Baritone tuning.
B Tuning or B Standard Tuning is the standard tuning for a seven string guitar, where the strings are tuned B-E-A-D-G-B-E. B tuning can also be achieved on a six string guitar, when the strings are tuned B-E-A-D-F♯-B, known then as Baritone Tuning. This tuning is popular among several different types of metal bands.
The following is a list of musical groups who use this tuning on a typical six-string guitar:
- Aeon (7 string guitars)
- Aghora (7 string guitars) (on the album Aghora (album))
- Allegaeon (7 string guitars)
- Amaranthe (since Massive Addictive)
- Amon Amarth (on most albums)
- Angel Vivaldi (7 string guitars)
- Animals as Leaders (On most of their first album, 7-string guitars)
- Arch Enemy (On their first three albums: Black Earth, Stigmata and Burning Bridges; and a few songs from their more recent albums)
- Arcturus on the album The Sham Mirrors
- Attack Attack! on the album self-titled Album
- Avatar (from Black Waltz onwards)
- Biomechanical (7 string guitars) on the album Cannibalised
- Black Label Society On '13 Years of Grief' from the album Stronger Than Death
- Blood Red Throne on the album Altered Genesis
- Cannibal Corpse (7 string guitars)
- Cavalera Conspiracy (on the album Blunt Force Trauma and some songs on the album Inflikted)
- Carajo (B flat tuning)
- Cathedral on the albums Forest of Equilibrium, The Ethereal Mirror, Statik Majik, and The Garden of Unearthly Delights (album)
- Coal Chamber (BEADGB, although some songs are dropped to A)
- Coheed and Cambria (Key Entity Extraction II: Hollywood the Cracked, Key Entity Extraction V: Sentry the Defiant)
- Dave Matthews Band (On 'You Never Know')
- Divine Heresy (7 string guitars)
- DragonForce (7 string guitars)
- Dream Theater (7 string guitars) (used on many songs, including 'Lie', 'Caught in a Web' and 'The Mirror' from Awake; the 1994 version of 'To Live Forever'; 'A Change of Seasons'; 'Just Let Me Breathe' from Falling into Infinity; 'Scene Seven: I. The Dance of Eternity' from Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory, and most songs from the Twelve-step Suite)
- Edenbridge (on their first five albums)
- Electric Wizard on the album Dopethrone
- Eluveitie (on many songs)
- Emperor on the album Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise
- Entombed (on their album Left Hand Path)
- Fallujah (7 string guitars)
- Fear Factory (used B on a six-string prior to Dino Cazares' 1995 switch to Ibanez, from whom he began 7-string guitars.)
- Godflesh (used on the Godflesh EP and the Streetcleaner, Us and Them, and Hymns LPs)
- Human Device
- Hypocrisy (On all albums up until Virus, from which they use A# Standard and on all albums after)
- Illdisposed (All albums up until Burn Me Wicked)
- John Prine (on 'The Late John Garfield Blues' and 'Fish and Whistle' since 1998)
- King's X (on the album Black Like Sunday)[1]
- Kreator (some songs on the album 'Renewal')
- Lacuna Coil (7 string guitars)
- Lead Belly was rumored to use this tuning in a 12-string variation.
- Linkin Park (on the song 'Runaway' from 2003 concerts, but it was originally recorded on standard tuned 7-string guitars and 'Don't Stay'.)
- Massacre (on Back from Beyond)
- Negură Bunget (7 string guitars)
- Nekrogoblikon (7 string guitars)
- Pain of Salvation (7 string guitars)
- Pomegranate Tiger (7 string guitars)
- Profiles in Terror (7 string guitar and 6 guitar B tuned)
- Raintime (7 string guitars)
- Satariel (7 string guitars)
- Scar Symmetry (7 string guitars, on Symmetric in Design and Pitch Black Progress; have since switched to Drop A tuning)
- Sepultura (from Roots onward)
- Sleep (on their new single 'Leagues Beneath')
- Spawn of Possession (6 & 7 string guitars; Jonas Bryssling plays a 6 string, while Jonas Karlsson and Christian Muenzner's parts are written for 7 strings)
- Steve Vai (7 string guitars)
- Sun Caged (7 string guitars)
- Textures (7 string guitars)
- Theory of a Deadman (on their song 'No Surprise' and recent live performances of 'Bad Girlfriend')
- Trivium (7 string guitars, on some songs from The Crusade and all songs on Shogun)
- Underoath (7 string guitars, on some songs from Ø (Disambiguation) and Erase Me)
- Unearth (7 string guitars)
- Whitechapel (7 string guitars, only on a few songs)
- Wicked Sisters
- Winterfylleth (also use Drop A)
- Within Temptation (lead guitarist Ruud Jolie uses 7 string guitars, while Robert Westerholt downtunes a six-string to B)
- Yanomamo
- Brightside to kill (Along Journey)
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^'Ty Tabor – Kings X – 2008'. GuitarGeek. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=B_tuning&oldid=903810396'
Slide guitar can be played in standard or open tunings, and each has its advantages and disadvantages. Learning the various different methods to tune for slide guitar will give you more options to let you suit the tunings to your playing style. Standard tuning can be easier to play because your melodic instincts don’t have to be translated to the altered tuning of the guitar; however, it can make it harder for the beginning slide guitarist to mute the unwanted strings creating a dissonant sound. Open tuning provides more chordal harmony, but presents a “thinking” challenge as you translate your instincts to fit a different tuning.
Standard tuning
To get started using the slide, try the passage in the following figure, which is in standard tuning.
Standard tuning features the root of the chord on the top string and an interval of a fourth between the first and second strings. Because the lower note is the fifth of the chord it makes for powerful-sounding licks. Try the passage in the following figure; it isn’t that difficult. The slide doesn’t do that much, but what it does is very effective, even in small doses.
This lick is the characteristic sound of one of the most famous slide sounds of all time: “Dust My Broom” — a song originally by Robert Johnson with conventional fretting but covered in the most famous version by electric slide player Elmore James.
Don’t press too hard when applying the slide or the strings will buzz against the fret wire and fingerboard. Keep the rattle noise to a minimum when going from open strings to slide-stopped strings.
Open Tuning
Open tunings favor the technical side of common blues licks. The main tunings, open E and open A (which are the same, relatively speaking, as open D and open G), each have their specific idiomatic licks. Open tunings have many technical advantages over standard tuning. The most prevalent is that an open tuning provides a major chord across all six strings, so holding the slide straight across at any fret yields a chord on any set of strings.
- Open E (E, B, E, G#, B, E, low to high) is close to standard tuning because the top two strings are tuned the same. This works well for many blues slide licks because they require only slight movement of a couple of frets above or below to play an entire passage. Elmore James and Duane Allman (one of the greatest blues-rock slide guitarists and founder of the Allman Brothers Band) played in open E.
- Open D is the same as open E but tuned a whole step (two frets) lower (D, A, D, F#, A, D).
- Open A (E, A, E, A, C#, E, low to high) puts the root of the chord on the fifth string and provides a major chord on the top three strings. Also, having a minor third interval between the top two strings allows for some idiomatic blues moves, especially the chromatic descending lick in thirds. Robert Johnson and Bonnie Raitt are two well-known slide guitarists who play in open A.
- Open G (D, G, D, G, B, D, low to high) has the same relationships between the strings as open A but is tuned a whole step (two frets) lower. The following figure shows you a typical slide guitar lick tuned to open G.
