Guitar tuning - introduction. Six-string guitar tunings - Martin Ludenhoff — LiveJournal Online guitar tuner b tuning

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 tuning of a six-string electric guitar is: E[E]-A[A]-De[D]-G[G]-B[H]-E[E], starting from the sixth string. Let's consider 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 low tuning electric guitars, naturally, the string tension will 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.

1. Lower by half a tone. In this case, the system becomes as follows: Re#-Sol#-Do#-Fa#-Aa#-Re#.
2. Decrease one tone. Guitar tuning: D[D]-G[G]-Do[C]-F[F]-A[A]-D[D].
3. 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.

Guitar tuning: Drop D

4. 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 chords on two low strings with one finger.

Guitar Tuning: Drop C

5. 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].

Led Zeppelin

Beginning guitarists often wonder: what tuning does this or that favorite rock band play in? How to tune a guitar so that you can comfortably play known and favorite songs? In this article I will briefly give examples guitar tunings in rock music and their representatives (musicians, groups).

I will immediately give a list of the notations used:

• C - note C
• D - note D
• E - note E
• F - note Fa
• G - note Sol
• A - note A
• B (or H) - note B
• # - sharp - raising a note by a semitone. Half a tone on a guitar - one fret.
• b - flat - lowering the note by a semitone.
• Notes in tablatures are arranged in order from the 1st (thin) string to the 6th (thick) string. For example, E B G D A E.

1. Standard, E (standard, Spanish or classical tuning).

The simplest and most famous guitar tuning. Tablature of the system: E B G D A E - Mi Si Sol Re La Mi. This system is used mainly by rock music luminaries, old-school musicians and adherents of light genres.

Groups and musicians who play in standard tuning:

• AC/DC
• Led Zeppelin
• Metallica
• Gun's & Roses
• Nightwish
• Deep Purple
• Nirvana (semitone lower)
• Blink 182
• Sum 41
• Joe Satriani
• Carlos Santana
• Aria, Kipelov (half a tone lower)
• Nickelback
• Placebo
• Rage Against The Machine
• Queen
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Rise Against
• Scorpions
• Steve Vai
• Chuck Berry
• Bon Jovi
• 30 Seconds To Mars

2. Drop D (lowered D)

This tuning differs from the standard one in that the 6th string on the guitar is lowered one tone. In consonance with the 4th and 5th strings it gives an octave. Tablature: E B G D A D. Like any lowered tuning, it is convenient in that you can play “zeros” (so-called open strings) and previously familiar chords can be pressed with just one finger, plus two more low chords are added that are not available when playing standard system.

Bands that play Drop tuning D:

• Asking Alexandria
• Avenged Sevenfold
• Evanescence
• Linkin Park (later albums)
• Papa Roach
• Rage Against The Machine
• three days Grace
• Thousand Foot Krutch
• Queens of the Stone Age
• Deftones
• fall out Boy
• Shinedown
• Amatory

3. Drop C# (lowered C sharp)

This is a tuning in which all the strings are lowered by another semitone, unlike the D tuning. Tablature: D# A# F# C# G# C#.

Bands that play in the Drop C# tuning:

• Linkin Park
• Attack! Attack!
• Breaking Benjamin
• Papa Roach (some songs from recent years)
• Limp Bizkit
• H-Blockx
• Staind
• Deftones

4. Drop C (lowered C)

This lowered tuning is quite common in alternative and metalcore music. Tablature: D A F C G C.

Bands that play in the Drop C tuning:

• Bullet For My Valentine
• As I Lay Dying
• Atreyu
• Periphery
• three days Grace
• System of a Down
• Godsmack
• Nine Lashes
• Breaking Benjamin
• 12 Stones
• Disturbed
• Lumen
• Nickelback
• Skillet
• Rammstein
• Evans Blue
• August Burns Red

5. Drop B (lowered C)

The low B tuning is an alternative to the standard seven tuning. string guitar. It allows you to customize six string guitar as low as a seven-string would sound, plus it makes it easier to play chords. Tablature: C# G# E B F# B. Seven-string guitar tablature: E B G D A E B.

