Guitar tunings

Helmholtz notation
Note:	This article uses Helmholtz pitch notation to define guitar tunings.
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Tuning the Guitar

Guitar tunings are differing pitch arrangements of open (unfretted) strings used for the guitar. Many arrangements are possible, some of the most popular are detailed below.

[edit] Standard tuning

By far the most popular tuning on a 6-string guitar, it consists of the following notes.

String	Note	Frequency
1 (Highest)	e'	329.6 Hz
2	b	246.9 Hz
3	g	196.0 Hz
4	d	146.8 Hz
5	A	110.0 Hz
6 (Lowest)	E	82.4 Hz

The pitches referred to above are referenced standard pitch (a' = 440.0 Hz.). In some regions of Europe, especially Germany and Poland, the B natural is indicated with the letter H: in music notation, H is B♮ (B natural) and B is B♭ (B flat).

The guitar, as conventionally fretted, is an equal tempered instrument.

The guitar is a transposing instrument. Its pitches sound one octave lower than notated.

Letter names in table reflect pitch in Helmholtz pitch notation.

This pattern can also be denoted as E-A-d-g-b-e'. (See note for an explanation of the various symbols used in the above table and elsewhere in this article.)

Standard tuning has evolved to provide a good compromise between simple fingering for many chords and the ability to play common scales with minimal left hand movement.

Tuning guitars.

The separation of the first (e') and second (b) string, as well as the separation between the third (g), fourth (d), fifth (A), and sixth (E) strings by a five-semitone interval (a perfect fourth) allows notes of the chromatic scale to be played 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.). It also yields a symmetry and intelligibility to fingering patterns.

The separation of the second (b), and third (g) string is by a four-semitone interval (a major third). Though this breaks the fingering pattern of the chromatic scale and thus the symmetry, it eases the playing of some often-used chords and scales, and it provides more diversity in fingering possibilities.

The chromatic (equal tempered) musical scale and the natural musical scale have note pitches that are very similar. The natural musical scale uses natural harmonic pitches. For example, the A note has harmonics pitches for the D and E notes. The guitar fretboard can approximately accommodate to tuning to the chromatic or natural musical scale by adjusting the intonation by a little. Intonation is tuning of the fret notes to other fret notes so that most of the fretboard pitches are tuned to the pitches of the musical scale of a particular guitar string. Intonation tuning is done by adjusting the string lengths at the bridge. The open string note of a particular string is kept constant so that when adjusting the string length, most of the fretboard pitches are closely matched to the pitches of the musical scale for this string.

[edit] Alternative tunings

Alternative tuning refers to any open string note arrangement other than that of standard tuning detailed above. Despite the usefulness and almost universal acceptance of standard tuning, many guitarists employ such alternative tuning arrangements in order to exploit the unique chord voicing and sonorities that result from them. Most alternative tunings necessarily change the chord shapes associated with standard tuning, which results in certain chords becoming much easier to play while others may become impossible to play.

As a standard set of guitar strings is designed to be tuned to the standard notes, alternative tunings may require not just a different tuning, but re-stringing of the guitar with strings better suited to the open string note. In turn, further adjustments to cope with the different tensions placed on the guitar may be required, and in extreme tunings, fitting different components to cope with the different gauges used.

[edit] Dropped tunings

The guitar is tuned to standard and all the strings are down-tuned by the same degree. Typically requires thicker gauge strings.

D# tuning -D#-G#-C#-F#-A#-D#
Half a step down from standard tuning.
D tuning - D-G-C-F-A-D
A full step down from standard tuning.
C♯ tuning - C♯-F♯-B-E-G♯-C♯
One and a half steps down.
C tuning - C-F-A#-D#-G-C
Two full steps down from standard tuning.
B tuning - B-E-A-D-F♯-B
Two and a half steps down. Also known as a Baritone tuning.
B♭ Tuning - B♭-E♭-A♭-D♭-F-B♭
Three full steps down from standard tuning.
A Tuning - A-D-G-C-E-A
Three and a half steps down from standard tuning
G♯ Tuning - G♯-C♯-F♯-B-D♯-G♯
Four full steps down from standard tuning.
G Tuning - G-C-F-B♭-D-G
Four and a half steps down from standard tuning.
F♯ Tuning - F♯-B-E-A-C♯-F♯
Five full steps down from standard tuning.
F Tuning - F-B♭-E♭-A♭-C-F
Five and a half steps down from standard tuning.
Octave Tuning - E-A-D-G-B-E
Six full steps (one octave) down from standard tuning.

[edit] Higher tunings

The guitar is tuned to standard and all the strings are tuned up by the same degree. Typically requires thinner gauge strings.