Every guitar player is familiar with the importance of tuning. If your guitar isn’t in tune it won’t sound right and there’s almost nothing worse than listening to someone play a song the whole while their guitar is out of tune. When we first start out playing guitar, we begin with standard tuning, that is – E A D G B E. However, there are many other guitar tunings you can use to create new sounds or play certain songs
In this post, I’ll go what defines a particular tuning, provide a list of popular guitar tunings, and more.
Table of Contents
- List of Guitar Tunings
What Defines a Guitar Tuning?
A guitar tuning is the combination of notes defined for each open string of a guitar. As far as what is considered an “acceptable” guitar tuning and what isn’t there aren’t many concrete rules. If a particular combination of notes sound good together than that can be considered a guitar tuning. Some guitarists even slightly sharpen or flatten their notes on purpose because they like the way it sounds. For example, the song Hey Hey What Can I Do by Led Zeppelin is tuned 3/4 of a step down.
You may also be asking yourself “but why did E – A – D – G – B – E become the notes used in standard tuning? What made that the standard?”. Well, the simple answer is that with this tuning, it’s relatively easy to play standard scales and popular beginner guitar chords.
There are tons of guitar tuning variations (which you’ll see in the list below) however, you don’t necessarily have to stick to the ones already created. Albeit, it’ll probably be somewhat difficult for you to come up with a “new” nice sounding tuning combination that no one has every thought of before. Although, if you want to do something like what Led Zeppelin did in the song above, you can certainly do so and rightfully call it an alternate guitar tuning.
An awesome product that’ll automatically tune your guitar and is useful to keep track of custom tunings is the Roadie automatic guitar tuner.
Standard vs Alternate Tunings
Alternate guitar tunings are essentially any open string combination other than E – A – D – G – B – E (standard tuning). Although standard tuning has been used time and time again and is tried and true, alternate tunings can help you change things up. A few advantages of alternate tunings include:
- They provide guitar players with a “new” sound and different sonorities
- Certain alternate tunings can make it very easy for beginner guitar players to play certain chords (requiring only 1 or 2 fingers)
- They allow you to “break outside the box” so to speak as the fingering placements you’re used to won’t reproduce the same sound. Thus allowing you to be more creative.
To help demonstrate the difference between standard vs alternative tunings on a bit of a more granular level, check out the frequency tables below. The first table shows what each note within standard tuning looks like in terms of frequency and pitch. The notes are ordered from thickest to thinest.
Scientific Pitch Notation (Standard Tuning) | Frequencies |
---|---|
E2 | 82.41 Hz |
A2 | 110.00 Hz |
D3 | 146.83 Hz |
G3 | 196.00 Hz |
B3 | 246.94 Hz |
E4 | 329.63 Hz |
Next, the table below shows what an alternate tuning (in this case open C) looks like in terms of note frequencies.
Scientific Pitch Notation (Open C Tuning) | Frequencies |
---|---|
C2 | 65.4 Hz |
G2 | 98.0 Hz |
C3 | 130.8 Hz |
G3 | 196.0 Hz |
C4 | 261.6 Hz |
E4 | 329.6 Hz |
As you can see, there are notes in the above alternate tuning that aren’t present in the collection of notes in standard tuning. Furthermore, like standard tuning, alternate tunings may also have one, two, or more identical notes but all in different octaves – like you see with open C (e.g. C2, C3, and C4).
List of Guitar Tunings
There are a ton of possibilities for alternate tuning combinations. Now that you have a little more background about standard vs alternate tuning, I highly recommend you experiment with a few or all of the guitar tunings below. Maybe you’ll find one that inspires you to write a piece of music that you otherwise wouldn’t have created in standard tuning. Trust me, playing an alternate tuning can really get your creative juices flowing!
In the table below, I’ve included a good collection of alternate guitar tunings along with their name, notes, and a sound file so you can hear the end product. The first tuning is standard so that you can use it as a reference point.
1. Standard Tuning
Name | Notes (Thickest to Thinest) | Sound File (Each String Plucked) |
---|---|---|
Standard Tuning | E – A – D – G – B – E | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/standard-tuning.mp3 |
2. Major Open Guitar Tunings
Name | Notes (Thickest to Thinest) | Sound File (Each String Plucked) |
---|---|---|
Open A | E – A – C♯ – E – A – E | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/open-a.mp3 |
Open B | B – F♯ – B – F♯ – B – D♯ | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/open-b.mp3 |
Open C | C – G – C – G – C – E | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/open-c.mp3 |
Open D | D – A – D – F♯ – A – D | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/open-d.mp3 |
Open E | E – B – E – G♯ – B – E | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/open-e.mp3 |
Open F | C – F – C – F – A – F | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/open-f.mp3 |
Open G | D – G – D – G – B – D | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/open-g.mp3 |
3. Regular Guitar Tunings
Name | Notes (Thickest to Thinest) | Sound File (Each String Plucked) |
---|---|---|
Minor Third | C – D# – F# – A – C – D# | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/minor-third.mp3 |
Major Third | G# – C – E – G# – C – E | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/major-third.mp3 |
All Fourths | E – A – D – G – C – F | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/all-fourths.mp3 |
Augmented Fourths | C – F# – C – F# – C – F# | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/augmented-fourths.mp3 |
All Fifths | C – G – D – A – E – B | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/all-fifts.mp3 |
4. Dropped Guitar Tunings
Name | Notes (Thickest to Thinest) | Sound File (Each String Plucked) |
---|---|---|
Half Step Down | D# – G# – C# – F# – A# – D# | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/half-step-1.mp3 |
Full Step Down | D – G – C – F – A – D | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/full-step.mp3 |
1 and 1/2 Steps Down | C# – F# – B – E – G# – C# | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/1-1-2-step.mp3 |
Double Drop D | D – A – D – G – B – D | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/double-dropped-d.mp3 |
Drop A | A – E – A – D – F# – B | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/drop-a.mp3 |
Drop B | B – F# – B – E – G# – C# | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/drop-b.mp3 |
Drop C | C – G – C – F – A – D | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/drop-c.mp3 |
Drop D | D – A – D – G – B – E | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/drop-d.mp3 |
Drop E | E – B – E – A – Db – Gb | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/drop-e.mp3 |
Drop F | F – C – F – Bb – D – G | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/drop-f.mp3 |
Drop G | G – D – G – C – E – A | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/drop-g.mp3 |
5. Other Guitar Tunings
Name | Notes (Thickest to Thinest) | Sound File (Each String Plucked) |
---|---|---|
The Iommi Tuning | C# – F# – B – E – G# – C# | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Iommi-tuning.mp3 |
The Nick Drake Tuning | C – G – C – F – C – E | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/nick-drake.mp3 |
DAD GAD | D – A – D – G – A – D | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/dadgad.mp3 |
C6 Modal Tuning | C – A – C – G – C – E | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/c6-modal.mp3 |
Nashville Tuning (Raise notes E, A , D, G up 1 octave) | E – A – D – G – B – E | https://musiciantuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/nashville.mp3 |
Songs That Use Alternate Tunings
That are a ton of songs that use alternate guitar tunings. I’ve listed a few songs below that each use one of the alternate tunings from the section above in case you would like to start learning some alternate tuning songs but aren’t sure where to start.
