my brain remembers it as EAD G B E - EAD, like eat one word, and G B E, and when you say G B E fast it kinda sounds like Gibby. Eat, Gibby! Eat! Pretty unforgettable to me, maybe because I watched iCarly.
In short, standard tuning was arrived at for chord shapes and ease of fingering, evidently. Makes sense. Enjoyed the video. Thanks. Music owes an awful lot to Pythagoras and mathematics. Tunings are a world of wonders. I play guitar in standard tuning but also various alternates--double drop D, open D, open C, open G. From what you gain in added drones you lose in minor chords or full minor shapes. Also learning lap steel in various tunings--dobro G, open D, C6 and A6. Add banjo, octave mandolin, and fooling around with a ukulele now and then, and I'm able to write and play songs in about a dozen tunings. Plus piano. It's amazing the amount of kinetic memory we're capable of when applying ourselves. And practicing. The lap steel 6th tunings were a real epiphany. In C6, for example, strings are (low to high) CEGACE. A is the 6th tone of the C major scale. You get a C major chord and/or an A minor chord. CEG and ACE. Plus you get three inversions or 'grips' of each chord. CEG, EGC, and GCE , for example. At the 5th fret, you get F and Dm and 7th fret G and Em. I prefer A6 myself. It's lower and throatier in tone than C6. In C6, the minor chord is on top. In A6, it's the major triad. Highly recommend getting into lap steel for a musical adventure.
@@kostringworks, have fun! Handy to know that you can tune A6 or C6 with same set of strings. A6 is C# E F# A C# E. Sleepwalk is one of the earliest songs I can remember. Doug Beaumier's version in C6 got me going on lap steel. He's got two great books of lap steel tablature, too. I like to learn by playing songs, myself. Once I'd learned several songs, I started writing my own. ruclips.net/video/xGD04s76V98/видео.html
You compared that D chord to an A minor - if you think about it, it's really just the E major shape moved across the strings, which you can do now because you're in all 4ths. A major would be the same shape too, of course you'd have to mute that F string.
Dude, that's some great insight! Interesting that I saw it as "A minor" when it was so clearly coming about of the E major shape family! As you could probably tell, I was discovering these chords in the moment, and I've programmed my brain to see that shape as minor on the high string sets, but I love that way of framing it. Thanks for pointing that out!
Because Keith A. Has looked old for most of his life (lol) And B. The dude is like a human cockroach. How he is alive is a medical marvel. Between his drug use and partying he was also electrocuted, escaped not one but 2 fires that he possibly set by passing out with lit cigarettes, and was once injected a poisoned (with strychnine) batch of heroin into his body. He's earned the old jokes at this point. Even death can't figure out how to claim his ass. Lol
@@Justmemyguy David Letterman said this about an upcoming Rolling Stones tour sometime around the late 90's or early 2000's, "The Rolling Stones live. Plus Keith Richards."
@@1ouncebird People didn't think he'd survive the 60's..or the 70's...or the 80's. haha by the time he reached 1990 everyone just kinda went with Keith being older than death itself. haha The fact he's alive in 2024 is like a biblical story come to life. lol
Not gonna lie, I teared up a bit. I’m an audio engineer, my two kids are professional violinist and violist, and life is still too short to hear and play enough music. But that’s OK. It’s good. It’s the best.
I started off playing on fifths-tuned instruments, like mandolin and tenor guitar, and never took the time to wrap my head around standard tuning. I know it makes a lot of chord shapes easier and lends itself to barres. But I just prefer the symmetry of fifths tuning. Probably too late to teach this old dog new tricks. Thanks for the video.
I play a lot in Bb new standard tuning and I’ve found the easiest way to approach it is to try new things and embrace the new voicings you get. Each tuning has its strengths, switch it up enough and you forget the weaknesses
@@kostringworks it’s very open. Kinda feels like a piano because chord voicings are so wide. The chords move around much easier, leads are very intuitive. It’s Bb F C G D f Full disclosure, I think I kinda made this up. It’s the Robert Fripp tuning a whole step down, so not too original, but I’ve never seen it done anywhere else before and it does require special strings and a meticulous set up
Interesting insight young dude! Thanks! I started playing guitar very, very late in life. I spent the first, very long time, separating my thumb from the first three fingers of my picking hand. The first song I learned to play was John Fahey’s Sunflower River Blues. Then Jack Rose Kensington Blues. So open C is my tuning of choice. I have learned some “standard” tuning things and have discovered that the standard cowboy chords can be manipulated in fingerstyle. It’s all very interesting. I think one’s intentions my determine where they need to go. I have no intentions of performing and certainly have not intentions of playing in a band. (If I were going to do that I would play drums anyway.) my intentions are to have fun, study guitar, discover new things and, I guess, be a perpetual beginner. I was recently talking to a youngish (to me) guy that plays guitar in the worship band at our church. He has been playing guitar since he was a little kid. He’s quite good. I mentioned playing in an alternate tuning and he completely shut down. He had no intention of fooling with that nonsense. Kind of sad really. Another good video. Thanks again young dude! 🙏
Interesting! Don't know too many players that are most comfortable in C, but based of your inspirations that makes a lotta sense! I love open C, I should spend more time in it. Yeah, kinda a bummer to find some folks who are closed off to open tunings, it's always been apart of the tradition as far as I'm concerned, and just plain fun! Thanks for hanging!
The guitar is both an open tuning and a symmetric tuning - absolutely brilliant. Let's think about the piano for a second. Concert middle C is located in the middle of the piano but on the 5th fret of the 3rd string. If we consider this the middle of the instrument, the string pairs that are beneath it (E - A - D - G) are tuned to perfect 4ths and symetrical with the (G - B - E) tuned to an open E minor. This allows you to maintain all the triads throughout the upper range of the instrument while having at least an octave of bass notes to choose from. Watch out, this creates redundancies of pitch (the guitar has 5 middle C pitches). It's a lifelong puzzle to solve but a lot of fun.
So I have the EXACT same perspective as you. I grew up a bass player so I basically ended up coming to view the guitar this way because of that. Great to know others out there have come to this conclusion on their own too. Are there any methods out there you know of that explain it the way we do?
The usual explanation for the irregularity of the 3rd interval in the middle is that it makes chords easier. But chords weren't really talked about as such (i.e. as simplifying units) before the 18th century and this tuning goes back much earlier, actually to a time when the Dorian scale was the most used minor scale in music, while the Ionian/Mixolydian was the one used to teach singing (Guido D'Arezzo and hexachords). And guess what, that 3rd interval puts all three scales directly under the fingers when starting from the 3rd string up. In all 4ths tuning, the natural minor (Aeolian) scale is easy but the Dorian scale requires moving.
Jacob Colier has an interesting approach to guitar where he decided to just ditch one of the strings and tune in a combination of 5ths and 4ths. So you have E,B,F#,b,e which is the same range as a regular guitar but across one less string, and now at least you have somewhat easier to remember chord and scale shapes.
As a bonus, the intervals are also symmetrical about the middle string (imagine a mirror line down the middle of the fretboard), so it has a nice geometry to it. If I hadn't already spent 20 odd years getting to know standard tuning I'd probably be keen to have a go at it!
That tuning is just the same as the 10-string Brazilian "viola caipira" (which is 5 double-courses like a 12 string guitar). It's just a standard open tuning for 5 string guitars.
Standard tuning provides 5 major and 3 minor keys that can be played in “open” position - in the first few frets closest to the headstock. And also using the E an A base strings.
I would have liked to have gone from Pentatonics to Major Scale sooner in my guitar playing, looking back.Learning theory really opens up gates to all other 'fields' crossing every instrument.The language itself. I also love the open tunings of Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake and Jimmy Page. I loved the video.Well done
For solely chordal purposes standard tuning is a necessity. For anything else it is garbage and a hindrance on learning music. Consistent intervals across your instrument is a huge benefit for connecting your ear with your instrument.
@@eohippusonejust complete nonsense the intervals between the strings on your instrument do not stop you from playing chords or single notes. The very idea is ridiculous. It's not a hindrance to anything
Tuning a guitar all in 4ths would mean that any particular chord or scale shape could be played on any string, at any fret and the pattern would be the same. It would actually make learning easier, you just wouldn't have the same open chords and a lot of chords would be 4 or 5 note shapes. You wouldn't have to learn a different shape for the same voicing that you have to in standard tuning. Try tuning in 4th and play the lowest 4 strings of major barre shape, now you can transpose that shape to any of the other strings without having to learn a different shape.same goes for scales. Can't get more consistent than using just one interval between each string.
