Alternate guitar tunings pdf

Alternate guitar tunings demystified martin simpson retune to create ringing harmonies and elegant arrangements. Alternative tunings are common in folk music, where the guitar may emulate various modal ethnic instruments and tunings, and may be called upon to produce drone notes. On some baritone guitars, this tuning may result in in buzzing when strummed aggressively. This article aims to help you get familiar with open c major tuning a. Mark hanson is internationally known as an author of highquality guitar instruction materials. The complete book of alternate tunings by mark hanson. Most beginners and even intermediate players are afraid of tuning to anything thats not standard tuning or a downtuned variant this article aims to. While some alternate tunings are decidedly not for beginners, many of the open tunings are even easier than picking a bad guitar pun i know, i know i couldnt help myself. The largest database for alternative guitar tunings on the internet. In fact, tuning experimentation can lead to some pretty cool sounds and ideas. The images of the tabs are not the clearest, so i included printable pdf filesjust click on the image. Drop d is harder than classic tuning because 6th string is tuned lower. Find out the most common alternate tunings on guitar and how.

If you want to experiment with alternate tunings, ive created a handy pdf you can print with all of the above tunings listed. The alternate tuning guide shows you how to slip your guitar into all the popular alternate tunings, shows you how to finger open and bar chords, how to play representative scales, and graphically displays the notes as they appear on the fretboard. Drop d guitar tuning is useful for them who play quints. The strings from 6th to 1st are tuned e, a, d, g, b, e. There are many open tunings, but by far the most common ones are spanish and vestapol. There are dozens of ways to tune your guitar, and in heavy metal, you are free to choose whichever one you please. Both terms stand for a relative tuning of the strings to each other, no matter what the actual pitch is. Joni mitchell may be best known for her songwriting, but here we take a look at the mysterious open tuning techniques that attracted musicians the great jaco pastorius to collaborate with her on. In his online guide to alternative tunings for sixstring guitars, william sethares mentions several that are inspired by instruments other than guitars, for example, balalaika eadeea, cittern cgcgcg, and dobro gbdgbd. This is how everyone learns when they are starting out on guitar and this is the tuning that most guitar songs are written in. More than that, in some cases it can lead to larger chord shapes and different arpeggios as well.

Each tuning is briefly discussed and its strengths and limitations are examined. Guitar alternate tunings guitar family instruments music theory. Tunings similar to the 4string altered tunings exist for 5string basses. The use of alternate tunings nonstandard tunings are found throughout the history of the classical guitar and are a major factor in the playing of blues slide guitar. A page with instruction about how to tune the guitar higher or lower. Alternative alternate tuning refers to any openstring note arrangement other than standard tuning. The example begins with slide guitar johnson wore a metal slide on his pinkie, before switching to chord voicings made up of all open strings combined with notes fretted on the top two strings. This information is also applicable to almost any open tuning. Next to standard tuning drop d tuning is the most popular and is achieved by simply dropping the 6th string from an e down one whole tone to a d. Guitar alternate tunings can get a bit difficult unless someone reads music but with our app, the entire exercise becomes very simple. Many guitar players use alternate tunings, which differ from standard tuning. Read me strummed songs strum patterns fingerstyle easy tabs easy tabs page 2 folk bluegrass irish bluegrass irish bluegrass page 2.

For more downloads and updates, subscribe to email updates here. This list of guitar tunings supplements the article guitar tunings. Standard guitar tuning is simple e a d g b e, and when we talk about alternate tunings, were simply changing one of those string tunings. These offer different sonorities, chord voicings, and fingerings. If you find the low b too low for your taste, you might like this tuning. One of my favorite tunings is the standard high c tuning tuned a whole step down. Sheet music plus complete book of alternate tunings book.

