alternate tunings on guitar

Chords, scales, harmony, melody, etc.
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vurt wrote:... but no sitar?
The only person I ever knew who played sitar said that he never tuned most of the strings, just the main two central strings. He said it kind of sounded better as the other strings went slowly out of tune... :hihi:

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a friend has one, ive only played it once. in the park, while sat in the park, next to all the skaters :hihi:

he had no idea how to tune it either :lol:

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chroma wrote:if you just want a list of a few popular alt tunings to start with, here's the ones the variax (jtv) ships with:

http://line6.com/jtv-59/features
ooh thanks, thatll be nice for starters :)

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vurt wrote:
Hink wrote:
vurt wrote:dont suppose anyone has a good repository of various tunings?
would be cool if it included 6 and 12s :)


what do you need? Any tuning you can think of in 12 string, 6, 7 or 8 strings....bass of course, mandolin, banjo (4 and 5 string), bouzouki (Irish and Greek), tenor guitar, balalaika, charango, cittern and ukulele....any chord, scales/modes, the relation between the two and of course standard tunings on the above instruments or any custom tuning...I can even enter in the fingerings on the fretboard and it will tell you what chord it is or closest to. Here's what how a scale/mode looks in the relation screen (in the scale screen it breaks it up into positions and the chords are just dots one the neck)...so again what do you need vurt? I also have a couple of books on the subject :)

Image
(open Gm tuning, DGDGBbD)
... but no sitar?

tbh there wasnt anyone thing in particular, i was just thinkig about aybe trying soe other tunings, see what fits.
is that soe kind of software doohicky? looks interesting.
are there any books you would recommend? i usually hand out a list of books and totally obscure cds to friends and family, otherwise id end up with andy mcnabbs latest and any band in the album charts leading up to christas that either have long hair or beards. i wish i was joking here.what the hell do i want with a kaiser chiefs cd?
this was my first book way back...the software is chordwizard, I bought before I even joined KvR...every so often I get an update and it's been awesome :tu:

http://www.musicroom.com/se/id_no/02440/details.html
The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another's world. It requires profound, purpose‐larger‐than‐the‐self kind of understanding.

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Here's a few I use:

Electric 6 (Drop D raised C): D-A-D-G-C-E
I started using this as a result of playing my 7 string guitar with low B dropped to an A. I applied the intervals of the lowest 6 of 7 pitches to a 6 string. Try 6 note bar chords - great for power chords and new voicings. I like this enough I may unload my 7 string for a dedicated 6 string tuned this way.

Acoustic "high strung" 6 string modified (aka Nashville): E^-A^-D^-G-B-E(^= octave higher)
Standard tuning, except low pitched E^-A^-D^ are replaced with an octave higher strings (special gauges). Basically like using the higher pitched half of a 12 string set, but with the G normal. This is great for creating a brighter acoustic strum that sits much better in a mix. Try it -- amazing, no learning curve. (I bought a dedicated guitar for this tuning).

Unique 6 string Bass tuning with octaves: D-G-C-C^-F-F^
(^= octave higher)
Prior to buying a dedicated 8 string bass, I experimented creating octaves on my 6 string bass and came up with this. Top 2 pairs of strings are in octaves. this allowed me to switch between octaves or single notes (finger) as desired. The surprise was using this bass tuning to play chords. I liked it so much, this became permanent tuning for this bass -- ordered special gauges.

5 string bass: D-G-C-F-Bb
Nothing special - all 4th intervals, but from low D to Bb. I like the extended range but prefer more on the high end plus the low D, without using a 6 string bass. (I have another 5 string tuned standard low B, but honestly I don't normally care for anything below a low D).
--------------------
Of the above, you MUST try the modified high strung / Nashville strung tuning sometime when you're changing strings.

Edit: Bass tunings use F, not A.
Last edited by Kevin63101 on Thu Oct 17, 2013 1:29 am, edited 1 time in total.

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vurt wrote:dont suppose anyone has a good repository of various tunings?
would be cool if it included 6 and 12s :)
6 only, I think, but still handy:
http://sethares.engr.wisc.edu/alternate ... nings.html
(Or scroll down that page for a PDF. I haven't tried the interactive thing.)
No longer a moderator.

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Kevin63101 wrote:Here's a few I use:

Electric 6 (Drop D raised C): D-A-D-G-C-E
I started using this as a result of playing my 7 string guitar with low B dropped to an A. I applied the intervals of the lowest 6 of 7 pitches to a 6 string. Try 6 note bar chords - great for power chords and new voicings. I like this enough I may unload my 7 string for a dedicated 6 string tuned this way.

Acoustic "high strung" 6 string modified (aka Nashville): E^-A^-D^-G-B-E(^= octave higher)
Standard tuning, except low pitched E^-A^-D^ are replaced with an octave higher strings (special gauges). Basically like using the higher pitched half of a 12 string set, but with the G normal. This is great for creating a brighter acoustic strum that sits much better in a mix. Try it -- amazing, no learning curve. (I bought a dedicated guitar for this tuning).

Unique 6 string Bass tuning with octaves: D-G-C-C^-A-A^
(^= octave higher)
Prior to buying a dedicated 8 string bass, I experimented creating octaves on my 6 string bass and came up with this. Top 2 pairs of strings are in octaves. this allowed me to switch between octaves or single notes (finger) as desired. The surprise was using this bass tuning to play chords. I liked it so much, this became permanent tuning for this bass -- ordered special gauges.