Bands that play in the Drop B tuning:

• Parkway Drive
• Slipknot
• Thousand Foot Krutch
• Bleeding Through
• Linkin Park
• Amatory
• Limp Bizkit
• Skillet
• Veil of Maya
• Stigmata

6. Drop A# (lowered A sharp)

This tuning is also an alternative to the seven-string guitar, lowered a half step. Tablature: C G D# A# F A#. Seven-string guitar tablature: D# A# F# C# G# D# A#.

Bands that play in the Drop A# tuning:

• Bring Me The Horizon
• Parkway Drive
• Breaking Benjamin
• Obey The Brave
• The Ghost Inside
• Korn (7-strings)

7. Drop A (lowered A)

Extremely low build. Tablature: B F# D A E A. Seven-string guitar tablature: D A F C G D A.

Bands that play in Drop A tuning:

• My Autumn
• Betraying The Martyrs
• Emmure
• Born Of Osiris
• Within The Ruins

This is not a complete list of all guitar tunings. In addition to standard and lowered schemes, others are used: for example, when not only the 6th string is lowered, but also the 1st string. This technique is used in blues; it allows you to produce beautiful sounds by playing a slide on the first three strings. Also, in addition to seven-string guitars and baritones (guitars with an increased scale), there are now eight-string and even nine-string electric guitars. Accordingly, the tunings of these guitars are much lower.

Do you know what strings are needed for a certain tuning?

The list of musicians and groups is also far from complete. If you have suggestions for adding to the article or questions about what tuning a certain group plays in, write in the comments!

In addition to the usual way to tune a guitar, there are alternative tunings.

Guitarists need them to diversify their performance and achieve an unusual or powerful sound, and also to simplify finger placement while playing. If you have problems with the setup process, there is a separate section on this on our website.

In this article, the tuning will be indicated from the sixth string to the first. Some settings are easier to remember this way.

Classical tuning and its variations

EADGBE - classic tuning

The generally accepted system, also called “Spanish”, is most often used to write songs. As an example, consider Ed Sheeran – Shape of you. Ed plays this song in classical system.

Variation one - DADGBE

Among guitarists it is called a drop-D, since the sixth string drops a tone to the note D. In it, power chords are pressed with one finger, which is why drop-D is often used in rock music.

Turns into this:

Stockholm Syndrome by Muse is played in this tuning.

Variation two - DADGBD

Also called Double drop-D, similar to the previous one, but the first string goes down a tone. It is convenient to play parts through the repeated note D, both on the sixth and on the first string. Skillet's Circus For A Psycho plays the main riff in this tuning.

Variation three - DADGAD

Among guitarists it is called “deadged”, often used in folk music because of its ease of imitation of bagpipes and sitar. IN open strings ah, a third is not formed, therefore this scale is neither major nor minor, but modal. The first, second and sixth strings are lowered a tone. White summer by the Yardbirds plays just like that.

Drops and capo

Next, we will consider tunings formed by a uniform change in all strings from the classical tuning and its variations. The downward movement adds “heaviness” to the sound. The vocalist may be more comfortable singing. As the tuning goes down, it is better to switch to thicker strings; their tension will decrease and it will be uncomfortable to play.

Step one - D#G#C#F#A#D#

It’s also half-step-down, “half a step down.” All strings are evenly lowered by a semitone.

Guns`n`roses play their classic Sweet Child O`mine a little lower than it might seem.

Step two - CGCFAD

Popular in metal and heavy rock drop-C. This is the tuning that is almost always used, with all strings down a tone and the sixth string down another tone, i.e. one tone down from drop-D. First two albums System groups of a Down played in drop-C. For example, the song Toxicity from the album of the same name.

Step three - BF#BEG#C#

Another tone lower than the previous one, also known as drop-B. Even harder and more aggressive. Slipknot used this tuning on their first albums. Wait and bleed is no exception.

We will not consider the constructions below here, since in modern music for even greater reduction, guitars with additional strings, 7-, 8-, 9-strings, are used.

Capo

To improve the tuning, the guitar is very rarely retuned; for this, a capo is used, which evenly clamps all the strings.

This creates a movable threshold, and if you need to play a song in a different key, for example, for the convenience of the vocalist, you just need to move the capo to the desired fret.

For example, the Scarborough fair by Simon and Garfunkel is played with a capo at the seventh fret, which creates a BEADF#B tuning 3.5 steps higher than the classic one.

