VYSOTSKY GUITAR GUIDE
Vysotski playing his favorite "malaya zvezdochka" chord.
Vladimir Vysotsky was one of the last high profile guitar players in Russia who exclusively played the Russian seven string guitar.
This instrument, most likely invented by Czech harpist Andre Sychra in the late 18th century, has the same form of the Spanish guitar but is tuned differently, requiring a seventh string to produce the same two octave range over the open strings that a six string has. It predominated in Russia from the nineteenth century through a good part of the twentieth century, both in professional and amateur circles, and was also very popular in Gypsy music. It became increasingly eclipsed by the standard six string when western jazz and rock became more popular in the sixties and seventies, but it left an indelible mark on Russian guitar music. Bards like Vysotsky, Bulat Okudzhava, Alexander Galich, Sergei Nikitin, Yuri Visbor, Alexander Gorodnitski, and countless others used the Russian seven string to compose and play their songs.
The Russian seven string's unique open G tuning, D', G', B, D, g, b, d', allows for certain chord voicings that would be more difficult or in some cases impossible to play on a standardly tuned six string. Consequently, the guitarist who wants to get the same sound of a seven string will often be frustrated if he or she tries to reproduce it on a standardly tuned six string, resorting to very awkward fingerings or simply having to live with a difference in sound.
There are two solutions if one wishes to use the Russian tuning. The first, which is the most economical, is to retune the six string guitar to an Open G tuning. This will be sufficient for a lot of bard music, since most bards are not professional musicians and stick to a very simple cycle of chords that do not take advantage of the seven string's entire range. A tuning that works well for Vysotsky's music is the D', B, D, g, b, d'.
The second is to either acquire a seven string acoustic guitar, which are made by companies like Ibanez (primarily for jazz and rock players that enjoy an extended standard six string tuning), or to get a six or twelve string modified to a seven string by a guitar technician.
Six string players who switch to the Russian tuning are going to have to make a few adjustments. First of all, the Russian tuning relies on the left thumb for several chord shapes. Vysotsky however did not like to use his thumb, virtually all of his chords avoid its use save for the alternating bass on the D minor chord which is fairly easy to play. Second, many Russian chords require the left fingers to fret two strings at once. This may get difficult if you are playing a retuned six string guitar with a wide neck. Finally, a number of seven string chord shapes require you to mute or not play certain strings, which is somewhat less common with the basic six string chord shapes but tends to appear in more advanced chords.
Vysotsky had two main chord progressions he used, the D minor (popular in songs written prior to 1970), and B minor (used exclusively after 1970). He usually tuned his guitar lower than the standard tuning, anywhere from a half to two and a half tones down. This makes for a challenge sometimes when trying to figure out the chords on various recordings. Another difficulty is that because Vysotsky tuned down so dramatically at times, the intonation on his guitar would not hold up well and his playing would be out of tune, which can also cause difficulties in interpreting chords for some.
Below is a guideline partly translated from an article on a Vysotski website which illustrates some basic seven string chords for Russian tuning as applied to Vysotski's playing style. These same chords can be applied to the songs of Okudzhava, Galich, and a number of other bards.
Keep in mind that these shapes below are based on Vysotski's favorite seven string tuning which is ONE STEP LOWER than the open G, thus the tuning would be C-F-A-C-F-A-C for a seven string or F-A-C-F-A-C/C-A-C-F-A-C for a six string. This dropped tuning he used to accommodate his baritone range. If you would like to know their standard open G notations, remember to adjust for a whole step (i.e. the E 7 below would be an #F7 in regular open G tuning, an A min would be a B minor, etc.).
If you will be playing these chords on a six string using an Open G tuning, beware that for the G-B-D-G-B-D tuning the seventh string is omitted, and for the D-B-D-G-B-D tuning the sixth is omitted, while the seventh stays.
Key: These are seven string shapes, but in all of these examples the seventh and sixth strings are not played. The diagrams are shown as if the guitar was in playing position, with the player facing you. String "1" is closest to the ground (the highest pitch string), string "7" is the thickest, closest to the player. The numbers along the top are the fret numbers. The numbers along the side are string numbers. The letters indicate the finger to use:
T = Thumb, I = Index, M = Middle, R = Ring, P = Pinkie, X = mute string, + = do not play string.
Below in the parenthesis are the six string American equivalents, 0 = string rings free, X = do not play/mute string, 1 = 1st fret, 2 = 2nd fret, etc. Right to left are thickest to thinnest string.
4 3 5 4
!-+--+--!-+--+--7 !-+--+-!-+--+-!
!-+--+--!-+--+--6 !-+--+-!-+--+-!
!-------!-------5 !---M--!------!
!---M---!-------4 !---M--!------!
!---M---!-------3 !------!---I--!
!-------!---I---2 !---R--!------!
!---R---!-------1 !---R--!------!
1) A min 2) D min
1) A minor (X04434) known in Russian as the "malaya zvezdochka" ("little star").