5 string bass: D-G-C-A-Bb
Nothing special - all 4th intervals, but from low D to Bb. I like the extended range but prefer more on the high end plus the low D, without using a 6 string bass. (I have another 5 string tuned standard low B, but honestly I don't normally care for anything below a low D).
--------------------
Of the above, you MUST try the modified high strung / Nashville strung tuning sometime when you're changing strings.
that's really interesting

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vurt wrote:dont suppose anyone has a good repository of various tunings?
would be cool if it included 6 and 12s :)

my interest in alternate tunings came fro listening to sonic youth as a teen and realising that the majority of their tracks are nigh on impossible in standard tuning :o
this might be handy http://sethares.engr.wisc.edu/alternate ... unings.pdf

he rambles on a bit (he's an emthusiast for sure) - but the tunings after page 16 are easy to read. And he really knows his stuff

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woggle wrote:that's really interesting
Interesting and wrong ...
I re-read my post in your full quote and corrected my Bass tuning typos: both basses use "F", not A. Both work off 4th intervals, with the 6 string bass adding 2 sets of octaves. Correct tunings are:

5 string bass: D-G-C-F-Bb
Unique 6 string Bass tuning with octaves: D-G-C-C^-F-F^ (^= octave higher)
-------------
On the Nashville strung acoustic guitar, a great trick is having one of these in right channel and a normal tuned 6 in left channel as an alternative to a 12 string.

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Hink wrote:
vurt wrote:
Hink wrote:
vurt wrote:dont suppose anyone has a good repository of various tunings?
would be cool if it included 6 and 12s :)


what do you need? Any tuning you can think of in 12 string, 6, 7 or 8 strings....bass of course, mandolin, banjo (4 and 5 string), bouzouki (Irish and Greek), tenor guitar, balalaika, charango, cittern and ukulele....any chord, scales/modes, the relation between the two and of course standard tunings on the above instruments or any custom tuning...I can even enter in the fingerings on the fretboard and it will tell you what chord it is or closest to. Here's what how a scale/mode looks in the relation screen (in the scale screen it breaks it up into positions and the chords are just dots one the neck)...so again what do you need vurt? I also have a couple of books on the subject :)

Image
(open Gm tuning, DGDGBbD)
... but no sitar?

tbh there wasnt anyone thing in particular, i was just thinkig about aybe trying soe other tunings, see what fits.
is that soe kind of software doohicky? looks interesting.
are there any books you would recommend? i usually hand out a list of books and totally obscure cds to friends and family, otherwise id end up with andy mcnabbs latest and any band in the album charts leading up to christas that either have long hair or beards. i wish i was joking here.what the hell do i want with a kaiser chiefs cd?
this was my first book way back...the software is chordwizard, I bought before I even joined KvR...every so often I get an update and it's been awesome :tu:

http://www.musicroom.com/se/id_no/02440/details.html
thanks muchly.

8)

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woggle wrote:
vurt wrote:dont suppose anyone has a good repository of various tunings?
would be cool if it included 6 and 12s :)

my interest in alternate tunings came fro listening to sonic youth as a teen and realising that the majority of their tracks are nigh on impossible in standard tuning :o
this might be handy http://sethares.engr.wisc.edu/alternate ... unings.pdf

he rambles on a bit (he's an emthusiast for sure) - but the tunings after page 16 are easy to read. And he really knows his stuff
thanks to you also :)


maybe hink, you could add the links yourself and others have supplied to the first post? :)

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here's the link for chordwizard http://www.chordwizard.com/gold.aspx and here's a video of the software but keep in mind that they demo it in beginner mode and with advanced mode you get many, many more scale and chord options than the few in the vid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyLFBhn8-eA#t=256
The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another's world. It requires profound, purpose‐larger‐than‐the‐self kind of understanding.

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New Standard Tuning's open strings.

All fifths tuning and New standard tuning
C-G-d-a-e'-b'
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". 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 would easily break.

All-fifths tuning has been approximated by the New Standard Tuning (NST) of King Crimson's Robert Fripp, which NST replaces all-fifth's high b' with a g'. To build chords, Fripp uses "perfect intervals in fourths, fifths and octaves", so avoiding minor thirds and especially major thirds, 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. Some closely voiced jazz chords become impractical in NST and all-fifths tuning.

Other tunings

This article has discussed the main classes of guitar tunings which have been described in reliable sources. Many examples of alternative tunings, such as open and regular tunings, appear in the supplementary list of guitar tunings. This extensive list also has sections on "dropped" tunings and tunings associated with instruments other than guitars. The list also includes ad-hoc tunings, often associated with a particular piece (song and music).
[url]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_guitar_tunings[/url]

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Just the url would work without the url code, or use the intended format:

Code: Select all

see [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_guitar_tunings]
List of guitar tunings[/url] on Wikipedia
results in:
see List of guitar tunings on Wikipedia
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spending a lot of time since I posted this with open D, somewhere between 15 and 20 years ago I started using alternate tunings and it never fails me...need something fresh, try a new tuning. The tone of open D varies so much from open E (or SRV's tuning Eb), I love the bite and growl (the Frenzel tube amps dont hurt :hihi: ) I'm still not good with the slide though...but then I dont need to be, it's not really my thing :shrug:...stiill I'll keep working on it. Meanwhile an old piece has got new life thanx to the Ibanez in open D and some baritone in there :tu:

Still open Gm seems to be my go to, works with a lot of things and I'm still not sick of it :shrug:
The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another's world. It requires profound, purpose‐larger‐than‐the‐self kind of understanding.

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