I always had difficulties understanding music in the traditional guitar way. I was never convinced by the learning method when I studied at the conservatory.was imposible to apply harmony theory too like the piano. A while ago I discovered zigzag tuning of major and minor thirds(m-M-m-M-m-M). I tried A C G B D F. My head literally exploded and studying harmony on the guitar was similar to reading a pentagram. Try it and tell me. a hug and blessings.
When I was a kid, my dad gave my brother and I a guitar. I thought it was odd to have that third there and decided to tune it to fourths all the way up. I snapped the high-E string. It must have been old, but I didn't ever do it again.
I tuned mine to all fifths, like violins etc. you have to start with lower than normal on the low string to leave enough room to tune the high string. Makes scales simple. Got some interesting sounds from it. But ukulele tuning the D string (so its an octave higher) has been very productive. Great video!
I need to experiment with that more! I play fiddle and mando which are 5ths and love the way 5ths work under the hands. You ever check out Carl Kress? Jazz guitar player from the early days who played in 5ths.
I love this kind of stuff. To me, there's this major chord on strings 2, 3, & 4 ready to go, so the major third in the tuning is conventional musically.
I play in standard tuned to DGCFAd. A lot of people don't realise alot music in played in standard can easily be transposed to higher or lower key to support the singer. While alternative tunings are amazing for creating they are a chore relearning shapes and modes you previously learned in standard.
Dude, yes. I kinda hold the opinion that all guitars just sound better tuned low. If you dork on on the history of stringed instruments, you'll find some stuff that they generally just were pitched lower (whatever the intervals may have been). I think it had something to do with as halls grew, the demand for louder instruments also grew so our standard "A" just kept getting raised. Higher pitch, more downward pressure on the top of the instruments, more volume. Anyway, low strung guitars all day.
I think you will find that the guitar is tuned to A minor/C major but with 7ths made easier. The G string really starts one note up on A, and the B string really starts one note up on C. The base sting was A, and they added more base by adding the fifth, E! That way you can alternate the base A E A E A D, and easily play A minor, or C major chords above. And when you think that the Piano was also tuned to A minor/C major, what other tuning would you choose in a house with a piano?
@@kostringworks hmmm, not sure why you ask about tuning the high E string to D. E is the third in C, and the fifth in A. D would be the second in C and fourth in A.
If we start by the common first position for the left hand, with one finger per fret, we see that on the 6th string we get only to G#, and A follows as the 5th string open. And so on. The difference between the 3rd and 2nd string is due to chord fingering reasons, but the tuning in fourths is logical in the first position: you find all the notes of the chromatic scale, from E2 to G#4, and not one is doubled except for B3. That's about the vertical approach to an instrument derived from the lute, that didn't (doesn't) have many frets and hasn't the same possibilities of horizontal developments.
Eh? No it isn't what are you talking about strings tuned down a semitone? The circle of fifths is a part of music theory. It's not simply designed for guitars by any means it doesn't have anything to do with the tuning of a guitar.
@Johnny_Doe what I said was the circle of fifths is not any influence on why the guitar is tuned the way it is. The circle of fifths is not specifically created for the guitar. I don't even know what you mean about the first E string tuned down half a step?? What do you mean by that? none of the E strings are tuned down a semitone in standard tuning. Also what question? there is no question
@ Look at the circle of fifths chart. You see on the right you’ll have the sequence E-A-D-G-C-F pattern moving your way counter clockwise. Well if you tune down the “C” to a “b” and the “F” to an “e”, you’ll have the Standard Tuning of a guitar. So Standard tuning of a guitar utilizes the circle of 5ths theory but the 2nd and 1st strings are tuned down to make for playing chords easier….Geez. You understand? Or do we have to explain further?
Simple answer? So you can play six note chords. I learned that from watching the companion video to Adam Kadmon's Guitar Grimoire scales and modes book. It's fairly simple, even though it was centuries in the making. I've recently switched one of my guitars to all fourths, since that eliminates the idiosyncrasy between the 2nd and 3rd strings. I'm undecided on it now, but it should be an interesting experiment.
Cool to know that this G to F# tuning was used on a lute, I discovered it randomly a few years ago and have since written some of my favorite songs in it. I feel that the major third being in the middle makes much more sense, that way it divides the guitar just at the half point (4th-4th-Maj 3rd-4th-4th). I really recommended digging more into it, it's not a dramatic difference from standard tuning so it's not to hard to get used to, and allows some chord voicings normally unavailable, like an open low Esus2 for example (like the Asus shape but moved one string down)
Before the 7 and 8 strings came along, you could use a standard tuned guitar to play along with most of what was on the radio. To add to that a 7 or 8 string isn't enough because there are many alternate tunings used so you find yourself re-tuning for every song. As long as I can pluck my g-string I'm happy.
As I’ve understood it a tuning is to enable lazy fingering for the music you play. Standard tuning seems to be the best solution for folk music. Jazz, Rock, classical music may profit from other tunings. But like with typewriters people often stick to the layout they learned first even if there are better solutions. If I started guitar I’d choose perfect fourth because bass and guitar would have the same shapes for chords and I could switch easily.
agree..its simple for folk tunes and cord strumming...also a lot of music has been written by very talented people in this tuning over many year...For jazz I go with 4ths...includes most Bossa tunes...
Interesting, but ready for a deeper dive. So the modern standard tuning has its roots in the lute, but why/how/when/where did tunings start, i.e., why were lutes tuned as they were? While I'm complicating things, why are brass and woodwinds "tuned" to Bɓ, Eb or F? But stringed instruments seem E-A-D centric? What evolutionary sorcery is this? Enjoyed the video - thanks!
I love this. I dunno man, I think the 4ths thing is just because harmony tends to move in 4ths or 5ths so it makes for easier navigation. It is sorcery though no matter how you slice it.
Standard tuning (EADGBE) has the same notes as an Em pentatonic scale (EGABDE). Maybe that explains our gravitational pull to pentatonics. Great video Kyle!
Thanks, Kyle. Doubt if you are still monitoring this old content, but thanks just the same. I care enough to contribute to the conversation. I did scoot though the comments, but there are a lot, so sorry if this is repetitive. There were loads of lute tunings and varying numbers (or courses) of strings during the renaissance. With the baroque guitar. the similarity to modern guitar standard only makes sense if you assume the bottom string is missing. If you look just at the intervals, you could as well say the top string is missing, in which case it's like the lute tuning you describe. The 'all 4ths' tuning has been used quite a bit in jazz (step forward Stanley Jordan) and has an easy f chord (always good in jazz!). It seems to me that alternative tuning players fall into two camps: Joni Mitchell and the like (find a tuning do a few songs, move on) and Pierre Bensusan (make one alternative tuning your standard tuning). Great, enjoyable post.
Hey Robert! I do try to get to all the comments (even on old vids)! Yea the 4ths thing can be sick! I grew up a bass player so I actually considered it when learning guitar. The main reason I went with standard is because all my favorite songs were out of that tuning. I think from a theory or even the jazzer prospective, 4ths would be a fantastic way to go. And yeah I agree with you on the alt tuning camps. Lots of old blues players just lived in their “alternate tunings”, which begs the question whether it makes it an alternate tuning to them or not haha. Anyway, thanks for the insightful comment!! See ya around!
I always play in a dropped 4ths tuning, usually in C (CGCFA#D#). I think it has something to do with starting out as a 6 string bass player. Also Devin Townsends open C tuning was a big inspiration, though I don't play in open C too often
I think it's because we have 4 fingers, and you can hit every notes of the scale in the same box. 1 2 3 4 and change string, 1234 change string down to the b where you only use 3 fingers to change to it. On the violin, because the neck is so short, you tune it in reverse, your fingers have more range and you can reach more notes in the same box.
That, that is an incredibly elegant answer. I’ve come to similar conclusions about standard when working on position-playing. You can reach all 12 notes with four fingers by moving across strings instead of frets. Meaning you can play in all keys without shifting if you’re clever. Never thought of scale length though being a reason to flip to 5ths. I think that makes a lotta sense. The upright bass used to be tuned in 5ths and at some point went to 4ths. Makes you wonder!
