Conan O'Brien - Stuck in a Moment [guitar tuning question]

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btappan

Babyface
Joined
Dec 1, 2002
Messages
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On Conan O'Brien Edge played 'Stuck' with an acoustic guitar...it was very evident that Edge was not in standard tuning.

Anyone know what the tuning was? Drop D? Some sort of open tuning?

Also, anyone have an acoustic tab for this version?

Thanks fellow guitar players!

Brent
 
Didn't look like drop D, as he was barring his whole neck as he played. Must have been some sort of open chord, maybe G, G flat? I didn't have my guitar on hand to check it out.
 
Yup. It's open E: EBEG#BE. This is the same tuning he originally used on the acoustic version of Stuck. Perhaps he tuned it down 1/2 step. I'll have to check it against the tape of Conan. When I have a minute this weekend I'll throw up the chord shapes.
 
Here are the chord shapes. I just finished watching the performance from Conan and they’re all correct except I’m not so sure about the G# towards the end of the song. Almost every time Edge plays that chord they cut to a shot that has the mic stand in front of his hand. I’ve offered two shapes (personally I think the full barred chord works better) but you can decide what sounds better to you. Any way, I don’t have time right now to put the chords to the lyrics but it’s pretty straight forward. If you know the song in standard tuning, it won’t take to long to replace these chord shapes. Feel free to take the chords and line them up to the lyrics.

Open E tuning: EBEG#BE
E open
Esus 020100
G#m 4X0300
A bar 5th fret
B bar 7th fret
Bsus 797877
C#m1 XX9899
F#m 2X2122
D bar 10th fret
G# (what I think Edge is playing) 2XX442
G# (what I think sounds better) bar the 4th fret
C#m2 454554

Verse: E G#m A G#m B C#m A E
Prechorus: C#m A F#m A C#m A C#m A C#m B Bsus
Chorus: E G#m A G#m B C#m A E
Bridge: F#m A E (hammer on Esus a few times) F#m A D B Bsus
Outro Chorus: E G#m A G#m B C#m A E
E G#m A G#m G# C#m A E
 
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The 'Acoustic' Stuck version that was on the Seven Ep was in standard tuning as far as I can remember.

Verse

It started off on an open E chord then

-----2 or maybe -0-
-----2
-----2
-----2
-----2
-----4

standard A chord

same as chord as above

B C#m (I believe) and back to E (with picking)


...a mystery
 
No. I'm sure that the studio version is also in open E. It sounds like there are a total of three guitars. Two guitars play the chords and they're panned hard left and right. About halfway through the song another guitar in open E comes in playing some lead licks.

If you play the studio version and then the Conan version you should be able to tell that he's using the same chord voicings in open E.

Edgeboy, can you be a little more specific in your question? Is it the tuning that sounds off or the chord voicings?
 
As for it sounding terrible... moving to open and alternate tunings from standard can be a huge change to the ears. I've tried to mess around in open A and open D and I could barely do anything for the first half hour or so because it was just bizarre hearing my guitar that way.

So make sure you're tuned correctly, and keep at it.
 
Well,im tuning to the notes that are open e but my guitar just sounds out of whack. But i can play the tune in regular e and it sounds pretty good to me.:wink:
 
I understand the theory behind open e... it's just the notes of an E chord that you can play without pressing down any frets. But what's the advantage of it? I mean why wouldn't Edge just go with standard tuning or standard tuning tuned down a half step? It seems like a lot of hassle to learn all the new chord shapes etc.
 
Ah, but that's the fun of open tunings. When you've been playing guitar for years (I've been playing for...sheesh...almost 13 years) you get pretty bored of standard tuning pretty fast. I started playing guitar coming from a solo fingerstyle background and trust me, standard is verylimited in its ability to play fingerstyle. (And I'm not talking Blackbird, I'm talking stuff like Michael Hedges and Pierre Bensusan--look 'em up.)

Any way, an open tuning provides the opportunity for new chord voicings. Jimmy Page, for example, used quite a few open tunings. Open G, DADGAD, Open C and even a crazy tuning he invented for the Rain Song.

Anybody can learn how to play the guitar in standard tuning, it takes a real musician to master alternate and open tunings in addition to standard.

That is why, in my opinion, open and alternate tunings are really cool. Plus, you can name pretty much any of the big or classic bands and all of them have messed around with open tunings. In fact, my opinion of The Edge went up when I figured out that he was playing this in Open E.

[steps off soapbox]
 
edgeboy said:
Well,im tuning to the notes that are open e but my guitar just sounds out of whack. But i can play the tune in regular e and it sounds pretty good to me.:wink:

Yeah, but then you're not playing it like the Edge. You've gotta live up to your name :wink:
 
hey thanks for the chords everyone, I'm thinking of playing Stuck acoustically for our skool talent show

but ahh we have 2 guitars, and I wanna learn the lead riffs U2 plays on the U2:7 thingy, so can anyone help? I have exactly a week to learn the song lol...thanks everyone
 
U2utah2U said:
the chords and line them up to the lyrics.

