Greger Hoel no problems at all? Every one of us us that have played guitar long enough have broken brand new .09s when restringing. There will be plenty more getting them to G, but have at it, to each their own.
@@matthewmp111 You've heard about 12 string guitars, right? They have double G-strings: one regular and one octave string. That's the same G as the high G in New Standard Tuning. 12 string players have been able to make it work for a century, and Robert Fripp has made New Standard work since 1981, on hundreds, maybe thousands of gigs. No problem at all.
Tuning in fifth intervals is ideal for bowed string instruments, since they can only play one or two strings at a time. The mandolin was designed for violinists to double on, so it kept the standard violin tuning. Guitar tuning evolved from the tuning practices of ancient lutes and viols, which all used the "all-fourths, with a major third in there somewhere" system.
@@5000rgb Agreed that New Standard is a bit ridiculous. It could be called the Guitar Craft tuning. Or the Fripp Tuning. The thing here is that Fripp generally has a guitarist in standard tuning with him in a band. In Crimson he generally plays melody lines and big chords. In Guitar Craft it's mostly single line picking. He still uses standard for some things. Belew and Jakko both use standard, so they tend to play Fripp's lines from the old songs before he switched. To play standard things, yes it would require big hands. Fripp does not have big hands. He was after being able to play different things than everything else that was going on with guitar in the late 70's and 80's. It really opens up the sound of King Crimson to have the guitars in different tunings. Then also Levin's Stick. Stick's bass strings are tuned in 5ths. Melody strings are in 4ths.
It's not fair to say that the mandolin was designed for violinists to double on, it has its own separate history. They both came into being around the same time, and the popularity of the violin may have influenced the mandolin's evolution, but it was an instrument in its own right already. In design the mandolin is a direct descendent of the lute, as is the guitar. It kept the bowlback and pairs of strings, reducing the size of the instrument. The mandolin actually is bigger than a violin, so the positions on the frets won't directly translate when switching between them. They likely changed the tuning from 4ths to 5ths because of the violins popularity, as it seems lutes were mostly tuned in 4ths throughout their history, including the earliest mandolas (Though some were tuned more like ukuleles, and some had really unusual tunings)
@@matteo-ciaramitaro Thanks for clarifying. Someone once told me the mandolin was designed for violinists to double on, but I was never sure how accurate that story was. Now I learned the truth!
Melodic instruments like violin, viola and cello are tuned in fifths. Counterpoint instruments like lutes and guitar are tuned in fourths and thirds. "The reason is self evident".
Paul just snapped thousands of high E strings, now everyone who was putting off changing their strings for another 3 months has to face reality. No, do not just change the broken one, let's go change them all, don't forget to wipe down that filthy fretboard while you're at it
That sounds pretty cool. This is where having more than one guitar helps: you can dedicate one instrument to a different tunning, and just grab it when you feel jazzy
@@codeman99-dev For someone who only plays in standard on a six or seven, maybe. Not so much for people who already play in alternate tunings on six, seven, or eight strings
You did miss a little point about the pentatonics: 5ths-tuning allow you to play pentatonic scales with 3 notes per string, giving you the ability to make giant pentatonic runs in the same position. In lower positions this requires some stretching, but when played from about the 12th fret this allows for super cool stuff!
@Sebas Honing Right. Likewise, it also allows playing diatonic scales with four notes per string, one with each finger - super sensible. Yes, that does require some stretching, but it's quite manageable with large hands and proper technique... i.e., classical-guitar like, with the neck angled high and thumb behind the neck rather than around it.
I do 4 note per string pentatonics just fine in standard tuning. Learned them from Rusty Cooley. It's a wide stretch but like you said around the 12th fret and above it becomes a lot more doable/shreddable ;)
@@DeathBringer769 4 notes pers string are no problem. You don't even need to stretch you just shift, and you get over 3 octaves from lowest to highest note. Do you really need more than that? I love standard tuning.
I think that's only applicable in rock with only simple chords but not in other sophisticated jazz chords and fingerstyle cause you have to start again memorizing new chord formations.
Actually I find the classical Oud tuning makes much more sens for instruments like guitars: E A d g c' f' so what ever you play stays the same anywhere on the neck. AND with he 7th low B strings still works perfectly...
I personally have never seen or heard of this "tension snapping" to which you are referring. I've been around the business for a while and the only damage that I ever saw happened to an acoustic guitar that had been stored improperly with the strings at full tension and the glued on saddle and bridge assembly pulled away from the body. If an instrument is being played regularly and is of quality construction, fret board snapping just should not occur.
Yes. Since I heard of this I see this everywehre. From Headlines in Media, Scientific Papers..and a lot of youtube-videos. Especially those clickbait-esque videos.
@@SabioII Exactly. But it means that the article, or in this case video, doesn't need to be read (or watched) because you already know the answer to the question.
@@rikknight8145 - You write “There’s a journalisms truism that says any headline phrased as a question can be answered with a ‘no,’ “ and I can only imagine it comes from an article headlined “Can all headlines phrased as a question be answered ‘no?’ “
I've tried NST a few times and just couldn't get on with it honestly, another tuning which is often overlooked but I think is fantastic is the Nick Drake tuning (CGCFCE), makes so many beautiful sounding cluster chords
I can totally agree with you! Had some time with myself and that tuning, my mind was completely blown The way major/minor chords work, how you can translate them UP AND DOWN with the same shape, not just left and right, the way you can easily form maj7 or even minmaj7 chords with just one fret just blows. My. Mind. Such a shame my last string didn't survive higher tuning...
Paul with his boutique amps , UA interface and luthier high end strat: new standard tuning. Me with my squier tele, my epi and my katana 50: new standard sh**ty sound
the heavy delay and reverb add such a spaciousness, too. I'll try this. After reaching plateaus, it's always great to go to a new tuning, especially open ones, to get the old finger habits to learn new ones.
I'm learning "viola caipira", it's a kind of acoustic guitar of Portuguese origin that is popular in parts of Brazil. There is a lot of tunings, with stories involving each one. Like a tuning called "rio abaixo" (down the river). The story says it was used by the devil who went down the river in a canoe playing with that tuning and enchanting the girls. And a saint went up the river in another canoe, playing with another tuning (called "up the river", or "rio acima") and taking the girls out of the spell thanks to that other tuning. XD Rio abaixo uses the interval of fifth, then fourth, then major third, then minor third. If you play the strings being loose you get a major chord.
Funny, Mark Holcomb from Periphery had exactly the same thought : as you change tuning it forces you to play with your ears. He also said that as he compose, it helps him when he "hit a wall" to change tuning to get new sounds and ideas.
He, Tony Levin Adrian Belew have done so much for all forms of modern music composition and production, crazy that they were both in the same band for so long too
I use a modifed Open D - with standard strings - with the B up to D & the high E to F#. Don't know if there's balance o'all by having the low E down to D. I leave that guitar in that tuning.
I've been using NST for about 18 months. I found it very useful to get out of my comfort zone - as you say, I really got a fresh take on the relationship between notes. I particularly like how easy it is to find 9ths and 13ths. It also gave me a new appreciation for standard tuning - feels great to switch back and play some cowboy chords!
The way NST was explained to me many years ago, this is actually the point of it. The value is in the "new" intervals that you get out of using the same fretboard/muscle-memory that you've developed playing in standard tuning; it's not necessarily supposed to be a more logical replacement for ST, but a way for already-experienced guitarists to discover new melodies they might not otherwise instinctively reach for in ST.
@@meruru8314 The aim of the guitar is to manifest musical ideas, and not the technical features of its tuning. The NST seems to impose more constraints on your playing, instead of widening the range of musical possibilities. "We want to make sure that you are playing the guitar, and the guitar isn't playing you" [Stefan Grossman] The Standard Tuning proved to be able to convey almost all kinds of music styles and musical ideas, simple and complex, through the centuries, and this is exactly what a technical thing has to do: to give you the maximum of possibilities without getting too technically complicated. You thoroughly learn the technique and then forget it and play music. If you fall in cliches and repetitivness and can't reach for new melodies, it is a musical imagination problem, not an instrumental one. If you learn to play in the NST, you will fall in cliches just like with the ST. You have to overcome mechanicity and cliches, and not to change the tuning. The New Standard Tuning makes very difficult to play simple musics, if you want to play them in a classical or fingerpicking counterpoint style. Fripp and his League of Crafty Guitarists play in flat picking, with a plectrum. I believe they would have a hard time if they tried to play some Country Blues or Ragtime tunes, or "Fra' Martino Campanaro" in a full alternating bass style, especially in the higher fretboard positions or in unusual keys.