Part of me wonders why they didn't go for all open strings tuned to a low minor chord so that you could simply bar the chords, and use a single finger to bump up the third to major but I suppose that hinders more complex chords and maybe scales as well
I haven't finished the video, this is the first time watching one of your videos, I'm 5 seconds in and I really hope you or anyone else doesn't actually play G like that. Update: Just watched the video more and I thought you had your 2nd and 3rd finger on the 3rd fret on the B and E string like a normal G. Now it makes sense. My bad, I'm leaving my first comment though so people can laugh at me.
The idea behind the early 4 & 5 string guitars was to imitate a parlor lute. The idea was to be able to play all the triad groups (maj, min, dom, dim, Aug) on the same three strings ( d,g,b,) and the extensions and alterations are handled by the extra finger (pinky). The a and e were to extend the range and codified in the earliest gut string Spanish (classicals)
Actually, in Standard if you bar the top 3 strings you have a minor chord with the root on the 1st string. If you bar the 2,3,and 4 strings you have a major chord with the root on the 4th string. If you use Drop D and bar 4, 5, and 6 strings you you have a fat power chord with root on 5. And those are all within easy reach at same position. Sticking with Drop D, you get a super wide, really beautiful D minor chord if you bar the 1, 2, and 3 strings at 10th fret. Someone once said to me you can think of each string as it's own instrument. One day it dawned on me you could do the same for sets of strings. I used to draw the fretboard and circle all the common bar chord shapes I could find. There are many! But they all follow simple, repeating patterns. From then on I started thinking in terms of notes, not chords. A lot of chord progressions only change 1 note between chords. A lot you can do with this.
Here's another perspective: At a glance, if you attempted to add strings on the guitar, ascending by a perfect 4th interval each new string, it would take many more strings to land on the target pitch again. E, A, D, G, C, F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb, E. That's a whopping 8 additional strings to close the tuning system. The guitar tuning system, to me, is foundationally built on two bass strings, E and A. Some may regard D as an additional bass string given the equal-parts 3/3 strings balance; however, the tuning system fails on the D string when attempting to recreate barre chord shapes. More to be said about strengths and weaknesses about the guitar tuning system, but it's decent in standard tuning, and it succeeds in a closed system with mind to the average hand size and finger placement limitations.
Great info, but it doesn't get to the why. The guitar is a pentatonic instrument, and standard tuning lays out the fretboard in pentatonic scales. However, the notes are not laid out in contiguous order within an octave. They are in alternating order across the bass and treble halves of the guitar. EADGBE in alternating order is EGABDE, aka Em pentatonic, and its relative major scale G pentatonic, GABDE. You now have a matrix for memorizing/understanding the fretboard. Every fret is the next ascending pentatonic scale laid out in alternating order across the bass and treble.
Sorry bud! Also I think your input here is also more of a "what" and not a "why" either. But very nicely described either way! The "why" is because it's a relative of the lute.
what a great video ! when i picked up the guitar again after about a decade of not having one , i made the decision to ditch standard tuning altogether for the express purpose that there was less education about them to learn , and that if i wanted to memorize the shapes & language of the tuning i would be forced to do it by ear. so basically , the same reason you describe standard as the best , is the reason i chose not to use it ! the tuning i ended up choosing was DADF#AE - Dadd9 because i liked the way it sounded best. i dont really mind if some of the shapes are harder because i never learned the easy ones to begin with !
Ha, I love it. That's the beauty of this whole thing, do what you want until you land on what you like. I had a student bring in a tune ones that was in your Dadd9 tuning. Super beautiful.
6 string Renaissance viols were also tuned in 4ths with a 3rd in the middle. it makes sense when you have more than 4 strings to bring things back together harmonically. Going from the E, A, D, and G to C and F is a bridge too far on the circle of 5ths when it comes to logical chord construction. Standard tuning has embedded major and minor triads, and matching bass and treble positions in the E strings. Sure, its a compromise between chord and melody, but how many guitarists only want to shred single note lines and never harmonize or comp? Maybe they should take up the saxophone.
Didn’t know that about the viols! Thanks dude. And yeah, it’s always a compromise, with sax at the very bottom. (😂 just kidding of course sax is sick!)
Nice video! I have a guitar permanently in open C and another one that rarely goes from open G to standard. Trying to play "real" songs in standard tuning doesn't interest me anymore. Open tunings let me make my own music (but you do have to pay attention so as to not get into a rut with the same picking pattern). Occasionally I'll discover a "real" song that works in open tuning. I can play a very jazzy version of Summertime on my 5 string guitar tuned D G D Bb d (open Gm).
It’s as real as you make it! I think it’s such a cool part about the string players tradition - to be able to tune your instrument however you feel - something that other instruments don’t get to explore! You guys are making me jealous of all your C tuned guitars! Thanks for sharing and for tuning in!
Good video. However, the clearest and simplest answer is that modern 6-string tuning lends itself naturally and much more easily to the hand's anatomy while playing chords of all fingerings (3-string, 4-string, 5-string, 6-string chords, and even 2-string voicings. Subscribed. Happy I discovered your channel.
Hadn’t really considered hand anatomy! I would if people who play open tunings more would agree or not. Either way, I def find standard to feel great under my hands too. Thanks for subbing!
Standard tuning is the most versatile tuning for the six string guitar. Tuning in all perfect fourths would ruin most of the chord shapes and limit the number of keys to play complicated music in.
That F# third string is evidently Bruce Cockburn's go-to. Two of my favorites, Joni Mitchell and Chris Whitley used a variety of tunings that make sense in the context of a given song. All 3 would be interesting deep dives on your channel. Ry Cooder introduced the Stones to open G that evolved to open E, e.g. Street Fighting Man. Jimmy Page messing with DADGAD gave us Kashmir and Black Mountainside, his version of Bert Jansch's Black Waterside in drop D. Neil Young is a drop D fan. Robert Fripp devised the New Standard Tuning that is 5ths with 3rds for the two highest strings, otherwise 6 sting guitars would have 4 usable strings and 2 broken strings. There are almost as many ways to tune a guitar as there are to skin a cat.
These are great. I've always wanted to mess around with a 6 string guitar tuned to 5ths. I've got a video in the hopper about Carl Kress from the early jazz era who did just that. Yeah man, no right or wrong way about it. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you. My take is that 4 fingers on a fretboard is a huge limitation for harmony. Standard tuning emphasizes: [1] Open strings and barre chords (free finger! Bigger sound with open strings) [2] easy major and minor triads for the naturals (common chords known to your fellow players). Therefore, voicing isn't important (bigger sound is better than second interversion) and moving the shapes up and down isn't important (not so many shapes to memorize anyway if we limit ourselves to common chords). In this view, "mapping out the fretboard" is like mapping out alice in wonderland. It's not the point. Standard tuning was not meant to be mapped. Kudos to classical players for squeezing every bit of power out of the standard tuning stone. But standard doesn't care that melodic intervals are messed up. Tunings like M3 (my fave) go the furthest in showing how the fretboard can be incredibly more logical than a piano (and instruments like harpejji and linnstrument go further still). With M3 you get tons of voicing options and the ability to play and transpose songs only knowing their underlying theory (harmony) and intervals (melody). No big 6 string chords though.
Thanks for all the insight! I haven’t messed around with M3, though I’m familiar with it. You’re definitely selling me on it right now haha. I personally view tunings as something best used to match the “character” of a song or style. I just so happens more of the songs I dig are in standard, so I’ve ended up learning a lot about it because of it. But as a standard device to understand music or theory, for sure has a lot of challenges.
That's interesting. What's your opinion on tuning in 4ths? I went this route coming from playing bass. 5 string EADGC. Found that playing bass chords is quite fun. Figured I would just transfer that logic to a guitar. I found that I could play it right away without getting lost. I just use no more that 4 strings at a time. Kind of felt like this was cheating.
@@pgnandt It's not cheating when it's your rules, and those are the only ones that matter. Lots of people like all 4ths anyway. 4 string chords you say? Well, power chords only use 3, and careers are built on them. Check out the chord charts for all 4ths if you wanna try a bigger sound.
@@jasonjayalap When I say no more than 4 strings I'm referring to not needing to sound off all six strings on a guitar like a bar chord. I get what you're saying. Only need two strings to make a chord really. Yeah legends have been created with power chords. Biggest challenge for me was the small neck and trying to suck up the pain as the stings dig into my fingers.😆
@@pgnandt Excellent. For further reading/watching, you might look into "bajo sexto" and 6 string bass technique (depending on how bass you want your guitar).
