Why tune your guitar a semitone lower? Low tuning guitar
And he even posted it, albeit in English.
In general, today I decided to touch upon this topic again and consider the most common of them.
It wouldn't hurt to remind you of simple things. If you decide to tune lower, then it is better to take a thicker one, otherwise in some Dropped the usual nine will just dangle and ring on the frets. If you decide to make the tuning of your guitar higher, then in this case you can take thinner strings, because Large gauge strings, in this case, can be very tight. Well, no one has canceled the excess load on the bar either.
Also, if there is a radical change in the system, be prepared to do it again, although you may not have to do this.
So, let's go.
Standard tuning: E-A-D-g-b-e
In standard guitar tuning, all string intervals are perfect fourths (five semitones), except for the interval between the third string (g) and second string (b), which is a major third (four semitones).
Down a semitone: Eb-Ab-Db-gb-bb-eb
This guitar tuning is also called "Eb" - based on the note to which the thickest string is tuned. Tuning the guitar is exactly the same as in standard tuning. The sound intervals between the strings remain exactly the same, but each string is tuned exactly one semitone lower than the standard tuning. Eb tuning can be used for many reasons, such as making the strings softer and bending easier, or to better suit a singer's vocal range. There can be many reasons. This tuning was used by Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Down a whole tone: D-G-C-f-a-d
This tuning is also called “Tuning D” - based on the note to which the thickest string is tuned. Everything is the same as in the previous case, except that each string is tuned a tone lower than the standard tuning. This tuning is used for the same reasons as "E?", it causes the strings to sag even more and makes bending even easier. At this point I would think about using thicker gauge strings.
If this is not enough for you, then you can continue further. Those. lower or lower each string at an equal interval relative to the standard tuning. The algorithm is simple, the main thing is to choose the appropriate size strings.
Drop-D: D-A-d-g-b-e
Drop-D is probably one of the most popular tunings in hard rock, alternative and other motherfuckers. By the way, folk guitarists do not disdain them either. Although they are generally big fans of alternative and non-standard guitar tunings.
By lowering the low E string one step to D, we can make power chords easier to play. Now they can be played with one finger, simply by plucking three thick strings, the 4th, 5th and 6th, respectively. Drop-D tuning gives a meatier sound and extends the overall range of the guitar towards the bottom compared to standard tuning.
By the way, this system does not require a large and lengthy restructuring, which allows you to change the system right on the fly, with the proper skill, of course.
To facilitate this procedure, a special device was even invented and made - the D Tuner, which will allow you to literally rebuild the sixth string in a second.
Double Drop-D: D-A-d-g-b-d
Double drop D is Neil Young's favorite tuning. It is identical to the regular Drop-D, except that the high e is also lowered one tone from the standard tuning - to d. With this setup, it turns out that the 4th high strings form a G major chord, and this can be convenient when playing with a slide. This tuning is also quite quick and easy to get from the standard one.
Drop-C: C-G-c-f-a-d
This tuning will help make your guitar sound lower and meatier when overdriven. This tuning is obtained if you first tune the guitar a tone lower than the standard one, and then lower the 6th string another tone.
Quite low, don't you think? With this tuning, thicker strings are clearly needed. Thin ones will obviously hang around like snot.
In general, the technique is simple. We already understand what Drop is. But whether to lower it by one tone, 2 or more - that’s up to you. Everything will depend on the gauge of the strings and your desire.
Tuning D5: D-A-d-d-d-d
This tuning is classified as an open tuning, because If all the strings are open, the chord D5 sounds. This tuning is quite often used when playing slide. To get this tuning you need to lower the 3rd string by 5 semitones, raise the 2nd string by 3 semitones and lower the 1st string by a tone.
There are variations of this tuning in which the 3rd string is raised to A instead of lowered to D. This gives two fifths of a step in different octaves, which gives the sound some depth.
Ostrich formation: D-D-d-d-d-d
In this tuning, all strings are tuned to the same note. Lou Reed is said to have invented this tuning while he was with the Velvet Underground. Important note: With this tuning, you will definitely need to build your own set of strings.
I guess I'll stop for today. Of course, all alternative and non-standard guitar tunings are not limited to this.
I think I’ll throw in a dozen more soon.
Part 1. Guitar tuner
You can easily and quickly tune any guitar using a digital tuner. For example I use Chromatic Tuner IMT-900. Here he is:
The principle of handling such a tuner is so simple that now even someone who has had a bear step on not only his ear, but his entire head, can tune his guitar. :) The tuner is attached to the shoulder blade of the neck, removes sound vibrations from it and shows on its screen a scale, an arrow and the sounding note (A, B, C, etc.)