Nehemiah Zo it would have to be down wouldn’t it? To accomplish what he said the point of this tuning is... to make the lower end lower and higher end higher...
Robert Fripp is an absolute madlad, he had to relearn all his back catalog to be played in the NST (I think he started using it in the mid '80s). Also, I reckon the fact he approached the guitar in such an oblique way because he is naturally left-handed, but plays right-handed. #Dexterous
Should try this, I'm right handed but play left handed because I thought it'll be more challenging and I find it more comfortable, I used to play in some alternate tuning where the low E is tuned to C# and the A is tuned to A flat and then all other strings are half step up from standard, but right now I'm playing in drop C and do jazzy chords
To me, the most attractive thing about this tuning is how thirds sound. Thirds just never sound quite good enough to me on guitar. They either all sound a bit off from using my tuner, or only a couple diatonic chords sound right when tuning by ear. This tuning makes it much easier to keep thirds in tune and they sound gorgeous.
Like Adam Jones, a previous commenter: I play cello, after leaving it for many years, in favor of guitar. It was such a mind-shift to relearn the CGDA intervals when I began playing cello again! I had not considered this guitar tuning ~ but not a bad idea...
I mean it’s only tricky because you learned how to do all of those scales one way. So of course learning a scale that you have memorized by heart differently is tricky.
@@lasuzzoeagle1 well you still need play 3 notes on the one string before you can continue the scale, that becomes a lot of hand movement unless you're playing fairly simple lines as part of band
@@isaacthecorncobwell you still need play 3 notes on the one string before you can continue the scale, that becomes a lot of hand movement unless you're playing fairly simple lines as part of band
@@adamgillespie3393 That's why I said you need to conceptualize more with a tuning such as this one. Use different techniques. Also, having trickier or odd scale patterns is a feature in many alternate tunings that I use. It's nothing new, and guitarists have worked around that problem for years. Another thing is that it's not like in actual music you would be running up and down a scale in a linear fashion. You don't do that in standard, why should you do that in an alternate tuning? You have to think a little outside the box, which, I know, is an unheard of idea.
You're a natural teacher and guitar player Paul, been watching your videos for years now and everything you upload is so succinct yet has so much depth. Keep it up👍🏼
I actually like using d standard tuning, then using a capo on the second fret if I need to go back to standard. It has less string tension so it's easier to play and offers that lower range of drop d without changing note position too. The deeper range of notes also feel richer compared to standard, really changes things up if you're used to standard all the time.
@@Masssshysteria only downside is relearning fret positions in c tuning not based on the fret markers, you can also use the capo on the second fret but don't put it on the low E string to get drop d
In my case,I have 2 guitars,telecaster and a superstrat with floated-bridge,my tele is tuned a half step down,the other one in C#,and when I need to play in another tunning,I just use the pitch shifter on my multifx (Zoom G1XOn),in my tele,I just have to tune a half step up to back in E,and 3 semitones for the other one,wich is very cool,and I have mutiples standard tunings,F# (3 semitones higher) down to F (-10 semitones) on my tele (without droping the lower string) and E (3 semitones higher) down to Eb (-10 semitones) on my superstrat,and to finish this I have 2 acoustics,non-electric with nylon strings one in Eb and C#-G#-C#-F#-G#-C# and electric with steel strings in E and D-A-D-G-A-D,wich I can use on my multifx with pitch shifter too (I did this on a wedding),providing me a huge range of tunings and posibilities,this can get wider with 7 and 8 strings hehehehe but it is easy and you don't have to readapt to play the chords with a capo
Main issue with NST is the need custom gauges, as the vast majority of strings will break when you bend then while they're tuned up to G. If you were to tune the highest note to B, it would break as soon as you played it. The guitar scale length makes the tuning impractical. A sort of recommended compromise would be using the tuning one step down (A#FCGDF). Another tuning that doesn't seem to get enough attention is all fourths (EADGCF), used by Stanley Jordan and Alex Hutchings.
Tuning NST a half step down so it has a low B and high F# is also doable with a 9 as your highest string. G is just slightly too high if you like to bend a lot, but F# tends to be fine unless you're going for Guthrie Govan two-step monster bends.
@@davidmcauliffe8692 Initially Fripp wanted the tuning to be all 5ths and that would require tuning the highest string to B. When he kept breaking strings, he settled with a minor third as an acceptable compromise.
Paul- "Rumor has it taht the tension would be to high" Me -"this sounds nice, i wonder if i can play this a little different if i take the high g up to a b?" string breaks... Oh... right...
I feel like this suits scenarios where the guitar is the focus of the music, much like Fripp's. I can't hear this sitting in a tight funk groove for example.
Depends... many times when playing in a funky groove, I'm primarily just riffing a few notes, very repeatedly, and just a bit late, or early on the accents. Plenty of rhythmic ghost notes adding percussive accents as well. Where I find it unwieldy is in blues music, country music, folk music, rock music, and most of pop music.
@@stillkickinbandgeorgianbay900 Check out California Guitar Trio. They do all those genres on guitars tuned to NST. And they're smokin'. It pretty much boils down to how good the player is, and how well s/he navigates the instrument.
@@freultwah It is much easier to divide up the song content between 3 players to arrive at a great sounding result using NST to play pop music. Much easier than arranging, and presenting a solo performance. There is no real comparative measure of "how good the player is", as music is not an academic, scientific, athletic, or engineering type of expression. "How good" is a matter of personal preference, bias, and based upon the listener's exposure to music in general. "How well" a person navigates their instrument is as well, a matter of personal preference that hopefully will be an honest expression of the performer. Entirely subjective, and gauged only by how well the feeling, meaning, and soul of the music is being conveyed. I have kept one of my guitars in NST since the late 80's, and I feel compelled to play it at least about 5% of my personal practice and pleasure playing time. I like certain aspects that are simplified with the abundance of easy 5ths and sympathetic drone notes, but it's not my first choice for most popular music I play when performing.
@@stillkickinbandgeorgianbay900 Sorry, it sounds as if you're hard at work trying to rationalise and find some objective reasons for your personal preference. Moving the goalposts during the process. The point I made is that you can play absolutely anything with the NST, and people have, and are. The age old ‘there is no comparative measure of good’ does apply to *music* itself, but I was referring to the technical ability of the player, which is way possible to put on the scale of ‘can't play --- is a virtuoso’. I cannot play the bass, or the ukulele, or the piano, by all objective measures, yet I am familiar with the NST, albeit far from good enough, and I can tell you it has never prevented even me from playing anything on it. Granted, there is stuff that cannot be transferred to EADGBE, but the opposite is true, too.
@@freultwah As I've perpetually had at least one guitar tuned to NST, and ready to use since around 1988, and that I pick up, and play this tuning at least 5% of my playing time. I'm only stating my experience from exploring, and using this tuning for over 32 years. I actually use it much more in my bass playing. I find it translates much more readily, and naturally on the bass, and most times when I'm performing on bass, I'll use the NST tuned bass for at least 20% of my rhythm section pocket work. When I state that NST is unwieldy for much of the popular music that I play, this is not to say that it is unplayable by any means. Just that it requires more of a workout to arrive at a comparable result. Just as there are some Robert Fripp songs I like, that I would not consider playing in regular standard tuning either. It's contextual.
Damn... So, my favorite chord is kind of cliche, it's the Big G, the open G with that D that gives it that full, big sound. But... The C Major in New Standard Tuning just gave it a run for its money. Holy shit that was beautiful. Powerful and gentle at the same time... I think I'm gonna have to try this out.
i’ve been playing in this tuning for the past couple of weeks making some really crazy sounds. i didn’t know one of my favorite youtubers had a video on it. thanks paul!
I played mandolin (in a type of music called "choro") and had this tuning in fifths. It is good at making melodies on small neck instruments. You go through an entire octave on just two strings, and the scale drawings are super regular, it makes so easier to learn. I tried on an acoustic guitar, but the bigger neck makes it a little harder to play. But on small-necked instruments like the mandolin it is wonderful. So much so that in this type of music, the "choro", the mandolin has this prominence at making melodies, much more than chords.
Yes I play Mandola and guitar. 5ths tuning will get you some really nice sounds but IMO just isn’t as flexible as standard tuning if you want more jazz type harmonies.
It's always interesting seeing how different people approach this tuning. I do kind of wish that one of these videos would feature someone that has regularly worked within the tuning for a while, though the beginners' view is always appreciated.