Open formations

Open tuning is the tuning of all strings not by intervals, but by the notes of a chord.

Such tunings are often used in folk music and when playing with a slide - usually a metal or glass cylinder that is placed on the finger of the left hand. It is moved along the strings as a “moving” fret.

Let's look at some commonly used open tunings.

Open D major Open D - DADF#AD

We have already discussed the DADGAD tuning as a variation of the classic tuning. Let's lower the third string another semitone - we get the notes of the D major chord.

For example, let's take the composition of guitarist Alain Johannes – Make God Jealous.

Open D minor Open D Minor - DADFAD

Let's lower the third string another semitone, and we'll end up in D minor, a more “sad” chord. Let's evaluate the changes in sound using the song Wine and Roses by John Fahey.

Open G major Open G - DGDGBD

Let's return the second and third strings to classical tuning, but let's drop the fifth one tone - we move into a G major chord. This tuning was used by Jimmy Page in Led Zeppelin's Bron-Y-Aur Stomp.

Modal scale G Modal G - DGCGCD

This system has the same features as discussed above. modal system in D (DADGAD), it is convenient to play both major and minor songs. Jimmy Page also used this system. He generally used many non-standard tunings and was their popularizer. For example, Rain song performed jointly with Robert Plant.

Open G minor Open G Minor - DGDGA#D

By lowering the second string a semitone, we form a G minor chord from the open strings. It is used on guitarist John Renbourn's Mist-Covered Mountains of Home and imitates a lute.

Open A major Open A - EEAAC#E or EAC#EAE

There are two setup options. In the first case, we raise the second, third and fourth strings by a tone, forming an A major chord.

In the second case, lower the second string by a tone, the third by a tone and a half, and the fourth string by a half tone. This variation is often found in delta blues compositions, one of the earliest blues movements.

Robert Johnson uses a slide to play in this tuning on Crossroads Blues.

Open C major Open C - CGCGCE or CGCGGE

The sixth, fifth and fourth strings repeat drop-C, the second string is raised by a semitone (or lowered by two tones), the third and first - as in the classics.

Chris Cornell's song Burden In My Hand, performed by Soundgarden, is written in this tuning.

There are many more rarer customization options. Nothing prevents a musician from tuning the instrument the way he wants or needs.

Come to us and we will teach you how to play the guitar and find innovative solutions to musical problems.

Many guitarists wonder which strings are best suited to their tuning. When choosing, it is worth remembering that preferences for tension and string diameter are a very individual thing. It is for this reason that you should not take information from of this material as an absolute truth: we will present the most generalized and averaged data, according to which you can choose the optimal thickness of the set to suit your preferences.

For ease of reading the article, we will use whole string thickness designations (for example, 9-42 instead of 0.009-0.042).

Factors influencing the choice of string thickness

• Guitar scale: the longer it is, the tighter the strings will be, all other things being equal. In the table below we will be using the standard 25.5" scale. If you have a guitar with a smaller scale, then you will need to make a slight adjustment and go with a thicker set.
• String tension: The higher their tension, the thicker the strings - accordingly, they have a more powerful and voluminous sound. However, on the other hand, thicker strings have a smaller vibration amplitude, which is why their sound is not as rich in overtones, it is duller and flatter - this is especially audible on thin strings without winding.
• Third string: in most sets this is not wound (plain). In sets with a first string thickness of 12 or more, the third string is usually wrapped. IN in this case It’s worth considering that braiding increases tension - you’ll have to forget about bending by one and a half to two tones, although, on the other hand, in lowered tunings The third wound string sounds much fuller and richer.
• Today you can buy guitar strings in balanced sets (8-38, 9-42, 10-46, 11-50, 12-54, 13-56, etc.) and unbalanced(9-46, 10-52, 11-52, 12-56/60, etc.)

The former are usually used for standard tuning or a tuning lowered across all strings by an equal number of semitones. The second type is ideal for lovers of drop tunings (the 6th string is lowered by whole tone), as well as for those who use hybrid and open guitar tunings.

• The thickest sets of strings (12-60, 13-72, etc.) are best suited for long-scale guitars - baritones. They have a scale length of 26 inches or more, and are used in very low tunings (for example, Standard A and lower).

