Explore Alternate Cigar Box Guitar Tunings with Shane Speal

"You ever get bored playing the same things over and over again on your 3-string cigar box guitar?" asks the King of cigar box guitars, Shane Speal.

Shane has been cranking out a ton of videos over the past few months, among which are loads of insanely useful and creative lessons.

In one of those lessons, Shane says that before cigar box guitars enjoyed a surge in popularity, there wasn't a standard tuning such as the G-D-g tuning used today.

Much like the Wild West days of early America, the early days of cigar box guitar building and playing had no rules.

Of the times spent performing during those wild days, Shane said, "Whenever I was first playing cigar box guitar in the 1990's, I would break so many strings 'cause I was always messing with tunings."

Thankfully, in the name of exploring alternate tunings, Shane has done the majority of string-breaking for us.

To shake the boredom from playing in G-D-g, Shane has shared some alternate-tunings on his Youtube channel that require re-tuning only one of the three strings.

That's right. Just one string.

What follows are two videos for two different tunings.

In the first, you'll learn a G7 tuning, which sounds like blues legend Elmore James. 

And in the second video, Shane teaches you how to play with an early 20th-century New York City, tin pan alley sound.

Key points in the first video

• How to tune the high G string down to F
• How to hold a pick
• Learn a bluesy riff to cement the lesson in your mind
• At the 6:00 minute mark, to keep the lesson fresh, hear another another example riff

Essential takeaways from the second video

• How to tune the middle D string down to B
• Learn a rockin' riff to exercise the lesson
• at the 8:30 minute mark, learn an essential strumming-hand playing tip (muting strings between strums)
• At the 11:20 minute mark, learn a trick to shore up your B string if it's a little sloppy from tuning down

With two short lessons, you've explored alternate tunings that reinvigorate interest, and inject passion into your cigar box guitar playing.

Which of the two alternate tunings in the lessons above gets you the most excited?