Questions tagged [alternative-tunings]
Methods of tuning the open strings on a guitar or other chordophone that differ from what is considered to be standard.
125
questions
6
votes
3answers
138 views
Why are open guitar tunings usually in major?
What I notice is that the common open guitar tunings are usually in major. Of course anyone can tune their guitar any way they want, but major seems to be the standard.
I was wondering why. For ...
5
votes
5answers
1k views
Are there regular open tunings for guitar?
I understand the difference between open tuning (all 6 open strings play a chord) and regular tuning (the intervals between strings are the same). I would like to know if it is possible to have both, ...
7
votes
2answers
740 views
How do you play a low Eb on a double bass?
The opera Das Rheingold starts with four of the double basses playing a low E-flat, one half step below the lowest E on a bass with standard tuning. In the sheet music, there is the instruction that ...
3
votes
3answers
113 views
How to make a custom tuning for fingerstyle guitar
Kent nishimura, i rarely see him used standard tuning.
I want to know how does he get his Tuning for the songs he is arranging, i dont need to know how he arrange his songs since that seems to be ...
3
votes
0answers
69 views
How to find the right tuning for arranging songs? [duplicate]
I want to know how to find the right tuning to be comfortable and able to combine many different voicings on a single guitar, I also wanted to spice up my arrangement. I saw kent nishimura on YouTube, ...
4
votes
1answer
74 views
Using Chapman Stick tunings in TuxGuitar
I'm trying to use TuxGuitar with a Chapman Stick, which, for those who don't know, is a 10-string instrument played with two-handed tapping and with a quite unusual tuning (see here: http://stick.com/...
9
votes
3answers
341 views
How would you play a normal song on an n-TET instrument?
I learnt this week that if we divide an octave into 53 notes (53-TET), then all basic intervals approximations will be improved. I am trying to understand how one would play a normal song (for 12-TET) ...
4
votes
2answers
78 views
How should tuning systems / temperaments be notated in modern scores?
Similar to this question: How were tuning/temperaments indicated on scores (if they ever were)?
In modern musical notation how should the use of something other than equal temperament be notated?
See ...
1
vote
1answer
268 views
How do I tune my guitar like a bajo sexto
I was just wondering how to tune my guitar to sound like a bajo sexto. I watched a video on YouTube, but it was confusing.
2
votes
1answer
286 views
26 inch scale length good enough for Drop tuning guitar?
I've recently been trying to drop tune to Drop G. I've read that a 27 inch scale length would be good but I was wondering if 26 would be okay. Thanks!
4
votes
3answers
380 views
How does changing a guitar string's tuning affect its timbre?
I'm not a guitar player, but have been reading some posts about alternative tunings. There are several mentions of how tuning a string up or down can change its timbre, but I haven't found anything ...
1
vote
0answers
101 views
How to know what guitar to buy for a C F C F A# D G tuning?
For some months I've been quite obsessed with the sound of some djent metal groups.
Bought a 7-string guitar with the largest scale length I could afford along with an 8 string pack, the thickest one ...
1
vote
3answers
88 views
Determining the name of a certain alternate tuning?
For example if the tuning is
C A D G B E
What is that called? Not Drop C is it?
2
votes
3answers
180 views
Determining open tunings while transcribing
I have recently tried to transcribe more songs by ear and it goes alright as long as I know the tuning. I was wondering if there is any tips or techniques for determining what (open) tuning is used in ...
5
votes
2answers
322 views
When is just intonation more appropriate than 12-tone equal temperament?
I have recently learnt about different tuning methods, and 12-tone equal temperament is a very well-designed compromise. However, are there usage scenarios where it's better to use just intonation ...
1
vote
2answers
72 views
Tuning vs truss rod
I've been going back and forth between standard, open E, and D tuning on some songs I play. A lot of the time strings will break even when I'm tuning down. Is this because of the truss rod? Are there ...
1
vote
1answer
45 views
What are good sources of information about non-standard tuning systems ("microtunings")? [duplicate]
Prompted by answers and comments on this question, I'd like to collect up some online references for microtunings and microtonal music. This subject seems to be picking up ever more interest but it ...
2
votes
4answers
424 views
Tried Eb alternate tuning but guitar intonation is off and I'm unsure how to fix it
I have a fender mexican strat, with 10s. I have never changed string gauge, I only tuned all the strings down half a step to Eb from E.