2) D minor (X55455) known in Russian as the "bol'shaya zvezdochka" ("big star"). For alternating bass, pluck the fourth and fifth string alternately, or keep the seventh string open and alternately fret it with your thumb at the third fret.
4 3 2
!---+---!---+---!---+---7
!---+---!---+---!---+---6
!---+---!---+---!---+---5
!---R---!-------!-------4
!-------!---M---!-------3
!-------!-------!---I---2
!---P---!-------!-------1
3) E maj
3) E major (XX4324), known as the "pramaya lestnitsa" ("straight staircase"). You can play an alternating bass by alternately plucking the third and second strings, or pluck this pattern: four-three-two-three. For a more bottomy chord you can add a thumb on the sixth string at the third fret, while muting the fifth string (3X4324).
4 3 2
!---+---!---+---!---+---7
!---+---!---+---!---+---6
!---+---!---+---!---+---5
!---R---!-------!-------4
!-------!---M---!-------3
!-------!-------!---I---2
!-------!-------!---I---1
4) E 7
4) E 7 (XX4322)
5 4 3 2
!---+---!---+---!---+---!---+---7
!---+---!---+---!---+---!---+---6
!---P---!---+---!---+---!---+---5
!-------!---R---!-------!-------4
!-------!-------!---M---!-------3
!-------!-------!-------!---I---2
!-------!-------!-------!---I---1
5) E7/#A
5) E 7/#A (X54322), a fairly rare chord.
2 l 2 1
!-+--+-!-+--+-7 !-+--+-!-+--+-7
!-+--+-!-+--+-6 !-+--+-!-+--+-6
!------!------5 !------!------5
!--MR--!------4 !--MR--!------4
!------!---IM-3 !------!--IM--3
!------!------2 !------!------2
!--RP--!------1 !------!------1
6) C maj 7) C 7
6) C major (X02102)
7) C 7 (X02100)
4 3 2
!-+--+-!-+--+-!-+--+-!
!-+--+-!-+--+-!-+--+-!
!---M--!------!------!
!---M--!------!------!
!------!------!---I--!
!---R--!------!------!
!---R--!------!------!
8)A 7
8) A 7 (X44244) minus the root, known in Russian as the "raztyanutaya bol'shaya zvyezdochka" ("stretched big star"). In notation will be simply referred to as A 7.
6 7 6 5 4
!--I--! !-+--+-!-+--+-!-+--+-!-+--+-7
!--I--! !-+--+-!-+--+-!-+--+-!-+--+-6
!--I--! !------!------!------!---I--5
!--I--! !------!------!------!---I--4
!--I--! !------!------!------!---I--3
!--I--! !------!------!------!---I--2
!--I--! !---P--!------!------!---I--1
9) A/#C 10) A7/#C
9) A/#C (666666) known in Russian as the "barre" ("bar")
10) A7/#C (X44447), noted in notation as A7*, known in Russian as the "barre s dopolneniem" ("bar with an addition").
5 4 3 6 5 4 3
!--+---!--+---!--+---! !--+--!--+--!---+-!--+--7
!--+---!--+---!--+---! !--+--!--+--!---+-!--+--6
!------!------!------! !-----!-----!-----!-----5
!------!--M---!------! !-----!-----!---M-!-----4
!------!--M---!------! !-----!-----!---M-!-----3
!------!------!--I---! !-----!-----!-----!--I--2
!---P--!--R---!------! !--P--!-----!---R-!-----1
11)Am5+ or Fmaj7 12) Am6
11) Am5+ or Fmaj7 (X04434 or X04435), known in Russian as the "raztyanutaya Malaya zvyezdochka" ("stretched little star").
12) A minor 6 (X03324 or X03326), often follows the A minor in Vysotski's songs adding a sense of urgency. It is known in Russian as "Malaya zvyezdochka s dopolneniem" ("little star with an addition")
7 6 5 4
!--+--!--+--!--+--!--+--7
!--+--!--+--!--+--!--+--6
!-----!-----!--M--!-----5
!-----!-----!--M--!-----4
!-----!-----!-----!--I--3
!-----!-----!--R--!-----2
!--P--!-----!--R--!-----1
13) F6+9
13) F6+9, also written as D sus or D4 (X55457) known in Russian as the "raztyanutaya bol'shaya zvyezdochka" ("stretched big star").
6 5 4
!-+-!-+-!-+-7
!-+-!-+-!-+-6
!---!-M-!---5
!---!-X-!---4
!---!---!-I-3
!---!-R-!---2
!-P-!-R-!---1
14) D maj
14 ) D major (X5X456) known in Russian as the "obratnaya lestnitsa" ("reverse staircase"). Make sure you mute that fourth string or you'll get a major/minor clash (which, sometimes, sounds interesting).
The original inspiration for this article can be read here in Russian, which also has helpful notes and a list of Vysotsky chord progressions at the end:
http://www.kulichki.com/vv/pesni/appendix/vvchords2.html