- The Rain Song by Led Zeppelin – Tuning: Full Step Down
- Heart-Shaped Box by Nirvana – Tuning: Drop D
- Wild Horses by The Rolling Stones – Tuning: Nashville
- Little Martha by The Allman Brothers Band – Tuning: Open D
- Kashmir by Led Zeppelin – Tuning: DAD GAD
Popular Guitar Tunings – In Summary
Now that you’re more familiar with what other alternate guitar tunings are out there, start experimenting with them either by jamming or by learning songs that use a particular alternate tuning. They really do open up a new world of creative possibilities and allow you to break outside the box. If you have any particular custom guitar tunings that you really enjoy or have any questions about alternate guitar tuning, let me know in the comments section below!
Related Articles
Need to know how to tune a guitar? We’ve got you covered. Let’s dive straight into this essential beginner guide.
You’re at the start of a wonderful journey and we’re so pleased you’re here. 🙂
It’s vital that you learn how to tune a guitar; it’s essential knowledge for a beginner guitarist.
FACT:You can be the best guitarist in the world, but if your guitar is out of tune you will sound bad.
In this free guitar lesson you will learn:
- The notes of a guitar in standard tuning.
- How to tune a guitar using an electronic guitar tuner.
- How to tune a guitar using a smartphone app.
- How to tune a guitar using other instruments.
- How to tune a guitar using its own strings (and your ears!)
- 6 tips to keep your guitar in tune & sounding great
Sound good? Let’s do it.
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How to tune a guitar in standard tuning
There are several different guitar tuning profiles, but the most popular one by far is ‘standard tuning’.
In standard tuning, the notes of the guitar, from thickest to thinnest are:
E, A, D, G, B, E
(If you don't understand the above image please read our article 'How To Read Guitar Chordboxes In 60 Seconds'. It will make everything clear!)
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How to remember the notes of the guitar strings
Here’s two useful mnemonics to help you remember the order “E, A, D, G, B, E”.
- Elephants And Donkeys Grow Big Ears
- Eddie Ate Dynamite Good Bye Eddie
Pick whichever one you like best, or make up your own. (The sillier the better.)
Now we know the notes we’re aiming for we can tune the guitar
You’ve already learned the first half of how to tune a guitar, well done!
Now we need to look at how to tune a guitar to E, A, D, G, B, E.
How to tune a guitar to E, A, D, G, B, E
Look at your guitar’s headstock (the thin end of the guitar).
You will see small ‘keys’ that you can turn. We call these ‘machine heads’.
Each string is attached to a machine head of its own. When we turn a machine head we change the pitch that the string is tuned to.
How do we know what note the string is tuned to when we’re turning the machine heads?
Easy. We use a tuner to tell us! 🙂
If you’re wondering how to tune a guitar with what you have at hand there’s 4 methods (we’ll cover each one in turn):
- How to tune a guitar using an electronic guitar tuner.
- How to tune a guitar using a smartphone app.
- How to tune a guitar using other instruments.
- How to tune a guitar using its own strings (and your ears!)
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How to tune a guitar using an electronic guitar tuner.
When people ask me how to tune a guitar I always say the same thing: All things considered, electronic guitar tuners are the best option.
They are fast and accurate. (When you have a decent electronic guitar tuner you simply won’t need to worry about how to tune a guitar again.)
The interface of ALLÂ tuners is broadly the same.
You pluck a note and the tuner shows you the note you played.
The tuner shows you this in three ways:
- It will tell you the string it thinks you’re trying to tune.
- It will show you with an oscillating ‘needle’ how far away from the note you are.
- It will show you with a light whether the note is too low or too high.
You need to get the needle in the middle.
On the picture above the ‘needle’ is perfectly in the middle. (Can you see the thin, black vertical line?)
Because the needle is perfectly in the middle, the green light above it is lit. This note is perfectly in tune!
We can see it’s tuning the A string (the 5th string) because in the top left corner it says “5A”.
- If the needle was over to the left, the green light would not be lit. The red light to the left of it would be lit and this would tell us the note was too ‘flat’ (too low).
- If the needle was over to the right, again the green light would not be lit. The red light to the right would be lit and this would tell us the note was too ‘sharp’ (too high).
Got that? Ok, let’s tune up!
1 – Turn the tuner on.
2 – If necessary, tell the tuner the string you want to tune. (Most tuners default to ‘auto-detect’ the strings, but some tuners need to be manually told what string you want to tune.)
Important!If your tuner is manual, then make sure your tuner is ‘listening’ for the correct string that you want to tune. If the tuner is set to  ‘listen’ to a different string to the one you are tuning you may overtune the string and it will snap!
3 – Pluck a string.
4 – Look at the tuner. Is the needle in the middle? If not turn the machine head one way or the other.
5 – Pluck again. Which way did the needle go? If it went towards the middle, keep going! If it went away from the middle, turn the machine head in the opposite direction.
6 – Repeat the cycle of A) pluck string B) look at tuner and C) turn machine head until the needle is in the middle.
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While tuning, pluck the string a LOT.
Most beginners are quite timid and pluck once and then wait for ages while the tuner ‘listens’ for a note that’s stopped ringing.
Don’t do this. You should pluck, pluck, pluck away!
The more your guitar is ringing out a note the easier it is for the tuner to hear, so pluck lots. (About once a second is ideal.)
If you want to learn more about the notes of the guitar fretboard read our article:
Guitar Notes Explained: A Guide For Beginners
Guitar Notes Explained: A Guide For Beginners
There are 3 different types of electronic tuner.
- Vibration-based
- Microphone-based
- Plug-in / pedal-based
Ideally, we want you to know how to tune a guitar with all three.
It’s pretty easy: ‘get the needle in the middle’ remains our aim.
Vibration-based electronic tuners
Vibration-based tuners clip on to your guitar’s headstock. I love these!
They are brilliant if you’re in a noisy place as they detect the note’s pitch through vibration, so if there’s lots of noise around, it doesn’t affect the tuner (because it isn’t reliant on a microphone).
Once in position and switched on they will usually automatically show you what note your string is tuned to when you pluck it. (You don’t need to worry about ‘manual’ or ‘auto’ detection.)
They are very accurate and have colour LCD displays that are easy to read, even in bright sunlight. (The ‘needle’ is indicated by different colours.)
This is my favourite vibration-based tuner. The Snark.
Microphone-based electronic tuners
Microphone tuners are great and they don’t add any clutter to your guitar headstock like the clip-on vibration-based tuners do.
The only downside is that the microphone must be able to hear the guitar clearly. If there’s other music in the room (or sound from the TV, or whatever) that will throw the tuner off course.
You can use these for all acoustic guitars and if it has a jack input you can use it for electric guitars too.
As with the clip-on vibration-based tuners these sometimes automatically detect strings, but depending on your model you may have to preselect the note manually.
If you want a recommendation, you can’t go wrong with a trusty Korg GA1.
Plug-in and pedal tuners
Plug in tuners are VERYÂ accurate and connect directly to your electric, bass or electro-acoustic guitar via a jack lead.
They are expensive, but awesome. My favourite is the Boss TU3. It’s built like a tank.
Pedals operate like any tuner (the lights represent the ‘needle’), but of course you have to stomp the pedal to activate or deactivate them.
How to tune a guitar using a smartphone app.
For most modern guitar learners smartphone apps are a good cheap starting point when learning how to tune a guitar.
There are hundreds of free and paid smartphone apps that are decent. They operate exactly the same as the microphone-based electronic tuners that we covered above.
‘Guitar Tuna’ was good, but it’s getting bloated now. ‘OmniTuner’ is good too.