The issue I am running into is that the low Eb, Ab, Db, and Gb ...
6
votes
1answer
130 views
Are just intervals a human universal?
It is my understanding that unaccompanied singers (or players of fret less instruments) will naturally tend to sing (or play) just intervals, i.e. intervals whose frequency ratios are ratios of simple ...
3
votes
2answers
545 views
What is the tuning used on this song "Nightingale" by Ivory Tusk? [closed]
I have a great difficulty to decipher the tuning used by a YouTuber BalconyTV in a song Nightingale by Ivory Tusk:
What I got is E A C F# A E, which I don't think is ...
1
vote
1answer
339 views
A database of every guitar chord? [closed]
For a tool I'm developing, I'd like to have a database of all playable chords (and voicings) on guitar.
"playable" would mean either :
any position that the human with the biggest stretch ...
3
votes
2answers
132 views
Do any prominent string players tune the top and bottom string to be a just minor 10th or major 13th?
I'm thinking of bass, viola, violin, and cello, though my question could apply to any instrument tuned in stacked fourths/fifths. Typically the strings are tuned using the 3rd and 4th harmonics so ...
2
votes
3answers
335 views
How much can we lower the tuning on a classical guitar?
I'm wondering if the following tuning can be used in a regular classical guitar
A3
E3
C3
G2
D2
A1
and if so, what set of strings could be used? I'm worried maybe the tension would be too much, but ...
12
votes
5answers
2k views
Is it mathematically possible to create an equal temperament which matches just interval ratios?
I've coded a Python app which lets us have any number of semitones in an octave in order to experiment with microtonal music.
I would like to ask if there's a possibility to create such an equal ...
0
votes
3answers
147 views
if a song is writting in one tuning on guitar can it be then translated into standard tuning
If a song is played in C G C F A D tuning on guitar. Can it be then translated into standard tuning. Can you extract standard tuning chords for a song played in C G C F A D ?
I hope my question is ...
0
votes
1answer
123 views
Open G guitar, better position for major chords
I am trying to master Russian 7-string guitar which has Open G tuning. Unfortunately, there is so little literature on this instrument for dummies like me. Now with the Open G I have to decide whether ...
2
votes
5answers
1k views
Can any song on guitar be played with standard tuning and without a capo?
Sometimes I see artists I like that either use weird tunings or a capo when they play a song. I don't feel like finding my capo nor changing from standard tuning. Is it theoretically possible to play ...
4
votes
1answer
2k views
Add a new guitar tuning to TuxGuitar
I want to add Open D tuning to TuxGuitar. I go to Track > Properties and then click on the wrench next to tuning. + adds another note to EADGBE. I want to add an entire tuning - DADGAD.
How do I do ...
1
vote
1answer
444 views
6 vs 7 string guitar for a student for multiple tunings
I'm currently studying in an overseas University, without my guitar(s). I generally play in Standard/Eb/Drop D tunings on my 6 string, but I've been wanting to play songs that are in Drop B/Drop A.
...
3
votes
4answers
2k views
Why isn't the guitar tuned EADGCE? [duplicate]
One of the most annoying idiosyncrasies of standard guitar tuning EADGBE is that third between the G and the B. When you move chord shapes or scale patterns around the neck you always have to take ...
5
votes
2answers
178 views
When was "Nashville Tuning" invented?
Answering a question about alternate tuning today got me thinking about Nashville Tuning and that this is basically the exact same concept used by Stanley Clarke (and apparently Ron Carter) to "invent"...
2
votes
2answers
298 views
Tuning a keyboard
Is there any software in which I can connect my casio keyboard (mk-210) to use as input and select the tuning in cents or frequency for each note manually to listen to as an output so I can try ...
4
votes
4answers
2k views
Tune high B and E strings one octave apart like the other strings?
Traditionally high B and E strings are tuned in unison.
Why are they tuned like this? Unlike the rest of strings.
If this can be done anyway, could this be achieved with the standard set of unwounded ...
3
votes
3answers
360 views
How to Choose the Best Alternate Tuning
This is essentially a generalized version of this question for fingerstyle guitar, and I'm surprised I can't find it on this website: how do I find the most optimal alternate tuning for a guitar/bass(/...
6
votes
2answers
2k views
Can I use one string gauge for standard D and drop B tuning?
