A quality guitar tuner is a crucial tool in any guitarist's gig bag. A typical acoustic guitar has six strings, each of which is adjusted to produce a specific pitch (or musical note). While there are many varieties of guitar tunings, the strings on a standard guitar are tuned, from lowest to highest note, as follows: E-A-D-G-B-E.
Alternate guitar tunings have been used ever since the dawn of time, or at least since the invention of the guitar. These tunings coupled with the use of a capo further broadens the spectrum available to guitarists and makes the sound of a guitar accompaniment ever changing. Most guitarists will recognise the standard tuning of a six string guitar as being EADGBe (the small e denoting the thinnest or highest pitch string). Any time that any one of these strings is adjusted so the note changes then an alternative tuning will be created. As with anything, some alternative tunings are more alternative than others! In popular music there are some common alternate tunings that have been used many times. I will list some of these later. There are also some artists that have consistently used these alternate tunings to create and mould their sound. Anyone who has tried to play, songs performed by Nick Drake on a standard tuned guitar will know that it is extremely difficult to work out how he played these songs. Knowing the tuning used makes the understanding and hence the playing easier.
That's where an electronic guitar tuner comes in. The main function of an electronic tuner is to automatically determine the pitch a string is producing and to visibly indicate whether that pitch is sharp (high), flat (low), or "in tune."
Double Dropped Tunings: Have the sixth and first strings tuned down one full step.
For tuning acoustic guitars, the quality of the tuner's microphone is very important, as this is only input source. The better the quality microphone, the more accurate reading you will receive.
Many people, including myself, are fans of the late Davy Graham who was greatly travelled and used these influences in his guitar playing and writing. He is probably best known for DADGAD tuning which he used so he could play along with musicians in Morocco, even though it is essentially a Celtic tuning (the global power of music!). This in turn ended up influencing Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin on songs such as Kashmir.
To conclude, alternative tuning of the guitar is possible and opens up numerous possibilities. As you try different tunings you will uncover influences and sounds as you tread paths that others have gone before. However, you may also uncover some new paths so don't forget your machete! To tune your guitar effectively you can either buy a chromatic tuner or find a web resource that has an effective online guitar tuner to get you started.
Alternate guitar tunings have been used ever since the dawn of time, or at least since the invention of the guitar. These tunings coupled with the use of a capo further broadens the spectrum available to guitarists and makes the sound of a guitar accompaniment ever changing. Most guitarists will recognise the standard tuning of a six string guitar as being EADGBe (the small e denoting the thinnest or highest pitch string). Any time that any one of these strings is adjusted so the note changes then an alternative tuning will be created. As with anything, some alternative tunings are more alternative than others! In popular music there are some common alternate tunings that have been used many times. I will list some of these later. There are also some artists that have consistently used these alternate tunings to create and mould their sound. Anyone who has tried to play, songs performed by Nick Drake on a standard tuned guitar will know that it is extremely difficult to work out how he played these songs. Knowing the tuning used makes the understanding and hence the playing easier.
That's where an electronic guitar tuner comes in. The main function of an electronic tuner is to automatically determine the pitch a string is producing and to visibly indicate whether that pitch is sharp (high), flat (low), or "in tune."
Double Dropped Tunings: Have the sixth and first strings tuned down one full step.
For tuning acoustic guitars, the quality of the tuner's microphone is very important, as this is only input source. The better the quality microphone, the more accurate reading you will receive.
Many people, including myself, are fans of the late Davy Graham who was greatly travelled and used these influences in his guitar playing and writing. He is probably best known for DADGAD tuning which he used so he could play along with musicians in Morocco, even though it is essentially a Celtic tuning (the global power of music!). This in turn ended up influencing Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin on songs such as Kashmir.
To conclude, alternative tuning of the guitar is possible and opens up numerous possibilities. As you try different tunings you will uncover influences and sounds as you tread paths that others have gone before. However, you may also uncover some new paths so don't forget your machete! To tune your guitar effectively you can either buy a chromatic tuner or find a web resource that has an effective online guitar tuner to get you started.
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