Search around, the app landscape changes fast and there’s always a new top dog.
How to tune a guitar using other instruments.
If you already play a musical instrument, it’s possible to tune your guitar to it (especially if it has a fixed tuning such as an electronic keyboard).
To learn how to tune a guitar in this way you will need to find E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4 on your instrument. (On a keyboard or piano, E2 is two octaves below middle C4.)
You or a friend may need to play each note on your instrument, holding it down as a ‘drone’ so that as you tune your guitar you can listen carefully for the moment the notes start to resonate and sound the same.
(Once you have your low E string, you can tune the others using the below method.)
“Open strings” are strings that are not being pressed (fretted) onto the guitar neck. When you pluck a string without pressing down on any frets, we say you are playing an ‘open string’.
Spock likes guitar.
How to tune a guitar using its own strings (and your ears)
Here is a good 6-step method for ’emergencies’, like if your electronic tuner isn’t to hand and your smartphone’s battery is flat. It’s the ‘anytime, anywhere’ method of how to tune a guitar.
Step 1 – Tune the 6th string
Tune the thickest open string as accurately as you can to a low E. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Just ‘guesstimate’ what the thickest string usually sounds like.
(All the other strings will be tuned relative to this, so it doesn’t really matter if it’s a little sharp or flat.)
Step 2 – Tune the 5th string
Place your first finger on the fifth fret of the thickest string. This will give you an ‘A’ note that will sound exactly like how you want the open 5th string to sound.
You can now tune the 5th string to match the note you are holding on the 6th string.
Keeping your finger on the fifth fret, gently pick both the 6th string and the open 5th string in turn, gradually turning the 5th string’s machine head until the two notes are in harmony.
You need to listen carefully here. The two notes will ‘resonate’ when they match.
Step 3 – Tune the 4th string
We’re going to do the same thing again here, except a string higher.
Place your first finger on the fifth fret of the 5th string. This is a D note.
Keeping your finger on the fifth fret, pluck the 5th string and then the open 4th string one after the other, at the same time turning the 4th string’s machine head until the note of the 4th open string chimes like the note of the fifth fret of the 5th string.
Step 4 – Tune the 3rd string
Same again. Place your first finger on the fifth fret of the 4th string. This gives a G note.
Keeping your finger on the fifth fret, pluck the 4th string and open 3rd string alternately, turning the 3rd string’s machine head until the 3rd string is in harmony with the fifth fret of the 4th string.
Step 5 – Tune the 2nd string
It’s different here. Place your first finger on the fourth fret of the 3rd string. This gives a B note.
Keeping your finger on the fourth fret, pluck the 3rd string and open 2nd string alternately, turning the 2nd string’s machine head until the 2nd string rings brightly with the fourth fret of the 3rd string.
Step 6 – Tune the 1st string
Place your first finger on the fifth fret on the 2nd string. This is an E note.
Tune the thinnest and last string to that, again by turning the 1st string’s machine head until the tone of the 1st string dings with the fifth fret of the 2nd string.
- So you can see we tuned each string to the prior string. To remember this pattern, think “5 5 5 4 5”.
- Don’t forget the 2nd string is the only one that uses the fourth fret to tune from. All the others use the fifth fret.
6 Top Tuning Tips
Guitars are more sensitive than most people realise, so bear these things in mind.
1) Tune up EVERY time you play.
This is non-negotiable. As a beginner, your ears won’t be able to tell if your guitar has gone slightly out of tune.
Guitars drift out of tune every day and there is nothing more demotivating for a guitar learner than sounding bad when playing. (I often speak with guitar learners who are feeling down because they think they’re not playing ‘well’, but their guitar is out of tune!)
This isn’t an optional thing. As musicians, we should tune our instrument as part of our routine EVERY time we play.
2) Keep your guitar out of hot places
Your guitar is like any other piece of wood. Temperature affects it. Keep it out of the sun, out of your car on a hot day etc.
Don’t ever rest it against a radiator or any other heat source.
3) Keep your guitar out of cold places
It doesn’t have to be Arctic, even a gentle draft from under a door will nudge your guitar out of tune.
Don’t leave it in your car overnight!
4) Loosen the strings before storage or transport
Loosening your guitar’s strings slightly beforehand allows your guitar to relax and cope with changes in humidity and temperature.
Store your guitar somewhere dry and cool. Away from radiators, air conditioners and any damp conditions.
5) Avoid impacts, big and small
Any kind of bump will knock your guitar out of tune. Of course, if it falls over it will go out of tune, but even little bumps (like a door opening against it) will knock it out.
Also, remember that general play causes your guitar to go out of tune from the constant pressing of your fingers on and off the strings. It happens. It’s normal.
(String-bending solos will always cause a re-tune, too.)
6) Replace your guitar’s strings regularly.
Dirty, corroded and over-stretched strings become brittle and harder to tune. They also sound terrible!
Change your strings every 6-8 weeks.
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The range of a guitar with standard tuning
Standard tuning (listen)
Guitar tunings assign pitches to the open strings of guitars, including acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and classical guitars. Tunings are described by the particular pitches denoted by notes in Western music. By convention, the notes are ordered from lowest-pitched string (i.e., the deepest bass note) to highest-pitched (thickest string to thinnest).[1]
Standard tuning defines the string pitches as E, A, D, G, B, and E, from lowest (low E2) to highest (high E4). Standard tuning is used by most guitarists, and frequently used tunings can be understood as variations on standard tuning.
The term guitar tunings may refer to pitch sets other than standard tuning, also called nonstandard, alternative, or alternate. Some tunings are used for particular songs, and might be referred to by the song's title. There are hundreds of such tunings, often minor variants of established tunings. Communities of guitarists who share a musical tradition often use the same or similar tunings.
- 1Standard and alternatives
- 1.2Alternative
- 3Open tunings
- 3.1Major key tunings
- 4Regular tunings
Standard and alternatives[edit]
In standard tuning, the C-major chord has multiple shapes because of the irregular major-third between the G- and B-strings. Three such shapes are shown above.
Standard[edit]
Standard tuning is the tuning most frequently used on a six-string guitar and musicians assume this tuning by default if a specific alternate (or scordatura) is not mentioned. In scientific pitch notation (aka American Standard Pitch Notation)[2], the guitar's standard tuning consists of the following notes:
- E2–A2–D3–G3–B3–E4.
String | Frequency | Scientific pitch notation |
---|---|---|
1 (E) | 329.63 Hz | E4 |
2 (B) | 246.94 Hz | B3 |
3 (G) | 196.00 Hz | G3 |
4 (D) | 146.83 Hz | D3 |
5 (A) | 110.00 Hz | A2 |
6 (E) | 082.41 Hz | E2 |
The fifth string (A2) is tuned to 110 Hz, exactly two octaves below the standard orchestral reference pitch of 440 Hz (A440).
The guitar is a transposing instrument—music for it is notated one octave higher than actual pitch, to reduce the need for ledger lines in music written for the instrument, and simplify reading.
Standard tuning provides reasonably simple fingering (left-hand movement) for playing standard scales and basic chords in all major and minor keys. Separation of the first (high E) and second (B) string, as well as the separation between the third (G), fourth (D), fifth (A), and sixth (low E) strings by a five-semitone interval (a perfect fourth) lets the guitarist play a chromatic scale with each of the four fingers of the left hand controlling one of the first four frets (index finger on fret 1, little finger on fret 4, etc.) only when the hand is in the first position.