There's one thing I've learned from playing extended range and altered tuning guitars is that the standard designs are standard for a reason. Many times these alternate designs make more musical sense, but the increase in difficulty of playing the instrument is often large, and can't totally be overcome with practice. Playing non-standard instruments has not led to better or more freely written music for me.
Standard tuning is best for general use, and songwriting. While alternative tunings are great for playing in a specific key, and reaching sounds and harmonies within that key that you otherwise could never get.
@@MusicManFernando Yes. Standard guitar shapes will no longer work. If you play standard already there's no reason to switch. I play in 4ths because I'm familiar with bass chord shapes. There was no mental transition really. Just a real small neck and strings that hurt my fingers.
It could have used a major chord as a standard tuning. I don't know how it would turn out. By the way, I think guitar became popular because of it's relatively easy accessibility. And it's ability to have a melodic, harmonic, rhythmic functions all in one, with a base tone.
Dropping the B string to A is a popular alternative since they're mainly used by metal players, and they like having the one-finger power chords on the lower strings
Brazilians playing choro or samba usually tune the lowest-pitched string to C, but sometimes B. Jazz, usually A. Metal, A or everything even lower, I think? I had lessons as a teenager with Preston Reed (back when he lived in Minnesota) who got me used to lots of different tunings. One of my favorites of his to this day is D A D E C D, since it has 2 sets of open strings that are seconds, so you can do much of a scale just with the open strings. On seven string, I've been triangulating the tuning and the capo to the particular song (going 'full joni'!). Tunings with closer intervals for certain tunes can open up close harmonies that would be impossible on guitar otherwise. A D A D F# B E and Bb F Bb D F Bb D are great. When I go back to standard now, I feel like it's difficult not to fall into chord voicings that are too familiar. But the downside is that it is very difficult to memorize arrangements in a tuning you don't usually use, since the chord shapes and scale patterns are disorienting.
Drop Tuning a 4-string BASS to D G B E (Octave below TOP stings of guitar) gets kinda interesting. You can be in (drop) tune with "Metal" Guitarists... and blow them away with easy 4-string chords? :P As a bonus, the whole Ukulele family uses the same chord fingerings, albeit with different naming...
Really, the simple reason is because musical scales aren't perfectly symmetrical; scales are only temptingly close to perfect symmetry. If you try to divide any scale perfectly in half, the note that is at the midpoint of the scale is the tritone, which always clashes with the root note. That half-way through the scale note always wants to be 1/2 step lower (a perfect 4th) or higher for a perfect 5th. Scales could be perfectly symmetrical if they only used 5 notes, i.e. a pentatonic scale. Many "folk music" scales are exactly that, and open tunings for guitar are generally based on a pentatonic scale. This makes it very easy to play--*in one key*, but if you want to play in your choice of keys and have 7 notes in every scale/key, you'll have to deal with the compromise of everything not being perfectly symmetrical. It's like pi, which should be a very simple formula, but no, it requires a fraction with an infinite number of decimal places. lol, I didn't do any better at explaining it than you did.
Here is another thing to think about. Standard tuning also sounds the best to our ears. And one of those reasons is guitar strings are created in a way that the string is an actual E string and is produced to be an E string at 440. The right thickness of string and the right tension on the string to produce E at 440. This is one of the reasons when someone is not playing in standard tuning something sounds off. The tension on the string is not at equilibrium to produce the perfect vibration. Many songs not in standard tuning still sound great, but if you listen close you will hear something does not sound right, something sounds off, but it still works. To be clear standard tuning is what gives us the most options to play on the guitar. And with that, we create strings to that format. That E string was never produced to be a D string or a C string. Again standard is 440 for a reason, because that is what sounds best to most peoples ears. It gives us the most options and strings are created that way. Not to mention the guitar, the guitar is also made for that spot to be an E for an E string. I think it would be cool to see them make guitars and strings to change standard tuning and see if it still sounds off.
Interesting! There are companies that make heavier gauge strings and makers that produce longer scale guitars to allow for a lower string guitar and still sound even. Just to add to the conversation.
I think the biggest benefit to standard tuning is that it is yknow, standard. Like a lot of people have already figured out cool ways to use it and you don’t need to invent a whole new style of playing to make some nice sounds. That being said, it’s a bit harder to make unique sounds for that same reason
@@kostringworksyeah definitely, like new standard tuning is cool and all I just personally think an octave mandolin does a better job at using fifths tuning in that register
Thanks for watching! For more deep dives into guitar history and playing styles, be sure to join up on Patreon! ⬇⬇⬇
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So you can remember: Eddie Ate Dynamite Good Bye Eddie. ;) haha.
Haha, that’s EXACTLY it!
my brain remembers it as EAD G B E - EAD, like eat one word, and G B E, and when you say G B E fast it kinda sounds like Gibby.
Eat, Gibby! Eat!
Pretty unforgettable to me, maybe because I watched iCarly.
As a father of boys during that time, YES! 😅
Good thing that Sponge Bob wasn’t involved, although there’s the movie . . .
Ukulele is gcea = Good Cats Eat Anything
Mine was. Every Acid Deal Gets Busted Early...
In short, standard tuning was arrived at for chord shapes and ease of fingering, evidently. Makes sense. Enjoyed the video. Thanks. Music owes an awful lot to Pythagoras and mathematics.
Tunings are a world of wonders. I play guitar in standard tuning but also various alternates--double drop D, open D, open C, open G. From what you gain in added drones you lose in minor chords or full minor shapes. Also learning lap steel in various tunings--dobro G, open D, C6 and A6. Add banjo, octave mandolin, and fooling around with a ukulele now and then, and I'm able to write and play songs in about a dozen tunings. Plus piano. It's amazing the amount of kinetic memory we're capable of when applying ourselves. And practicing. The lap steel 6th tunings were a real epiphany. In C6, for example, strings are (low to high) CEGACE. A is the 6th tone of the C major scale. You get a C major chord and/or an A minor chord. CEG and ACE. Plus you get three inversions or 'grips' of each chord. CEG, EGC, and GCE , for example. At the 5th fret, you get F and Dm and 7th fret G and Em. I prefer A6 myself. It's lower and throatier in tone than C6. In C6, the minor chord is on top. In A6, it's the major triad. Highly recommend getting into lap steel for a musical adventure.
Dude crazy. I’ll have to check some of those steel tunings out. Love the idea of that. Thanks for sharing!
@@kostringworks, have fun! Handy to know that you can tune A6 or C6 with same set of strings. A6 is C# E F# A C# E. Sleepwalk is one of the earliest songs I can remember. Doug Beaumier's version in C6 got me going on lap steel. He's got two great books of lap steel tablature, too. I like to learn by playing songs, myself. Once I'd learned several songs, I started writing my own. ruclips.net/video/xGD04s76V98/видео.html
Music was a thing long before Pythagoras
@@kostringworks I've heard that The G string can never really be in tune Harmonically. Is there any Truth?
this sounds adventurous
You compared that D chord to an A minor - if you think about it, it's really just the E major shape moved across the strings, which you can do now because you're in all 4ths. A major would be the same shape too, of course you'd have to mute that F string.
Dude, that's some great insight! Interesting that I saw it as "A minor" when it was so clearly coming about of the E major shape family! As you could probably tell, I was discovering these chords in the moment, and I've programmed my brain to see that shape as minor on the high string sets, but I love that way of framing it. Thanks for pointing that out!
Proof that Keith Richards has been around since the Baroque era :)
He’s younger than Mick.🤷♂️why does everyone keep repeating this tired ‘old’ joke? Your comment is funny ,by the way. Just saying.
Because Keith A. Has looked old for most of his life (lol)
And B. The dude is like a human cockroach. How he is alive is a medical marvel. Between his drug use and partying he was also electrocuted, escaped not one but 2 fires that he possibly set by passing out with lit cigarettes, and was once injected a poisoned (with strychnine) batch of heroin into his body.
He's earned the old jokes at this point. Even death can't figure out how to claim his ass. Lol
@@Justmemyguy David Letterman said this about an upcoming Rolling Stones tour sometime around the late 90's or early 2000's, "The Rolling Stones live. Plus Keith Richards."
@@1ouncebird
People didn't think he'd survive the 60's..or the 70's...or the 80's. haha by the time he reached 1990 everyone just kinda went with Keith being older than death itself. haha The fact he's alive in 2024 is like a biblical story come to life. lol
We all have to start thinking about what kind of a world we're going to leave for keith richards
One of the last parts deep asf
“you realize music is just hard, but that’s okay because you have your whole life to figure it out”
God dayum
Thanks bud! And you get the golden viewer award for making it to the end!
