Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

hello all, just wondering if someone can help me with this problem, my band wants to start playing rain, well actually ive forced it on the others, but cant seem to get it sounding right, does anyone know if an open tuning is required? cheers

It should be straight forward. Try not to overpower the song with guitar. Let the bass be the major force in the song.

It is indeed a strange tuning. I did it years ago and I can not remember now how it was done.

This Song was recorded double time by the Beatles, then slowed down to get that dreamy, ethereal feeling. Not the bass though. Just John & George I guess. I've never played it live, but perhaps that is an issue?

That's true; was actually recorded somewhere around Bflat, then slowed down to G. What I would suggest is keep those d & g strings open on the main guitar. Even when it's a D chord, keep that g open. The way I do it is use the Jimmy Page "Houses Of The Holy" G tuning: DGDGBD. In fact, playing that Zepp riff during the end of Rain sounds real boss, man! Seriously. If you like, I can upload the fingering I use in this tuning for the chorus. Whatever you do, it's going to be a simulation, but with some tweaking here & there, you'll get something cool! I wonder if the band Rain ever did it, and how they do it? Thanks! Christian

thanks

christian that would be awesome man, thanks.
sounds like there so much more going on in that song, will definitley try the jimmy page tuning, its the same as kashmir isnt it?

Ringo's all-time favorite Beatles song.

I've always done it in Open G tuning on my Casino with slight distortion.
1D-2B-3G-4D-5G-6D
Try doing a search online for "Beatles Tabs". You'll probably find someone's close interpretation of it.....Of course if you're like ME and want to do it EXACTLY like it was done...then I'm sure someone here has an opinion.
Cheers

Hmmm. Are you guys sure it was an alternate tuning? The intro SOUNDS like it's in a first position G chord w/ the D and G strings open. After breakfast I'll give Paul a jingle and see if he remembers...

Lennonon is correct - the song was recorded using varispeed techniques so it will only be possible to approximate (at best) the sound of the original record. Maybe that's where you take some artistic license and pur your own twist on it instead of trying to replicate the original. just mho

I think "Kashmir" was just a drop D. I'll come up with the chords I devised for the G tuning during the bridge. J. Oliver is absolutely correct; it's a studio song pure and simple, and what we all come up with will be an approximation and/or simulation. The "Zinger" part of course is that 3rd to 4th to 3rd to 5th to 4th during the intro and verse that just HAS to be there. Thanks! Christian.

Yep, it was just varying speed. Lennon's voice was recorded at 42 cycles, and tape machines usually ran at 50. According to G. Emerick they drove the tape machines through a power amp and the power amp would drive the capstan, enabling them to speed up or slow down the machine at will. This, he said, was what they did with Rain, with both the guitars and vocals.

i thought kashmir was d-a-d-g-a-d - ive thought of adding our own twist to rain, but i like the original so much that i want it to sound like it.
its a tricky one, but i wont give up, most tabs on the net say to play g, c and d. doesn't quite sound right.

I'm sure your right Harry; Kashmir is quite a reach with just the drop D!! For years, you should have seen the version of "The Rain Song" that I did in standard tuning in the key of "A", until I discovered the tuning! Stupid guitar player me! Christian

Kashmir is definitely a D-A-D-G-A-D tuning. Tuning that way is the only way to nail the Kashmir sound, although I heard Steve Morse do a KILLER version in standard tuning. But that's Steve Morse.