The open notes of the second (B) and third (G) strings are separated by a four-semitone interval (a major third). This tuning pattern of (low) fourths, one major-third,[note 1] and one fourth was inherited by the guitar from its predecessor instrument, the viol. On the other hand, the irregular major third breaks the fingering patterns of scales and chords, so that guitarists have to memorize multiple chord-shapes for each chord. Scales and chords are simplified by major thirds tuning and all-fourths tuning, which are regular tunings maintaining the same musical interval between consecutive open-string notes.
0 | I | II | III | IV | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
open | 1st fret (index) | 2nd fret (middle) | 3rd fret (ring) | 4th fret (little) | |
6th string | E2 | F2 | F♯2/G♭2 | G2 | G♯2/A♭2 |
5th string | A2 | A♯2/B♭2 | B2 | C3 | C♯3/D♭3 |
4th string | D3 | D♯3/E♭3 | E3 | F3 | F♯3/G♭3 |
3rd string | G3 | G♯3/A♭3 | A3 | A♯3/B♭3 | B3 |
2nd string | B3 | C3 | C♯3/D♭3 | D3 | D♯3/E♭3 |
1st string | E4 | F4 | F♯4/G♭4 | G4 | G♯4/A♭4 |
Alternative[edit]
Alternative ('alternate') tuning refers to any open-string note arrangement other than standard tuning. These offer different sonorities, chord voicings, and fingerings. Alternative tunings are common in folk music, where the guitar may emulate various modal ethnic instruments and tunings, and may be called upon to produce drone notes.[further explanation needed] Alternative tunings necessarily change the fingering shapes of common chords, which eases the playing of some chords while increasing the difficulty of others.
Some tunings are used for particular songs, and may be named after the song's title. There are hundreds of such tunings, though many are slight variants of other alternate tunings.[3] A few alternative tunings are used regularly by communities of guitarists who share a musical tradition, such as American folk or Celtic folk music.[citation needed]
The hundreds of alternative tunings have been classified into a few categories:[4]
- dropped[5][6]
- open[7]
- both major and minor (cross note)[8][6][9]
- modal[6][10]
- instrumental (based on other stringed instruments)
- miscellaneous (“special”).[6][9][11]
Joni Mitchell developed a shorthand descriptive method of noting guitar tuning wherein the first letter documents the note of the lowest string, and is followed by the relative fret (half-step) offsets required to obtain the pitch of the next (higher) string.[12] This scheme highlights pitch relationships and simplifies the process of comparing different tuning schemes.
String gauges[edit]
Some alternative tunings are difficult or even impossible to achieve with conventional sets of guitar strings, which have gauges optimized for standard tuning. With conventional sets, some higher tunings increase string-tension until playing requires significantly more finger-strength and stamina, or even until a string snaps or the guitar is warped; with lower tunings, strings may be loose and buzz. Tone is also negatively affected by unsuitable string gauge.
Generally, alternative tunings benefit from re-stringing of the guitar with string gauges chosen to optimize particular tunings [13] by using lighter strings for higher notes (to lower tension) and heavier strings for lower notes (to prevent string buzz);
Dropped tunings[edit]
A dropped tuning starts with standard tuning and typically lowers the pitch of ('drops') only a single string, almost always the lowest-pitched (E) string on the guitar, though occasionally the A string is lowered.
The drop D tuning is common in classical guitar and heavy metal music.[14][15] The low E string is tuned down one whole step (to D) and the rest of the strings remain in standard tuning. This creates an 'open power chord' (three-note fifth) with the low three strings (DAD).
Heavy rock guitarists have adopted the drop C tuning by dropping the low string two whole steps to a C, or alternately by lowering a drop-D tuning another whole step down across all strings. In most cases, drop-C requires a heavier gauge string to maintain tone and prevent buzzing against the frets.
With the rise in extended range instruments, some heavy metal guitarists have opted to use tunings as low as drop G or drop E (with the lowest string on an eight-string being tuned down to an E from F#).
Open tunings[edit]
Ry Cooder plays slide guitar with open tunings.
An open tuning lets the guitarist play a chord by strumming the open strings (no strings fretted).
Open tunings may be chordal or modal. In chordal open tunings, the base chord consists of at least three different pitch classes, and may include all the strings or a subset. The tuning is named for the base chord when played open, typically a major chord, and all similar chords in the chromatic scale are played by barring all strings across a single fret.[16] Open tunings are common in blues and folk music.[17] These tunings are frequently used in the playing of slide and lap-slide ('Hawaiian') guitars, and Hawaiian slack key music.[16][18]Ry Cooder uses open tunings when he plays slide guitar.[17]
Most modern music uses equal temperament because it facilitates playing in any key—as compared to just intonation, which favors a few certain keys, and other keys sound less in tune.[19] Open tunings can provide “better” intonation for certain chords than non-open tunings, because the open strings can be in just intonation.[further explanation needed]
New Standard Tuning Chord Chart
Sonny Landreth, Keith Richards and other open-G masters often lower the second string slightly so the major third is in tune with the overtone series.[20]
Repetitive open-tunings are used for two classical non-Spanish guitars. For the English guitar, the open chord is C major (C–E–G–C–E–G);[21] for the Russian guitar, which has seven strings, G major (G–B–D–G–B–D–G).[22]
When the open strings constitute a minor chord, the open tuning may sometimes be called a cross-note tuning.
Major key tunings[edit]
C's first 8 harmonics (C, C, G, C, E, G, B♭, C) Play simultaneously
Open D tuning.
Open D tuning (listen)
Open G tuning (listen)
Major open-tunings give a major chord with the open strings.
Major triad | Repetitive | Overtones | Other (often most popular) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Open A | (A,C♯,E) | A–C♯–E–A–C♯–E | A–A–E–A–C♯–E | E–A–C♯–E–A–E |
Open B | (B,D♯,F♯) | B–D♯–F♯–B–D♯–F♯ | B–B–F♯–B–D♯–F♯ | B–F♯–B–F♯–B–D♯ |
Open C | (C,E,G) | C–E–G–C–E–G | C–C–G–C–E–G | C–G–C–G–C–E |
Open D | (D,F♯,A) | D–F♯–A–D–F♯–A | D–D–A–D–F♯–A | D–A–D–F♯–A–D |
Open E | (E,G♯,B) | E–G♯–B–E–G♯–B | E–E–B–E–G♯–B | E–B–E–G♯–B–E |
Open F | (F,A,C) | F–A–C–F–A–C | F–F–C–F–A–C | C–F–C–F–A–F |
Open G | (G,B,D) | G–B–D–G–B–D | G–G–D–G–B–D | D–G–D–G–B-D |
Open tunings often tune the lowest open note to C, D, or E and they often tune the highest open note to D or E; tuning down the open string from E to D or C avoids the risk of breaking strings, which is associated with tuning up strings.