F tuning - F-A♯-D♯-G♯-C-F
Half a step up from standard tuning.
F♯ tuning - F♯-B-E-A-C♯-F♯
A full step up from standard.

[edit] Drop-D tunings

These tunings have the 6th string tuned one full step below the other strings.

Drop E - E-B-E-A-C♯-F♯
A full step up from standard tuning with the 6th string dropped one full step. (Can also put a capo on 1-5th string, second fret).
Drop D - D-A-D-G-B-E
Standard tuning but with the 6th string dropped one full step.
Drop D♭ - D♭-A♭-D♭-G♭-B♭-E♭
Same as Drop D, but every string is dropped a half step.
Drop C - C-G-C-F-A-D
A full step down from Drop D.
Drop B - B-F♯-B-E-G♯-C♯
One and a half steps down from Drop D.
Drop A# - A#-F-A#-D#-G-C
Two full steps down from Drop D.
Drop A - A-E-A-D-F♯-B
Two and a half steps down from Drop D.
Drop G♯ - G♯-D♯-G♯-C♯-F-A♯
Three full steps down from Drop D.
Drop G - G-D-G-C-E-A
Three and a half steps down from Drop D.
Drop F♯ - F♯-C♯-F♯-B-D♯-G♯
Four full steps down from Drop D.
Drop F - F-C-F-A♯-D-G
Four and a half steps down from Drop D.
Drop E2 - E-B-E-A-C-F♯
Five full steps down from Drop D.

[edit] Seven-string tunings

Standard tuning - B-E-A-D-G-B-E
Standard seven-string tuning.
B♭ tuning - B♭-A♭-D♭-E♭-G♭-B♭-E♭
Half a step down from standard.
A tuning - A-D-G-C-F-A-D
A full step down from standard.
G♯ tuning - G♯-C♯-F♯-B-E-G♯-C♯
One and a half steps down from standard.
G tuning - G-C-F-A♯-D♯-G-C
Two full steps from standard tuning.
F♯ tuning - F♯-B-E-A-D-F♯-B
Two and a half steps down from standard.

[edit] Seven-string dropped tunings

These tunings have the 7th string tuned one full step below the other strings.

Drop A - A-E-A-D-G-B-E
Same as standard tuning, but with 7th string dropped one full step.
Drop A♭ - A♭-E♭-A♭-D♭-G♭-B♭-E♭
Half a step down from Drop A.
Drop G - G-D-G-C-F-A-D
A full step from Drop A.
Drop F♯ - F♯-C♯-F♯-B-E-G♯-C♯
One and a half steps down from Drop A.

[edit] Eight-string tunings

Standard - F♯-B-E-A-D-G-B-E
Standard eight-string tuning.
F tuning - F-B♭-E♭-A♭-D♭-G♭-B♭-E♭
Half a step down from standard tuning.
E tuning - E-A-D-G-C-F-A-D
One full step down from standard tuning.

[edit] Classical guitar tunings

The classical guitar developed over a period of 500 years and a number of guitar tunings are commonly used this genre, some based upon historical practice. Unlike other musical styles, in which alternative tunings are used by artists largely as a matter of individual preference, in classical guitar styles, the decision to employ alternative tunings largely resides with composers or arrangers of musical transcriptions. Thus, classical guitarists performing known transcriptions are assumed to be using defined tunings.

Renaissance lute tuning: E-A-d-f♯-b-e'

This tuning may also be used with a capo at the third fret to match the common lute pitch: G-c-f-a-d'-g'. This tuning also matches standard vihuela tuning and is often employed in classical guitar transcriptions of music written for those instruments.

"Pseudo Russian" or "g" tuning: D-G-d-g-b-e'

[edit] Open tunings

In guitar playing, an open tuning is one where the strings are tuned so that a chord is achieved without fretting, or pressing any of the strings. With such a tuning, other chords may be played by simply barring a fret or through the use of a slide; many well-known slide guitarists prefer open tuning, and some develop a variety of their own personal version of open tuning, as the result of many factors within their careers.

Open tunings are common in blues music and some rock and folk music. They are particularly used in steel guitar and bottleneck guitar playing. The names of some tunings vary between genres; for example in Hawaiian music, for slack-key guitar, an example would be the taro patch, or open G tuning, with strings low-high D-G-D-G-B-D. But in bluegrass music, open G can mean G B D G B D.

Open G was used in rock by Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones as well as in Mississippi blues by Son House, Charley Patton, and Robert Johnson^[1].

