The B11 tuning for lap steel guitar offers a wealth of great chords and harmonized melodic lines...
...but treat it carefully: Strumming the open strings has been known to make other musicians cringe! That's because this unique tuning features a diminished triad in the middle of it. It's a real pain if you're used to strumming "open" tunings.
Here's the tuning from Low to High: C# D# F# A C# E
The diminished triad that we're referring to is the D# F# A part of the tuning. By itself, it can sound pretty aweful! But used within the context of the right background harmony--which can be provided by your band or a backing track--you get a deep rich Dominant 7th sound that's hard to achieve on the standard C6 tuning.
The middle four strings--D# F# A C#--provide an even richer sound of the Dominant 9th chord, which is another sound that's hard to pull off on the standard C6 tuning for lap steel guitar.
It's interesting to note that the top four strings--F# A C# E--are the same as the top four strings of the A6 tuning for lap steel guitar. This note grouping corresponds to the same relationship of the top four strings of the C6 tuning for 6 string lap steel guitar, as well.
To get a better idea of what this means, place your steel bar on the third fret and pluck the top four strings when in the B11 tuning. You'll find the top four notes of the C6 tuning's open strings: A C E G.
With this little bit of knowledge, you can use your skills and note patterns from C6, while taking advantage of the rich Dominant 7th and Dominant 9th sounds that are available. It makes this peculiar tuning definitely worth checking out!
In the video lesson below, we take a C6 tuning and convert it to B11 with on-screen notation to help your visual learning abilities.
In Part 2 (coming soon), we'll go more in-depth, showing you some cool chords and harmonized melodic lines that sound great in tunes like Sand and How Dya Do.