Open D[edit]
The open D tuning (D–A–D–F♯–A–D), also called “Vestopol” tuning,[23] is one of the most common open tunings used by European and American guitarists working with alternative tunings. The Allman Brothers instrumental “Little Martha” used an open-D tuning raised one half step, giving an open E♭ tuning with the same intervalic relationships as open D.[24]
Open C[edit]
The English guitar used a repetitiveopen-C tuning (with distinct open notes C–E–G–C–E–G) that approximated a major-thirds tuning.[25] The C-G-C-G-C-E tuning was used by William Ackerman for his “Townsend Shuffle” and by John Fahey for his tribute to Mississippi John Hurt.[26][27]
The C–C–G–C–E–G tuning uses some of the harmonic sequence (overtones) of the note C.[28][29] This overtone-series tuning was modified by Mick Ralphs, who used a high C rather than the high G for “Can’t Get Enough” on Bad Company. Ralphs said, “It needs the open C to have that ring,” and “it never really sounds right in standard tuning”.[30]
Open G[edit]
Mick Ralphs’ open-C tuning was originally an open-G tuning, which listed the initial six overtones of the G note, namely G–G–D–G–B–D; Ralphs used this open-G tuning for “Hey Hey” and while writing the demo of “Can’t Get Enough”.[30]
The open G tuning G–G–D–G–B–D was used by Joni Mitchell for “Electricity”, “For the Roses” and “Hunter (The Good Samaritan)”.[31] Truncating this tuning to G–D–G–B–D for his five-string guitar, Keith Richards plays this overtones-tuning on The Rolling Stones’s “Honky Tonk Women”, “Brown Sugar” and “Start Me Up”.[32]
The Russian guitar uses the open-G tuning D–G–B–D–G–B–D, which contains mostly major and minor thirds.[33][34]
Creating any kind of open tuning[edit]
Any kind of chordal tuning can be achieved, simply by using the notes in the chord and tuning the strings to those notes. For example, Asus4 has the notes A, D, E. By tuning the strings to only those notes, it creates a chordal Asus4 tuning. Since power chords only use two notes, fifth chord tuning use repeats of those two notes.[35]
A5 | E–A–E–A–A–E |
B5 | F♯–B–F♯–B–B–F♯ |
C5 | C–G–C–G–G–G |
D5 | D–A–D–A–D–D |
E5 | E–B–E–E–B–E |
F5 | F–C–C–C–C–F |
G5 | D–G–D–G–D–G |
(These are open chordal tunings for guitar, but bass players can also use them by omitting the last two strings.)
Minor or “cross-note” tunings[edit]
Cross-note tunings include a minor third, so giving a minor chord with open strings. Fretting the minor-third string at the first fret produces a major-third, so allowing a one-finger fretting of a major chord.[37] By contrast, it is more difficult to fret a minor chord using an open major-chord tuning.
Cross-note E-minor was used by Bukka White and Skip James.[38]
Other open chordal tunings[edit]
Some guitarists choose open tunings that use more complex chords, which gives them more available intervals on the open strings. C6, E6, E7, E6/9 and other such tunings are common among lap-steel players such as Hawaiian slack-key guitarists and country guitarists, and are also sometimes applied to the regular guitar by bottleneck players striving to emulate these styles. A common C6 tuning, for example, is C–E–G–A–C–E, which provides open major and minor thirds, open major and minor sixths, fifths, and octaves. By contrast, most open major or open minor tunings provide only octaves, fifths, and either a major third/sixth or a minor third/sixth—but not both. Don Helms of Hank Williams band favored C6 tuning; slack-key artist Henry Kaleialoha Allen uses a modified C6/7 (C6 tuning with a B♭ on the bottom); Harmon Davis favored E7 tuning; David Gilmour has used an open G6 tuning.
Modal tunings[edit]
Modal tunings are open tunings in which the open strings of the guitar do not produce a tertian (i.e., major or minor, or variants thereof) chord. The strings may be tuned to exclusively present a single interval (all fourths; all fifths; etc.) Or they may be tuned to a non-tertian chord (unresolved suspensions such as E–A–B–E–A–E, for example). Modal open tunings may use only one or two pitch classes across all strings (as, for example, some metal guitarists who tune each string to either E or B, forming “power chords” of ambiguous major/minor tonality).
Popular modal tunings include D Modal (D-G-D-G-B-E) and C Modal (C-G-D-G-B-D).
How To Tune A Guitar
E♭ and D tuning[edit]
Rock guitarists (such as Jimi Hendrix on the song Voodoo Child (Slight Return)) occasionally tune all their strings down by one semitone to obtain E♭ tuning. This makes the strings easier to bend and with standard fingering results in a lower key, which may better suit vocal range.[39].
Regular tunings[edit]
Regular tunings | |
---|---|
For regular guitar-tunings, the distance between consecutive open-strings is a constant musical-interval, measured by semitones on the chromatic circle. The chromatic circle lists the twelve notes of the octave. | |
Basic information | |
Aliases | Uniform tunings |
Advanced information | |
Advantages | Simplifies learning by beginners and improvisation by advanced guitarists |
Disadvantages | Replicating the open chords (“cowboy chords”) of standard tuning is difficult; intermediate guitarists must relearn the fretboard and chords. |
Regular tunings (semitones) | |
Trivial (0) | |
Minor thirds (3) | |
Major thirds (4) | |
All fourths (5) | |
Augmented fourths (6) | |
New standard (7, 3) | |
All fifths (7) | |
Minor sixths (8) | |
Guitar tunings |
In the standard guitar-tuning, one major-third interval is interjected amid four perfect-fourth intervals. In each regular tuning, all string successions have the same interval.
Chords can be shifted diagonally in major-thirds tuning and other regular tunings. In standard tuning, chords change their shape because of the irregular major-third G-B.
In standard tuning, there is an interval of a major third between the second and third strings, and all the other intervals are fourths. The irregularity has a price. Chords cannot be shifted around the fretboard in the standard tuning E–A–D–G–B–E, which requires four chord-shapes for the major chords. There are separate chord-forms for chords having their root note on the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth strings.[40]
In contrast, regular tunings have equal intervals between the strings,[41] and so they have symmetrical scales all along the fretboard. This makes it simpler to translate chords. The globalization of world politics an introduction to international relations. For the regular tunings, chords may be moved diagonally around the fretboard. The diagonal movement of chords is especially simple for the regular tunings that are repetitive, in which case chords can be moved vertically: Chords can be moved three strings up (or down) in major-thirds tuning and chords can be moved two strings up (or down) in augmented-fourths tuning. Regular tunings thus appeal to new guitarists and also to jazz-guitarists, whose improvisation is simplified by regular intervals.
10 String Pedal Steel Tuning
On the other hand, five- and six-string open chords (“cowboy chords”) are more difficult to play in a regular tuning than in standard tuning. Instructional literature uses standard tuning.[42] Traditionally a course begins with the hand in first position,[43] that is, with the left-hand covering frets 1–4.[44] Beginning players first learn open chords belonging to the major keysC, G, and D. Guitarists who play mainly open chords in these three major-keys and their relative minor-keys (Am, Em, Bm) may prefer standard tuning over many regular tunings,[45][46] On the other hand, minor-thirds tuning features many barre chords with repeated notes,[47] properties that appeal to acoustic-guitarists and beginners.
Major thirds and perfect fourths[edit]
Standard tuning mixes a major third (M3) with its perfect fourths. Regular tunings that are based on either major thirds or perfect fourths are used, for example, in jazz.
