Why the guitar is tuned the way it is. (simple answer)
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- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
- If you've ever wondered why the guitar is tuned the way it is in standard tuning - EADGBE - I hope you find a little solace here!
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/ kostringworks
Why the guitar is tuned the way it is. STANDARD TUNING!
Thanks for watching everyone! If ya can't get enough, check out my new series over on my Patreon, Rare Radio. Rare Radio is a weekly deep-dive into my record collection, aimed to highlight overlooked songs and players from the folk tradition.⬇⬇⬇
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So you can remember: Eddie Ate Dynamite Good Bye Eddie. ;) haha.
Haha, that’s EXACTLY it!
my brain remembers it as EAD G B E - EAD, like eat one word, and G B E, and when you say G B E fast it kinda sounds like Gibby.
Eat, Gibby! Eat!
Pretty unforgettable to me, maybe because I watched iCarly.
Awesome underrated video, never take this down
Ha! Thanks dude. Stoked to hear it!
In short, standard tuning was arrived at for chord shapes and ease of fingering, evidently. Makes sense. Enjoyed the video. Thanks. Music owes an awful lot to Pythagoras and mathematics.
Tunings are a world of wonders. I play guitar in standard tuning but also various alternates--double drop D, open D, open C, open G. From what you gain in added drones you lose in minor chords or full minor shapes. Also learning lap steel in various tunings--dobro G, open D, C6 and A6. Add banjo, octave mandolin, and fooling around with a ukulele now and then, and I'm able to write and play songs in about a dozen tunings. Plus piano. It's amazing the amount of kinetic memory we're capable of when applying ourselves. And practicing. The lap steel 6th tunings were a real epiphany. In C6, for example, strings are (low to high) CEGACE. A is the 6th tone of the C major scale. You get a C major chord and/or an A minor chord. CEG and ACE. Plus you get three inversions or 'grips' of each chord. CEG, EGC, and GCE , for example. At the 5th fret, you get F and Dm and 7th fret G and Em. I prefer A6 myself. It's lower and throatier in tone than C6. In C6, the minor chord is on top. In A6, it's the major triad. Highly recommend getting into lap steel for a musical adventure.
Dude crazy. I’ll have to check some of those steel tunings out. Love the idea of that. Thanks for sharing!
@@kostringworks, have fun! Handy to know that you can tune A6 or C6 with same set of strings. A6 is C# E F# A C# E. Sleepwalk is one of the earliest songs I can remember. Doug Beaumier's version in C6 got me going on lap steel. He's got two great books of lap steel tablature, too. I like to learn by playing songs, myself. Once I'd learned several songs, I started writing my own. czcams.com/video/xGD04s76V98/video.html
One of the last parts deep asf
“you realize music is just hard, but that’s okay because you have your whole life to figure it out”
God dayum
Thanks bud! And you get the golden viewer award for making it to the end!
@@kostringworks littttt
Interesting insight young dude! Thanks!
I started playing guitar very, very late in life. I spent the first, very long time, separating my thumb from the first three fingers of my picking hand. The first song I learned to play was John Fahey’s Sunflower River Blues. Then Jack Rose Kensington Blues. So open C is my tuning of choice. I have learned some “standard” tuning things and have discovered that the standard cowboy chords can be manipulated in fingerstyle. It’s all very interesting. I think one’s intentions my determine where they need to go. I have no intentions of performing and certainly have not intentions of playing in a band. (If I were going to do that I would play drums anyway.) my intentions are to have fun, study guitar, discover new things and, I guess, be a perpetual beginner. I was recently talking to a youngish (to me) guy that plays guitar in the worship band at our church. He has been playing guitar since he was a little kid. He’s quite good. I mentioned playing in an alternate tuning and he completely shut down. He had no intention of fooling with that nonsense. Kind of sad really.
Another good video. Thanks again young dude! 🙏
Interesting! Don't know too many players that are most comfortable in C, but based of your inspirations that makes a lotta sense! I love open C, I should spend more time in it.
Yeah, kinda a bummer to find some folks who are closed off to open tunings, it's always been apart of the tradition as far as I'm concerned, and just plain fun!
Thanks for hanging!
Open C is my current favourite tuning. Sometimes I drop the E string to Eb for C minor, or drop the E down to C and get an extra drony sound.
