Build a 6 string guitar. What tuning do famous rock bands play in? "New Standard"

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 about 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 tuning.

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. Open strings do not form thirds, so this tuning 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 the 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 lower 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 is worth considering that the braid increases the tension - you will have to forget about bending by one and a half to two tones, although, on the other hand, in lower tunings the third string of the wound 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 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 settings guitars.

• 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 below).

In principle, such kits can also be used for instruments with a standard scale length for deep low tuning, however, 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 going back to more thin strings, they will hang around in the bored 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 experiments with strong lowering of the tuning.

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.

Each string on a guitar has its own name and letter designation. In this short note, let's figure out how all the strings of a guitar are designated.

As you know, there are six strings on a regular guitar. There are, of course, other types of guitars: the bass, for example, has only four strings; The Russian guitar has seven strings, there are twelve-string guitars, etc. We will look at the most common type of guitar - six string guitar.

Guitar strings are counted from the thinnest string to the thickest bass string. The thinnest is the first string. Accordingly, the thickest is the sixth string. When you hold the guitar in the position in which you play it, the first string of the guitar is lower, i.e. closer to the floor, and the very last, sixth string is higher. Bass strings differ from non-bass strings in that bass strings have a metal winding, so they are thicker in volume and produce a lower sound.

So, now about the names of the strings.

the first string is E,

second string – B,

third string – G,

fourth string – D,

fifth string – A,

the sixth string is E.

In some works, composers slightly modify the tuning of the guitar, for example, they rearrange the sixth string instead of the note E to the note D, or less often, instead of the fifth string A, they rearrange its sound into the note G. But these are exceptional cases that are quite rare.

In addition to the usual names, each string also has its own letter designation. These are the letters of the Latin alphabet that indicate the strings of a guitar.

As you noticed, the first and sixth strings have the same names. But this does not mean that these strings sound the same. The only thing they have in common is the name. In fact, the first E string belongs to the second octave, and the sixth E string belongs to the scarlet octave. Those. the distance between these strings is as much as two octaves!

Since not all letter designations of notes are indicated above, but only designations of guitar strings, I decided to simultaneously note the letter designations of all existing notes in music. As we know, there are only seven of them - do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si. For convenience of letter designation, we will begin to list the notes not from C, but from A. It will be more convenient this way:

If you look closely, it becomes obvious that we are looking at the initial letters of the Latin alphabet. In my opinion, this method of recording makes memorization much easier. letter designations all existing notes.

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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” on it (the 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 with standard tuning.

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-string guitar tuning. It allows you to tune a six-string guitar as low as a seven-string guitar would sound, plus it allows you to play chords more comfortably. 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 the previous article, the issue of lowered order guitars. In this article I would like to discuss it in more detail.
Let me remind you that standard tuning six-string electric guitar is as follows: Mi[E]-A[A]-Re[D]-Sol[G]-B[H]-Mi[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 a lower tuning electric guitar, the string tension will naturally 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. Lower by 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