All fourths tuning E2–A2–D3–G3–C4–F4 keeps the lowest four strings of standard tuning, changing the major third to a perfect fourth.[48][49] Jazz musician Stanley Jordan stated that all-fourths tuning “simplifies the fingerboard, making it logical”.[50]
Major-thirds tuning (M3 tuning) is a regular tuning in which the musical intervals between successive strings are each major thirds, for example E2–G♯2–C3–E3–G♯3–C4.[51][52][53][54] Unlike all-fourths and all-fifths tuning, M3 tuning repeats its octave after three strings, which simplifies the learning of chords and improvisation.[42] This repetition provides the guitarist with many possibilities for fingering chords.[51][54] With six strings, major-thirds tuning has a smaller range than standard tuning; with seven strings, the major-thirds tuning covers the range of standard tuning on six strings.[52][53][54]
Major-thirds tunings require less hand-stretching than other tunings, because each M3 tuning packs the octave's twelve notes into four consecutive frets.[52][55] The major-third intervals let the guitarist play major chords and minor chords with two–three consecutive fingers on two consecutive frets.[56]
Chord inversion is especially simple in major-thirds tuning. The guitarist can invert chords by raising one or two notes on three strings—playing the raised notes with the same finger as the original notes. In contrast, inverting triads in standard and all-fourths tuning requires three fingers on a span of four frets.[57] In standard tuning, the shape of an inversion depends on involvement of the major-third between the 2nd and 3rd strings.[58]
All fifths and “new standard tuning”[edit]
New standard tuning.
New Standard Tuning's open strings.
- C2–G2–D3–A3–E4–B4
All-fifths tuning is a tuning in intervals of perfect fifths like that of a mandolin or a violin; other names include “perfect fifths” and “fifths”.[59] It has a wide range. Its implementation has been impossible with nylon strings and has been difficult with conventional steel strings. The high B makes the first string very taut, and consequently a conventionally gauged string easily breaks.
Jazz guitarist Carl Kress used a variation of all-fifths tuning—with the bottom four strings in fifths, and the top two strings in thirds, resulting in B♭1–F2–C3–G3–B3–D4. This facilitated tenor banjo chord shapes on the bottom four strings and plectrum banjo chord shapes on the top four strings. Contemporary New York jazz-guitarist Marty Grosz uses this tuning.
All-fifths tuning has been approximated by the so-called “New Standard Tuning” (NST) of King Crimson’s Robert Fripp, which NST replaces all-fifths' high B4 with a high G4. To build chords, Fripp uses “perfect intervals in fourths, fifths and octaves”, so avoiding minor thirds and especially major thirds,[60] which are sharp in equal temperament tuning (in comparison to thirds in just intonation). It is a challenge to adapt conventional guitar-chords to new standard tuning, which is based on all-fifths tuning.[61] Some closely voiced jazz chords become impractical in NST and all-fifths tuning.[62]
Instrumental tunings[edit]
These are tunings in which some or all strings are retuned to emulate the standard tuning of some other instrument, such as a lute, banjo, cittern, mandolin, etc. Many of these tunings overlap other categories, especially open and model tunings.
Miscellaneous or “special” tunings[edit]
This category includes everything that does not fit into any of the other categories, for example (but not limited to): tunings designated only for a particular piece; non-western intervals and modes; micro- or macro-tones;[example needed] and “hybrid tunings” combining features of major alternate tuning categories – most commonly an open tuning with the lowest string dropped.[63]
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
Citation references[edit]
- ^Denyer. Chapter ‘Playing the guitar’: “How the guitar is tuned', pp. 68–69.
- ^Online guitar tunerArchived 2013-08-24 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved August 27, 2013
- ^Weissman (2006, ‘Off-the-wall tunings: A brief inventory’ (Appendix A), pp. 95-96)
- ^Roche (2004, ‘Categories of tunings’, p. 153)
- ^Roche (2004, pp. 153–156)
- ^ abcdDenyer (1992, pp. 158–159)
- ^Roche (2004, ‘Open tunings’, pp. 156–159)
- ^Roche (2004, ‘Cross-note tunings’, p. 166)
- ^ abSethares (2011)
- ^Roche (2004, ‘Modal tunings’, pp. 160–165)
- ^Roche (2004, ‘More radical tunings’, p. 166)
- ^'Notation'. Joni Mitchell. Archived from the original on 2016-03-15. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
- ^Roche (2004, ‘String gauges and altered tunings’, p. 169–170)
- ^Simon. 'Drop D Tuning Tips'. Classical Guitar Corner. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
- ^Lesson, Nick Bowcott 2008-09-10T22:10:06Z. 'The Doom Generation: The Art of Playing Heavy'. guitarworld. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
- ^ abSethares (2009, p. 16)
- ^ abDenyer (1992, p. 158)
- ^Denyer (1992, p. 160)
- ^Gold, Jude (1 December 2005). 'Just desserts: Steve Kimock shares the sweet sounds of justly tuned thirds and sevenths'. Guitar Player. Master class.(subscription required)
- ^Gold, Jude (June 2007). 'Fender VG Stratocaster'. Guitar Player. Gear: Bench Test (Product/service evaluation). Archived from the original on 2013-01-16.
- ^Hannu Annala, Heiki Mätlik (2007). 'Composers for other plucked instruments: Rudolf Straube (1717-1785)'. Handbook of Guitar and Lute Composers (Translated by Katarina Backman ed.). Mel Bay. p. 30. ISBN0786658444; ISBN9780786658442.CS1 maint: Uses authors parameter (link)
- ^
- Ophee, Matanya (ed.). 19th Century etudes for the Russian 7-string guitar in G Op. The Russian Collection. 9. Editions Orphee. PR.494028230. Archived from the original on 2013-07-04.
- Ophee, Matanya (ed.). Selected Concert Works for the Russian 7-String Guitar in G open tuning. The Russian Collection. 10 ('X'). Editions Orphee. PR.494028240. Archived from the original on 2013-07-04.
- Timofeyev, Oleg V. (1999). The golden age of the Russian guitar: Repertoire, performance practice, and social function of the Russian seven-string guitar music, 1800-1850. Duke University, Department of Music. pp. 1–584. University Microfilms (UMI), Ann Arbor, Michigan, number 9928880.
- ^Grossman (1972, p. 29)
- ^Sethares (2009, pp. 20–21)
- ^Hannu Annala, Heiki Mätlik (2007). 'Composers for other plucked instruments: Rudolf Straube (1717-1785)'. Handbook of guitar and lute composers (Translated by Katarina Backman ed.). Mel Bay. p. 30. ISBN0786658444. ISBN9780786658442.CS1 maint: Uses authors parameter (link)
- ^Sethares (2009, pp. 18–19)
- ^Baughman, Steve (2004). 'Open C'. Mel Bay Beginning Open Tunings. Pacific, Missouri: Mel Bay Publications. pp. 8–14. ISBN978-0-7866-7093-2.
- ^Guitar Tunings Database (2013). 'CCGCEG Guitar Tuner'. CCGCEG: Open C via harmonic overtones. Archived from the original on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
- ^Persichetti (1961, pp. 23–24): Persichetti, Vincent (1961). Twentieth-century harmony: Creative aspects and practice. New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN0-393-09539-8. OCLC398434.
- ^ abSharken, Lisa (15 May 2001). 'Mick Ralphs: The rock 'N' roll fantasy continues'. Vintage Guitar. Archived from the original on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
- ^'List of all Guitar and Piano Transcriptions'. GGDGBD. JoniMitchell.com. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
- ^Ellis, Andy (2005). 'How to play like .. Keith Richards'. Guitar Player. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
- ^Bellow (1970, p. 164): Bellow, Alexander (1970). The illustrated history of the guitar. Colombo Publications.
