“Cactus Tree” - Joni Mitchell

This is a transcription of the first thirty seconds of Mitchell’s “Cactus Tree,” a piece I’d describe as nostalgic (even nostalgic for a time and place I’ve never experienced!). I’ll propose that this is at least partially a result of the major seventh chord that kicks off the the song (major sevenths often evoke a feeling of yearning, nostalgia, sentimentality).

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Note the unusual tuning. She’s using an open E tuning which means that strumming the open strings of the guitar will sound an E major chord without fretting a single note! Open tunings like this can really disorient our mental fretboard map, but are so sonorous and rich and thus are good to become familiar with.

Joni often used tunings like this, and a primary reason was to decrease the fretting demands of her left hand which had been permanently weakened from contracting polio as a child—one of many fascinating examples of an artist’s limitations shaping their sound!

Enjoy!
-Austin