[edit] Examples

[edit] Major tunings

Major open tunings (giving a major chord with the open strings) include:

Open A: low-high; E-A-E-A-C♯-E
- Alternatively: low-high; E-A-C♯-E-A-C♯
- "Slide" Open A: low-high; E-A-E-A-C♯-E (note that this tuning is identical to Open G tuning but with every string raised one step or two frets)
Open C: low-high; C-G-C-G-C-E
- Open C tuning for 7 string: low-high; G-C-G-C-G-C-E
Open D: low-high; D-A-D-F♯-A-D
- Alternatively: low-high; D-A-D'-A'-D-D
Open E: low-high; E-B-E-G♯-B-E (use light gauge strings because three strings must be raised)
Open F: low-high; F-A-C-F-C-F (rare)
F-Sharp Tuning low-high; F♯-A♯-C♯-F♯-C♯-F♯
Open G: low-high; D-G-D-G-B-D
- dobro Open G: low-high; G-B-D-G-B-D (occasionally adopted for ordinary guitar, but requires lighter fifth and sixth strings).
- Russian Open G: low-high; D-G-B-D-G-B-D (the standard tuning for the Russian seven string guitar).

[edit] Cross-note tunings

The above open tunings all give a major chord with open strings. Since it is highly likely guitarists will need to play minor chords as well, open tunings must be adapted to allow this by lowering the pitch of one of the strings forming the open chord by half a step. To avoid the relatively cumbersome designation "open D minor", "open C minor", such tunings are sometimes called "cross-note tunings". The term also expresses the fact that, by fretting the lowered string at the first fret, it is possible to produce a major chord very easily.

Cross-note or open E-minor was used by Bukka White and Skip James^[2].

Cross-note tunings include

Cross-note A: low-high; E-A-E-A-C-E
- Alternative: E-A-C-E-A-E (rare)
Cross-note C: low-high; C-G-C-G-C-E♭
Cross-note D: low-high; D-A-D-F-A-D
Cross-note E: low-high; E-B-E-G-B-E
Cross-note F: low-high; F-A♭-C-F-C-F (extremely rare)
- Alternative: low-high; F-C-F-A♭-C-F (used by Albert Collins; requires extremely light gauges
Cross-note G: low-high; D-G-D-G-Bb-D

[edit] Modal tunings

Sometimes a guitarist will want a tuning that will permit very easy chords but not be definitively minor or major. In this case, modal tunings can be used. They can be especially effective with droning open strings, and give "suspended" second or fourth chords:

Modal tunings include:

Asus2: low-high; E-A-B-E-A-E (very rare)
Asus4: low-high; E-A-D-E-A-E
C6: low-high; C-A-C-G-C-E
Open Page: low-high; D-G-C-G-C-D
Csus4: low-high; C-G-C-G-C-F
C15: low-high; C-G-D-G-C-D
Dsus2: low-high; D-A-D-E-A-D
Dsus4: low-high; D-A-D-G-A-D
Esus2: low-high; E-A-E-F♯-B-E
Esus4: low-high; E-A-E-A-B-E
G6: low-high; D-G-D-G-B-E
Gsus2: low-high; D-G-D-G-A-D
Gsus4: low-high; D-G-D-G-C-D
E modal: low-high; E-B-E-E-B-E
G modal: low-high; G-G-D-G-B-D
B modal:(Low-High); B-F♯-C♯-F♯-B-D♯

[edit] "Extended chord" tunings

These tunings allow a guitarist to play an open seventh, ninth, eleventh or thirteenth chord. One or more of the strings is retuned to the appropriate note of the required scale. Such tunings may be either minor or major.

Examples are:

Open Dmaj7: low-high; D-A-D-F♯-A-C♯
Open Dmin7: low-high; D-A-D-F-A-C
Open Dmin(add9): low-high; D-A-D-F-A-E
Open Emin7: low-high; E-B-D-G-B-E (same as standard except raised 5th string which needs lighter gauge)
Open G6: low-high; D-G-D-G-B-E
Dobro open G6: low-high; G-B-D-G-B-E (two lowest strings tuned up and require lighter gauges)
Open G7: low-high;
- D-G-D-G-B-F
- D-G-D-F-B-D (both very rare presumably because of tritone between adjacent strings)
- F-G-D-G-B-D
Open Gmaj7: low-high D-G-D-F♯-B-D (see slack key)
"Modal" G7: low-high; F-G-D-G-C-D
"Open G13": low-high; F-G-D-G-B-E
Open Cmin7: low-high; C-G-C-G-B♭-E♭
Open Cmaj7: low-high; C-G-C-G-B-E
Open C6/9: low-high; C-G-C-E-A-C
Open Cmaj9: low-high; C-G-D-G-B-E
Csus2add11: C-G-D-F-c-f
Golden Blue: low-high; C-C-c-c-Bb-F
Open Gsus4: low-high; D-G-C-G-c-d (used by Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin on "The Rain Song")

[edit] Steel guitar

On table steel guitar and pedal steel guitar, the most common tunings are the extended-chord C6 tuning and E9 tuning, sometimes known as the Texas and Nashville tunings respectively. On a multiple-neck instrument, the near neck will normally be some form of C6, and the next closest neck E9.