The repetition of c and g on the bottom 5 strings makes this tuning incredibly intuitive and very suitable to heavy riffing, ala drop tunings. Different tunings open up a whole new world of sounds and invite experimentation. Open tunings or slack key guitar some of the most common alternate tunings used by musicians are socalled open tunings. The top alternative tunings for guitar audiofanzine. Ultimate guide to alternate tunings with pdf and charts guitar. Guitaralternate tunings wikibooks, open books for an. Be sure your guitar is in tune before trying any of these alternate guitar tuning ideas. Players can view scales, arpeggios and notes on the fretboard in standard or alternate tuning. Today we will discuss some of the most popular alternative tunings used in heavy metal today, and also go over the pros and cons to each. The definitive list of alternate guitar tunings musician tuts. Certain alternate tunings can make it very easy for beginner guitar players to play certain chords requiring only 1 or 2 fingers. The strengths and limitations of each tuning are discussed, helping you to get the most from your musical explorations.

Besides the standard eadgbe, there are lots of other alternative tunings that allow us to explore new sound horizons with our guitar. Access the website and get a free 30 minutes skype lesson. This book is designed to familiarize you with chord shapes while playing in some of the most common alternate tunings, such as. A prefect fifth lower than a standard guitar, this tuning sounds particularly glorious when used for finger picking or with drone tones. Each section includes tuning tips and a link to a guitar pro tab and an mp3 example of the tuning. For those who are just getting started with alternate tunings here is a way to look at it. His more than two dozen books and videos include such titles as alternate tunings picture chords, paul simon transcribed, fingerstyle noel, and great american tablature songbook. This book is the industry standard for guitar alternate tunings. Benefits of alternate guitar tunings why songs become easier. You might tune the standard tunings down a half or wholestep.

As an editor at frets acoustic music magazine in the 80s, mark interviewed such luminaries as. If a guitar is tuned to an open tuning playing the open strings results in a major chord or less common in a minor chord. Many alternate tunings involve downtuning dropping strings. Finger pressure is inevitable, but alternate tunings can provide a shortcut around the awkward positions. In his online guide to alternative tunings for sixstring guitars, william sethares mentions several that are. If you play an open string on a guitar, and then play at the 12th fret on the same string. The alternate tunings app has 36 of the most popular alternate tunings for guitar that are very well explained. This tuning is commonly used on a 12 string guitar, but is frequently used on the six string guitar as well.

Open tuning chart 7 open tunings 14 alternate tunings guitar. Would you like to know more how works my skype guitar lesson. This is also one of the most flexible open tunings. Below is a collection of different alternate tunings. Open d, open g, open gm, open a, open e, open em, open c, drop d, double drop d, dsus4 and more. Is standard tuning or a downtuned variant really all there is to playing guitar.

A standard acoustic guitar can reach nearly 150,000 different tunings. A standard tuning is a popular option for baritone guitar players and as low as some will dare go. The ability to use alternate guitar tunings is one of the things that makes the guitar one of the most if not the most versatile instruments out there. An alternate tuning is created when one or more strings of the guitar are tuned to notes that differ from standard tuning. Double drop d differs from the classic tuning dropped by the tone of. Blues guitarists have utilized open chord tunings for many years. He utilized specific chord voicings designed to work with open tunings, as shown in figure 4, akin to stones in my passway. The essential book of open tuning chords and scalesthe essential book of open tuning chords and scales open d tuning is a common alternate tuning for the guitar whereas traditional or standard tuning of. If youre looking for something different, check out these alternate guitar tunings. Altered tunings can loosely be categorized into two types. Ultimate guide to alternate tunings with pdf and charts.

Shop and buy the complete book of alternate tunings sheet music. First off, we will start with the most basic tuning. Why use different string gauges for different guitar tunings. Using the suggested gauges will help maintain the correct tensions required for neck stability and playability. From jimmy page to joni mitchell and keith richards, as well as most bluesmen and metalheads, many guitarists resort to these alternative tunings to get new harmonies out. Thank you to all my subscribers for supporting guitar gear finder so i can write.

The alternate tuning guide shows you how to slip your guitar into all the popular alternate tunings, shows you how to finger open and bar chords, how to play. Click here to download the insiders guide to online guitar lessons. The harmonious sound of an intune guitar is a beautiful thing, but you can also use alternate tunings to expand your sonic options with the same six strings. In this article, well discuss some of the most common, and popular, alternate tunings for the bass guitar. Guitar alternate tunings free download as pdf file.