I like the idea of breaking away from path dependence to explore new things. I just don't feel ready or knowledgeable enough to play with this tuning and make it sound good INTENTIONALLY. I guess after I learn more music theory and get a 2nd guitar that I can keep in this tuning, I would be down to practice. Because it sounds phenomenal.
I’m always afraid of trying different tunings, it’s a bit discouraging at first. But the intro sounded nice, I think I will try it! Whatever inspires you to try different paths is worth trying 💪🏻
I play my 7 strings in open B minor pretty often (B F# B D F# B D low to high) and it's great for that very reason. It forces you to use your ears and pay more attention while you're playing to come up with new ideas instead of rehashing the same old scales and chords over and over.
Acoustic bass (and subsequent basses) are tuned in fourths. They're both compromises that let you do different things. NST is great for certain melody lines or riffs but is much more difficult for fairly full chords. My understanding is there are Crimson songs that Fripp can no longer effectively play because they rely too much on idioms of OST. I suspect that playing something like jazz chord melody would be bloody awful. But yeah, if you want a really open sound that gets you into Robert Fripp, Andy Summers, Bill Nelson, or Alex Lifeson kind of sounds, NST is worth checking out. OF course, Alex Lifeson did most of his classic work in standard or drop D and I don't think Summers did much retuning at all.
I have always been into altered tunings . They really give a range and colorful palate of any composition . Very similar to using a capo in which brings up the middle of the chord instead of just the same ol same ol standard positions . Example - Hotel California . Great example of the range with the middle and upper chords being altered and modified but not to odd out of the ordinary . I recall back in the 70's tuning my guitar very similar of this very thing you demonstrated . Very unique .
I remember as a kid when I started playing, I used the open E tuning until someone informed me of the standard tuning. I had to start all over again after playing for months in the E tuning. Yours looks fantastic, but to start another at 72 could be a challenge. Your sound by the way is amazing. What echo unit are you using ? Jimmy.
When I was starting my g string always broke so I used a B string and tuned it to A, it sounds great with ringing pedal notes, and is "easier to play" wich was cool
I definitely appreciate alternative tunings - but my musical talent and understanding of theory is really low - it's hard enough for me to deal with standard tuning.
Honestly, the high E shouldn’t be a problem. Last time I changed strings on my electric (10-47) I had a brain-fart and tried tuning it one octave to high. It opened up the back of my hand and a bit of my arm at around C
Completely lost my musical spark and I’m retaking my final year of music uni so I’m spending the next 3 months polishing up now I’ve got my spark back. I hope you do try and learn new things!
If you were an intellectual, you would already know about this and not be writing telling people how to do it properly in RUclips comments- You'd already have made the video.
The answer is no, The last 3 strings would have to much tension on them and could snap at any moment. If we want this to be the new tuning then we would have to change the way guitars handle this kind of tension
Different gauge and setup and you're good to go. There are many guitarists who use several different tunings - my personal favorites are Joni Mitchell and Josh Homme.
@@foljs5858 If you're using an acoustic, remember to let the body adjust to the new tension "shape" or else risk distorting the body's shape. A trick is to maybe use an Open C chord during a transition period.
Yes, but it's not enough to change strings gauge. You have to change total scale as well of the guitar. The low C will have to be longer, in the baritone range, and the high G string will have to be a shorter scale. Much shorter. Then it's even more impossible to play chords - as if it wasn't already a challenge.
@@henkehakansson2004 Yes, you'd need to adjust the intonation as well - as you say. No big deal on most electric guitars - just moving the saddles. I'm not sure if this tuning would be TOO much change though. You might have to replace the bridge setup altogether to get the correct scale for each string (with the diameter of string you wish to use). It's definitely more complicated than this video makes it out if you wish to play a guitar as well suited to the standard tuning - in terms of intonation and feel. He should have brought these matters up in the video. His playing in the video has a "flat" sound to me. It is obviously because his intonation is off. String gauge change (followed by action adjustments if the new gauges feel off) and then intonation adjustments to get the correct scale length for each string would brighten up the sound of what he is playing. Too muddy for my ears as is.
Cellists and violinists have no problem playing scales in all keys. One just needs to get used to shifting. In a fifths tuning, you need to think more about playing up and down the neck than playing across the neck.
Intriguing for sure. Dang, I can see where this is leading me; I’ll have to get a new guitar to always leave in this different tuning, to help always associate these new muscle memory patterns with. Oh well. 😏
Just tried this tuning. A little weird to get used to but once I figured out the configuration, fuckin amazing. So much fun to play with. I'm a metal guitarist and you can find some really cool shit in this tuning. Thanks for exposing me to this.
Yes, I agree that it's just an alternate tuning, among all the rest of the alternate tunings out there, just as some djent metalists, drops tuning to C# and variations thereof. Even such simple thing as a dropped D tuning, renders regular chording a bit challenging. It's not something that will take over regular tuning any time soon. First, the set/one scale of the guitar isn't suitable for such a wide range. I've heard that Fripp initially wanted it to go to high B (all 5ths) on the first string. Hey, it snapped always, before he could reach that pitch. Well the G is sufficient enough, as we can see on 12 string guitars where the high G octave string is the one most prone to snapping. But that is were the limit goes. The low C will sound flubby no matter the strings gauge. Some (Californian Guitar Trio) did use fanned fret guitars to accomodate for the low C string, and the high G string, but it wasn't enough. The high G string still snapped. Maybe Fripp - just as Keith Richards - would love to stay with just a 5 string guitar? Speaking of CGT, they do use NST all of the time, but whenever listeing to them, they seem to resort to modal scales chords and playing, and seems have a hard time with closed jazz chord voicings, and "voice leading" chords. Their music and playing ends up very "angular" in a way, that after some time, the novelty wears a bit thin. I have yet to hear anyone play jazz chord progressions - without struggling or leaving out certain notes due to making shortcuts - with NST. BTW, comparing and saying that "violins, cellos, upright basses etc does have 5ths tuning" is tad futile and moot, since they mostly play one or two notes at a time, not any chord by any stretch. Playing single note scales isn't that hard on any kind of tuning, like NST, but it's when chording, where the main culprit lies.
Hmm, interesting:). You've almost got me convinced to put my bass guitars back on their stands and pull out the Les Paul or my telecaster and experiment a little. I always did love alternate tuning when I was playing the guitars. The truth of the matter is....sadly I haven't played any of my guitars in quite some time. I got so addicted to bass:). I love this tuning tough so lush! Very nice!
I play mando occasionally as well as guitar and whenever I pick it up I immediately feel comfortable with it, very able to play it despite not touching it in a month, I absolutely love playing it, it's what I take camping to play around the fire, and what I sit around and just pluck on when I'm bored. I want an octave mandolin so much but I just don't have the money.
I had a 12-string that was strung up &tuned Nashville style.Back when Robert fripp & the league of crafty guitarists were on the scene I saw an interview with Robert on a DVD or VHS maybe, and he showed this tuning. I took this 12-string and I tuned it using this tuning but only had six strings on it.had to move some of the strings around and use thicker gauge strings here and there but it was worth it in the end because it's a guitar that I can do stuff on that I can't do on any other guitar.It's extremely beautiful and different sounding,but I can't even put into words how inspiring it is to pick it up and start playing using that tuning once you've already learned how to do a lot of the chords that sounds proper,and learned the basics of how to do eadgbecf(sharps and flats, bar chords,open cowboy chords style stuff).It just gives it a completely different vibe and life once you learn how to play in this tuning.And just like here in this video I was tempted to tune all my guitars this way and relearn everything over again, but I decided to do both.I guess it means I'll never master one of them but I can certainly enjoy myself doing both as far as regular tuning and "Fripp tuning".and depending on how I feel on any particular day is what guitar I will pick up in whichever tuning it is tuned up to.
Yeah, kinda. Even Paul had some rattle though. That is a lot of slack and in order to eliminate rattle I’d have to stifle my attack or get an 8 string, I don’t know if I’m willing to do that 😉
SOB044 7:34 I guess Paul is a noob too? No need to be a smug asshole, regardless. You plan on readjusting your action and buying a thicker gauge string just for an alternate tuning, be my guest.
