Guitar tunings?

Question

Hello, I would like to know if people tune down their guitars from standard tuning but keep it in the same "Pattern" I guess. For example, instead of it being "E A D G B E" they would all be lowered to "A D G C E A". It makes sense to me but I've never of anyone doing it before. Also
If it is a thing, what is it called?

Thanks in advance! I don't know much theory or technical things about guitar/music

Answer 1

Yes people do tune there guitars this way, and making a comment to say it's "wrong" would be arrogant. Who is he to say how to tune a guitar? Who made him God of the guitar to say how low someone can detune there guitar?



There are legitimate musical genres that rely on detuned guitars to drive their riffs. HEAVY METAL and several sub-genres like Black Metal and Death Metal where guys need a lower tuned guitar to get a deeper, darker tone is an example of this.



Then to say that your strings will be too loose to play is also ignorant. Yes, if your guitar is tuned to E Standard, you shouldn't detune to A D G C E A (also called A-Standard) because your strings will indeed be very loose and your guitar will not be in tune all the way up the neck, however, you can adjust the intonation and bridge to adjust for this on many guitars.



Has this guy never heard of a 7 or 8 string guitar? Those aren't tuned to E standard. A 7 string is tuned to B standard. What, is he going to say something like only Metalheads use such guitars and they don't know how to play the guitar if they are in this tuning? Well, here's some information for you, George Van Eps built a 7 string guitar in the 1930's. He didn't play metal, he played Jazz.



Yes, it is called A Standard, because you're keeping the same "patterns" as you suggest. When ever you have a standard tuning. Taking the low E string (or the B string on a 7 string) and dropping it 1 full tone (equal to 2 semi-tones) you will have a drop tuning. You can be in B standard on a 7 string and drop this 1 string and be in what is called Drop A tuning.



People shouldn't confuse this with an Open A tuning. If you tuned to an Open A, and wanted to tell people which tuning you were in, you would say, "I'm in OPEN A tuning". If you said A standard, you would be using A D G C E A.



And NO, putting a Capo on the 5th fret won't net the same results as tuning to A D G C E A. If you were indeed after a lower register on the guitar, you would need to adjust the tuning.

Answer 2

You simply take each string down the exact same amount of de-tuning, that 's all.



Easy.



But why?



Too many modern groups "de-tune" or drop tune simply because they don't know how to play any different fret patterns. and need to play the same frets, but change tunings to change keys.



Drop tuning is essential to some modern metal genres to get that low deep visceral sound.

And I'm not going to de-value that.

But Tony is right. He is consistent in his opinion on this and to me is right on the money.



Drop tuning should be an artistic choice, not a crutch. Too many new guitarists like so many different bands that they drive themselves nuts trying to keep up with all different tunings these guys use.

Guitars need to be set up to certain ranges of tuning. If you set up a guitar to play drop A, you cannot play standard E tuning...the strings will be way too tight and stiff.



Stick to standard E tuning until you are an expert player. Or stick to drop B and be a metal player only.

But you will just confuse yourself if you try to play in 5 different tunings.

Even a simple dropped D tuning would confuse me and I'm an experienced guitarist. But dropped D tuning only tune the low E down to E and that would drive me NUTS, since I've played for 45 years and the E string does what an E string does. If I detune just ONE string, I have to relearn every thing I ever knew about guitar.

Screw that.

(heck, even a 5 string bass messed me up, because I kept forgetting which string did what, And I kept playing the right fret but wrong string.)

Answer 3

You already chose a best answer, but I figured I'd weigh in as well.



If you want to play it a tuning that low, I would recommend getting a baritone guitar or a 7 string.



I generally will only tune a 6 string to Drop C (C,G,C,F,A,D), as lower tunings than that sound like garbage to me unless the guitar is specifically designed for it. Drop B (B,F#,B,E,G#,C#) is okay as well, but that's pushing it a bit in my opinion. If you want to play in a lower tuning than that, you should probably look into an extended range guitar of some kind. Ibanez makes sort of a hybrid drop-tuning guitar that has 6 strings but the same scale length as a 7 string. It comes factory tuned to D standard (DGCFAD) and the longer scale length would make it easier to tune lower if you like.



Tony is mistaken in one respect. Songs can indeed be "in" a particular tuning. If a song was originally recorded in Drop B tuning it will not sound even remotely correct if you try playing it in standard.

Answer 4

Yes, you can down-tune a guitar, but doing it as far as in your example would cause it to buzz and not give a clear note. Strings are designed to work properly within a certain pitch or tension range. Twelve-strings are sometimes detuned by a couple of frets to reduce tension on the neck, but that's about as much as is usually practical. If you wanted the strings to be ADGCEA, a more practical way would be to capo at the fifth fret. A capo bars across the strings and raises their pitch equally, and is sometimes used to change the key of a song to make it easier for a singer or to allow the player to use familiar chords.



There are various alternate tunings that change the pitch relationship between the strings and make it easier to play in certain keys (the standard tuning comes closer to making it equally easy to play in all keys). Alternate tunings are popular these days and unfortunately this sometimes gives rise to a mistaken impression among beginners that the guitar is supposed to be retuned according to what key you're in. Actually, of course, it's a fully chromatic instrument and, using appropriate chords, can be played in any key in standard tuning.

Answer 5

This is a very best idea of singing many people used to learn guitar tuning .

Answer 6

The simple answer to your question would be, no, not people who can actaully play properly. A guitar is a chromatic instrument and in standard tuning all notes and chords are available. Changing the intervals between the strings (like using an open tuning or a modal tuning) might allow things to be played that would be impossible in standard tuning (for example playing chords with a slide). Retaining the same intervals (the relationships between the strings) achieves nothing though. It would be like detuning all the strings on a piano by a semi-tone!



The example that Tommy gives of de-tunig by a semi-tone so that open chords can be used in a "flat" key would be a legitimate thing to do in some circumstances but not normaly.



In the late sixties some players de-tuned their electric guitars by. Semi-tone to make th strings easier to bend (this was in the days before extra light gauge strings).



The "tuning" you suggest would be pointless and wouldn't work as the strings would be too loose. What would it be called? It would be called, "wrong"!



The amount of ignorance amongst some younger "players" is shocking - some do indeed think that a guitar's tuning is changed according of the key of a song or tune and some are even so confused that they think a song is "in" a particular tuning.



You will hear some people talk of "tuning down to Eb" when what they really mean is that they have de-tuned the whole guitar by a semi-tone. Some of them talk of "Eb standard" or "D standard" etc. This is in the mistaken belief that standard tuning is "in" E, it's not, it's not in any key!

Answer 7

Some players tune their guitars up or down a half step or so as an alternative to using a capo. For instance, a guitarist who finds that the key of Eb is a better range for their voice than E, might de-tune every string by a half step: Eb-Ab-Db-Gb-Bb-Eb. The result is that they can use open strings/chords and still be in the key of Eb.



When referring to the tuning you're asking about (lowered standard) you should just say you tune down so many half steps. (in your example, 7 half steps) You could call it "tuning down to A," but people might confuse that with an "open A" tuning where your strings are tuned to a A chord.



The tuning you suggested is so low that you'd need to use much heavier gauge strings to maintain the correct tension. Normal strings would flop around. The simpler approach would be to keep standard tuning and put a capo on the 5th fret. Your strings would be tuned to the same A D G C E A except an octave high.....giving you something like an extended uke tuning.