In principle, such kits can also be used for instruments with a standard scale for deeply lowered tuning, but before purchasing you should consider a couple of nuances:

• You may simply not have enough scale adjustment options at the bridge, since lower tuning requires retuning. In this case, either replacing the bridge or switching to a thinner set will help.
• If you use a thicker set, you will either bore out the string grooves on the nut or simply won't be able to fit the strings into them. When switching back to thinner strings, they will hang around in the counterbore grooves, making it difficult to fine-tune the guitar.

In addition, thick strings may not fit into the peg - it will also have to be bored.

Which strings are suitable for a particular tuning?

Helpful tip: If you want to tune your guitar to B Standard or lower, consider buying a baritone or 7-string guitar - you need to understand that not all types of 6-string electric guitars are designed for experimenting with strong detuning.

Let us repeat that these recommendations are conditional and partly subjective. Suffice it to remember the great SRV, which used the 13-56 kit for the Standard Eb build: therefore, the most important thing is your feelings. Try several different sets, experiment - and you will certainly find the optimal set for your music!

Based on materials from an article by Egor Kalgannikov, 12.2013.

A natural question arises: "how to tune a 6 string guitar for a beginner?". If you have big plans and want to become a guitarist from God, at a minimum you need to be able to tuning your guitar correctly. But even if there are no such plans, you will still have to tune the guitar).

“I can’t tune my guitar” is a phrase you can often hear from a beginning guitarist, but first, let’s figure out how the strings should be tuned. The strings on a guitar are numbered from bottom to top, from the thinnest string to the thickest..

10 Tips: How to Play Guitar with Good Technique

With classic guitar tuning The 6th string is tuned to , the Latin designation "E" is often used. Usually the sixth string is tuned first, and the rest from there, but more on that a little later. Here's how the strings should be tuned in classical tuning:

• e (first, most thin string- note "mi")
• B (second string, note "B")
• G (third string, G note)
• D (fourth string, note "D")
• A (fifth string, note "A")
• E (the sixth, thickest string is the note "E")

Now that we know how the strings should be tuned, let's try to tune them. By the way, you know ? To do this, we will use pegs or, as some beginners call them, “twisters”). can be turned in one or the other direction.

By turning the peg clockwise we tighten the string, giving it a higher sound, and accordingly turning it counterclockwise we loosen the string and it sounds lower.

When tuning a 6 string guitar, turn you need to be careful so as not to break the string, especially for beginner guitarists. With experience, you will feel the tension of the string much more accurately, but for now, be more careful and turn the “twists” carefully.

Tuning the 6th string

First of all, we tune the sixth string on the guitar. To do this, we need a so-called reference sound, specifically the note “E”. Where can I get it? You can listen to it on our website, take it on another tuned musical instrument, you can use a tuning fork, or go to YouTube and search for “E notes for guitar tuning” or something like that.

Some people have perfect pitch and can determine the pitch of a note without using the above methods. This quality of hearing can be developed, but as a rule it is innate. However, not all professionals have such skills, so the method proposed below is used by both experienced guitarists and beginners.

And so, we have found a “sample” note, let’s start tuning. Tuning a 6-string guitar, as well as playing any other musical instrument, requires at least some degree of hearing. The presence of hearing in a beginner is very easy to determine, if you are able to distinguish which of two notes sounds higher and which lower, then you definitely have hearing. This is what we need now.

How to learn to play guitar from scratch at home?

Play standard note "mi" and at the same time start plucking the sixth string of your guitar. Do you feel the difference? Does your guitar string sound lower than the reference note? So you need to tighten it up a little, twist smoothly and continue tuning the 6th string until our string and the reference note sound . Try tightening and loosening the string a little until you achieve the desired sound.

Tuning the rest of the strings

can be tuned in a similar way, using standard notes, but as a rule, “in everyday life” they are tuned relative to the 6th string. The procedure is as follows:

We will use the 6th string clamped on the 5th fret and the 5th string open (that is, not clamped on any fret). We alternately pluck the fifth and sixth strings and adjust the sound of the fifth string until we achieve unison.

The remaining strings are tuned according to a similar pattern, but with a slight correction (pay attention to the setting of the second string). I will describe the entire string tuning scheme:

• Sixth string - tune either by reference note or by ear.