This is cool! My standard tuning is somewhat between this and the regular EADGBE. I call it 'the double drop' and I never went back since I found it, trying to learn 'Limo Wreck' by Soundgarden, 20 years ago. The tuning goes C-G-D-G-B-E. Here you have the wide and deep low end with sweet fifths, but you wont get lost in the high end, cause everything is just how you know it. It also allows lots of full chords without breaking your fingers. E.g. A basic C major: 0-0-2-0-1-0 A basic C minor: 0-0-1-0-1-3 A basic G major: x-0-0-0-0-3 A basic G minor: x-0-0-3-3-3 A fat D at last: 2-2-0-2-3-2 (use thumb) But I mostly use three-node chords which goes well with lots of fuzz. D major : 2-2-4 (x-x-x) D minor : 2-2-3 (x-x-x) D7: 2-5-4 Dm6: 2-4-3 Dm5b: 2-1-3 Everything by The Sleeplings is written and played in this tuning.
@@jacobsmith1877 They will go absolute crazy because this tuning really fits the scales they use and they would know how to use it in their mad technical psych-stoner ! I didn't mean it like "they will be angry" but more "they'll go full crazy and love it".
I feel like tuning in fifths would let you do some crazy banjo stuff. Probably make some of those tough guitar songs easier, like maybe "The Entertainer." There's a reason it's usually tuned in fourths the way it is though. It generally opens more doors than it closes.
It's fun. Fortunately I haven't broken my strings but they were so tensed it was uncomfortable to play but it would be fun to tune the bass this way or have a guitar with special strings to this tuning. One day I will buy strat only for this tuning
Violins use this tuning because it makes it easier to make chords by rocking the bow across the rounded fingerboard. Minus the B (and as such, also the high E) string, violin strings are the same as a guitar but upside down... High to low violin: EADG... Low to high on a guitar: EADG(BE). I made this connection in begining orchestra because the bass has the same strings as a violin but go low to high rather than high to low. Math is fun and trippy.... I love music!! When I started playing the guitar as a VIOLIST, I thought it was strange that they made the Low C on the Viola/(With violin intervals) a High B on the guitar. With even intervals the guitar would be tuned EADGCF. For this reason I think you could possibly play some chords upside-down on this alternate tuning... Food for thought. (I hope that made sense. LoL)
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I can hear those high E strings snapping around the world.
Yeah, you have to by a Hi-E string with a gauge of .0004
Ping ping ping...
No problem with a .008. 12 strings have had a string tuned to high G for close to a century.
Greger Hoel no problems at all? Every one of us us that have played guitar long enough have broken brand new .09s when restringing. There will be plenty more getting them to G, but have at it, to each their own.
@@matthewmp111 You've heard about 12 string guitars, right? They have double G-strings: one regular and one octave string. That's the same G as the high G in New Standard Tuning. 12 string players have been able to make it work for a century, and Robert Fripp has made New Standard work since 1981, on hundreds, maybe thousands of gigs. No problem at all.
Just tuning up to high E with a fresh set is scary enough...
Drop C 4 life
@@nbsarkar6911 open g to mess around with a slide on a tele
your right
how is it scary I don't understand..
@@WheresCloudy cuz the string can break any moment and fly anywhere and maybe stab you
E String gone, reduced to atoms.
hats off....salute...cue the music
Nearly killed me
Use a really light E string. It would be nice to have a guitar tuned in this tuning. I’d like to see transcripts of Fripps work in this tuning.
he used the strings to destroy the strings
Unrelated but love your profile picture, Pink Floyd's the best
Tuning in fifth intervals is ideal for bowed string instruments, since they can only play one or two strings at a time. The mandolin was designed for violinists to double on, so it kept the standard violin tuning.
Guitar tuning evolved from the tuning practices of ancient lutes and viols, which all used the "all-fourths, with a major third in there somewhere" system.
In addition, a guitar tuned in fifths requires a larger fretting hand reach than most people can muster.
@@5000rgb Agreed that New Standard is a bit ridiculous. It could be called the Guitar Craft tuning. Or the Fripp Tuning. The thing here is that Fripp generally has a guitarist in standard tuning with him in a band. In Crimson he generally plays melody lines and big chords. In Guitar Craft it's mostly single line picking. He still uses standard for some things. Belew and Jakko both use standard, so they tend to play Fripp's lines from the old songs before he switched. To play standard things, yes it would require big hands. Fripp does not have big hands. He was after being able to play different things than everything else that was going on with guitar in the late 70's and 80's. It really opens up the sound of King Crimson to have the guitars in different tunings. Then also Levin's Stick. Stick's bass strings are tuned in 5ths. Melody strings are in 4ths.
It's not fair to say that the mandolin was designed for violinists to double on, it has its own separate history. They both came into being around the same time, and the popularity of the violin may have influenced the mandolin's evolution, but it was an instrument in its own right already. In design the mandolin is a direct descendent of the lute, as is the guitar. It kept the bowlback and pairs of strings, reducing the size of the instrument. The mandolin actually is bigger than a violin, so the positions on the frets won't directly translate when switching between them. They likely changed the tuning from 4ths to 5ths because of the violins popularity, as it seems lutes were mostly tuned in 4ths throughout their history, including the earliest mandolas (Though some were tuned more like ukuleles, and some had really unusual tunings)
@@matteo-ciaramitaro Thanks for clarifying. Someone once told me the mandolin was designed for violinists to double on, but I was never sure how accurate that story was. Now I learned the truth!
Fourth intervals were popular in ancient music
The dislikes are the from the people whose strings just hit them on the face
lolz
Don't be so cynic... Ahhh!!!
You need a James Bond string for the high G (or A). That is, .007 inches.
I didn’t dislike the video but I broke my e string
Random Wierdo 😂😂
that starting actually sounded so nice
It has a certain "the wall" vibe
To me it sounded as psychedelic shit
Very Floyd!
Gee Ache me loves psychedelic shit!
Like something out of a new Spyro game.
I guess this illustrates why instruments tuned in fifths generally have only four strings.
A 5 stringer would be cool.
Melodic instruments like violin, viola and cello are tuned in fifths.
Counterpoint instruments like lutes and guitar are tuned in fourths and thirds.
"The reason is self evident".
Cuz the tension gets tighter and tighter very quickly
That would be BASS.
Send B ASS
I laughed too hard at this!
"So you start with the low C"
That's deep bro
Too bad it's not Low C tuning... Ah, that's a fun one for Celtic Style music!
Paul just snapped thousands of high E strings, now everyone who was putting off changing their strings for another 3 months has to face reality. No, do not just change the broken one, let's go change them all, don't forget to wipe down that filthy fretboard while you're at it
Lol!!!:))))
😂👍👍👍
Ha funny
I'm really looking forward to trying this with a Floyd Rose and spending half a day adjusting springs before the strings inevitably snap in my eyes.
Horriable. You explained your self why its not good at all.
Sounds beyond out of tune.
To prove your self eliminate all sound effects
Play clean
Play clean no efx.
I’ve tuned my guitar like this as per your suggestion. I still seem pretty normal although I wear my underwear on the outside of my pants now.
BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! Funniest comment ever.
😂😂😂
Instructions unclear, guitar has gained sentience and is now complaining how tight its strings are
hahaha this comment got me 😂
Tried to do this and a string just broke and hit me right in the face
sue him
Just buy new face, more cheaper
Boodi Abed, he ded.
Nice
Im doing this right now and when i reach the 2nd string i stop. Still one note below the g and the string is screaming not more
I get that fight or flight feeling just thinking about that high G.
I accidentally snapped my E string trying to tune it E the other day... I have little faith for this, unless i get specific strings
@@DarrenNoFun You don't need specific strings. Decent normal strings will do.
That sounds pretty cool. This is where having more than one guitar helps: you can dedicate one instrument to a different tunning, and just grab it when you feel jazzy
thats the way to do it...
What a revelation.
Guitarist discovers mandolin chords, 2020, colorized.
Hanko TM lol, best comment
Literally 😂 I didn’t want to be the guy
XD
Guitarist combines a mandolin and a mandola in to one stringed instrument
🥴🥴🤪🤣🤣
Imagine doing this on a 7 or 8 string.. the range would be incredible
Or just completely overwhelming...
But would that power be too much to handle tho?
8 strings are already overwhelming
@@codeman99-dev For someone who only plays in standard on a six or seven, maybe. Not so much for people who already play in alternate tunings on six, seven, or eight strings
it’d be crazy
You did miss a little point about the pentatonics: 5ths-tuning allow you to play pentatonic scales with 3 notes per string, giving you the ability to make giant pentatonic runs in the same position. In lower positions this requires some stretching, but when played from about the 12th fret this allows for super cool stuff!
Good point! I'll definitely try that out
Was I paul Gilbert who used this tuning to demo some legato?
