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 most thin 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. This is how the strings should be tuned when classical system:
- e (the first, thinnest string is the note "E")
- 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, “twists”). 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.
At setting 6 string guitar twist 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 “twisters” 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 write in the search “E note for tuning a guitar” 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.
One of the problems that every guitarist faces while learning is choosing a guitar tuning. Guitar tuning is determined by the sound of open strings; accordingly, the transition to one or another key is accomplished by tuning the strings to the appropriate notes. Below is a list of the most widely used tunings:
. "Spanish" or standard. This tuning is considered a classic. This is where mastery of playing technique begins. Many people continue to play it after completing their training, since this system is universal. Designation - EBGDAE, according to strings (1st to 6th).
Drop D. One of the popular tunings, often used in rock music, especially by hard rock performers. Literally translated as "lowered D". The reason for this name lies in the fact that in this tuning the 6th string sounds a tone lower than in the standard tuning, that is, it corresponds to the note D (D). This type of tuning sounds best on an electric guitar.
Drop C. This one guitar tuning, like the previous one, is based on the fact that the sixth string sounds a full tone lower than the first. However, with Drop C, strings one through five are first tuned exactly one step down from standard tuning. That is, we get DAFCGC. In this tuning the guitar sounds lower and heavier. Used primarily in heavy music.
Open D. This tuning is most often used when playing slide guitar.
High and low tunings. Often musicians lower or raise the guitar tuning by a semitone, a tone, or even more. All strings can be tuned the same or differently. However (especially classic ones) when played in high formation they are at risk of getting damaged.
. Instrumental scale. Implies a standard tuning for another instrument. You can tune it like a balalaika, charango, or cithara.
I would also like to mention that the guitar, unlike many musical instruments, is not tuned in fifth scale. Why, despite the fact that the fifth gives the purest and most pleasant sound, is the guitar tuned in such an incomprehensible, at first glance, way? The answer to this question is more than simple: standard guitar tuning provides the greatest simplicity and ease of play.
Where to start? Naturally, with mastering the technique of playing in the classical (Spanish) system. Only after studying musical literacy, especially chords, you can choose in which tuning it is more convenient to play this or that chord, this or that song. It is worth noting that for a beginner to play alternative system it will be much more difficult, especially if he does not know the barre technique.
If you play or plan to play in the future, it's worth Special attention on the geometry of the neck, especially the height of the strings. The guitar may need to be re-tuned to avoid loose strings and rattling when played in the new tuning. Electric guitars for beginners are not designed for playing alternative tunings, and their sound, for example, in Drop C, may not please you. Be sure to take this into account when purchasing!
The guitar is one of the most famous and at the same time unpredictable instruments that can touch the most sensual strings of the soul. But the guitar itself also has them.
Few people pay attention to the name of the strings on a guitar, considering it completely unnecessary. But often the performance of any composition depends on the setting. Any dissonance causes associative rejection of the composition as a whole. But in this material The focus will be on instrument tuning and use for beginning players.
Guitar string name: classic version
In general, it is considered a classic. However, one can recall quite a lot of examples of great composers who preferred seven strings to six (at least Vysotsky).
However, according to music theory and solfeggio, the names of the strings do not differ at all. Based on the rules established general theory music, the notes by which any instrument is built have their own names and abbreviations in the form of Latin symbols and language interpretations. In our case it is:
- C - to.
- D - re.
- E - mi.
- F - fa.
- G - salt.
- A - la.
- H - B (B - B-flat is indicated separately).
(sharps, flats, bekars or their double versions) are applied accordingly. But there are only 6 strings.
The string on the guitar at the top of the neck has the same sound as the first string at the bottom three octaves apart. Therefore, both the first and sixth are, as it were, dominant, but only in relation to a 6-string instrument (the main tuning is in E minor).
Mi-si-sol-re-la-mi: is the sequence in tuning correct?
Quite often, many beginning guitarists trying to understand the basics of the technique are immediately faced with the problem of tuning, not knowing which string corresponds to which symbol in the designation or sound.
If you go through the search, sequentially from the sixth string to the first, it will look like “e-la-re-sol-si-mi”. And the above sequence is reverse.
Such a sequence is not suitable for a flat sequence, since it should look like “si-mi-la-re-sol-do-fa”. However, we digress from the topic.
Fundamental tone and tuning
The name of the strings, as is already clear, is standard for any instrument. As for the (6-string) this is done quite simply.
