One of the most attractive things about playing the guitar over other instruments is the array of alternate or non-standard tunings that are available to the guitar player. These different tunings can make the guitar sound entirely different and add depth and uniqueness to the songs and melodies being written.
I played guitar for the first time when I was in college when a friend let me borrow his guitar. After a some time, the friend came over to look in on me. I strummed a few chords I had been practicing. He cringed. Because I had been playing so much, the instrument was out of tune, way out of tune. I had never played a musical instrument before so I lacked the ability to hear that the instrument had gone out of tune.
The list of alternate tunings is large and includes the following common ones: Dropped Tunings: Have the sixth (or largest bass string) tuned low relative to the other five strings. Depending on how low you need to go you may require a different guitar to accommodate the lack of tension in the string. E.g. A Baritone guitar.
Double Dropped Tunings: Have the sixth and first strings tuned down one full step.
It used to be that many people used the Boss TU-2 electric guitar tuner as their go-to tuner. There was a problem with the TU-2, however. It was only accurate to +/- 3 cents (a cent refers to 1/100 of the distance between consecutive notes). If you have a highly trained musical ear, you can hear a 3 cents difference. Making matters worse, when two guitarists play together, each guitarist usually has his or her own tuner. If they each had a TU-2 electric guitar tuner, the two guitars could be out of tune as much as 6 cents with respect to each other.
There are many cheap "entry level" tuners, but be careful, as you may end up frustrated by a tuner that is unable to correctly determine the pitch of your strings.
To conclude, alternative tuning of the guitar is possible and opens up numerous possibilities. As you try different tunings you will uncover influences and sounds as you tread paths that others have gone before. However, you may also uncover some new paths so don't forget your machete! To tune your guitar effectively you can either buy a chromatic tuner or find a web resource that has an effective online guitar tuner to get you started.
I played guitar for the first time when I was in college when a friend let me borrow his guitar. After a some time, the friend came over to look in on me. I strummed a few chords I had been practicing. He cringed. Because I had been playing so much, the instrument was out of tune, way out of tune. I had never played a musical instrument before so I lacked the ability to hear that the instrument had gone out of tune.
The list of alternate tunings is large and includes the following common ones: Dropped Tunings: Have the sixth (or largest bass string) tuned low relative to the other five strings. Depending on how low you need to go you may require a different guitar to accommodate the lack of tension in the string. E.g. A Baritone guitar.
Double Dropped Tunings: Have the sixth and first strings tuned down one full step.
It used to be that many people used the Boss TU-2 electric guitar tuner as their go-to tuner. There was a problem with the TU-2, however. It was only accurate to +/- 3 cents (a cent refers to 1/100 of the distance between consecutive notes). If you have a highly trained musical ear, you can hear a 3 cents difference. Making matters worse, when two guitarists play together, each guitarist usually has his or her own tuner. If they each had a TU-2 electric guitar tuner, the two guitars could be out of tune as much as 6 cents with respect to each other.
There are many cheap "entry level" tuners, but be careful, as you may end up frustrated by a tuner that is unable to correctly determine the pitch of your strings.
To conclude, alternative tuning of the guitar is possible and opens up numerous possibilities. As you try different tunings you will uncover influences and sounds as you tread paths that others have gone before. However, you may also uncover some new paths so don't forget your machete! To tune your guitar effectively you can either buy a chromatic tuner or find a web resource that has an effective online guitar tuner to get you started.
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