I've been using 10 - 48 gauge strings for standard E tuning for 3 years, but I want to change to standard D tuning. I read somewhere that I should use 11 - 58 or 10 - 58 gauge strings for this tuning; ...
5
votes
4answers
1k views
The implications of tuning a 12-string guitar in fifths [closed]
What would happen if I tuned my 12-string guitar so that every set of strings was a perfect fifth apart? How could I use that while playing? You can find the original question here. So for reference I ...
10
votes
8answers
3k views
What makes a B-D-D-D-D-D tuning useful? Doesn't it make it more difficult to play?
In the wikipedia article for the song Iris it says there is an:
unusual guitar tuning in which most of the strings are tuned to D,
lending the guitar a chorus-like effect.
In a follow up article ...
13
votes
1answer
274 views
How accurate are 12TET approximations of Japanese scales?
Is it possible on normal European instruments to play Japanese scales like the Hirajōshi, Insen, In, Ryo, etc, without retuning? If I do have to retune, where can I find out which exact intervals are ...
1
vote
3answers
1k views
Strat tuned to C standard with 13-56 strings - intonation problems
I play a hardtail stratocaster with the following set of strings: 13, 17, W26, W36, W44, W56 (W means wound) and tuned to C standard: C F Bb Eb G C.
Since all the time now I have intonation issues. ...
1
vote
2answers
663 views
Should I increase the number of wraps around tuning peg if tuning down
I used this method for stringing my guitar:
https://www.taylorguitars.com/support/strings/changing-steel-strings
Which states:
"Two to three wraps is perfect for the bass strings."
If I were to ...
32
votes
7answers
9k views
Why do E♯ and F♮ not sound the same (according to Wikipedia)?
I was just reading the Wikipedia page on the note F (as I do every evening) and was confused by this part where it says that even though F♮ and E♯ are enharmonic they “do not sound the same”:
E♯ is ...
3
votes
1answer
3k views
Can a piccolo guitar (Ibanez ewp32) be tuned to standard?
Is there a way to string or tune a piccolo guitar (the Ibanez ewp32 in particular), which comes tuned in A naturally, be tuned to standard? And would that increase or decrease the string tension? I ...
1
vote
2answers
202 views
How to stop a 5-string capo blocking my fretting of the bottom E string?
I want to play a fingerstyle guitar based on open-voiced chords in the key of D, capoed to be in D, Eb or E for performance. I'd love to have the low D from a drop-D tuning but this messes up some ...
1
vote
1answer
83 views
String Off Tune
I just got an Arabic Oud, I recently notice that my 5th string is off tune when I tune the string. That would be in the 3rd course. I decided to put some small piece of paper under by where it touches ...
3
votes
3answers
743 views
G-D-A naming convention
I've tuned my guitar to CGCGGe in order to learn 'Head Down' from Soundgarden, and are now experimenting a bit with that tuning. While in that specific tuning, and you hold a normal power chord rooted ...
5
votes
3answers
593 views
Need help understanding the difference between diatonic and chromatic semitones
I am writing an essay on musical temperaments for which I was doing some research on the history of tuning and how it evolved over time. I understand the Pythagorean tuning system quite well now but I ...
8
votes
1answer
352 views
How far to de-tune an orchestra to match the BBC World Service pips (beeps)?
The BBC World Service Radio pips (or beeps) are an iconic aspect of the radio program broadcast around the planet by shortwave radio as well as the internet now.
The 2 minute podcast A brand new sound ...
1
vote
2answers
301 views
Stringing an acoustic for down-tuning
Any acoustic guitar experts willing to help me out with some info?
I would like to have an acoustic guitar tuned down a step and a half (C#F#BEG#C#, and at times open Bsus2 BF#BEbF#C#) for a big warm ...
16
votes
8answers
12k views
What are the advantages and disadvantages of an all-fourths guitar tuning?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of an all-fourths guitar tuning being E, A, D, G, C, F (the high E and B strings being raised a half-step from standard tuning).
One reason to do this is ...
3
votes
3answers
5k views
String gauge for playing on Drop G# on a 25.5 scale 7 string guitar
I recently bought an Ibanez RG7421, which is a 7 string guitar with a 25.5 scale. It came tuned in standard tuning (from 1st to 7th: E B G D A E B). I want to tune it to drop G# (D# C F# C# G# D# G#) ...
