F-C-F-Ab-C-F • OVERVIEW • Essentially ‘Open Dm raised by 3 semitones’ – thus matching the interval pattern of a Standard-tuned ‘0-2-2-0-0-0’ Em chord (or, more precisely, a ‘1-3-3-1-1-1’ Fm barre shape). Categorised as a ‘cross-note‘ tuning, as you can easily ‘cross’ from minor to major with the one-finger shape ‘0-0-0-1-0-0’ (whereas in Open Dmaj, the […]
• Albert Collins Fm tuning •
• Zen Drone (‘Dulcimeric’) tuning •
D-A-D-A-A-D • OVERVIEW • Intriguing two-tone drone associated with writer, educator, and New York street-busker Philip Toshio Sudo, author of the cult-classic 1997 book Zen Guitar – aimed at providing a gateway to spontaneous improvisation for players of all abilities. I applaud his participative sentiments, and the immediacy of the tuning’s freedoms (…but you’ve gotta be […]
• Open Dsus (‘DADGAD’) tuning •
D-A-D-G-A-D • OVERVIEW • Resembles a Standard-tuned ‘0-2-2-2-0-0’ Esus4 shape in terms of interval structure. Neither major nor minor, DADGAD’s ambiguous open-chord resonance offers up incredible versatility, ideal for exploring the musical variety of many global traditions. Regardless of what you play, there’s always a certain fundamental stability to the tuning’s character, partly arising from […]
• Open Dm (‘Bentonia’) tuning •
D-A-D-F-A-D • OVERVIEW • Matches a Standard-tuned Emin shape (‘0-2-2-0-0-0’) in terms of interval structure – with everything twisted a whole tone lower. Thus forms a ‘cross-note‘ layout, as (unlike in Open Dmaj) you can easily ‘cross over’ to major voicings with just one finger (e.g. ‘0-0-0-1-0-0’). Associated with haunting Delta bluesman Skip James (and […]
• Pink Moon tuning •
C-G-C-F-C-E • OVERVIEW • A resonant Open C variant, with 1str left at E to create a wide-spread Cmaj11 voicing. Used by enigmatic English folkster Nick Drake for Pink Moon, the opening track of his 1972 album of the same name: capoed at 2fr, and slightly sharp of concert pitch (n.b. lower 2str by 5 […]
• Open D (‘Vestapol’) tuning •
D-A-D-F#-A-D • OVERVIEW • Resembles EADGBE’s famous ‘0-2-2-1-0-0’ Emaj shape in terms of intervals – a general pattern sometimes known as ‘Vestapol’ (after The Siege of Sevastopol, an earnest 1854 American folk song about the Crimean War, popular in parlor guitar instructional manuals of the 19th century: more below). Thus, the tuning represents a logical […]
• Drop D tuning •
D-A-D-G-B-E • OVERVIEW • Probably the first altered tuning you ever learned. Easy to remember, simple to reach from Standard, and innately fun to jam in across a countless range of genres. Notably, 6-5-4str form a ‘straight line’ power chord, with the slackness of the 6str bringing subtle pitch instabilities when strummed hard (looser, lower […]
• Teardrop tuning •
D-A-D-A-B-E • OVERVIEW • Simple in design, this tuning expands the range of 3-4-5-6str, opening up two perfect 5ths in the process (6>5str and 4>3str). The open chord – a ‘suspended‘ Drop D variant – has an ambiguous character, leaving room for varied explorations. Demonstrated superbly by José González on his booming nylon-string cover […]
• Yvette’s Dadd9 tuning •
D-A-D-F#-A-E • OVERVIEW • A melodious Open D variant, which retains Standard’s high E1str tone to give a spacious Dadd9. Pleasingly, the 6-2str intervals are arranged in descending order of width, narrowing in neat sequence as you go towards the treble (7>5>4>3: 5th > 4th > maj. 3rd > min. 3rd) – until you encounter […]
• Dracula tuning •
C-G-C-F-Bb-D • OVERVIEW • A deepened tuning showcased on Dracula and Friends (Pt. 1) by Mi’kmaq-Canadian fingerstyle virtuoso Don Ross (who thankfully deviated from his original career plan: he was once enrolled in priesthood training at at San Damiano Friary, set to become a Franciscan friar…). Robust interval pairs, set in neat descending order (perf. […]
• Blown a Wish tuning •
F-C-F-Bb-Bb-G • OVERVIEW • An odd DADGAD variant – it is transposed upwards 3 semitones, with 2str dropped into unison with 3str, and 1str raised by a further whole tone (equivalent to ‘DADGGE capo 3’). Showcased by My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields on Blown a Wish (with a 1fr capo), track nine from their droning […]
• Place to Be tuning •
C-G-C-F-G-E • OVERVIEW • Used to give life to the legato-tinged cluster voicings of Nick Drake’s Place to Be – the second track from 1972’s Pink Moon, his third and final album. Almost identical to his tuning for the title track: the only difference being that here, 2str is a full 5 semitones lower – decreasing […]
• Ghost Reveries tuning •
D-A-D-F-A-E • OVERVIEW • A spacious Open Dm variant, which retains Standard’s E1str tone to give a minor 9th open harmony. Great for chord voicings which combine intricate high extensions with robust bass structures – with note-shuffling added by the tuning’s irregular interval sequence (a 4th, min. 3rd, and a maj. 3rd, sandwiched by two 5ths). […]
