07/05/12 Various Tunings For Acoustic Guitar - Consult-Eco 1/13 www.stevemcwilliam.co.uk/guitar/tunings.htm VARIOUS TUNINGS FOR GUITAR [Home ] -- [T'n'T ] -- [Players in NW ] -- [Tunings ] -- [My Tabs ] -- [Friend's Tabs ] -- [More Tabs ] Various Tunings For Guitar Including Open and Alternative Tunings TUNINGS: Sound Midi Files: USUAL NAME: ALTERNATIVE NAMES & INFORMATION: T'n'T No.: 6 5 4 3 2 1 E A D G B E EADGBE Standard Tuning Normal Tuning, Universal Tuning, Old Standard Tuning, OST 001 D A D G B E DADGBE Dropped 'D' Tuning 'D' Tuning, Lowered 'D' Tuning, Low 'D' Tuning, Drop 'D' Open G6 Tuning Down D Tuning 002 D G D G B E DGDGBE Dropped 'G' Tuning Lowered 'G' Tuning, Low 'G' Tuning, Double Dropped 'D' Tuning, Drop 'G', Bastard 'G', Open G6th Tuning, Dropped D-G, Pseudo Russian Tuning English Tuning English D Tuning Dropped DG, Drop D 003 D G D G B D DGDGBD Open 'G' Tuning Slack-Key, Spanish Tuning, Hawaiian Tuning, Sebastopol Tuning, Open G Major Tuning 004 D A D F# A D DADF#AD Open 'D' Tuning Vestapol Tuning, Sebastopol Tuning, 'D' Tuning, Nick Drake (9) Vasserpoo Tuning Vestibule Tuning 005 C G C G C E CGCGCE Open 'C' Tuning 006 E A C# E A E EAC#EAE Open 'A' Tuning (1) 007 E A E A C# E EAEAC#E Open 'A' Tuning (2) 008 E B E G# B E EBEG#BE Open 'E' Tuning (1) 009 E A E G# B E EAEG#BE Open 'E' Tuning (2) 010 E B E G# C# E EBEG#C#E Open 'E6th' Tuning (1) C# minor 7th Tuning 011 E B E G# B C# EBEG#BC# Open 'E6th' Tuning (2) 012 E A E A C E EAEACE Open 'A minor' Tuning (1) 013 E A C E A E EACEAE Open 'A minor' Tuning (2) 014 D A D F A D DADFAD Open 'D minor' Tuning Cross-Note Tuning, D-Cross-Note Tuning Open Dm 015 E B E G B E EBEGBE Open 'E minor' Tuning Cross-Note Tuning, E-Cross-Note Tuning 016
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07/05/12 Various Tunings For Acoustic Guitar - Consult-Eco
1. The most commonly used tunings are the first three in the list, Standard Tuning, Dropped 'D' Tuning (or Low D Tuning) and Dropped 'G' Tuning
(occasionally called Double Dropped D Tuning). Following this the major 'favourites' seem to be Open 'G' Tuning, Open 'D' Tuning, Open 'C' Tuning andDADGAD Tuning. Some players use only one of the others and do not experiment any further. Some players, notably Classical guitar players, stick solely
with Standard Tuning. However, by far the majority of players use a small few for most of their playing and occasionally experiment with something a little
more outlandish. The main point is to try a couple; see if you can get along with them and if they can enhance your music; most of all have FUN with them.
2. Hi-Note or Hi-String Tuning: - (also known as Nashville Tuning) uses the notes EADGBE which looks as though it is the same as Standard Tuning. Do
not be fooled, it is not the same! The reason is that the bass strings are removed from the guitar and are replaced with another set of treble strings which are
then tuned to the relative notes. Consequently a much higher sound is produced which has a greater tendency to cut through when other instruments are being
played as part of a band. Be careful however, as not all finger-picked tunes which sound well on a normally strung guitar will sound well with this string
arrangement; some do and some don't - you'll have to try them and make the decision yourself. The tuning is most often used in 'Country & Western' musicbut it does have other possibilities, which need investigating, for both solo/instrumental work and also for providing a contrasting backing accompaniment for
a low pitched singing voice. This restringing of a guitar and replacing one or more bass strings with higher, thinner treble strings is called re-entrant stringing
and nearly all of the tunings in the above table can be applied when they will be called re-entrant tunings as the bass strings will now be higher than some of
the mid/treble strings.
