E-E-E-E-B-E

• OVERVIEW •

Two-tone drone tuning known as ‘Bruce Palmer modal’ after its creator, Buffalo Springfield bassist Bruce Palmer (1946-2004). Famously showcased by his Buffalo bandmate Stephen Stills at Woodstock in 1969, anchoring David Crosby & Graham Nash’s soaring vocal harmonies on the rhapsodic, romantic Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.

 

Forms a many-rooted E5 power chord – somewhat similar to classical Indian instruments including the tanpura (4-string static drone) and sitar (20-string fretted lute) – an instrument Palmer studied in the 1960s (often playing it in his treehouse for many hours at a stretch…much to the frustration of his bass-bereft bandmates). Great for rhythmic acoustic playing, although getting overly energetic can risk snapping the 4str (CSN transposed it down a tone at Woodstock). Wild and fun!

Pattern: 0>12>0>7>5

Harmony: E5 | 1-1-1-1-5-1

• TUNING TONES •

• SOUNDS •

Bruce Palmer’s tuning will forever be associated with Suite: Judy Blue Eyes – a bold Stephen Stills composition immortalised through CSN’s Woodstock performance in 1969, reaching millions via the concert film and accompanying soundtrack release. CSN members have also used the tuning (+ close transpositions) on Déjà Vu, Word Game, Carry On, and Love the One You’re With (cp.4).

 

The track arose from Stills’ reflections on a recently-ended relationship with Judy Collins, a razor-sharp singer and social activist five years his senior. Though amicable, the separation had pained Stills in particular, leading him further into experimental songwriting sessions – and soon resulting in the oddly balanced exhortations of Judy Blue Eyes. Collins later recounted her reaction to first hearing it, in a private hotel-room performance: “Afterwards, we both cried – and then I said, ‘Oh, Stephen, it’s such a beautiful song. But it’s not winning me back‘”.

 

As per Dave Zimmer’s CSN: The Biography, the accompaniment and final arrangement, “grew out of a group of acoustic guitar patterns…in what Stills has called ‘Bruce Palmer modal tuning’. One morning he fit everything into place, flailed the opening guitar licks and sang, ‘It’s getting to the point, where I’m no fun anymore…'”.

 

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• Judy Blue Eyes @ Woodstock – Crosby, Stills, & Nash (1969):

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“Chestnut brown canary,
Ruby throated sparrow,
Sing a song, don’t be long,
Thrill me to the marrow…”

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In a curious twist to the tale, Crosby, Stills, & Nash – the trio who united to create to the track – have long since fallen out, vowing never to perform together again, whereas Stills & Collins – the duo whose romantic separation inspired it – have remained lifelong friends. In 2017 they collaborated for the album Everybody Knows (a playful reference to their widely-discussed former passions), and have even been known to perform updated Judy Blue Eyes renditions together…

 

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• Judy Blue interview – Stephen Stills & Judy Collins (2018):

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“There are three stages of grief…First there is weeping: for we all must weep for what we have lost. Second comes silence: for in the silence we understand solace, beauty, and comfort from something greater than ourselves. Third comes singing: for in singing we pour out our hearts and regain our voice.” (from Judy Collins’ memoir Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: My Life in Music)

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• NUMBERS •

	6str	5str	4str	3str	2str	1str
Note	E	E	E	E	B	E
Alteration	0	-5	+2	-3	0	0
Tension (%)	0	-44	+26	-29	0	0
Freq. (Hz)	82	82	165	165	247	330
Pattern (>)	0	12	0	7	5	–
Semitones	0	0	12	12	19	24
Intervals	1	1	1	1	5	1

• See my Tunings Megatable for further such nerdery: more numbers, intervallic relations, comparative methods, etc. And to any genuine vibratory scientists reading: please critique my DIY analysis!

• RELATED •

—Associated tunings: proximities of shape, concept, context, etc…

• One-Tone Drone: setting up all six strings the same
• Papa-Papa: two-note drone with one interval changed
• Carnatic Drone: more B & E tones, set in looping pairs

• MORE INFO •

—Further learnings: sources, readings, lessons, other onward links…

• Judy Blue guitar: more on Stills’ innovations in a Guitar World lesson – and on the track itself in good AGF threads from 2003, 2007, and 2021 (“…in my CSNY Ensemble class at the Old Town School of Folk Music, the instructor gave us that E-E-E-E-B-E tuning, and told us ‘make-believe your guitar is a dulcimer‘…”)
• Bruce Palmer’s bizarre life: watch him recount Buffalo Springfield’s serendipitous formation – and read about his odd early bass stints in Jack London & The Sparrows (later Steppenwolf) and The Mynah Birds, a late ’60s Canadian R&B group featuring a pre-fame Neil Young alongside ‘Ricky James Matthews III’…soon to become famous as the Superfreak himself (“The future looked rosy…but all bets were cancelled when James was arrested for being A.W.O.L. from the U.S. Navy“).

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Header image: Judy Blue Eyes live at Woodstock (1969)