@Sebas Honing Right. Likewise, it also allows playing diatonic scales with four notes per string, one with each finger - super sensible. Yes, that does require some stretching, but it's quite manageable with large hands and proper technique... i.e., classical-guitar like, with the neck angled high and thumb behind the neck rather than around it.
I do 4 note per string pentatonics just fine in standard tuning. Learned them from Rusty Cooley. It's a wide stretch but like you said around the 12th fret and above it becomes a lot more doable/shreddable ;)
@@DeathBringer769 4 notes pers string are no problem. You don't even need to stretch you just shift, and you get over 3 octaves from lowest to highest note. Do you really need more than that?
I love standard tuning.
"yeah" the noise one makes when the hit that super low C note.
Drop C feels so good especially on bass
@@taf8903👍 Criss Oliva's (Savatage) favourite tuning. R.I.P. one of *the* best metal guitarists ever.
It deserves to be a tuning, but I wouldn't call it a replacement for something already in existence.
Its a mandolin In theory
He just likes to be some weird virtuoso
Exactly, if it works should just be added as another type of tuning, add, not replace any other!
I think that's only applicable in rock with only simple chords but not in other sophisticated jazz chords and fingerstyle cause you have to start again memorizing new chord formations.
@@PhillipNeal i mandolin sounds like dadgad to me
Actually I find the classical Oud tuning makes much more sens for instruments like guitars: E A d g c' f' so what ever you play stays the same anywhere on the neck. AND with he 7th low B strings still works perfectly...
People worrying about breaking a string. Me worrying about the tension snapping the fretboard.
Truss rods have entered the chat
you comment on a lot of musicians. you just commented on ichika's video too
Aren’t the fifth relationships too dominant and restrictive of full expression? too pretty all the time...
@@joericci5546 nah just change your shapes man
I personally have never seen or heard of this "tension snapping" to which you are referring. I've been around the business for a while and the only damage that I ever saw happened to an acoustic guitar that had been stored improperly with the strings at full tension and the glued on saddle and bridge assembly pulled away from the body. If an instrument is being played regularly and is of quality construction, fret board snapping just should not occur.
There's a journalism truism that says any headline phrased as a question can be answered with a "no".
Yes. Since I heard of this I see this everywehre. From Headlines in Media, Scientific Papers..and a lot of youtube-videos. Especially those clickbait-esque videos.
Eheh exactly like at 9:19 🤣
@@SabioII Exactly. But it means that the article, or in this case video, doesn't need to be read (or watched) because you already know the answer to the question.
on the contrary it's a very common writing technique an old one actually but about your opinion about this video I agree
@@rikknight8145 - You write “There’s a journalisms truism that says any headline phrased as a question can be answered with a ‘no,’ “ and I can only imagine it comes from an article headlined “Can all headlines phrased as a question be answered ‘no?’ “
I've tried NST a few times and just couldn't get on with it honestly, another tuning which is often overlooked but I think is fantastic is the Nick Drake tuning (CGCFCE), makes so many beautiful sounding cluster chords
i use this all the time and i can back this statement, its a really great and fun tuning
Ya this is in my opinion one of the most fun tunings like you said cluster chords sound great
What is a "cluster" chord?
@@rhuttonaa247 it's a chord characterised by having lots of notes that are very close together
Holy crap, I've never played this one and it's sounding beautiful on my Guild 335-style with flat wounds.
Messed around with NST for quite a bit today. Makes more sense to tune to CGDACG. Chords are way easier to form and it's easier to riff on.
I can totally agree with you! Had some time with myself and that tuning, my mind was completely blown
The way major/minor chords work, how you can translate them UP AND DOWN with the same shape, not just left and right, the way you can easily form maj7 or even minmaj7 chords with just one fret just blows. My. Mind.
Such a shame my last string didn't survive higher tuning...
@@mrshurukan use a different gauge
Wouldn't it he nice to have a guitar for every tuning?
@@raymartinez5389 Well some people are actually looking for tunings to every one of them guitars...
Ugh what’s the major and minor chord shape for it?
Paul with his boutique amps , UA interface and luthier high end strat: new standard tuning.
Me with my squier tele, my epi and my katana 50: new standard sh**ty sound
The katana amps arent bad actually
he used delay and octave shifters, give those effects a try.
the heavy delay and reverb add such a spaciousness, too. I'll try this. After reaching plateaus, it's always great to go to a new tuning, especially open ones, to get the old finger habits to learn new ones.
8:10
Another brick in the wall Pt. 1 but daddy came back from across the ocean
After taking some mushrooms
I'm learning "viola caipira", it's a kind of acoustic guitar of Portuguese origin that is popular in parts of Brazil. There is a lot of tunings, with stories involving each one.
Like a tuning called "rio abaixo" (down the river). The story says it was used by the devil who went down the river in a canoe playing with that tuning and enchanting the girls. And a saint went up the river in another canoe, playing with another tuning (called "up the river", or "rio acima") and taking the girls out of the spell thanks to that other tuning. XD
Rio abaixo uses the interval of fifth, then fourth, then major third, then minor third. If you play the strings being loose you get a major chord.
Nossa eu nem conhecia essa história xD , eu tb tava aprendendo viola esses dias
Damn I love such stories!
nice... which role to play? the devil or the saint?
Funny, Mark Holcomb from Periphery had exactly the same thought : as you change tuning it forces you to play with your ears. He also said that as he compose, it helps him when he "hit a wall" to change tuning to get new sounds and ideas.
Robert Fripp is arguably the greatest guitarist of all time. A true virtuoso, an innovator.
He, Tony Levin Adrian Belew have done so much for all forms of modern music composition and production, crazy that they were both in the same band for so long too
Everyone's talking about tuning up the high E but I'm terrified of tuning my B string up a fourth D:
At that point you just put an E string in that place
Most can handle it
The highest I've gotten with a normal gauge b string was d
I use a modifed Open D - with standard strings - with the B up to D & the high E to F#. Don't know if there's balance o'all by having the low E down to D. I leave that guitar in that tuning.
TURN YOU FACE AWAY
the pressure of being early and having to come up with a witty comment is immense
you did pretty good
Just write another 035 joke!!
...so immense, in fact, that you couldn't. (".)
except you dont have to .-.
Jackkleem9 Skirt Steak.
I've been using NST for about 18 months. I found it very useful to get out of my comfort zone - as you say, I really got a fresh take on the relationship between notes. I particularly like how easy it is to find 9ths and 13ths.
It also gave me a new appreciation for standard tuning - feels great to switch back and play some cowboy chords!
The way NST was explained to me many years ago, this is actually the point of it. The value is in the "new" intervals that you get out of using the same fretboard/muscle-memory that you've developed playing in standard tuning; it's not necessarily supposed to be a more logical replacement for ST, but a way for already-experienced guitarists to discover new melodies they might not otherwise instinctively reach for in ST.
@@meruru8314 The aim of the guitar is to manifest musical ideas, and not the technical features of its tuning. The NST seems to impose more constraints on your playing, instead of widening the range of musical possibilities.
"We want to make sure that you are playing the guitar, and the guitar isn't playing you"
[Stefan Grossman]
The Standard Tuning proved to be able to convey almost all kinds of music styles and musical ideas, simple and complex, through the centuries, and this is exactly what a technical thing has to do: to give you the maximum of possibilities without getting too technically complicated.
You thoroughly learn the technique and then forget it and play music. If you fall in cliches and repetitivness and can't reach for new melodies, it is a musical imagination problem, not an instrumental one. If you learn to play in the NST, you will fall in cliches just like with the ST. You have to overcome mechanicity and cliches, and not to change the tuning.
The New Standard Tuning makes very difficult to play simple musics, if you want to play them in a classical or fingerpicking counterpoint style. Fripp and his League of Crafty Guitarists play in flat picking, with a plectrum.
I believe they would have a hard time if they tried to play some Country Blues or Ragtime tunes, or "Fra' Martino Campanaro" in a full alternating bass style, especially in the higher fretboard positions or in unusual keys.
Here's a little tuning hack; to avoid string breakage, tune your guitar instead to [A-E-B-F#-C#-E] and put a capo on the third fret.
Is that up or down?
Nehemiah Zo it would have to be down wouldn’t it? To accomplish what he said the point of this tuning is... to make the lower end lower and higher end higher...
I’ve been playing my acoustic in that tuning and it sounds absolutely lovely, great minds think alike!
cool will try that
I have my 5 string Jackson bass tuned to this, love that deep sound
I've always liked NST because it forces you to basically start all the way over and learn everything again which is what I think fripp was going for
Robert Fripp is an absolute madlad, he had to relearn all his back catalog to be played in the NST (I think he started using it in the mid '80s).
