Alternate tunings

[Spudman***]

Does anyone here use alternate tunings on a regular basis? If you do, which are your favorite and what do you like to play in that tuning?

[Jimi75]

Hello Spud,

I have been playing a lot of slide recently and I went for open G. That plus a capo on the 2nd fret gave me the opportunity to "play along" with Robert Johnson. It's hard to play minor chords, but once you found a way it is a great tuning. It also made me change my usual use of the ring finger for the slide to the pinky.

In the metal band I have dropped the e-string down to d. It was much easier for heavy riffing and I was able to do some weird sounding chords. The dynamic when playing heavy with opne tuning is much more efficient. Further to that this tuning was great for Slide play, too - especially Americana kind of clean sounds with the low strings came out great with the e-string dropped and I used it to play a version of Amazing Grace in church - it sounded perfect for that song.

[wingsdad]

Open G here, too. D-G-D-G-B-D (low-hi). I keep one electric and one acoustic tuned this way. I use it for chord riffs.

Actually, if I took off the 6th/low E (in this tuning, D) string, you'd call it 'Keef Tuning', since the 'venerable' Mr. Richards is who I ripped off for the idea, discovering the 'secret' to playing 'Brown Sugar' off the Sticky Fingers album and 'Honky Tonk Women', just to name the 2 'most memorable riffs'.

Keef picked up on it, as at least one story goes, from the Stones' association with Graham Parsons around the time they worked on that album and got into American Country music. The tuning is used a lot more than 'non-country' players realize, since it complements Dobro (G-B-D-G-B-D) and Banjo tuning -- therein the 5-string version that Keef picked up.

Another tuning Parsons got Keef into at that time is 'Nashville Tuning', a/k/a 'High Strung', one that Nashville session players used back in the 50's & 60's 'mono' days to 'trick' a big 12-String sound. It's simply tuning the lower 3 strings of a 6-string as if they're the high octave string of a standard-tuned 12-string's pair. Trick is to string the guitar with those gauges. I use (6th-1st) .026w or .024w, .017 or .016, .013 or .012, .010 or .009, .014 or .013, and .010

Again, on Sticky Fingers, check out 'Wild Horses' to hear it, a tune Jagger-Richard 'gave' to Parsons.

Since Bernie Leadon played with Parsons in the Flying Burrito Brothers before he became an Eagle, it was probably his doing...helluva banjo player, too. Leadon used a Nashville-strung acoustic to double a standard-tuned one to get the huge acoustic rhythm strums of the earliest Eagles biggies...Take It Easy,Peaceful Easy Feeeling...and with an electric for the rakes you har in the verses of 'Witchy Woman'.

Used a lot also by Lindsey Buckingham on the F-mac & Rumours albums.

[Jipes***]

Does anyone here use alternate tunings on a regular basis? If you do, which are your favorite and what do you like to play in that tuning?

I use something like 4 on a regular basis.

Dropped D. Great for playing songs in D with an alternate picking but still retaining the same chord fingering

Open D. my main open for slide guitar love the low resonance

Open Dminor: Wonderful for Blues fingerpicking and slide Dark was the night for example

DADGAD: Great tuning for folk influences

DADFBE: an open tuning that I discover while listening to Chris Whitley's music, wonderful open chords and very melodic

There's many more right now I'm using a very weird one on my resonator guitar and I'm looking to see what I can produce with it

[Robert****]

I play slide in open E.

[evenkeel]

I've been messing with various alternate tunings for a while.
Open G
Circle game
Love at the 5 and Dime
couple of originals

Open D
Love the one You're With
Buckets of Rain
Big Yellow Taxi
Slowed down version of the EVH tune Jump

DADDAD
4+20 (thanks Pike for this one)

Drop D
Can't Find my way home
Then drop D with a partial capo, In My Room,Thunder Road, Downtown train and an original

Double Drop D
Harvest Moon

Not sure the name of the tuning but I tune the A string to G to play the Jackson Browne tune Something Fine.

Clearly this is proof positive there is no such thing as GAS. Lots of guitars are a necessity!!!

[sumitomo]

I try to play in tune! Sumi

[R_of_G]

Open E and Open D

I don't play any specific songs in these tunings. I use them more for my own improvisational exercises, and with the Open E to work on an original piece.

[warren0728]

i keep my electric reso tuned to open g....i play around with it a little but play my standard tuned guitars more....

ww

[marnold***]

Do you count Eb/Hendrix as an alternate tuning? If so, yes. If not, no.

[R_of_G]

Do you count Eb/Hendrix as an alternate tuning? If so, yes. If not, no.

I don't see why not. It's not "standard tuning" so it counts.

There is another one I should have added to my post but I haven't played with it in awhile so I forgot about until now. It was something I picked up from an interview I read with James "Blood" Ulmer (who I idolize from his work with Ornette Coleman as well as his solo works). He often tunes all six strings to the same note. It doesn't have a name, but as he was describing Ornette's theory of "harmolodics" at the time, I refer to it as harmolodic tuning. It works with any note, but I have found that with D it is a lot of fun. It certainly makes you think of the fretboard in a completely different way as the whole thing becomes one giant string.

[evenkeel]

There is another one I should have added to my post but I haven't played with it in awhile so I forgot about until now. It was something I picked up from an interview I read with James "Blood" Ulmer (who I idolize from his work with Ornette Coleman as well as his solo works). He often tunes all six strings to the same note. It doesn't have a name, but as he was describing Ornette's theory of "harmolodics" at the time, I refer to it as harmolodic tuning. It works with any note, but I have found that with D it is a lot of fun. It certainly makes you think of the fretboard in a completely different way as the whole thing becomes one giant string.

All One Note!!! I think of DADDAD as a sort of "drone" tuning. DDDDDD must be the Ultimate drone tuning! Have to mess with this and see what happens.

Thanks for sharing that.

[R_of_G]

All One Note!!! I think of DADDAD as a sort of "drone" tuning. DDDDDD must be the Ultimate drone tuning! Have to mess with this and see what happens.

Thanks for sharing that.

Oh if you like overtones, this tuning will def appeal to you.

[Carlström]

I enjoy playing in DADGAD on acoustic, got a nice vibe to it.


and here's a little something for those that want to look in to alternate tunings and chords for them www.tomas-carlstrom.se/music/alltunings.pdf

[just strum]

I usually have one electric tuned down a half step. I've been thinking about stringing one of the guitars with Nashville tuning. Wings turned me on to that when I had my acoustics and my Washburn jumbo was set up with Nashville tuning. Gives a 12 string sound without the bother of 12 strings. If you have multiple guitars, it's a fun tuning to have.

[t_ross33]

I enjoy playing in DADGAD on acoustic, got a nice vibe to it.


and here's a little something for those that want to look in to alternate tunings and chords for them www.tomas-carlstrom.se/music/alltunings.pdf

I've been messing around with DADGAD on acoustic as well. I've tried to get Mrs. T on board with my buying another acoustic (or two ) so I don't have to spend time tuning and retuning between songs. No luck so far .

Thanks for the link Carlstrom, I'll have to check that out.

[hubberjub***]

When I use to play acoustic almost exclusively I used oped D and G. I also used DGDGGD and CGDGAD. A couple others here and there.

[mark wein]

I play slide mostly in open D or open E(same thing, really). I'm not too into alternate tunings unless its something special for a gig...

[Ro3b]

DADGAD is my other standard tuning.