukulele in Bb major

The Bb2-X-F3-Bb3 part is a 3-string Greek Bouzouki in Bb major

The Eb2-Bb2-F3 is a low tambouras or saz with privileged scale the Eb major.

Some further advantages of this Bb 6-string guitar tuning are 

1) At the 4 higher strings all the chord-shapes and chords of the standard guitar can be played without any note missing. Thus we reduce all well-known guitar chord playing in the higher 4-strings

2) Nevertheless, in the lower 3 strings, it plays also the 2-frets triad-chords of 3 strings of a panduri

3) In the 5th 3rd 2nd strings it plays all the tunes of a Greek 3-strong bouzouki, including the isocratic with two strings playing as drone an interval of 5th Thus it combines playing with ancient tunings that require strings tuned at  intervals of 5th (melodies orientation) and more modern tunings (chords or harmonic orientation)

4) It is an open minor 7nth or major 6th tuning.

5) It has two intervals of 8th (2nd-5th, and 3rd-1st strings) and one interval of 5th (6th-4th strings) which allows for nice isocratic improvisations.

6) It has chord triads with all 3 inversions in all 4 rows of consecutive strings 1st-2nd-3rd (Ionian mode) , 2nd-3rd-4th (Aeolian mode) , 3rd-4th-5th ( Ionian mode) , 4th-5th-6th (Ionian mode) 

We should mention though that this improvement is not as advantageous as the fully melodic-harmonic guitar tuning described in post 90. The only reason we describe the current tuning is that it preserves the 2/3 of the learned guitar on the standard tuning while it allow for more chord triads and advantages described above.