Nashville tuning is a little more involved than just tuning your guitar differently. It's also known as high-stringing a guitar because different strings need to be
used. It creates a 12 string effect on a 6 string guitar. The simplest way to explain it is, you use the high octave strings of a 12 string set of strings on a six-
string guitar. The first two strings of your instrument (high E and B) remain unchanged, and the lower four strings (G through low E) are tuned an octave
above standard tuning. It is possible to buy ready-made string sets for Nashville tuning but they may be hard to find. You can use a 12-string set ( just use the
octave or thin strings) but that's kind of expensive. The best way for you may be to buy the strings individually from your local music store's single-string bin.
The gauges for a medium set would be .012, .016, .010, .014, .020, .030 high to low.
A light set would be .010, .014, .009, .012, .018, .027 high to low.
All strings are unwound except for the low E which is wound.
3. The most accurate method of tuning available today (2001) is via one of the portable battery operated tuning machines distributed by companies such as
Boss, Sony, Yamaha, etc. All of the better models have a jack-socket input so that they can be placed between the guitar and the amplifier for electric and
electro-acoustic guitars. This has made tuning on stage very simple and direct and is not troubled by sounds from other instruments in the band or from
people in the audience. A new idea has recently appeared for those with purely acoustic (i.e. un-amplified guitars) and this is a small clip-on microphonewhich clips to the edge of the sound-hole of the guitar, or even to the headstock, and then plugs into the jack-socket of the tuner. Again, this is said to allow
an acoustic guitar to be tuned accurately even while other people are playing and/or singing - this is a definite advantage as trying to tune a guitar by ear in a
room full of people playing is something I find impossible - I normally have to go and tune in the loo. Some people find they can tune by ear in a noisy
environment by placing the ear against the side of the guitar, not for me I'm afraid. Give me a decent tuner any day of the week!
A newer form of an electronic tuner (as at 2008) is the 'vibration' or 'headstock' tuner. This clips to the headstock of your instrument and instead of having a
microphone it picks up the vibration of the string through the neck and headstock of your guitar. They seem to work well, are relatively cheap (£20.00) and
have the advantage of working in noisy environments. They also light the note display area making them excellent for on stage tuning. A good example is the
Intelli IMT-900 Clip-on Chromatic Tuner. Crafter also produce a decent one at £14 - the TG-200H. Both the IMT-900 and the TG-200H are Chromatic
Tuners.
A tuner will most definitely simplify changing to some of these altered tunings, particularly when you are under pressure in a performance either on stage or
even in front of your friends and relatives. At all these times you will often find that your 'ear' goes and you cannot even decide whether the note you need is
higher or lower than the note you are starting with. The machine does not get nervous and will give you the correct answer every time no matter what the
pressures. There is no great 'macho-ness' involved in being able to tune by ear. In fact even the best of the people who do so are usually still slightly out when
they have finished and are rarely in 'concert pitch' - (the standard for tuning for all orchestral instruments (A=440Hz)). Surely the most important thing, as faras your audience is concerned, is that your instrument is in tune - no matter how good a picker you become you will still sound dreadful if your instrument is
not in tune. This becomes even more important if you want to play along with other people; then you must all be in tune together. Invest in a machine; it is well
worth it!
4. If you know of any other tunings please do e-mail me and let me know about them. I can then add them to the list above. E-mail me at:
5. See also, the Wikipedia article on guitar tunings over at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_guitar_tunings
07/05/12 Various Tunings For Acoustic Guitar - Consult-Eco
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6. Open Tunings - are those tunings where the strings on the guitar are specifically tuned to notes which when played unfretted will produce a recognisable
chord (e.g. Open 'G' produces a chord of 'G' (now there is a surprise) when it is strummed without any strings being fretted; likewise Open 'D' produces a
chord of 'D' and Open 'A' produces a chord of 'A').
7. Altered Tunings (occasionally called Amended Tunings or Extended Tunings, or even Enhanced Tunings) - are those tunings where the strings are tuned
to notes other than those in Standard Tuning (EADGBE - 6th to 1st string (thickest to thinnest)) but which do NOT play a chord when they are strummed
unfretted (e.g DADGAD).
Many thanks. Hope you enjoyed dropping in. Cheers, take care and keep on pluckin'.
Chord Shapes for Stringed Instruments
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