Gwenifer Raymond is an excellent open tuned guitarist, check her out!
@@sc1915 I have been watching her for a while. She is great. Scary. 😂
@@danbgt wow, okay I just checked out her version of uncloudy day that she did for acoustic mag. Just amazing, thanks for the recommendation dudes!
I would have liked to have gone from Pentatonics to Major Scale sooner in my guitar playing, looking back.Learning theory really opens up gates to all other 'fields' crossing every instrument.The language itself.
I also love the open tunings of Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake and Jimmy Page.
I loved the video.Well done
Really nice insights all around. Joni’s tunings are just awe-inspiring whenever I start messing with them.
I started off playing on fifths-tuned instruments, like mandolin and tenor guitar, and never took the time to wrap my head around standard tuning. I know it makes a lot of chord shapes easier and lends itself to barres. But I just prefer the symmetry of fifths tuning. Probably too late to teach this old dog new tricks. Thanks for the video.
Your welcome! 5ths are sweet!! Most stringed instruments are tuned that way anyhow so you made a fine choice!
Circle of fifths is the reason for Standard tuning, with the 2nd “b” & 1st “e” string tuned down 1/2 a step to make fretting chords easier.
Makes sense!
Another informative and entertaining video.
Dude I'm so glad! Hope it shed a little light on a huge topic in the guitar community!
You compared that D chord to an A minor - if you think about it, it's really just the E major shape moved across the strings, which you can do now because you're in all 4ths. A major would be the same shape too, of course you'd have to mute that F string.
Dude, that's some great insight! Interesting that I saw it as "A minor" when it was so clearly coming about of the E major shape family! As you could probably tell, I was discovering these chords in the moment, and I've programmed my brain to see that shape as minor on the high string sets, but I love that way of framing it. Thanks for pointing that out!
Nice video! I have a guitar permanently in open C and another one that rarely goes from open G to standard. Trying to play "real" songs in standard tuning doesn't interest me anymore. Open tunings let me make my own music (but you do have to pay attention so as to not get into a rut with the same picking pattern).
Occasionally I'll discover a "real" song that works in open tuning. I can play a very jazzy version of Summertime on my 5 string guitar tuned D G D Bb d (open Gm).
It’s as real as you make it! I think it’s such a cool part about the string players tradition - to be able to tune your instrument however you feel - something that other instruments don’t get to explore! You guys are making me jealous of all your C tuned guitars!
Thanks for sharing and for tuning in!
Excellent video
Thanks Issam! I love geeking over this stuff.
I always play in a dropped 4ths tuning, usually in C (CGCFA#D#). I think it has something to do with starting out as a 6 string bass player. Also Devin Townsends open C tuning was a big inspiration, though I don't play in open C too often
I play in standard tuned to DGCFAd. A lot of people don't realise alot music in played in standard can easily be transposed to higher or lower key to support the singer. While alternative tunings are amazing for creating they are a chore relearning shapes and modes you previously learned in standard.
Dude, yes. I kinda hold the opinion that all guitars just sound better tuned low. If you dork on on the history of stringed instruments, you'll find some stuff that they generally just were pitched lower (whatever the intervals may have been). I think it had something to do with as halls grew, the demand for louder instruments also grew so our standard "A" just kept getting raised. Higher pitch, more downward pressure on the top of the instruments, more volume.
Anyway, low strung guitars all day.
Cool to know that this G to F# tuning was used on a lute, I discovered it randomly a few years ago and have since written some of my favorite songs in it.
I feel that the major third being in the middle makes much more sense, that way it divides the guitar just at the half point (4th-4th-Maj 3rd-4th-4th).
I really recommended digging more into it, it's not a dramatic difference from standard tuning so it's not to hard to get used to, and allows some chord voicings normally unavailable, like an open low Esus2 for example (like the Asus shape but moved one string down)
Sounds fun! I haven't messed around with that at all, but from what you're sharing seems like it be fun!
Part of me wonders why they didn't go for all open strings tuned to a low minor chord so that you could simply bar the chords, and use a single finger to bump up the third to major but I suppose that hinders more complex chords and maybe scales as well
Woah that sounds fun!