- ^Timofeyev (1999): Timofeyev, Oleg V. (1999). The golden age of the Russian guitar: Repertoire, performance practice, and social function of the Russian seven-string guitar music, 1800-1850. Duke University, Department of Music. pp. 1–584. University Microfilms (UMI), Ann Arbor, Michigan, number 9928880.
- ^'Asus4 Piano Chord - Piano Chord Chart - 8notes.com'. 8notes.com. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
- ^'Piano Chord Chart'. 8notes.com. Archived from the original on 14 June 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
- ^Sethares (2001, p. 16)
- ^Cohen, Andy (22 March 2005). 'Stefan Grossman- Country Blues Guitar in Open Tunings'. Sing Out!. 49 (1): 152.
- ^Serna, Desi (2015). Guitar Rhythm and Technique For Dummies. For Dummies. p. 80. ISBN978-1119022879. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
it's fairly common in rock music for guitarists to tune all of their strings down by a half-step
- ^Denyer (1992, p. 119)
- ^Sethares (2001, p. 52)
- ^ abKirkeby, Ole (1 March 2012). 'Major thirds tuning'. m3guitar.com. cited by Sethares (2011). Archived from the original on 11 April 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
- ^White, Mark (2005). 'Reading skills: The guitarist's nemesis?'. Berklee Today. Boston, Massachusetts: Berklee College of Music. 72. ISSN1052-3839. Archived from the original on 2012-11-05.External link in
|journal=
(help) - ^Denyer (1992, p. 72)
- ^Peterson (2002, p. 37)
- ^Griewank (2010, p. 5)
- ^Sethares & 54–55
- ^Sethares (2001, pp. 58–59)
- ^Bianco, Bob (1987). Guitar in Fourths. New York City: Calliope Music. ISBN0-9605912-2-2. OCLC16526869.
- ^Ferguson (1986, p. 76):
Ferguson, Jim (1986). 'Stanley Jordan'. In Casabona, Helen; Belew, Adrian (eds.). New directions in modern guitar. Guitar Player basic library. Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation. pp. 68–76. ISBN0881884235; ISBN9780881884234. - ^ abSethares (2001, pp. 56)
- ^ abcPeterson (2002, pp. 36–37)
- ^ abGriewank (2010)
- ^ abcPatt, Ralph (14 April 2008). 'The major 3rd tuning'. Ralph Patt's jazz web page. ralphpatt.com. cited by Sethares (2011). Retrieved 10 June 2012.
- ^Griewank (2010, p. 9)
- ^Griewank (2010, p. 2)
- ^Griewank (2010, p. 10)
- ^Denyer (1992, p. 121)
- ^Sethares (2001, ‘The mandoguitar tuning’ 62–63)
- ^Mulhern (1986): Mulhern, Tom (January 1986). 'On the discipline of craft and art: An interview with Robert Fripp'. Guitar Player. 20: 88–103. Archived from the original on 16 February 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
- ^Musicologist Eric Tamm wrote that despite “considerable effort and search I just could not find a good set of chords whose sound I liked” for rhythm guitar. (Tamm 2003, Chapter 10: Postscript)
Tamm, Eric (2003) [1990], Robert Fripp: From crimson king to crafty master (Progressive Ears ed.), Faber and Faber (1990), ISBN0-571-16289-4, Zipped Microsoft Word Document, archived from the original on 26 October 2011, retrieved 25 March 2012 - ^Sethares (2001, ‘The mandoguitar tuning’, pp. 62–63)
- ^Whitehill, Dave; Alternate Tunings for Guitar; p. 5 ISBN0793582199
References[edit]
- Allen, Warren (22 September 2011) [30 December 1997]. 'WA's encyclopedia of guitar tunings'. (Recommended by Marcus, Gary (2012). Guitar zero: The science of learning to be musical. Oneworld. p. 234. ISBN9781851689323.). Retrieved 27 June 2012.
- Denyer, Ralph (1992). 'Playing the guitar ('How the guitar is tuned', pp. 68–69, and 'Alternative tunings', pp. 158–159)'. The guitar handbook. Special contributors Isaac Guillory and Alastair M. Crawford (Fully revised and updated ed.). London and Sydney: Pan Books. pp. 65–160. ISBN0-330-32750-X.
- Griewank, Andreas (1 January 2010), Tuning guitars and reading music in major thirds, Matheon preprints, 695, Rosestr. 3a, 12524 Berlin, Germany: DFG research center 'MATHEON, Mathematics for key technologies' Berlin, urn:nbn:de:0296-matheon-6755. Postscript file and Pdf file, archived from the original on 8 November 2012
- Grossman, Stefan (1972). The book of guitar tunings. New York: Amsco Publishing Company. ISBN0-8256-2806-7. LCCN74-170019.
- Peterson, Jonathon (2002). 'Tuning in thirds: A new approach to playing leads to a new kind of guitar'. American Lutherie: The Quarterly Journal of the Guild of American Luthiers. 8222 South Park Avenue, Tacoma WA 98408: USA.: The Guild of American Luthiers. 72 (Winter): 36–43. ISSN1041-7176. Archived from the original on 21 October 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
- Roche, Eric (2004). '5 Thinking outside the box'. The acoustic guitar Bible. London: Bobcat Books Limited, SMT. pp. 151–178. ISBN1-84492-063-1.
- Sethares, Bill (2001). 'Regular tunings'. Alternate tuning guide(PDF). Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin; Department of Electrical Engineering. pp. 52–67. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
- Sethares, Bill (2009) [2001]. Alternate tuning guide(PDF). Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin; Department of Electrical Engineering. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
- Sethares, William A. (2011). 'Alternate tuning guide'. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin; Department of Electrical Engineering. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
- Weissman, Dick (2006). Guitar tunings: A comprehensive guide. Routledge. ISBN9780415974417. LCCN0415974410.
Further reading[edit]
- Anonymous (2000). Alternate tunings guitar essentials. Acoustic Guitar Magazine's private lessons. String Letter Publishing. Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation. ISBN978-1-890490-24-9. LCCN2001547503.
- Hanson, Mark (1995). The complete book of alternate tunings. Accent on Music. ISBN978-0-936799-13-1.
- Hanson, Mark (1997). Alternate tunings picture chords. Accent on Music. ISBN978-0-936799-14-8.
- Heines, Danny (2007). Mastering alternate tunings: A revolutionary system of fretboard navigation for fingerstyle guitarists. Hal Leonard. ISBN978-0-634-06569-9.
- Johnson, Chad (2002). Alternate tuning chord dictionary. Hal Leonard. ISBN978-0-634-03857-0. LCCN2005561612.
- Maloof, Richard (2007). Alternate tunings for guitar. Cherry Lane Music Company. ISBN978-1-57560-578-4. LCCN2008560110.
- Shark, Mark (2008). The tao of tunings: A map to the world of alternate tunings. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN978-1-4234-3087-2.
External links[edit]
- Allen, Warren (22 September 2011) [30 December 1997]. 'WA's Encyclopedia of Guitar Tunings'. (Recommended by Marcus, Gary (2012). Guitar zero: The science of learning to be musical. Oneworld. p. 234. ISBN9781851689323.). Retrieved 27 June 2012.
- Sethares, William A. (12 May 2012). 'Alternate tuning guide: Interactive'. Uses Wolfram Cdf player. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
The Wikibook Guitar has a page on the topic of: Tuning the Guitar (to standard tuning) |
The Wikibook Guitar has a page on the topic of: Alternative tunings |
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