• Fuji tuning •

Bb-G-D-G-G-D

• OVERVIEW •

An unorthodox Gmin inversion I came across while browsing the GTDB site for little-used layouts, submitted under the name ‘Fuji’ by a nameless user in an undated post. Tried it, loved it, included it here…

 

In the words of its anonymous creator: “Here’s one I made up…I like to lumber away on the first two strings, and use the last three as pedal tones”. It’s wide, loose in places, and surprisingly versatile – you can use both ‘sides’ (6-5 & 2-1str) as droning pairs, and focus melodies on the louder, tenser centre (4-3str: the summit of the mountain?)

Pattern: 9>7>5>0>7
Harmony: Gmin | b3-1-5-1-1-5

TUNING TONES •

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• SOUNDS •

Fuji’s mysterious creator mentions having “used it on quite a few riffs/songs” – but left no listening links that I can trace. Send me your Fuji-tuned experiments, and I’ll feature the best here!

 


  • Send in your Fuji tunes (…what does the mountain conjure?)


風になびく富士の煙の空にきえてゆくへも知らぬわが思ひかな

 

“As smoke drifts on the winds over Mt. Fuji,
Only to vanish – to where no one knows,
So, too, does my soul wander onwards…”

(Buddhist Monk Saigyō Hōshi, c.1186)


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• NUMBERS •

6str 5str 4str 3str 2str 1str
Note Bb G D G G D
Alteration -6 -2 0 0 -4 -2
Tension (%) -50 -21 0 0 -37 -21
Freq. (Hz) 58 98 147 196 196 294
Pattern (>) 9 7 5 0 7
Semitones 0 9 16 21 21 28
Intervals b3 1 5 1 1 5
  • See my Tunings Megatable for further such nerdery: more numbers, intervallic relations, comparative methods, etc. And to any genuine vibratory scientists reading: please critique my DIY analysis!

• RELATED •

—Associated tunings: proximities of shape, concept, context, etc…

  • Mauna Loa C6: also mountainous in name and structure
  • Rakotomavo: starting from the low Bb but rising flatter
  • Equilibrium: similarly inverted onto its low minor third

• MORE INFO •

—Further learnings: sources, readings, lessons, other onward links…

  • Fuji the tuning: see the original listing on GTDB – which, as far as I can tell, has no accompanying name or user account attached to it. If anyone out there knows more…get in touch!
  • Fuji the volcano: read more in a National Geographic feature (“Shinto shrines dot the base and ascent…honor[ing] kami, the supernatural deities of the Shinto faith. The kami of Mount Fuji is Princess Konohanasakuya, whose symbol is the cherry blossom”) – and another viewpoint from the NY Times (“the vexing challenge of protecting Japan’s most recognizable natural landmark grows more intense…”)

Header image: snowy Mt. Fuji in the morning sky

George Howlett is a London-based musician, writer, and teacher (guitars, sitar, tabla, & santoor). Above all I seek to enthuse fellow sonic searchers, interconnecting fresh vibrations with the voices, cultures, and passions behind them. See Home & Writings, and hit me up for Online Lessons!

“An intrepid guitar researcher…”

(Guitar World interview)

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