Re: Alt Tunings & Fun Chord Time
Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2013 9:16 pm
Jero wrote:I don't know what the hell ya'll just said
trace wrote:I don't know how to play guitar.
Jero wrote:I don't know what the hell ya'll just said
trace wrote:I don't know how to play guitar.
Yeah!bigchiefbc wrote:I like tuning my bass in fifths sometimes (usually CGDA, although I did try GDAE once), it makes chord work interesting because the chord shapes are upside down from the normal chords you're used to when you're tuned in fourths.

Aaron Turner from Isis and such likes to tune to a lowered version of that: F#F#BEG#Bskullservant wrote:I'm a big fan of AADGBE
Do you use a thicker string when you tune down that low? And is there any unique and fun things to do other than ballsy low A shaped chords (which I really want to try and hear now!)skullservant wrote:I'm a big fan of AADGBE
I'm dying to try this now...what are you using for gauges? I've read that all fifths can wreak havoc on guitar necks...gunslinger_burrito wrote:Yeah!bigchiefbc wrote:I like tuning my bass in fifths sometimes (usually CGDA, although I did try GDAE once), it makes chord work interesting because the chord shapes are upside down from the normal chords you're used to when you're tuned in fourths.
I tune my baritone in a lowered version of Fripps' New Standard, which is all fifths from the low string, then the high string is just a third, because otherwise the tension tends to be too great. So it's tuned to FCGDAC, low to high. I've been playing this one more and more often than my "regular" tuned guitars, which are in Drop Bb (sometimes double-dropped B flat <<< Is that like the name of a future hip hop project) and my nine string which is tuned also in drop Bb, but with the extra strings tuned to fifths.
I love the fifths tuning because you spread the tone out more; you can get low, bassy tones, as well as high and less muddy tones. So far, chord shapes for me have been much simpler than in standard, which makes me go back to my...."standard" guitars a bit more.
You have to use extra heavy gauges for the low strings, and extra light strings for the high strings.benjuro wrote:I'm dying to try this now...what are you using for gauges? I've read that all fifths can wreak havoc on guitar necks...gunslinger_burrito wrote:Yeah!bigchiefbc wrote:I like tuning my bass in fifths sometimes (usually CGDA, although I did try GDAE once), it makes chord work interesting because the chord shapes are upside down from the normal chords you're used to when you're tuned in fourths.
I tune my baritone in a lowered version of Fripps' New Standard, which is all fifths from the low string, then the high string is just a third, because otherwise the tension tends to be too great. So it's tuned to FCGDAC, low to high. I've been playing this one more and more often than my "regular" tuned guitars, which are in Drop Bb (sometimes double-dropped B flat <<< Is that like the name of a future hip hop project) and my nine string which is tuned also in drop Bb, but with the extra strings tuned to fifths.
I love the fifths tuning because you spread the tone out more; you can get low, bassy tones, as well as high and less muddy tones. So far, chord shapes for me have been much simpler than in standard, which makes me go back to my...."standard" guitars a bit more.