To transpose on the fly with a baritone, knowing a little music theory goes a long way. This is different than slapping on a capo or imagining your guitar with a capo that can lower the notes, all of the notes are in different places. Even tuning takes on a slightly different meaning. Let me explain.
If you’ve never even heard of a baritone guitar, let me recommend a couple of players for you: Mark Lettieri and Joe Bonamassa. There are many others but those are the two I’m grooving to these days.
Tuning
First things first, right? My baritone is tuned down to B as if you were starting from the B string and continuing from there. That would work out to B-E-A-D-G-B. However, that messes up the tuning such that simple chord shapes like C, no longer play correctly. Remember that your tuning from the frets goes 5-5-5-4-5, This results in a tuning like this: B-E-A-D-F#-B. If you use a tuner, like I do, that F# is a critical detail. Now, when you play an E chord, you are actually playing B. That is, the E chord shape in the first position results in a B chord – B-Eb-Gb. Playing the C chord shape results in the G chord.
From here, we are going to get into a bit of theory. A little goes a long way and you can get more from a previous post (Why Learn Music Theory? I Play By Ear!) and for still more, hit my course on Basic Theory for Guitar.
Getting familiar
After getting the tuning straight, take care to notice where the notes are positioned. If you have been playing for some time, you should have the notes mapped from the nut to the fifth fret. Just looking at the roots of your chords will get you familiar with the bass strings. The rest should be easy to fill in just from tuning and knowing how scales work.
That low B string now follows the same pattern you know from the high B sting: B-C-C#-D-D#-E. From there, you know an E shape gives you the B chord. The next fret up would normally give you F but now it is C. The third fret will give you D and so on.
Transposing on the fly
You might be seeing how this going to go already. When I look at the neck and have the map of the notes in mind, transposing on the fly becomes easy. For example, the notes on the strings follow the same pattern as before:
Using the frets, we have 0, 1, #2, 3, #4, 5 on the 6th and first strings. On a standard tuned guitar, that would be E-F-F#-G-G#-A.
On the baritone, we now have: B-C-C#-D-D#-E
Armed with that knowledge and the CAGED system, we can derive our chords. Giving the shape then the equivalent chord in first position (i.e. your cowboy chords) look like this
- C becomes G
- A becomes E
- G becomes D
- E becomes B
- D becomes A
The trick is to remember what the bass or root note is when you fret the shapes. For example, when you put your fingers on what would normally be C, the root note your third/ring finger rests on is actually G. That gives you the G chord on the baritone. Add the fifth for the root which would normally be C/G, you get G/D. That low-low D note fills the bottom out rather nicely. A bit of earthquake timbre added to your tone!
What else can you transpose on the fly?
As you transpose, remember to add in the bass note transitions for some real grumble and thunder in your playing. Now you can go from E to C# with some serious authority. Dropping from D to B (bass notes: D – C# – B) or even simply going from D to A/C# is easier than on a standard tuned guitar. What was once a stretch to the fourth fret is now right in reach on the third fret.
That should get you primed for your own baritone adventures! Typically at church, we have a three song set right at the start. There is no time for changing guitars; so, the choice needs to be made early and practiced to get familiar with the new layout. Baritones are not very expensive and may be worth looking into for your own arsenal. Let this be your primer!