What tuning did Mississippi John Hurt use?
Mississippi John Hurt had taught himself to play the guitar around the age of nine. His strings were made by the early 20th-century company Emory and also belonged to Hoskins. Additional footage from the festival shows Hurt playing “Casey Jones” on a Harmony Sovereign 12-string.
Mississippi John Hurt uses both standard and alternate tunings, like open G and D, and often added melodic-interest texture to a repeating tonic-and-fifth bass line by throwing in a third or even a sixth (as in “Spike Driver Blues”).
Open G tuning, also known as Spanish tuning, has been used by many blues players aside from the famous Mississippi John Hurt. Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones have often played using the same tune.
Spanish Tuning is a general name for all open tunings that emerge from tuning the guitar as if you were fretting an A major chord. The D string, the G string, and the B string are tuned two semitones higher.