Part 2. Guitar tuning
A- La-a :)
B– Si-i (the same as H)
C– Do-o
D– Re-e
E– Mi-i
F- Fa-ah
G– So-ol
Standard Russian guitar tuning gives a chord on open strings G major(G) and it turns out like this:
1st string - D(D) by tuning fork
2nd string - B(B) on the third fret - in unison with the first
3rd string - G(Salt) on the fourth fret - in unison with the second
4th string - D(D) on the fifth fret - in unison with the third
5th string - B(B) on the third fret - in unison with the fourth
6th string - G(Salt) on the fourth fret - in unison with the fifth
7th string - D(D) on the fifth fret - in unison with the sixth
If you lower the tuning by a semitone, then, for example, the A minor chord (Am, 2122X) will slide one fret lower, that is, 3233X will be taken. If you lower the tuning of the guitar a tone lower, as Vysotsky often did, then A minor (Am) will be where B minor (Hm) used to be, that is, 43440. And so on.
Just in case, I’ll explain what these strange numbers mean, for example, “forty-three thousand four hundred and forty” or 43440 :) This is how chords are often written, that is, which string to press on which fret. The serial number of numbers in a row is the strings from the first to the fifth (to the sixth, to the seventh). That is, the first number corresponds to the first string, the second – to the second, etc. And the number itself is the number of the fret on which the specified string must be clamped. That is, for recording 43440 (more precisely 43440ХХ) we get the following decoding:
4
– first string on the 4th fret
3
– second string on the 3rd fret
4
– third string on the 4th fret
4
– fourth string at 4th fret
0
– fifth string open
X– the sixth string does not sound
X– the seventh string doesn’t dance either
At the very beginning of his creative life, Vladimir Vysotsky played on standard tuning, and in the middle and at the end he tuned his guitar mainly a tone and a half lower. But you can find his tuning two tones lower (for example, a recording in Ostankino, January 1980), and even two and a half (!) tones lower (for example, a performance at the Commune House of Culture, March 1980).
Why it is customary to lower the tuning on a seven-string, we will talk in the next chapter, but for now, just in case, I will give the tuning layouts from standard to lowered by two and a half tones.
(the first letter corresponds to the first, thinnest string)
Russian tuning for 7-string:
Standard tuning: D B G D B G D build Salt or (0)
Half a tone lower: C# A# F# C# A# F# C# build F sharp or (–0.5)
One tone lower: C A F C A F C build F or (–1)
One and a half steps lower: B G# E B G# E B build Mi or (–1.5)
Two tones lower: A# G D# A# G D# A# build D sharp or 2)
Two and a half steps lower: A F# D A F# D A build Re or (–2.5)
Spanish tuning for 6-string:
Standard tuning: E B G D A E
A semitone lower: D# A# F# C# G# D#
One tone lower: D A F C G D
One and a half steps lower: C# G# E B F# C#
Two tones lower: C G D# A# F C
Two and a half steps lower: B F# D A E B
In the previous article, the issue of low tuning guitar. In this article I would like to discuss it in more detail.
Let me remind you that the standard six-string tuning is as follows: E[E]-A[A]-D[D]-G[G]-B[H]-E[E], starting from the sixth string. Let's look at the prerequisites for switching to a different guitar tuning. Down tuning is used in extreme music to create a tighter, heavier and more powerful sound. You can also give an example of when musicians playing in rock bands decide to use a lower tuning to make it easier for the vocalist to sing. That is, they adapt to a certain person and a certain style of music. By the way, you can also raise the tuning of the guitar, adapting to the singer’s vocal abilities. Also, the use of a low guitar tuning is due to a different chord fingering. That is, the tuning of the guitar is selected for the convenience of playing chords.
When using a lower tuning electric guitar, the tension of the strings will naturally decrease and thin strings may simply hang. Therefore, you need to select thicker sets of strings.
I can say that there are quite a lot of options for tuning a guitar. We'll look at a few common ones. Using their examples, you can choose the optimal system for yourself or come up with your own.
- Lower by half a tone. In this case, the system becomes the following: Re#-Sol#-Do#-Fa#-Aa#-Re#.
- Lower by tone. Guitar tuning: D[D]-G[G]-Do[C]-F[F]-A[A]-D[D].
- A formation called "Drop D". In this case, only the sixth string is lowered by tone: Re[D]-A[A]-Re[D]-Sol[G]-Bi[H]-Mi[E]. In this case, there is a fifth between the sixth and fifth strings and you can play various riffs by pressing these two strings with one finger.
- Build called "Drop C". The sixth string is lowered by two tones. The remaining strings are one tone. Then the guitar tuning looks like this: Do[C]-G[G]-Do[C]-Fa[F]-A[A]-D[D]. The tuning is lower than described above, but similarly you can play two low strings with one finger.