I play a lot in Bb new standard tuning and I’ve found the easiest way to approach it is to try new things and embrace the new voicings you get. Each tuning has its strengths, switch it up enough and you forget the weaknesses
For sure, what the Bb new standard all about?
@@kostringworks it’s very open. Kinda feels like a piano because chord voicings are so wide. The chords move around much easier, leads are very intuitive. It’s Bb F C G D f
Full disclosure, I think I kinda made this up. It’s the Robert Fripp tuning a whole step down, so not too original, but I’ve never seen it done anywhere else before and it does require special strings and a meticulous set up
@@CaptainErndope. Gonna try it out. ‘Preciate
Thank you. My take is that 4 fingers on a fretboard is a huge limitation for harmony. Standard tuning emphasizes: [1] Open strings and barre chords (free finger! Bigger sound with open strings) [2] easy major and minor triads for the naturals (common chords known to your fellow players). Therefore, voicing isn't important (bigger sound is better than second interversion) and moving the shapes up and down isn't important (not so many shapes to memorize anyway if we limit ourselves to common chords).
In this view, "mapping out the fretboard" is like mapping out alice in wonderland. It's not the point. Standard tuning was not meant to be mapped. Kudos to classical players for squeezing every bit of power out of the standard tuning stone. But standard doesn't care that melodic intervals are messed up.
Tunings like M3 (my fave) go the furthest in showing how the fretboard can be incredibly more logical than a piano (and instruments like harpejji and linnstrument go further still). With M3 you get tons of voicing options and the ability to play and transpose songs only knowing their underlying theory (harmony) and intervals (melody). No big 6 string chords though.
Thanks for all the insight! I haven’t messed around with M3, though I’m familiar with it. You’re definitely selling me on it right now haha.
I personally view tunings as something best used to match the “character” of a song or style. I just so happens more of the songs I dig are in standard, so I’ve ended up learning a lot about it because of it. But as a standard device to understand music or theory, for sure has a lot of challenges.
That's interesting. What's your opinion on tuning in 4ths? I went this route coming from playing bass. 5 string EADGC. Found that playing bass chords is quite fun. Figured I would just transfer that logic to a guitar. I found that I could play it right away without getting lost. I just use no more that 4 strings at a time. Kind of felt like this was cheating.
@@pgnandt It's not cheating when it's your rules, and those are the only ones that matter. Lots of people like all 4ths anyway. 4 string chords you say? Well, power chords only use 3, and careers are built on them. Check out the chord charts for all 4ths if you wanna try a bigger sound.
@@jasonjayalap When I say no more than 4 strings I'm referring to not needing to sound off all six strings on a guitar like a bar chord. I get what you're saying. Only need two strings to make a chord really. Yeah legends have been created with power chords. Biggest challenge for me was the small neck and trying to suck up the pain as the stings dig into my fingers.😆
@@pgnandt Excellent. For further reading/watching, you might look into "bajo sexto" and 6 string bass technique (depending on how bass you want your guitar).
Okay - are you saying the acoustic 6-string was invented in america. Not even sure the steel wires came from over there.
But intereztinggg, , , sure yes !
Yes, standard tuning is for strumming, not solos.
That said, lute players did just fine with their tuning, and from the music ive heard, they did not strum a lot, although they did arpeggio, to the best of my recollection.
I tried learning some 15th stuff on guitar and it was a lotta picking melody lines out of chord shapes. That said it was a beginner book so what do I know!
Thanks for sharing and saying hey!
I always had difficulties understanding music in the traditional guitar way. I was never convinced by the learning method when I studied at the conservatory.was imposible to apply harmony theory too like the piano. A while ago I discovered zigzag tuning of major and minor thirds(m-M-m-M-m-M). I tried A C G B D F. My head literally exploded and studying harmony on the guitar was similar to reading a pentagram. Try it and tell me. a hug and blessings.
Crazy! I will have to try it some time!
There's one thing I've learned from playing extended range and altered tuning guitars is that the standard designs are standard for a reason. Many times these alternate designs make more musical sense, but the increase in difficulty of playing the instrument is often large, and can't totally be overcome with practice. Playing non-standard instruments has not led to better or more freely written music for me.
Well put! Mostly depends on what you’re after, but standard has a lot of great visuals if you know what to look for I totally agree!