Also, I reckon the fact he approached the guitar in such an oblique way because he is naturally left-handed, but plays right-handed. #Dexterous
I am left handed but play right handed that comment has sparked my interest i need to try this tuning.
Should try this, I'm right handed but play left handed because I thought it'll be more challenging and I find it more comfortable, I used to play in some alternate tuning where the low E is tuned to C# and the A is tuned to A flat and then all other strings are half step up from standard, but right now I'm playing in drop C and do jazzy chords
“Is an absolute madlad”
* describes most normie thing possible *
i am left handed but play right handed, it's really not abnormal and doesn't make you special.
...also because he has lots of... Discipline.
To me, the most attractive thing about this tuning is how thirds sound. Thirds just never sound quite good enough to me on guitar. They either all sound a bit off from using my tuner, or only a couple diatonic chords sound right when tuning by ear. This tuning makes it much easier to keep thirds in tune and they sound gorgeous.
Like Adam Jones, a previous commenter: I play cello, after leaving it for many years, in favor of guitar. It was such a mind-shift to relearn the CGDA intervals when I began playing cello again! I had not considered this guitar tuning ~ but not a bad idea...
So much wisdom in your closing comments, and your statement “We need to adapt our playing to what the tuning provides.” Oh yeah, great playing too.
Paul: "So why wasn't this tuning adopted as a new standard tuning?"
Also Paul: "These scales are tricky to play on this tuning..."
I mean it’s only tricky because you learned how to do all of those scales one way. So of course learning a scale that you have memorized by heart differently is tricky.
@@lasuzzoeagle1 Exactly. That's why you have to forget standard tuning and all the scales and shapes, and actually conceptualize a bit.
@@lasuzzoeagle1 well you still need play 3 notes on the one string before you can continue the scale, that becomes a lot of hand movement unless you're playing fairly simple lines as part of band
@@isaacthecorncobwell you still need play 3 notes on the one string before you can continue the scale, that becomes a lot of hand movement unless you're playing fairly simple lines as part of band
@@adamgillespie3393 That's why I said you need to conceptualize more with a tuning such as this one. Use different techniques. Also, having trickier or odd scale patterns is a feature in many alternate tunings that I use. It's nothing new, and guitarists have worked around that problem for years. Another thing is that it's not like in actual music you would be running up and down a scale in a linear fashion. You don't do that in standard, why should you do that in an alternate tuning? You have to think a little outside the box, which, I know, is an unheard of idea.
Cows
Goes
Downward
And
Eats
Grass
There, a way to remember the new standard tuning 😂
nice
Nice trick!
@@alex61616 Easy fix:
Cow
Goes
Downhill
And
Eats
Grass
Or
Cows
Go
Downhill
And
Eat
Grass
Alex Klein whoops😂
It has taken me a while to realize that this may be the first time I've seen Paul's arms
That's cuz he's been working out!!
@@GroovesAndLands I thought the opposite. His arms look smaller to me. I thought he might've caught the rona.
He was joking lol (sarcasm) - don't know if it's cuz he's very tall, or maybe he snorts baking powder off camera, not really my concern
@hntr177 you know, some people are just slim built. people are so used to seeing obesity they think slim is abnormal
He does not look healthy
Hey i just recently started playing in straight 5ths - it just opens up the guitar neck to new possibilities
You're a natural teacher and guitar player Paul, been watching your videos for years now and everything you upload is so succinct yet has so much depth. Keep it up👍🏼
I actually like using d standard tuning, then using a capo on the second fret if I need to go back to standard. It has less string tension so it's easier to play and offers that lower range of drop d without changing note position too. The deeper range of notes also feel richer compared to standard, really changes things up if you're used to standard all the time.
Is there a downside to this
@@Masssshysteria only downside is relearning fret positions in c tuning not based on the fret markers, you can also use the capo on the second fret but don't put it on the low E string to get drop d
In my case,I have 2 guitars,telecaster and a superstrat with floated-bridge,my tele is tuned a half step down,the other one in C#,and when I need to play in another tunning,I just use the pitch shifter on my multifx (Zoom G1XOn),in my tele,I just have to tune a half step up to back in E,and 3 semitones for the other one,wich is very cool,and I have mutiples standard tunings,F# (3 semitones higher) down to F (-10 semitones) on my tele (without droping the lower string) and E (3 semitones higher) down to Eb (-10 semitones) on my superstrat,and to finish this I have 2 acoustics,non-electric with nylon strings one in Eb and C#-G#-C#-F#-G#-C# and electric with steel strings in E and D-A-D-G-A-D,wich I can use on my multifx with pitch shifter too (I did this on a wedding),providing me a huge range of tunings and posibilities,this can get wider with 7 and 8 strings hehehehe but it is easy and you don't have to readapt to play the chords with a capo
I always have one guitar tuned to this --- I call it the "Velvet Underground" guitar
Main issue with NST is the need custom gauges, as the vast majority of strings will break when you bend then while they're tuned up to G. If you were to tune the highest note to B, it would break as soon as you played it. The guitar scale length makes the tuning impractical. A sort of recommended compromise would be using the tuning one step down (A#FCGDF). Another tuning that doesn't seem to get enough attention is all fourths (EADGCF), used by Stanley Jordan and Alex Hutchings.
Very instructive, thanks!
The highest note wouldn't be a B. It would only be a G. Otherwise, what you are saying is very relevant
Fripp tried to tune it to B (as on the 7th fret of the first string) but strings kept breaking, so he settled for G
Tuning NST a half step down so it has a low B and high F# is also doable with a 9 as your highest string. G is just slightly too high if you like to bend a lot, but F# tends to be fine unless you're going for Guthrie Govan two-step monster bends.
@@davidmcauliffe8692 Initially Fripp wanted the tuning to be all 5ths and that would require tuning the highest string to B. When he kept breaking strings, he settled with a minor third as an acceptable compromise.
Paul- "Rumor has it taht the tension would be to high"
Me -"this sounds nice, i wonder if i can play this a little different if i take the high g up to a b?"
string breaks... Oh... right...
I feel like this suits scenarios where the guitar is the focus of the music, much like Fripp's. I can't hear this sitting in a tight funk groove for example.
Depends... many times when playing in a funky groove, I'm primarily just riffing a few notes, very repeatedly, and just a bit late, or early on the accents. Plenty of rhythmic ghost notes adding percussive accents as well.
Where I find it unwieldy is in blues music, country music, folk music, rock music, and most of pop music.
@@stillkickinbandgeorgianbay900 Check out California Guitar Trio. They do all those genres on guitars tuned to NST. And they're smokin'. It pretty much boils down to how good the player is, and how well s/he navigates the instrument.
@@freultwah It is much easier to divide up the song content between 3 players to arrive at a great sounding result using NST to play pop music. Much easier than arranging, and presenting a solo performance.
There is no real comparative measure of "how good the player is", as music is not an academic, scientific, athletic, or engineering type of expression. "How good" is a matter of personal preference, bias, and based upon the listener's exposure to music in general.
"How well" a person navigates their instrument is as well, a matter of personal preference that hopefully will be an honest expression of the performer. Entirely subjective, and gauged only by how well the feeling, meaning, and soul of the music is being conveyed.
I have kept one of my guitars in NST since the late 80's, and I feel compelled to play it at least about 5% of my personal practice and pleasure playing time. I like certain aspects that are simplified with the abundance of easy 5ths and sympathetic drone notes, but it's not my first choice for most popular music I play when performing.
@@stillkickinbandgeorgianbay900 Sorry, it sounds as if you're hard at work trying to rationalise and find some objective reasons for your personal preference. Moving the goalposts during the process. The point I made is that you can play absolutely anything with the NST, and people have, and are. The age old ‘there is no comparative measure of good’ does apply to *music* itself, but I was referring to the technical ability of the player, which is way possible to put on the scale of ‘can't play --- is a virtuoso’. I cannot play the bass, or the ukulele, or the piano, by all objective measures, yet I am familiar with the NST, albeit far from good enough, and I can tell you it has never prevented even me from playing anything on it. Granted, there is stuff that cannot be transferred to EADGBE, but the opposite is true, too.
@@freultwah As I've perpetually had at least one guitar tuned to NST, and ready to use since around 1988, and that I pick up, and play this tuning at least 5% of my playing time. I'm only stating my experience from exploring, and using this tuning for over 32 years.