There are several ways in which a beginning musician can use the unison of an open string lower on the neck with one that is clamped at the fifth fret above. All strings, except the third, are built according to this rule. You can use the harmonic effect on different frets (the strings vibrate among themselves) or turn on a distortion effect, which will add drive and increase vibration. That is, the strings will have to be retuned until the sound matches completely. Professional electric guitars have a special micro-tuning device on the soundboard for this purpose).
Basic chords for beginners
For many beginning guitarists, the note “A” is usually associated with the chord, which is the second simplest chord in guitar technique.
It consists of only three fingers: two on the second fret (fourth and third string) and one on the second string on the first fret. The note "A" in in this case acts as a tonic.
But the simplest chord is still the E minor chord. There are only two strings - the fifth and fourth on the second fret. A major chord played from “E” involves holding the third string on the second fret, and a major chord with the tonic “A” is even simpler - three fingers on the second fret (second, third and fourth string).
Barre technique
Although the name of the strings on a guitar no longer causes misunderstanding, it is especially worth noting a technique called barre (clamping index finger all right).
Any standard chord can be built using this technique. In fact, the same simple applications indicated above can be applied to this case, but only the nut near the tuning mechanism on the headstock acts as a barre.
Varieties of playing techniques
The name of the strings on a guitar is often emphasized with certain symbols, although it is not directly advertised. For example, in the standard version the third, fifth, seventh and twelfth frets are designated (sometimes the ninth). For many famous guitarists you can find all sorts of signs, including skulls or something else. These guitars are made to order.
And playing any instrument is quite difficult, be it fingerpicking, strumming, tapping, sliding, etc. With the advent of “gadgets,” technology has reached new level. That alone is worth it... And modern guitarists generally demonstrate such miracles of technology that it simply boggles the mind.
The same Steve Vai, Marty Friedmann or Kirk Hammett are the only ones of our time. And by the way, even though they know classical school, do not always use it in their improvisations. For example, Friedman tends to play in fifths, or nine notes per pass. And everyone's technique is different. But if you set a goal, nothing is impossible. Maybe the modern reader will become a great guitarist in the future, who knows?
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.
Bands and musicians who play standard system:
- 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 low pitch it is convenient in that you can play “zeros” (the so-called open strings) on it 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 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?
Details Author: JetNet Views: 1003 09/04/2017 19:57 Category: Where to start???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 this article I want to clarify a little guitar tunings. What are they, why were they formed this way, and how to generally tune your guitar. Firstly, a little educational information. The order is indicated by letters. The letters are the notes that produce the open strings from the sixth (thickest) to the first (thinnest). Let's start with, so to speak, the standard - this standard guitar tuning.
Standard tuning E A D G B E (E)
In this tuning, the guitar is tuned in fourths, i.e. the interval between each string is a fourth. Read what it is. The exception is the second and third strings, the interval between which is a major third. They say in the jargon that the guitar is tuned in "E", i.e. these are the notes on the first and sixth strings. By tuning your guitar in this tuning, you can easily play regular full chords, major and minor. And in general, it seems to me that 90% of all songs can be played in it.
Low tuning Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb (E flat)
If all strings are tuned to standard tuning and lower each one by a semitone, then we get a lowered E flat tuning. The spacing between the strings is the same as in standard E tuning. What is this system used for? Mainly to make it easier for the vocalist to sing or for a lower and heavier sound (for example in heavy metal and other rock music).
Low tuning D G C F A D (D)
If in the standard tuning all the strings are lowered even lower - by 2 semitones, then we get the D tuning. Here also the intervals are preserved. Essentially all lower tunings of this type are just standard tunings with a lower tuning. Used again for a heavier and lower sound, for example in heavy metal. The standard can be lowered further and get, for example, C (to). The meaning will be the same.
Dropped D: D A D G B E
Now this is more interesting. Take the E standard and lower the 6th string to whole tone. Now we have 2 notes D on open strings. Fifths on the sixth string are pressed not with 2 fingers, as in the standard one, but with one. This is probably the most popular tuning in alternative metal. Gives a meatier sound and expands the guitar's range. Well, convenience appears when playing fifths (power chords).
Dropped C: C G C F A D
Everything is the same as in the case of Drop D, only we take the lowered tuning of D as a basis and also lower the sixth string an additional tone. The favorite tuning of all metalcore players.
So, by equivalently lowering the strings, you can tune the guitar even higher or lower. That is, in fact, all these tunings above are variations of 2 tunings: standard and drop. They are probably the most popular among guitarists. Using just them, you can play 99% of all the songs in the world with ease. In addition to them, there are also a lot of non-standard tunings, but they are quite rarely used. And in general, you yourself can even come up with your own guitar tuning and figure out how to play it =)