@@kostringworks littttt
Not gonna lie, I teared up a bit. I’m an audio engineer, my two kids are professional violinist and violist, and life is still too short to hear and play enough music. But that’s OK. It’s good. It’s the best.
Yep totally agree, a reliable , endlessly giving partner for life's journey
I started off playing on fifths-tuned instruments, like mandolin and tenor guitar, and never took the time to wrap my head around standard tuning. I know it makes a lot of chord shapes easier and lends itself to barres. But I just prefer the symmetry of fifths tuning. Probably too late to teach this old dog new tricks. Thanks for the video.
Your welcome! 5ths are sweet!! Most stringed instruments are tuned that way anyhow so you made a fine choice!
I play a lot in Bb new standard tuning and I’ve found the easiest way to approach it is to try new things and embrace the new voicings you get. Each tuning has its strengths, switch it up enough and you forget the weaknesses
For sure, what the Bb new standard all about?
@@kostringworks it’s very open. Kinda feels like a piano because chord voicings are so wide. The chords move around much easier, leads are very intuitive. It’s Bb F C G D f
Full disclosure, I think I kinda made this up. It’s the Robert Fripp tuning a whole step down, so not too original, but I’ve never seen it done anywhere else before and it does require special strings and a meticulous set up
@@CaptainErndope. Gonna try it out. ‘Preciate
Interesting insight young dude! Thanks!
I started playing guitar very, very late in life. I spent the first, very long time, separating my thumb from the first three fingers of my picking hand. The first song I learned to play was John Fahey’s Sunflower River Blues. Then Jack Rose Kensington Blues. So open C is my tuning of choice. I have learned some “standard” tuning things and have discovered that the standard cowboy chords can be manipulated in fingerstyle. It’s all very interesting. I think one’s intentions my determine where they need to go. I have no intentions of performing and certainly have not intentions of playing in a band. (If I were going to do that I would play drums anyway.) my intentions are to have fun, study guitar, discover new things and, I guess, be a perpetual beginner. I was recently talking to a youngish (to me) guy that plays guitar in the worship band at our church. He has been playing guitar since he was a little kid. He’s quite good. I mentioned playing in an alternate tuning and he completely shut down. He had no intention of fooling with that nonsense. Kind of sad really.
Another good video. Thanks again young dude! 🙏
Interesting! Don't know too many players that are most comfortable in C, but based of your inspirations that makes a lotta sense! I love open C, I should spend more time in it.
Yeah, kinda a bummer to find some folks who are closed off to open tunings, it's always been apart of the tradition as far as I'm concerned, and just plain fun!
Thanks for hanging!
Open C is my current favourite tuning. Sometimes I drop the E string to Eb for C minor, or drop the E down to C and get an extra drony sound.
Gwenifer Raymond is an excellent open tuned guitarist, check her out!
@@sc1915 I have been watching her for a while. She is great. Scary. 😂
@@danbgt wow, okay I just checked out her version of uncloudy day that she did for acoustic mag. Just amazing, thanks for the recommendation dudes!
The guitar is both an open tuning and a symmetric tuning - absolutely brilliant. Let's think about the piano for a second. Concert middle C is located in the middle of the piano but on the 5th fret of the 3rd string. If we consider this the middle of the instrument, the string pairs that are beneath it (E - A - D - G) are tuned to perfect 4ths and symetrical with the (G - B - E) tuned to an open E minor. This allows you to maintain all the triads throughout the upper range of the instrument while having at least an octave of bass notes to choose from. Watch out, this creates redundancies of pitch (the guitar has 5 middle C pitches). It's a lifelong puzzle to solve but a lot of fun.
So I have the EXACT same perspective as you. I grew up a bass player so I basically ended up coming to view the guitar this way because of that. Great to know others out there have come to this conclusion on their own too. Are there any methods out there you know of that explain it the way we do?
The usual explanation for the irregularity of the 3rd interval in the middle is that it makes chords easier. But chords weren't really talked about as such (i.e. as simplifying units) before the 18th century and this tuning goes back much earlier, actually to a time when the Dorian scale was the most used minor scale in music, while the Ionian/Mixolydian was the one used to teach singing (Guido D'Arezzo and hexachords).
And guess what, that 3rd interval puts all three scales directly under the fingers when starting from the 3rd string up. In all 4ths tuning, the natural minor (Aeolian) scale is easy but the Dorian scale requires moving.
The standard tuning on guitar allows for barre chords to work (along with a capo), making it more of a transpositional instrument.
This dude looks like Layne Staley & Tony Hawk combined.. and for that reason, I will hit the subscribe button
Absolutely fascinating!! I've played the guitar for over 50 years and never knew where the standard tuning came from.
Glad to hear it! It’s fun to feel the connection to something much older than we thought!
Jacob Colier has an interesting approach to guitar where he decided to just ditch one of the strings and tune in a combination of 5ths and 4ths. So you have E,B,F#,b,e which is the same range as a regular guitar but across one less string, and now at least you have somewhat easier to remember chord and scale shapes.
As a bonus, the intervals are also symmetrical about the middle string (imagine a mirror line down the middle of the fretboard), so it has a nice geometry to it. If I hadn't already spent 20 odd years getting to know standard tuning I'd probably be keen to have a go at it!
Crazy. I heard about his 5 string, but that's a pretty rad take on the tuning!
That tuning is just the same as the 10-string Brazilian "viola caipira" (which is 5 double-courses like a 12 string guitar). It's just a standard open tuning for 5 string guitars.
Standard tuning provides 5 major and 3 minor keys that can be played in “open” position - in the first few frets closest to the headstock. And also using the E an A base strings.
I would have liked to have gone from Pentatonics to Major Scale sooner in my guitar playing, looking back.Learning theory really opens up gates to all other 'fields' crossing every instrument.The language itself.
I also love the open tunings of Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake and Jimmy Page.
I loved the video.Well done
Really nice insights all around. Joni’s tunings are just awe-inspiring whenever I start messing with them.
I hear ya. God damn that blues box
For solely chordal purposes standard tuning is a necessity. For anything else it is garbage and a hindrance on learning music. Consistent intervals across your instrument is a huge benefit for connecting your ear with your instrument.
It can be so maddening.
@@eohippusonejust complete nonsense the intervals between the strings on your instrument do not stop you from playing chords or single notes. The very idea is ridiculous. It's not a hindrance to anything
poser@@Ana_crusis
@@marsh346 ignoramus
Tuning a guitar all in 4ths would mean that any particular chord or scale shape could be played on any string, at any fret and the pattern would be the same. It would actually make learning easier, you just wouldn't have the same open chords and a lot of chords would be 4 or 5 note shapes. You wouldn't have to learn a different shape for the same voicing that you have to in standard tuning. Try tuning in 4th and play the lowest 4 strings of major barre shape, now you can transpose that shape to any of the other strings without having to learn a different shape.same goes for scales. Can't get more consistent than using just one interval between each string.
I always had difficulties understanding music in the traditional guitar way. I was never convinced by the learning method when I studied at the conservatory.was imposible to apply harmony theory too like the piano. A while ago I discovered zigzag tuning of major and minor thirds(m-M-m-M-m-M). I tried A C G B D F. My head literally exploded and studying harmony on the guitar was similar to reading a pentagram. Try it and tell me. a hug and blessings.
Crazy! I will have to try it some time!
fire concept/background dude, love the vintage format
Thanks dude!!
When I was a kid, my dad gave my brother and I a guitar. I thought it was odd to have that third there and decided to tune it to fourths all the way up. I snapped the high-E string. It must have been old, but I didn't ever do it again.
Another informative and entertaining video.
Dude I'm so glad! Hope it shed a little light on a huge topic in the guitar community!
I tuned mine to all fifths, like violins etc. you have to start with lower than normal on the low string to leave enough room to tune the high string.
Makes scales simple.
Got some interesting sounds from it.
But ukulele tuning the D string (so its an octave higher) has been very productive.
Great video!
I need to experiment with that more! I play fiddle and mando which are 5ths and love the way 5ths work under the hands. You ever check out Carl Kress? Jazz guitar player from the early days who played in 5ths.
I love this kind of stuff.
To me, there's this major chord on strings 2, 3, & 4 ready to go, so the major third in the tuning is conventional musically.