I actually use it much more in my bass playing. I find it translates much more readily, and naturally on the bass, and most times when I'm performing on bass, I'll use the NST tuned bass for at least 20% of my rhythm section pocket work.
When I state that NST is unwieldy for much of the popular music that I play, this is not to say that it is unplayable by any means. Just that it requires more of a workout to arrive at a comparable result. Just as there are some Robert Fripp songs I like, that I would not consider playing in regular standard tuning either. It's contextual.
3:55 it all sounds like what the guitarist plays while the pastor prays at church
Lol! Indeed!
Reminded me of far cry 5 loading screen music
Started on B instead -- so much fun -- thank you!
spoiler: No it shouldn't, unless you want to be devin townsend in ambient mode
He doesn't play this tuning does he? Open C, sure.
He plays open c and b
Robert Fripp was the guy who made the tuning, not the same as the one Devin Townsend uses.
@@TheBaconWizard Yeah was really just commenting on the style and timbre in this video. Not knocking by any means btw, I love devins music and style.
@@tmayne220 I didn't take it that you were knocking anyone.
3:50 The chords sounded so beautiful together.
Damn...
So, my favorite chord is kind of cliche, it's the Big G, the open G with that D that gives it that full, big sound.
But... The C Major in New Standard Tuning just gave it a run for its money. Holy shit that was beautiful. Powerful and gentle at the same time...
I think I'm gonna have to try this out.
One of the things I love about my Variax. I have NST available by twisting a knob. And it never breaks a string.
i’ve been playing in this tuning for the past couple of weeks making some really crazy sounds. i didn’t know one of my favorite youtubers had a video on it. thanks paul!
I played mandolin (in a type of music called "choro") and had this tuning in fifths. It is good at making melodies on small neck instruments. You go through an entire octave on just two strings, and the scale drawings are super regular, it makes so easier to learn. I tried on an acoustic guitar, but the bigger neck makes it a little harder to play. But on small-necked instruments like the mandolin it is wonderful. So much so that in this type of music, the "choro", the mandolin has this prominence at making melodies, much more than chords.
Yes I play Mandola and guitar. 5ths tuning will get you some really nice sounds but IMO just isn’t as flexible as standard tuning if you want more jazz type harmonies.
Robert Fripp is a legend, this tuning fits especially well with its spacey, frippertronics, and King Crimson stuff.
*drops low E to C .. omg this fret noise is amazing !
It's always interesting seeing how different people approach this tuning. I do kind of wish that one of these videos would feature someone that has regularly worked within the tuning for a while, though the beginners' view is always appreciated.
I like the idea of breaking away from path dependence to explore new things. I just don't feel ready or knowledgeable enough to play with this tuning and make it sound good INTENTIONALLY. I guess after I learn more music theory and get a 2nd guitar that I can keep in this tuning, I would be down to practice. Because it sounds phenomenal.
I’m always afraid of trying different tunings, it’s a bit discouraging at first. But the intro sounded nice, I think I will try it! Whatever inspires you to try different paths is worth trying 💪🏻
start with the high string first, you could possibly break it if tuning low to high.
@@Ilurk247 Thanks for the tip, didn't know that
And get more guitars, leave each one in a different tuning...
I play my 7 strings in open B minor pretty often (B F# B D F# B D low to high) and it's great for that very reason. It forces you to use your ears and pay more attention while you're playing to come up with new ideas instead of rehashing the same old scales and chords over and over.
4:27 Ah yes, the ultimate post-rock tuning
Nailed it!
Acoustic bass (and subsequent basses) are tuned in fourths.
They're both compromises that let you do different things. NST is great for certain melody lines or riffs but is much more difficult for fairly full chords. My understanding is there are Crimson songs that Fripp can no longer effectively play because they rely too much on idioms of OST. I suspect that playing something like jazz chord melody would be bloody awful.
But yeah, if you want a really open sound that gets you into Robert Fripp, Andy Summers, Bill Nelson, or Alex Lifeson kind of sounds, NST is worth checking out. OF course, Alex Lifeson did most of his classic work in standard or drop D and I don't think Summers did much retuning at all.
I have always been into altered tunings . They really give a range and colorful palate of any composition . Very similar to using a capo in which brings up the middle of the chord instead of just the same ol same ol standard positions . Example - Hotel California . Great example of the range with the middle and upper chords being altered and modified but not to odd out of the ordinary . I recall back in the 70's tuning my guitar very similar of this very thing you demonstrated . Very unique .
I think we should do it like the renaissance guitars: Gg Cc E A, i.e. ukulele tuning
With the G tuned below the C, rather than above it.
I remember as a kid when I started playing, I used the open E tuning until someone informed me of the standard tuning. I had to start all over again after playing for months in the E tuning. Yours looks fantastic, but to start another at 72 could be a challenge. Your sound by the way is amazing. What echo unit are you using ? Jimmy.
echo is Strymon Volante Pedal, there is some info on gear in the video description.
His echo unit is the Strymon Volante, it says so in the description.
When I was starting my g string always broke so I used a B string and tuned it to A, it sounds great with ringing pedal notes, and is "easier to play" wich was cool
I definitely appreciate alternative tunings - but my musical talent and understanding of theory is really low - it's hard enough for me to deal with standard tuning.
I just broke the high E string on two guitars. Don't have replacements. Thank you.
It's cool to have a spare guitar set up like this to provide different color. If you leave the thin e string off it's pretty easy to learn
Amazing! This tuning adds reverb and echo repeats to your sound!
I wonder if that works on acoustic?
lol
Exactly....ha!
Yes, it does work on acoustic. Try .010, .012, .020w, .032w, .048w, .059w from stringjoy
Honestly, the high E shouldn’t be a problem. Last time I changed strings on my electric (10-47) I had a brain-fart and tried tuning it one octave to high. It opened up the back of my hand and a bit of my arm at around C
How the fuck is that even remotely possible
When your instrument tries to dismember you, that's a pretty clear message IMO
This sounds great and I'm all in..........wait, I have to learn something new? Never mind, I'm out.
Exactly 😂 I haven’t mastered standard yet. Maybe in 10 years. Lol
Completely lost my musical spark and I’m retaking my final year of music uni so I’m spending the next 3 months polishing up now I’ve got my spark back. I hope you do try and learn new things!
Everyone in the comments: talking about strings snapping
Me an intellectual: Tunes it down and puts on thicc ass strings
CHUGG CHUGGCHUGG CHCHCHCHUGG
Congratulations! You are now a bass player!
If you were an intellectual, you would already know about this and not be writing telling people how to do it properly in RUclips comments- You'd already have made the video.
@@Dzeroed calm down satan
@@gabrielceolato2 😂😂😂 best fuckin reply I've ever had, rock on my son 🤘
The answer is no, The last 3 strings would have to much tension on them and could snap at any moment. If we want this to be the new tuning then we would have to change the way guitars handle this kind of tension
You can just change gauge - tens of thousands of guitarists have used the tuning just fine on regular guitars...
Different gauge and setup and you're good to go. There are many guitarists who use several different tunings - my personal favorites are Joni Mitchell and Josh Homme.
@@foljs5858 If you're using an acoustic, remember to let the body adjust to the new tension "shape" or else risk distorting the body's shape. A trick is to maybe use an Open C chord during a transition period.
Yes, but it's not enough to change strings gauge. You have to change total scale as well of the guitar. The low C will have to be longer, in the baritone range, and the high G string will have to be a shorter scale. Much shorter. Then it's even more impossible to play chords - as if it wasn't already a challenge.
@@henkehakansson2004 Yes, you'd need to adjust the intonation as well - as you say. No big deal on most electric guitars - just moving the saddles. I'm not sure if this tuning would be TOO much change though. You might have to replace the bridge setup altogether to get the correct scale for each string (with the diameter of string you wish to use).
It's definitely more complicated than this video makes it out if you wish to play a guitar as well suited to the standard tuning - in terms of intonation and feel. He should have brought these matters up in the video. His playing in the video has a "flat" sound to me. It is obviously because his intonation is off. String gauge change (followed by action adjustments if the new gauges feel off) and then intonation adjustments to get the correct scale length for each string would brighten up the sound of what he is playing. Too muddy for my ears as is.
Cellists and violinists have no problem playing scales in all keys. One just needs to get used to shifting. In a fifths tuning, you need to think more about playing up and down the neck than playing across the neck.
