Learn Guitar

How many alternate guitar tunings are there? Lots and lots. More than either of us could count, but there are only a few different alternate tunings that you or I will ever realistically use.

The fact is, most new guitarists are overly suspicious of alternate guitar tunings.

When you started learning guitar you were probably struggling to make a half decent sound even in standard tuning. That’s assuming you got the guitar tuned properly at all. I’m willing to bet the idea of changing the pitch of the strings and using exotic chord shapes would have been the last thing on your mind.

Most guitarists never get over this initial fear of new and exotic tunings, but like everything else if you are willing to put in a little extra work the advantages to knowing even the more common alternate guitar tunings are huge.

Advantages of Alternate Guitar Tunings

The guitar is not perfect. In fact, it is far from it. The layout of the fret board can limit the vast number of chords and scales that are available. The good news though is the guitar is an adaptable instrument. With a little bit of tweaking we can open up a whole new range of sounds and chords to explore. The most obvious advantage of alternate guitar tunings is the wide variety of new sounds and chords they make available. There are more specific advantages though.

Alternate Guitar Tuning Advantage Number 1

Not all musical instruments are designed or tuned the same way. I’m sure you’ve attempted to play a simple piano melody at some stage on the guitar only to find out your left hand is no where near fast enough to play all the notes required. The harsh truth is some songs may be very difficult, or impossible, to play in standard tuning. You might have come across Internet tabs (especially guitar pro tabs) that are not physically possible to play (unless your have Mr Fantastic Fingers). Songs tabbed like this were probably originally written and played in alternate guitar tunings. When the tab was transcribed into standard tuning it became unplayable.

Alternate Guitar Tuning Advantage Number 2

Lets look a little more closely at chord progressions.

Have you ever seen a chord progression like D, D/C, D/B, D/A ?

Chord progressions like this are a sure sign that the song is written in what is called an open tuning. The big advantage of open tunings is that you can play chord progressions like those above by simply moving one finger. Now try playing the same progressions in standard tuning. It is a lot more difficult.

To save yourself a lot of time and hassle follow one simple rule – Learn only one alternate guitar tuning at a time. Some of the better guitarists I know will pick an alternate tuning, tune their guitar and stick with that tuning until they have mastered it. If you attempt to switch back and forth you will find it very difficult to get used to the alternate position of the notes on the fretboard.

Filed under: Learn Guitar Tuning