I play in standard tuned to DGCFAd. A lot of people don't realise alot music in played in standard can easily be transposed to higher or lower key to support the singer. While alternative tunings are amazing for creating they are a chore relearning shapes and modes you previously learned in standard.
Dude, yes. I kinda hold the opinion that all guitars just sound better tuned low. If you dork on on the history of stringed instruments, you'll find some stuff that they generally just were pitched lower (whatever the intervals may have been). I think it had something to do with as halls grew, the demand for louder instruments also grew so our standard "A" just kept getting raised. Higher pitch, more downward pressure on the top of the instruments, more volume.
Anyway, low strung guitars all day.
I think you will find that the guitar is tuned to A minor/C major but with 7ths made easier. The G string really starts one note up on A, and the B string really starts one note up on C. The base sting was A, and they added more base by adding the fifth, E! That way you can alternate the base A E A E A D, and easily play A minor, or C major chords above. And when you think that the Piano was also tuned to A minor/C major, what other tuning would you choose in a house with a piano?
This seems super cool! Curious about the reason for tuning the high e string to d?
@@kostringworks hmmm, not sure why you ask about tuning the high E string to D. E is the third in C, and the fifth in A. D would be the second in C and fourth in A.
I always say standard tuning allows you to play a 6 note barre chord that is major (or minor by removing the second finger).
If we start by the common first position for the left hand, with one finger per fret, we see that on the 6th string we get only to G#, and A follows as the 5th string open. And so on. The difference between the 3rd and 2nd string is due to chord fingering reasons, but the tuning in fourths is logical in the first position: you find all the notes of the chromatic scale, from E2 to G#4, and not one is doubled except for B3. That's about the vertical approach to an instrument derived from the lute, that didn't (doesn't) have many frets and hasn't the same possibilities of horizontal developments.
If I decide to tune my guitar to all fourths, where would I learn all those new chord shapes?? I think I would be lost.
Ha I’m not sure!
Circle of fifths is the reason for Standard tuning, with the 2nd “b” & 1st “e” string tuned down 1/2 a step to make fretting chords easier.
Makes sense!
Eh? No it isn't what are you talking about strings tuned down a semitone? The circle of fifths is a part of music theory. It's not simply designed for guitars by any means it doesn't have anything to do with the tuning of a guitar.
@@Ana_crusis Why is the guitar tuned the way it is? I perfectly explained why…The question was specific to guitar.
@Johnny_Doe what I said was the circle of fifths is not any influence on why the guitar is tuned the way it is. The circle of fifths is not specifically created for the guitar. I don't even know what you mean about the first E string tuned down half a step?? What do you mean by that? none of the E strings are tuned down a semitone in standard tuning.
Also what question? there is no question
@ Look at the circle of fifths chart. You see on the right you’ll have the sequence E-A-D-G-C-F pattern moving your way counter clockwise. Well if you tune down the “C” to a “b” and the “F” to an “e”, you’ll have the Standard Tuning of a guitar. So Standard tuning of a guitar utilizes the circle of 5ths theory but the 2nd and 1st strings are tuned down to make for playing chords easier….Geez. You understand? Or do we have to explain further?
Excellent video
Thanks Issam! I love geeking over this stuff.
Simple answer? So you can play six note chords.
I learned that from watching the companion video to Adam Kadmon's Guitar Grimoire scales and modes book. It's fairly simple, even though it was centuries in the making. I've recently switched one of my guitars to all fourths, since that eliminates the idiosyncrasy between the 2nd and 3rd strings. I'm undecided on it now, but it should be an interesting experiment.
Sounds fun dude! Let me know how you find it once you mess around for a while on it!
@@kostringworks I asked about it on a music theory page, and there's groups of guys who play in all fourths. So apparently, it's a big
thing lol
The open strings in standard tuning also are the same notes as the E minor or G Major pentatonic scales.
Cool to know that this G to F# tuning was used on a lute, I discovered it randomly a few years ago and have since written some of my favorite songs in it.
I feel that the major third being in the middle makes much more sense, that way it divides the guitar just at the half point (4th-4th-Maj 3rd-4th-4th).
I really recommended digging more into it, it's not a dramatic difference from standard tuning so it's not to hard to get used to, and allows some chord voicings normally unavailable, like an open low Esus2 for example (like the Asus shape but moved one string down)
Sounds fun! I haven't messed around with that at all, but from what you're sharing seems like it be fun!
5:10 TO BE CONTINUED ➡️
A really interesting insight into how varied the instrument’s tuning range can be.
Before the 7 and 8 strings came along, you could use a standard tuned guitar to play along with most of what was on the radio. To add to that a 7 or 8 string isn't enough because there are many alternate tunings used so you find yourself re-tuning for every song. As long as I can pluck my g-string I'm happy.
Straight 4ths tuning makes a ton of sense musically, but as soon as I tried playing arpeggios I switched back though. The ergonomics are terrible.
As I’ve understood it a tuning is to enable lazy fingering for the music you play.
Standard tuning seems to be the best solution for folk music.
Jazz, Rock, classical music may profit from other tunings.
But like with typewriters people often stick to the layout they learned first even if there are better solutions.
If I started guitar I’d choose perfect fourth because bass and guitar would have the same shapes for chords and I could switch easily.
Love the typewriter analogy! I do know a handful of guitar players who play in all 4th. They are mostly line players, so it makes sense!
agree..its simple for folk tunes and cord strumming...also a lot of music has been written by very talented people in this tuning over many year...For jazz I go with 4ths...includes most Bossa tunes...
2:28 so “Jigsaw falling into place” is in lute drop D tuning.
Amazing!
Interesting, but ready for a deeper dive. So the modern standard tuning has its roots in the lute, but why/how/when/where did tunings start, i.e., why were lutes tuned as they were? While I'm complicating things, why are brass and woodwinds "tuned" to Bɓ, Eb or F? But stringed instruments seem E-A-D centric? What evolutionary sorcery is this? Enjoyed the video - thanks!
I love this. I dunno man, I think the 4ths thing is just because harmony tends to move in 4ths or 5ths so it makes for easier navigation. It is sorcery though no matter how you slice it.
Standard tuning (EADGBE) has the same notes as an Em pentatonic scale (EGABDE). Maybe that explains our gravitational pull to pentatonics. Great video Kyle!
That's an interesting spin on the pentatonic relationship to guitar! Gonna think on that, thanks!
Thanks, Kyle. Doubt if you are still monitoring this old content, but thanks just the same. I care enough to contribute to the conversation. I did scoot though the comments, but there are a lot, so sorry if this is repetitive. There were loads of lute tunings and varying numbers (or courses) of strings during the renaissance. With the baroque guitar. the similarity to modern guitar standard only makes sense if you assume the bottom string is missing. If you look just at the intervals, you could as well say the top string is missing, in which case it's like the lute tuning you describe. The 'all 4ths' tuning has been used quite a bit in jazz (step forward Stanley Jordan) and has an easy f chord (always good in jazz!). It seems to me that alternative tuning players fall into two camps: Joni Mitchell and the like (find a tuning do a few songs, move on) and Pierre Bensusan (make one alternative tuning your standard tuning). Great, enjoyable post.
Hey Robert! I do try to get to all the comments (even on old vids)!
Yea the 4ths thing can be sick! I grew up a bass player so I actually considered it when learning guitar. The main reason I went with standard is because all my favorite songs were out of that tuning. I think from a theory or even the jazzer prospective, 4ths would be a fantastic way to go.
And yeah I agree with you on the alt tuning camps. Lots of old blues players just lived in their “alternate tunings”, which begs the question whether it makes it an alternate tuning to them or not haha.
Anyway, thanks for the insightful comment!! See ya around!
I always play in a dropped 4ths tuning, usually in C (CGCFA#D#). I think it has something to do with starting out as a 6 string bass player. Also Devin Townsends open C tuning was a big inspiration, though I don't play in open C too often
I think it's because we have 4 fingers, and you can hit every notes of the scale in the same box. 1 2 3 4 and change string, 1234 change string down to the b where you only use 3 fingers to change to it. On the violin, because the neck is so short, you tune it in reverse, your fingers have more range and you can reach more notes in the same box.
That, that is an incredibly elegant answer. I’ve come to similar conclusions about standard when working on position-playing. You can reach all 12 notes with four fingers by moving across strings instead of frets. Meaning you can play in all keys without shifting if you’re clever.