Open E tuning: EBEG#BE
E open
Esus 020100
G#m 4X0300
A bar 5th fret
B bar 7th fret
Bsus 797877
C#m1 XX9899
F#m 2X2122
D bar 10th fret
G# (what I think Edge is playing) 2XX442
G# (what I think sounds better) bar the 4th fret
C#m2 454554

Verse: E G#m A G#m B C#m A E
Prechorus: C#m A F#m A C#m A C#m A C#m B Bsus
Chorus: E G#m A G#m B C#m A E
Bridge: F#m A E (hammer on Esus a few times) F#m A D B Bsus
Outro Chorus: E G#m A G#m B C#m A E
E G#m A G#m G# C#m A E

What would it sound like if you played this in standard tuning? Okay or crap?
 
guys, for more examples of open tuning get some early dashboard confessional stuff, for those who dont know, the band who supported on the early part of the 3rd leg of Vertigo tour.

songs like The Best Deceptions and The Brilliant Dance are played in Db open tuning.... man id like to see anyone try and play those in standard :wink:

i agree, once you've mastered an open tuning, you're a real musician...
 
im sure u can be one without mastering it!! im just saying that, anyone who can master one definately is one...

its like that thing, a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a square...
 
I don't think mastering alternate tunings necessarily makes one a better musician, it just gives you a wider pallette. If that were true all you'd need to be a better musician is a decent chromatic tuner. I didn't catch the Conan show so I don't know what tuning edge uses but I have a tab based on the U2 7 cd in standard tuning that I'll post this weekend.

The key with that one is the voicing of the chords which is different from verse to chorus (higher voicing in the verse).
 
Here's my version of this song. I've only been playing for a little over 3 years so this one presents a significant challenge for me. Yes, this is in standard tuning. I'm also going to post this in the other acoustic stuck thread.

Acoustic Stuck in a Moment
Tabbed by Jon R.
Chords used:
D (2,3,2,,0,0,0)
E (0,0,1,2,2,0)
Esus4 (0,0,2,2,2,0)
E/G#1 (x,9,9,9,11,x)
E/G# (x,5,4,2,x,4)
A (0,2,2,2,0,0)
A1 (5,5,6,7,7,5)
A2 (x,10,9,11,12,x)
A3 (x,14,14,14,12,x)
B (x,4,4,4,2,x)
B1 (7,7,8,9,9,7)
Cm (3,4,5,5,4,x)
C#m (4,5,6,6,4,x)
C#m1 (9,9,9,11,11,9)
F#m (2,2,2,4,4,2)

Intro: E, E/G#1, A2, E
Verse:
[E] I am not [E/G#1] afraid
[A2] of anything in this [E] world
[B1] there’s nothing you can [C#m1] throw at me
[A3] that I haven’t already [E] heard
repeat through verse
Chorus:
[E] You’ve [E/G#] got to [A1] get
yourself [E/G#] together you got stuck
in a [C#m] moment and you [A] can’t
get [E] out of it
Don’t [E/G#] say that [A1] later will be
[E/G#] better you got [Cm] stuck in a
[C#m] moment and you [A] can’t
get [E] out of it (arpeggio tab= 7,7,9,x,x,x)
Verse:
Bridge:
[C#m] you are such a [A] fool
[F#m] to worry like you [A] do
[C#m] I know it’s [A] tough
[C#m] and you can never get [A] enough
of what you don’t really need now my oh [E] my
Chorus:
Bridge2:
[F#m] I was unconscious half asleep
[A] the water is warm until you discover how
[E] deep E, Esus4,E,Esus4,etc.
[F#m] I wasn’t jumping for me it was a fall
[A] it’s a long way down to [D] nothing at
all….

Chorus, same chord progression through final verse:
 
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onemoresolo said:
Very good except you've listed all the chords upside down I think.

:confused:

You mean the way I've tabbed the chords should be low e to high e instead of high/low? My bad then, but I'm sure you all are smart enough to figure the right way to play them.

PS- I just realized I forgot a few chords on the intro and I can't edit it. On the intro, add the rest of the chord progression from the intro, B1, C#m1, A3, E.
 
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I wonder if there's any reason he didn't play it that way when they did it full band electricly. And for what it's worth, I totally agree that open tunings are tons of fun... but being that I only have the one guitar it's a little frustrating if I try to mess with it on stage.... cos I'm also the lead singer so it's not like I can say "hey, singer, talk to the crowd while I retune this...".

Has anyone ever tried to play REM's Live and How To Live It? It's in open G, but so very very hard to learn in standard tuning.
 
I would assume Edge composed the chord progression in open E and has just always played it that way. . . I really doubt he "relearned" the song in open tuning just for the heck of it. The part he played live on the Elevation tour was different than the chord progression of the song, so he could play that on a different tuning.

If you want to play around in open E on a regular basis, I'd just recommend picking up a cheap guitar and leaving it tuned this way. You'll probably want to use lighter gauge strings anyway, even mix and match gauges, because some strings are tuned higher than standard, and unless you switch out those particular strings with lighter gauge, you'll be putting some funky tension of the strings and the neck.

All that said, if you're just playing this one song, learn it in standard. Perhaps one aspect of an "accomplished musician" is a mastery of alternate tunings, but a more important ability is to be able to cover songs and put your own spin on them-- different chord voicings, using a different key to suit your own voice, etc.
 
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