- And in conclusion, let's look at one more system. I remember him from the song Kashmir by Led Zeppelin. It looks like this: Re[D]-A[A]-Re[D]-Sol[G]-A[A]-Re[D].
Guitar tuning: Drop D
Guitar Tuning: Drop C
Led Zeppelin
In this article on the site we will talk about alternative guitar tunings.
Unusual guitar tuning is a type of tuning that differs from the classical and generally accepted fourth tuning.
It is important to understand that we are talking here about open strings, that is, notes will be extracted from open strings without pressing.
The classic tuning of a six-string guitar in notes looks like this (from the first string to the sixth): E (mi), H (si), G (sol), D (re), A (la), E (mi).
This tuning is used by guitarists 95% of the time and is considered the default tuning.
For example, if you see a chord grid with the indicated finger placement, it means that this classical tuning is implied, and you only need to use it.
On the other hand, there are a lot of musical groups that take advantage of their individual tuning of instruments. Often, such an alternative tuning differs little from the generally accepted one, and the changes affect only individual strings.
For example, the sixth bass string in heavy musical styles is often lowered a tone lower - from MI - to RE, and an additional seventh string SI (the thickest) is added.
Similar techniques of alternative tuning are used on the bass guitar, especially the five-string, where instead of the classical MI there is a SI or even a SI-flat in the bass.
If you look at the tabs of the same Korn, Sepultura or Cannibal Corpse, you will definitely notice the use of alternative guitar tuning.
However, custom guitar tuning is not limited to just one string. The same metal bands, in order to give the music more heaviness and darkness, rebuild the entire guitar.
For example, the classical guitar tuning often shifts entirely down a semitone or tone, moving from the general tuning of fourths MI to the general tuning of RE.
All this is implemented simply: all the strings of the guitar are lowered at the same interval lower, which achieves a special lowered sound.
On the other hand, alternative guitar tunings are often used in other styles.
In jazz, in blues, in grunge and even in rock.
For example, when playing with a slider (a special tip placed on the guitarist’s finger), it is very convenient to line up the guitar in fifths, so that when the fret is pressed, a whole chord can be heard without dissonant notes. Similar practices are found in other styles of music.
Unusual guitar tuning, alternative tuning
In order not to bore the reader with long stories, we will present several alternative tuning options for a six-string guitar. You can use these settings variations at your own discretion.
For example, to diversify your playing, to find new musical ideas, to change the monotonous classical sound of an instrument...
Alternate tuning of a guitar is usually implemented so that all of the open strings of the instrument produce a specific minor or major chord.
When playing in this tuning, you can simply press entire frets of the guitar and get new chords.
For example, by tuning a guitar in D major and plucking all the strings at the fifth fret, you will get a pure G major, and at the seventh fret you will get an A major.
Note: The examples below indicate an alternative order of notes from the SIXTH string to the FIRST string (the sixth is the far left and the first is the far right).
To perform the correct tuning you will have to either tighten or loosen individual strings, going beyond the generally accepted tuning.
1. Alternative guitar tuning in D major (D):
2. Unusual guitar tuning in G major (G):
3. Tuning a six-string guitar in the key of C major (C):
4. Alternative tuning E major (E):
5. Non-standard tuning G minor (Gm):
6. Alternative guitar tuning in D minor (Dm):
7. Unusual tuning of a six-string guitar in the key of A minor (Am):
And a few more completely unusual configuration options:
8. SOL fret tuning (G):
9. Alternative tuning in PE fret (D):
10. Guitar stand in A major (A major):
11. Tuning a guitar with sol bass:
12. Unusual tuning of an instrument with bass BEFORE:
13. Bass retuned to PE (D):
14. Guitar tuning with a lowered first string:
Note: "B" is the symbol for B-flat, and simply B is written as "H". Moreover, in the pictures for this article, “B” indicates the note SI.
This confusion is associated with the notation of the SI note in various forms of musical notation, but don’t let this scare you. In the article, the pure note SI is designated exclusively as “H”.
As you can see, there are different approaches to rebuilding a six-string instrument. In some cases, all notes are changed, and in some situations, only some strings are twisted (not all).
For example, changes are often made to the bass strings, and you may see this option especially often. The most problematic type of guitar tuning is adding strings.
To implement such a tuning, you will either need to use a seven-string instrument, or shift all the strings, adding a thick B string in the bass.
In general, you could come up with such alternative tunings yourself, experimenting with different guitar tunings.
Do not think that all possible options are limited to only the 14 examples described above. In fact, there are many, many more alternative configuration methods!