Intriguing for sure. Dang, I can see where this is leading me; I’ll have to get a new guitar to always leave in this different tuning, to help always associate these new muscle memory patterns with. Oh well. 😏
Lol! Time to show this vid to the wife ;-)
May also be called the "haven't you quit playing yet?" tuning.
hyqpy?
Never heard those notes
The Frippinator definitely deserves more recognition
Just listened to fraktured and the whole "Power to believe" album. Mind=blown
Are you watching Robert's and Toyah's lockdown videos on her channel. Really funny.
Just tried this tuning. A little weird to get used to but once I figured out the configuration, fuckin amazing. So much fun to play with. I'm a metal guitarist and you can find some really cool shit in this tuning. Thanks for exposing me to this.
Yes, I agree that it's just an alternate tuning, among all the rest of the alternate tunings out there, just as some djent metalists, drops tuning to C# and variations thereof. Even such simple thing as a dropped D tuning, renders regular chording a bit challenging. It's not something that will take over regular tuning any time soon.
First, the set/one scale of the guitar isn't suitable for such a wide range. I've heard that Fripp initially wanted it to go to high B (all 5ths) on the first string. Hey, it snapped always, before he could reach that pitch. Well the G is sufficient enough, as we can see on 12 string guitars where the high G octave string is the one most prone to snapping. But that is were the limit goes. The low C will sound flubby no matter the strings gauge. Some (Californian Guitar Trio) did use fanned fret guitars to accomodate for the low C string, and the high G string, but it wasn't enough. The high G string still snapped. Maybe Fripp - just as Keith Richards - would love to stay with just a 5 string guitar?
Speaking of CGT, they do use NST all of the time, but whenever listeing to them, they seem to resort to modal scales chords and playing, and seems have a hard time with closed jazz chord voicings, and "voice leading" chords. Their music and playing ends up very "angular" in a way, that after some time, the novelty wears a bit thin. I have yet to hear anyone play jazz chord progressions - without struggling or leaving out certain notes due to making shortcuts - with NST.
BTW, comparing and saying that "violins, cellos, upright basses etc does have 5ths tuning" is tad futile and moot, since they mostly play one or two notes at a time, not any chord by any stretch. Playing single note scales isn't that hard on any kind of tuning, like NST, but it's when chording, where the main culprit lies.
Drop C# doesn't djent, man, gotta go lower
Me, a cellist, plays better in NST than standard tuning.
Cellos are tuned in 5ths?
@@EnterJustice yes, as violin, or viola
woah. never knew Adam Jones from Tool plays cello! xD
Kyle Butler Fun fact he’s also black😉
Shocker
Hmm, interesting:). You've almost got me convinced to put my bass guitars back on their stands and pull out the Les Paul or my telecaster and experiment a little. I always did love
alternate tuning when I was playing the guitars. The truth of the matter is....sadly I haven't played any of my guitars in quite some time. I got so addicted to bass:).
I love this tuning tough so lush! Very nice!
why not tune your bass to 5ths? makes actually more sense to me than doing it on guitar
imagine if he made a mistake with that amount of delay
Paul doesn’t miss
*Kmac's delay song intensifies *
Animated jazz
@@viggoulander9671 needs more microtonality
According to purist guitarists, any mistakes made while using delay will be perfectly shrouded.
I play mando occasionally as well as guitar and whenever I pick it up I immediately feel comfortable with it, very able to play it despite not touching it in a month, I absolutely love playing it, it's what I take camping to play around the fire, and what I sit around and just pluck on when I'm bored. I want an octave mandolin so much but I just don't have the money.
I had a 12-string that was strung up &tuned Nashville style.Back when Robert fripp & the league of crafty guitarists were on the scene I saw an interview with Robert on a DVD or VHS maybe, and he showed this tuning. I took this 12-string and I tuned it using this tuning but only had six strings on it.had to move some of the strings around and use thicker gauge strings here and there but it was worth it in the end because it's a guitar that I can do stuff on that I can't do on any other guitar.It's extremely beautiful and different sounding,but I can't even put into words how inspiring it is to pick it up and start playing using that tuning once you've already learned how to do a lot of the chords that sounds proper,and learned the basics of how to do eadgbecf(sharps and flats, bar chords,open cowboy chords style stuff).It just gives it a completely different vibe and life once you learn how to play in this tuning.And just like here in this video I was tempted to tune all my guitars this way and relearn everything over again, but I decided to do both.I guess it means I'll never master one of them but I can certainly enjoy myself doing both as far as regular tuning and "Fripp tuning".and depending on how I feel on any particular day is what guitar I will pick up in whichever tuning it is tuned up to.
My God man, create an album called "cosmic strings" using this tuning. It will sell.
Don`t get caught in the ilussion of the effects. The sound is in the fingers.
Yeah, there’s nothing like the low “C” rattle on the frets....just beautiful. 😉
Just raise your action or get thiccer strings
Yeah, kinda. Even Paul had some rattle though. That is a lot of slack and in order to eliminate rattle I’d have to stifle my attack or get an 8 string, I don’t know if I’m willing to do that 😉
I remember being a newb years ago too. Like omg how do I raise the bridge height and get a thicker string?
SOB044 7:34 I guess Paul is a noob too? No need to be a smug asshole, regardless. You plan on readjusting your action and buying a thicker gauge string just for an alternate tuning, be my guest.
*Plays something outstanding
"just a bit of trial and error"
@Angry Pent 😂😂
nothing here is "outstanding"... you should be carefull with such words.
Almost a million of viewers and 33k likes in 6 months...you deserve them all for this video, Paul!
This is cool!
My standard tuning is somewhat between this and the regular EADGBE. I call it 'the double drop' and I never went back since I found it, trying to learn 'Limo Wreck' by Soundgarden, 20 years ago.
The tuning goes C-G-D-G-B-E. Here you have the wide and deep low end with sweet fifths, but you wont get lost in the high end, cause everything is just how you know it. It also allows lots of full chords without breaking your fingers. E.g.
A basic C major: 0-0-2-0-1-0
A basic C minor: 0-0-1-0-1-3
A basic G major: x-0-0-0-0-3
A basic G minor: x-0-0-3-3-3
A fat D at last: 2-2-0-2-3-2 (use thumb)
But I mostly use three-node chords which goes well with lots of fuzz.
D major : 2-2-4 (x-x-x)
D minor : 2-2-3 (x-x-x)
D7: 2-5-4
Dm6: 2-4-3
Dm5b: 2-1-3
Everything by The Sleeplings is written and played in this tuning.
Guys from the band "Elder" will lose their shit seeing this
Why is that? I freaking love that band. Just listened to the whole Reflections album again today for the millionth time.
@@jacobsmith1877 They will go absolute crazy because this tuning really fits the scales they use and they would know how to use it in their mad technical psych-stoner !
I didn't mean it like "they will be angry" but more "they'll go full crazy and love it".
I actually was emailing and talking to elder years ago because i was trying to figure out what insane tuning they used lol
@@gl00merz What tuning did they use?
my thoughts exactly!!!
2:29 C - G - D - A - E -G
*C - G - D - A - E -
@@dwasdw8218 k
C - G - D - A - -
@@dwasdw8218 you technically have a bass guitar now
This guy's beard should also be the new standard.
I feel like tuning in fifths would let you do some crazy banjo stuff. Probably make some of those tough guitar songs easier, like maybe "The Entertainer." There's a reason it's usually tuned in fourths the way it is though. It generally opens more doors than it closes.
It's fun. Fortunately I haven't broken my strings but they were so tensed it was uncomfortable to play but it would be fun to tune the bass this way or have a guitar with special strings to this tuning. One day I will buy strat only for this tuning
My biggest concern for this tuning is that the ideal string gauge would be something insane like 7-52
My high e was fine
Until it wasn't
I still prefer "Devin Townsend" Open C tuning...you got the Low C...... but still a High E......
Violins use this tuning because it makes it easier to make chords by rocking the bow across the rounded fingerboard. Minus the B (and as such, also the high E) string, violin strings are the same as a guitar but upside down... High to low violin: EADG... Low to high on a guitar: EADG(BE). I made this connection in begining orchestra because the bass has the same strings as a violin but go low to high rather than high to low. Math is fun and trippy.... I love music!! When I started playing the guitar as a VIOLIST, I thought it was strange that they made the Low C on the Viola/(With violin intervals) a High B on the guitar. With even intervals the guitar would be tuned EADGCF. For this reason I think you could possibly play some chords upside-down on this alternate tuning... Food for thought. (I hope that made sense. LoL)
I like the fresh sounds that your're getting out of your guitar using this tuning Paul. Thinking about giving it a try.