I think the biggest benefit to standard tuning is that it is yknow, standard. Like a lot of people have already figured out cool ways to use it and you don’t need to invent a whole new style of playing to make some nice sounds. That being said, it’s a bit harder to make unique sounds for that same reason
For sure, another way to look at it is spend enough time with any tuning and it will become “standard”.
@@kostringworksyeah definitely, like new standard tuning is cool and all I just personally think an octave mandolin does a better job at using fifths tuning in that register
Great job on this.
I always thought standard tuning made no sense, but I guess it makes it easier to play chords.
Truth!
That's what I got. Standard tuning makes it easier to apply 'standard chord shapes'. Personally I tune in 4ths and don't use those standard shapes.
@@pgnandt So, all strings in fourths? Don`t you have to re-learn all the chord shapes and note locations on the fretboard?
@@MusicManFernando Yes. Standard guitar shapes will no longer work. If you play standard already there's no reason to switch. I play in 4ths because I'm familiar with bass chord shapes. There was no mental transition really. Just a real small neck and strings that hurt my fingers.
Simple answer? So you can play six note chords.
I learned that from watching the companion video to Adam Kadmon's Guitar Grimoire scales and modes book. It's fairly simple, even though it was centuries in the making. I've recently switched one of my guitars to all fourths, since that eliminates the idiosyncrasy between the 2nd and 3rd strings. I'm undecided on it now, but it should be an interesting experiment.
Sounds fun dude! Let me know how you find it once you mess around for a while on it!
@@kostringworks I asked about it on a music theory page, and there's groups of guys who play in all fourths. So apparently, it's a big
thing lol
It's not the start point it's the end point....
I think you will find that the guitar is tuned to A minor/C major but with 7ths made easier. The G string really starts one note up on A, and the B string really starts one note up on C. The base sting was A, and they added more base by adding the fifth, E! That way you can alternate the base A E A E A D, and easily play A minor, or C major chords above. And when you think that the Piano was also tuned to A minor/C major, what other tuning would you choose in a house with a piano?
This seems super cool! Curious about the reason for tuning the high e string to d?
@@kostringworks hmmm, not sure why you ask about tuning the high E string to D. E is the third in C, and the fifth in A. D would be the second in C and fourth in A.
drop d is my fav coz u can do most standard stuff but you get more open strings in ur key :)))
Love drop d!
Enjoyed that. Thanks Kyle
I appreciate it Bill!
Standard Tuning Blows! Also,it is hell on the guitar neck.
Straight 4ths tuning makes a ton of sense musically, but as soon as I tried playing arpeggios I switched back though. The ergonomics are terrible.
For solely chordal purposes standard tuning is a necessity. For anything else it is garbage and a hindrance on learning music. Consistent intervals across your instrument is a huge benefit for connecting your ear with your instrument.
It can be so maddening.
If I decide to tune my guitar to all fourths, where would I learn all those new chord shapes?? I think I would be lost.
Ha I’m not sure!
watching his videos, like listening to a different language😂
I remember when Kyle did the first 900 on a skateboard
You should see me now.
2:00 most likely @maxostro Max Ostro’s ascendence…
I love the open sound of standard tuning❤️ give a like if you think the same😉
casually accidentally plays enter sandman... 4:55
Hahah, whoops.
Where'd you get your hat? 😊
Side of the road!
I'll keep my open! 😊
how do you figure out chords in other tunings?
For me I think it’s best to learn songs that are in whatever tuning I’m checking out. I’ve got some videos in open D you could scope out!
@@kostringworks can you link the specific ones? or a playlist
@@daudchishti5317 give this one a go! czcams.com/video/cnuluBystgw/video.html
Davis Cynthia Young Jennifer Wilson Cynthia
tony hawk??
A Guitar Consists of Seven Strings (B E A D G B E)
A Lute Consist of Seven Courses (B E A D F# B E)
5 Notes (A D G B E)
5 Notes (A D F# B E)
7 = B
6 = E
5 = A
4 = D
3 = G
2 = B
1 = E
E A D G B E
E A D F# B E
B E A F# B E (Bass 'N' Treble Tuning For 6 Course Lute)
B E A G B E (Bass 'N' Treble Tuning For 6 String Guitar)
Lee Steven Miller Jessica Williams Cynthia