Never thought of scale length though being a reason to flip to 5ths. I think that makes a lotta sense. The upright bass used to be tuned in 5ths and at some point went to 4ths. Makes you wonder!
Part of me wonders why they didn't go for all open strings tuned to a low minor chord so that you could simply bar the chords, and use a single finger to bump up the third to major but I suppose that hinders more complex chords and maybe scales as well
Woah that sounds fun!
I haven't finished the video, this is the first time watching one of your videos, I'm 5 seconds in and I really hope you or anyone else doesn't actually play G like that.
Update: Just watched the video more and I thought you had your 2nd and 3rd finger on the 3rd fret on the B and E string like a normal G. Now it makes sense. My bad, I'm leaving my first comment though so people can laugh at me.
The idea behind the early 4 & 5 string guitars was to imitate a parlor lute. The idea was to be able to play all the triad groups (maj, min, dom, dim, Aug) on the same three strings ( d,g,b,) and the extensions and alterations are handled by the extra finger (pinky). The a and e were to extend the range and codified in the earliest gut string Spanish (classicals)
Nick Drake used that “lute tuning” on Thoughts of Mary Jane to great effect
Actually, in Standard if you bar the top 3 strings you have a minor chord with the root on the 1st string. If you bar the 2,3,and 4 strings you have a major chord with the root on the 4th string. If you use Drop D and bar 4, 5, and 6 strings you you have a fat power chord with root on 5. And those are all within easy reach at same position. Sticking with Drop D, you get a super wide, really beautiful D minor chord if you bar the 1, 2, and 3 strings at 10th fret. Someone once said to me you can think of each string as it's own instrument. One day it dawned on me you could do the same for sets of strings. I used to draw the fretboard and circle all the common bar chord shapes I could find. There are many! But they all follow simple, repeating patterns. From then on I started thinking in terms of notes, not chords. A lot of chord progressions only change 1 note between chords. A lot you can do with this.
drop d is my fav coz u can do most standard stuff but you get more open strings in ur key :)))
Love drop d!
Guitar is tuned to the conglomerate Em Pentatonic Scale tones, or G6/9. It’s a very efficient tuning for comping, and soloing.
Agreed!
Awesome underrated video, never take this down
Ha! Thanks dude. Stoked to hear it!
My guitar was tuned when i bought it almost 40 years ago. I see no need to do it again.
Love the sarcasm. Lol. There is sarcasm here rt?
SO....while it isn't the best at any one thing, it's a good all around tuning for a lot of different cases.
Here's another perspective: At a glance, if you attempted to add strings on the guitar, ascending by a perfect 4th interval each new string, it would take many more strings to land on the target pitch again. E, A, D, G, C, F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb, E. That's a whopping 8 additional strings to close the tuning system.
The guitar tuning system, to me, is foundationally built on two bass strings, E and A. Some may regard D as an additional bass string given the equal-parts 3/3 strings balance; however, the tuning system fails on the D string when attempting to recreate barre chord shapes. More to be said about strengths and weaknesses about the guitar tuning system, but it's decent in standard tuning, and it succeeds in a closed system with mind to the average hand size and finger placement limitations.
Hey that's a really cool take! Having the doubled E strings is super nice, and I never considered that it would take 8 strings to get there!
Great info, but it doesn't get to the why. The guitar is a pentatonic instrument, and standard tuning lays out the fretboard in pentatonic scales. However, the notes are not laid out in contiguous order within an octave. They are in alternating order across the bass and treble halves of the guitar.
EADGBE in alternating order is EGABDE, aka Em pentatonic, and its relative major scale G pentatonic, GABDE. You now have a matrix for memorizing/understanding the fretboard. Every fret is the next ascending pentatonic scale laid out in alternating order across the bass and treble.
Sorry bud! Also I think your input here is also more of a "what" and not a "why" either. But very nicely described either way! The "why" is because it's a relative of the lute.
what a great video ! when i picked up the guitar again after about a decade of not having one , i made the decision to ditch standard tuning altogether for the express purpose that there was less education about them to learn , and that if i wanted to memorize the shapes & language of the tuning i would be forced to do it by ear.
so basically , the same reason you describe standard as the best , is the reason i chose not to use it ! the tuning i ended up choosing was DADF#AE - Dadd9 because i liked the way it sounded best. i dont really mind if some of the shapes are harder because i never learned the easy ones to begin with !
Ha, I love it. That's the beauty of this whole thing, do what you want until you land on what you like. I had a student bring in a tune ones that was in your Dadd9 tuning. Super beautiful.
Enjoyed that. Thanks Kyle
I appreciate it Bill!
6 string Renaissance viols were also tuned in 4ths with a 3rd in the middle. it makes sense when you have more than 4 strings to bring things back together harmonically. Going from the E, A, D, and G to C and F is a bridge too far on the circle of 5ths when it comes to logical chord construction. Standard tuning has embedded major and minor triads, and matching bass and treble positions in the E strings. Sure, its a compromise between chord and melody, but how many guitarists only want to shred single note lines and never harmonize or comp? Maybe they should take up the saxophone.
Didn’t know that about the viols! Thanks dude. And yeah, it’s always a compromise, with sax at the very bottom. (😂 just kidding of course sax is sick!)
3:15 you mean spanish
Modern American guitar 😂😂
Nick Drake uses that lute tuning EABF#BE on the Cello Song.
Did not know that. That's awesome!
Great video explaining the evolution of the guitar
Thanks Mark!
Because it makes a cool power chord shape. 😎
Nice video! I have a guitar permanently in open C and another one that rarely goes from open G to standard. Trying to play "real" songs in standard tuning doesn't interest me anymore. Open tunings let me make my own music (but you do have to pay attention so as to not get into a rut with the same picking pattern).
Occasionally I'll discover a "real" song that works in open tuning. I can play a very jazzy version of Summertime on my 5 string guitar tuned D G D Bb d (open Gm).
It’s as real as you make it! I think it’s such a cool part about the string players tradition - to be able to tune your instrument however you feel - something that other instruments don’t get to explore! You guys are making me jealous of all your C tuned guitars!
Thanks for sharing and for tuning in!
Good video. However, the clearest and simplest answer is that modern 6-string tuning lends itself naturally and much more easily to the hand's anatomy while playing chords of all fingerings (3-string, 4-string, 5-string, 6-string chords, and even 2-string voicings. Subscribed. Happy I discovered your channel.
Hadn’t really considered hand anatomy! I would if people who play open tunings more would agree or not. Either way, I def find standard to feel great under my hands too. Thanks for subbing!
Ergonomics, baybee
Standard tuning is the most versatile tuning for the six string guitar. Tuning in all perfect fourths would ruin most of the chord shapes and limit the number of keys to play complicated music in.
That F# third string is evidently Bruce Cockburn's go-to. Two of my favorites, Joni Mitchell and Chris Whitley used a variety of tunings that make sense in the context of a given song. All 3 would be interesting deep dives on your channel. Ry Cooder introduced the Stones to open G that evolved to open E, e.g. Street Fighting Man. Jimmy Page messing with DADGAD gave us Kashmir and Black Mountainside, his version of Bert Jansch's Black Waterside in drop D. Neil Young is a drop D fan. Robert Fripp devised the New Standard Tuning that is 5ths with 3rds for the two highest strings, otherwise 6 sting guitars would have 4 usable strings and 2 broken strings. There are almost as many ways to tune a guitar as there are to skin a cat.
These are great. I've always wanted to mess around with a 6 string guitar tuned to 5ths. I've got a video in the hopper about Carl Kress from the early jazz era who did just that. Yeah man, no right or wrong way about it. Thanks for sharing.
Interesting stuff buddy!
Thanks dude!
That part where the bored hunter starts busting out an electric guitar....lol...that made me larf!!!! 🤣
Great video! I enjoyed this way more than I expected!
Dude that's awesome! Thanks Paul!
Thank you. My take is that 4 fingers on a fretboard is a huge limitation for harmony. Standard tuning emphasizes: [1] Open strings and barre chords (free finger! Bigger sound with open strings) [2] easy major and minor triads for the naturals (common chords known to your fellow players). Therefore, voicing isn't important (bigger sound is better than second interversion) and moving the shapes up and down isn't important (not so many shapes to memorize anyway if we limit ourselves to common chords).
In this view, "mapping out the fretboard" is like mapping out alice in wonderland. It's not the point. Standard tuning was not meant to be mapped. Kudos to classical players for squeezing every bit of power out of the standard tuning stone. But standard doesn't care that melodic intervals are messed up.