Necks with 12 or more strings can be used with universal tunings which combine the features of C6 and E9. On a 12 string pedal steel guitar, all 12 strings are tuned and played individually, not as 6 double courses as on the 12 string guitar.

On lap steel guitar there is often only one six-string neck. C6 tuning is popular for these instruments, as are open G, E6 and E7 tuning.

[edit] Miscellaneous tunings

[edit] D-A-D-G-A-D

Often vocalized as "Dad-Gad", DADGAD is common in Celtic music, and is also heard in rock music an example of which is Led Zeppelin's Kashmir. Led Zepplin's Jimmy Page popularized this British Isles folk derived tuning, used by musicians including Bert Jansch, in rock music^[1].

[edit] All fourths: E-A-d-g-c'-f'

This tuning is like that of the lowest four strings in standard tuning. It removes from standard tuning the irregularity of the interval of a third between the second and third strings.

[edit] All fifths: C-G-d-a-e'-b'

This is a tuning in intervals of fifths like that of a mandolin or a violin. Has a remarkably wide range, though it is impossible to achieve with standard equipment (the high b" makes the first string very taut such that it will break easily), and may not play well on an acoustic guitar (the low C is too low to resonate properly in a standard guitar's body).

Another variation of the all fifths tuning utilizes an additional bass string as an alternative to a high b: F-C-G-d-a-e

[edit] Mi-composé: E-A-d'-g-b-e'

Mi-composé is a tuning commonly used for rhythm guitar in African popular music forms such as soukous and makossa. It is similar to the standard guitar tuning, except that the d string is raised an entire octave. This is accomplished by replacing the d string with an e' string and tuning it to d'.

[edit] Gorac: B-G-D-G-A-E

This tuning is two and a half steps down from standard tuning at the low B.

[edit] Ostrich Tuning: D-D-D-D-d-d

Ostrich tuning is a tuning where all strings are tuned to the same note^[3], creating an intense, chorused drone.

[edit] Complete range of string pitch combinations

Each of the six strings can be alternately tuned as low as a whole step lower and as much as a whole step higher without stressing the neck or the strings. With five possible tunings for each string (+2, +1, 0, -1, and -2), there are as many as 15,625 (5x5x5x5x5x5 or 5^6) possible tunings for a six-string guitar.

In standard notation, music for guitar is written in treble clef, one octave above sounding pitch. This means, for example, that the open E of the first string in standard tuning, which sounds at a major third above middle C, is written on the staff as a major tenth above middle C.

There are also tenor guitars, baritone guitars tuned BEADF♯B (or ADGCEA, GDGCDG, GDGCEA, GCGCEG, etc.) a fourth lower than a standard (prime) guitar, treble guitars tuned a fourth higher than a prime guitar and contrabass guitars, which are tuned one octave lower than prime guitars. Seven-string guitars have an extra low string which is a B in standard tuning.

To compensate for string stretching when played, intonation or string length tuning can be done by tuning the seventh fret notes to the seventh fret harmonic pitches for each string. The seventh fret harmonics pitch should match the fundamental frequency of the open string notes. The first string (thinnest E string) could approximately have its twelfth fret note also tuned by adjusting string length to the corresponding 12th fret harmonic tone pitch.

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Johnson, Gordie 05/01/2008. "Hey Kid, What Tuning is That?", Canadian Musician, Vol.30, Iss.3, p.25.
^ Andy Cohen, March 22, 2005. "Stefan Grossman- Country Blues Guitar in Open Tunings" (Video Recording Review), Sing Out!, Vol.49, Iss.1, p.152.
^ Lou Reed biography at IMDB

[edit] External links

WA's Encyclopedia of Alternate Guitar Tunings (dead link due early July 2009 to Computserve closing service)

[Gordie-0] Johnson, Gordie 05/01/2008. "Hey Kid, What Tuning is That?", Canadian Musician, Vol.30, Iss.3, p.25.

[1] Andy Cohen, March 22, 2005. "Stefan Grossman- Country Blues Guitar in Open Tunings" (Video Recording Review), Sing Out!, Vol.49, Iss.1, p.152.

[2] Lou Reed biography at IMDB

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