[Jimkkc]

Just a quick question about Nick Drake - don't know what folks think about his music - I really think his guitar and his tunings are beautiful stuff. My question is about his tunings - I went to azchords.com and found the tuning for Pink Moon, tuned the guitar to that tuning and played along with the cd to get the right feel - long story short, the tuning suggested by azchords.com doesn't sound right against the cd. It sounds right by itelf, but when played with the cd, there is something off.

The tuning in question is (from low to high):
DADGDF# - it is a gorgeous tuning, it just doesn't sound right when played against the cd. To get to that tuning, I placed a capo at the third fret (didn't want to try tuning a B string all the way to D! without a capo)

Does anyone know if the azchors.com tuning is correct? Are my ears playing tricks? Is there an "official" Nick Drake site or songbook that could offer more accurate representations of his music? Any help would be appreciated . . .

[Chief5959]

There is a tab book for Nick Drake that shows the tuning for Pink Moon to be CGCFCE (low to high) with the capo at the second fret. I believe this is a tuning that R. Thompson uses for a lot of his solo stuff.

[Jimkkc]

chief5959 - thanks, I will try that tuning. I assume by your post that you also like Richard Thompson . . . very good taste.

[Boswell]

Tabs for most of Nick Drake's songs can be found at:
http://www.algonet.se/~iguana/DRAKE/NDtabs2.html

Last year's annual gathering of Nick Drake fans at Tanworth-in-Arden (Warwickshire, UK) had a guitar workshop as well as concerts. One of the tutors at the workshop was Chris Healey, who is "Mr Tabs" for Nick's music. This year's gathering is scheduled 3-4 August.

[Shaggy]

It's nice to see Nick Drake get mentioned around these parts, he was a unique talent.

It's possible to play some of his music without getting too hung up on his tunings, he always retained a strong sense of melody despite what can sometimes seem like dissonance in the settings.

He was one hell of a guitar player.

[Jimkkc]

Hey thanks for the info - There is just something beautiful about his music . . . I don't want to say "other worldly" because that is such an overused and empty cliche, but I am at a loss for adjectives to describe his music.

Just an addition to the tuning suggested - I think the DADGDF# tuning works when one capos at the right fret. I originally placed the capo at the third fret, but if the capo is moved to the 4th fret, the sound is much closer and I believe would be the same tuning as the C tuning suggested just a step up.