• Karnivool tuning •
B-F#-B-G-B-E • OVERVIEW • A fascinating blend of Standard + ‘Drop D -3‘ (3-1str & 6-4str respectively), closely associated with Australian prog-rockers Karnivool. According to its creator, lead guitarist Drew Goddard, “It just made sense to have the low tuning, while keeping the first strings high. The best of both worlds I guess…I liked the sequence […]
• Papa-Papa tuning •
D-A-D-D-A-D • OVERVIEW • ‘Double-dad’ tuning is handily symmetrical, mirroring its ‘D-A-D’ pattern across the guitar’s centre line to form a stacked D power chord (like a ‘double-decker D sandwich, each filled with A’). Only one string differs from the famous DADGAD – 3str is lowered by a fourth, going super-slack to add psychedelic phasing […]
• José González tuning •
D-A-D-F#-B-E • OVERVIEW • A blend of ‘Open D + Standard‘ (or ‘Drop D + Lute‘), used by Swedish singer-songwriter José González among others. The lowest four strings provide a solid, stable Dmaj triad (1-5-1-3), while the high-end pair add ambiguity and intrigue (maj. 6th & 2nd) – forming a widened D6/9. Great for ‘vertical’ […]
• Icarus tuning •
D-A-D-G-B-C • OVERVIEW • Brings a mystical, floating resonance, resulting from the ‘clustered’ presence of four adjacent diatonic scale tones (4-5-6-b7 on 3-5-2-1str). Its intervals get progressively narrower as you rise in pitch (7>5>5>4>1), ending with a minor 2nd (2>1str) – a rare feature in the wide world of altered tuning (also see Ethereal, Gothic, […]
• Only Shallow tuning •
E-B-E-Gb-B-E • OVERVIEW • Though rare, this Esus2 layout’s distinctive ‘major 2nd in the middle‘ opens up unique melodic and harmonic possibilities. Most famously used for the droning shoegaze wails of My Bloody Valentine’s Only Shallow. Given the snappability of the raised 4+5str, acoustic steel-stringers are best advised to transpose everything down a tone to […]
• C6 (‘Mauna Loa’) tuning •
C-G-C-G-A-E • OVERVIEW • A C6 known in Hawaiian kī hō’alu (‘slack-key’) as C ‘Mauna Loa’ – named after the world’s largest active volcano, which has erupted continuously since rising from the Pacific seabed over 400,000 years ago. The tuning’s regular stack of three perfect 5ths (6>5str, 4>3str, 2>1str) bring a similarly balanced solidity. Popularised by […]
• Open Em (‘Cross-note’) tuning •
E-B-E-G-B-E • OVERVIEW • Takes the same interval pattern as Open Dm, raised two semitones higher: thus mirroring the exact note sequence of our familiar ‘0-2-2-0-0-0’ Emin chord from Standard (…as if you’d tuned to its notes rather than fretting them). Best suited to the lighter strings of electric guitars, due to the high wind […]
• Open E (‘Vestapol’) tuning •
E-B-E-G#-B-E • OVERVIEW • Open E follows the interval structure of a Standard-tuned Emaj chord (‘0-2-2-1-0-0’), thus making it a whole-tone-higher transposition of Open D – a general pattern sometimes known as ‘Vestapol‘ (after its use for an earnest 1854 folk song about the Crimean War, popular in ‘learn guitar’ manuals of late-19th-century North America: […]
• Open Csus (‘C Modal’) tuning •
C-G-C-G-C-F • OVERVIEW • Csus4 tuning, also known as C ‘Modal’, is the ‘suspended’ variant of the Open C family, with a perfect 4th at the top. This gives each side of the guitar a very different physical feel – unless you re-string, the high end gets tight and loud, while the low end falls looser […]
• Open Cm (‘Wide Minor’) tuning •
C-G-C-G-C-E • OVERVIEW • Open Cm (unlike Open Dm, Gm, and Em) doesn’t really match with any of our familiar Standard-tuned minor shapes (it’s closest to the ‘x-x-0-2-3-1’ Dm chord – or more precisely, it’s a ‘Dm shape in Drop D, then dropping everything 2 semitones’). Another ‘cross-note’ tuning – as you can easily ‘cross-over’ […]
• Open C (‘Wide Major’) tuning •
C-G-C-G-C-E • OVERVIEW • Open C (unlike Open D, G, A, and Emaj) doesn’t quite correspond to any of our familiar EADGBE chord shapes – although the interval sequence is closest to the classic ‘x-x-0-2-3-2‘ Dmaj (more precisely: it’s like a ‘Dmaj shape in Drop D, then dropping everything 2 semitones’). For me, this isn’t […]
• Low Drop C tuning •
C-G-C-F-A-D • OVERVIEW • The same interval pattern as Drop D, but everything is moved down two further semitones. Brings a loose, chaotic, imperfect texture: total string tension is lowered by around 25% – equivalent to a ~40lb/18kg drop on a steel-string acoustic (an instrument on which EADGBE tension can exceed 180lb/82kg…hence you need the […]
• Double Drop D (‘DDD’) tuning •
D-A-D-G-B-D • OVERVIEW • ‘Double-dropping’ both the top and bottom strings to D provides you with strum-friendly open drone tones, while leaving the middle four strings intact from Standard. Like Open D, 6-5-4str form a straight-line power chord (D-A-D), and like Open G, the 3-2-1str give a G major triad (G-B-D) – with the famous […]