Tunings like M3 (my fave) go the furthest in showing how the fretboard can be incredibly more logical than a piano (and instruments like harpejji and linnstrument go further still). With M3 you get tons of voicing options and the ability to play and transpose songs only knowing their underlying theory (harmony) and intervals (melody). No big 6 string chords though.
Thanks for all the insight! I haven’t messed around with M3, though I’m familiar with it. You’re definitely selling me on it right now haha.
I personally view tunings as something best used to match the “character” of a song or style. I just so happens more of the songs I dig are in standard, so I’ve ended up learning a lot about it because of it. But as a standard device to understand music or theory, for sure has a lot of challenges.
That's interesting. What's your opinion on tuning in 4ths? I went this route coming from playing bass. 5 string EADGC. Found that playing bass chords is quite fun. Figured I would just transfer that logic to a guitar. I found that I could play it right away without getting lost. I just use no more that 4 strings at a time. Kind of felt like this was cheating.
@@pgnandt It's not cheating when it's your rules, and those are the only ones that matter. Lots of people like all 4ths anyway. 4 string chords you say? Well, power chords only use 3, and careers are built on them. Check out the chord charts for all 4ths if you wanna try a bigger sound.
@@jasonjayalap When I say no more than 4 strings I'm referring to not needing to sound off all six strings on a guitar like a bar chord. I get what you're saying. Only need two strings to make a chord really. Yeah legends have been created with power chords. Biggest challenge for me was the small neck and trying to suck up the pain as the stings dig into my fingers.😆
@@pgnandt Excellent. For further reading/watching, you might look into "bajo sexto" and 6 string bass technique (depending on how bass you want your guitar).
Yes.....YES.......yes ....mind blown....inspired....THANK YOU...😊
Heeeck ya! You’re welcome and thanks for saying hey!!
There's one thing I've learned from playing extended range and altered tuning guitars is that the standard designs are standard for a reason. Many times these alternate designs make more musical sense, but the increase in difficulty of playing the instrument is often large, and can't totally be overcome with practice. Playing non-standard instruments has not led to better or more freely written music for me.
Well put! Mostly depends on what you’re after, but standard has a lot of great visuals if you know what to look for I totally agree!
Standard tuning is best for general use, and songwriting. While alternative tunings are great for playing in a specific key, and reaching sounds and harmonies within that key that you otherwise could never get.
As far as I know, the most common alternate tunings keep everything else the same as in standard tuning but drop the bottom sting either to D or to C.
Why not just tune all the strings to the same note?
Just discovered this video. It was very good.
Thanks bud!!
how do you figure out chords in other tunings?
For me I think it’s best to learn songs that are in whatever tuning I’m checking out. I’ve got some videos in open D you could scope out!
@@kostringworks can you link the specific ones? or a playlist
@@daudchishti5317 give this one a go! ruclips.net/video/cnuluBystgw/видео.html
That's exactly what I as a drummer and a new guitarist have wondered "why is the one string in the different thing???"
I always thought standard tuning made no sense, but I guess it makes it easier to play chords.
Truth!
That's what I got. Standard tuning makes it easier to apply 'standard chord shapes'. Personally I tune in 4ths and don't use those standard shapes.
@@pgnandt So, all strings in fourths? Don`t you have to re-learn all the chord shapes and note locations on the fretboard?
@@MusicManFernando Yes. Standard guitar shapes will no longer work. If you play standard already there's no reason to switch. I play in 4ths because I'm familiar with bass chord shapes. There was no mental transition really. Just a real small neck and strings that hurt my fingers.
“Because it’s not tuned the way it isn’t.” Fair play!
🤓!
It could have used a major chord as a standard tuning. I don't know how it would turn out. By the way, I think guitar became popular because of it's relatively easy accessibility. And it's ability to have a melodic, harmonic, rhythmic functions all in one, with a base tone.
Totally agree!
I play sharp i found a weird tuning i kind of jst played with my tuning
What would be a 7-string guitar like?
I think they usually add a low B string.
Dropping the B string to A is a popular alternative since they're mainly used by metal players, and they like having the one-finger power chords on the lower strings
Brazilians playing choro or samba usually tune the lowest-pitched string to C, but sometimes B. Jazz, usually A. Metal, A or everything even lower, I think? I had lessons as a teenager with Preston Reed (back when he lived in Minnesota) who got me used to lots of different tunings. One of my favorites of his to this day is D A D E C D, since it has 2 sets of open strings that are seconds, so you can do much of a scale just with the open strings. On seven string, I've been triangulating the tuning and the capo to the particular song (going 'full joni'!). Tunings with closer intervals for certain tunes can open up close harmonies that would be impossible on guitar otherwise. A D A D F# B E and Bb F Bb D F Bb D are great. When I go back to standard now, I feel like it's difficult not to fall into chord voicings that are too familiar. But the downside is that it is very difficult to memorize arrangements in a tuning you don't usually use, since the chord shapes and scale patterns are disorienting.
2:00 most likely @maxostro Max Ostro’s ascendence…
Drop Tuning a 4-string BASS to D G B E (Octave below TOP stings of guitar) gets kinda interesting.
You can be in (drop) tune with "Metal" Guitarists... and blow them away with easy 4-string chords? :P
As a bonus, the whole Ukulele family uses the same chord fingerings, albeit with different naming...
Why would you play G major like that at the beginning? I tune all 4ths and can play many many different G major chords.
I dunno it’s just how my fingers landed when trying to play the same chord as I had before I retuned.
You can make beautiful sounds finger picking in open G ( take off low string )
Loooove G. Although I usually just tune my low string down to D cause I'm a sucker for low notes.
Where'd you get your hat? 😊
Side of the road!
I'll keep my open! 😊
“This looks like jazz” lol😂😂
Really, the simple reason is because musical scales aren't perfectly symmetrical; scales are only temptingly close to perfect symmetry. If you try to divide any scale perfectly in half, the note that is at the midpoint of the scale is the tritone, which always clashes with the root note. That half-way through the scale note always wants to be 1/2 step lower (a perfect 4th) or higher for a perfect 5th.
Scales could be perfectly symmetrical if they only used 5 notes, i.e. a pentatonic scale. Many "folk music" scales are exactly that, and open tunings for guitar are generally based on a pentatonic scale. This makes it very easy to play--*in one key*, but if you want to play in your choice of keys and have 7 notes in every scale/key, you'll have to deal with the compromise of everything not being perfectly symmetrical.
It's like pi, which should be a very simple formula, but no, it requires a fraction with an infinite number of decimal places.
lol, I didn't do any better at explaining it than you did.
Haha, I dig it though. Def a cool perspective!
you have a kind face
YES.I AGREE TO YOU.THANKS....GOOD WISHES
If you think about it, standard tuning is open Em7add4
modern spanish guitar my man
Here is another thing to think about. Standard tuning also sounds the best to our ears. And one of those reasons is guitar strings are created in a way that the string is an actual E string and is produced to be an E string at 440. The right thickness of string and the right tension on the string to produce E at 440. This is one of the reasons when someone is not playing in standard tuning something sounds off. The tension on the string is not at equilibrium to produce the perfect vibration.
Many songs not in standard tuning still sound great, but if you listen close you will hear something does not sound right, something sounds off, but it still works.
To be clear standard tuning is what gives us the most options to play on the guitar. And with that, we create strings to that format. That E string was never produced to be a D string or a C string.
Again standard is 440 for a reason, because that is what sounds best to most peoples ears. It gives us the most options and strings are created that way. Not to mention the guitar, the guitar is also made for that spot to be an E for an E string.
I think it would be cool to see them make guitars and strings to change standard tuning and see if it still sounds off.
Interesting! There are companies that make heavier gauge strings and makers that produce longer scale guitars to allow for a lower string guitar and still sound even. Just to add to the conversation.
@kostringworks nice
I think the biggest benefit to standard tuning is that it is yknow, standard. Like a lot of people have already figured out cool ways to use it and you don’t need to invent a whole new style of playing to make some nice sounds. That being said, it’s a bit harder to make unique sounds for that same reason
For sure, another way to look at it is spend enough time with any tuning and it will become “standard”.
@@kostringworksyeah definitely, like new standard tuning is cool and all I just personally think an octave mandolin does a better job at using fifths tuning in that register
Do a 900 Tony
This is how I learned the guitar strings. Eat All Day Get Big Evenings