guitar players... why do people 'alter' their tunings...

[abc]

you know how when you want to play something with your guitar of somebody's, then it doesn't 'sound' right, until you find out you gotta de-tune your guitar...

is this how a band gets their 'sound' (plus what pedals/pickups) they use... but I also find it annoying that you gotta custom tune your guitar to play someone's song...

 

[Shawn]

probably?

 

[aircooled]

soundgarden

 

[Tremulant]

I think if people didn't use different tunings then a lot of music would sound the same.

 

[aircooled]

soundgarden

 

[Kntx]

Some songs are easier to play with the guiter tuned differently.

 

[Tremulant]

Originally posted by: aircooled
soundgarden

 

[esun]

Well I know on the violin sometimes people tune a half note high or low to play in odd keys without having to worry about shifting or wierd fingerings. Probably the same type of thing.

 

[aircooled]

soundgarden

 

[mpitts]

I don't know of that many bands that use alternative tunings. Some may tune down to D (Soundgarden), or tune down 1/2 step (Green day), or both.

I know the Goo Goo Dolls use an open tuning for some of their songs.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Some people tune lower to get a darker, heavier sound (rock, metal, etc). There are different variations on how one might tune a guitar lower (how low to go, drop tuning vs detuning all strings the same), so you get different people favoring different things. I think it's common to use different tunings when playing acoustic, but eh, I never was into acoustic stuff. Not sure about that really.

 

[AlienCraft]

Some things don't sound right because the "relative pitch" of the original recording has been altered slightly, for a variety of reasons among them being variations between the master and duplicators tape machines, producer's perogative.
Some players use "open" tunings where the strings are tuned to a particular chord. Case in point... Keith Richards.... Plays in an open E tuning. Any chord he wants to play is then just a sinle Barre (bar) across one fret. This allows him to play within that key, no matter where he is on the fretboard.
Others, like Stevie Ray Vaughn use it so thye can play a slide, for the same reason.
Ronnie Montrose, on Bad Motor Scooter is using an open tuning and then discards the slide after the inital glissando.
Steve Vai uses alternate tuning to Fvck with you.
It's about what sounds right vs whats easier to play.
< Former Guitar tech for Neal Schon, Joe Satriani, Ronnie Montrose, among others.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Originally posted by: mpitts
I don't know of that many bands that use alternative tunings. Some may tune down to D (Soundgarden), or tune down 1/2 step (Green day), or both.

A lot of heavier bands tune down to C, B, A, etc. Put 7 strings in the picture and you have a ton of possible combinations. Meshuggah use 8 string guitars now, and I believe they tune to G or F.

 

[aircooled]

Double drop D (tune your E's to D's) DADGBD. Have fun!

edit... badmotorfinger = d-tune 🙂

 

[mpitts]

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey

Originally posted by: mpitts
I don't know of that many bands that use alternative tunings. Some may tune down to D (Soundgarden), or tune down 1/2 step (Green day), or both.

A lot of heavier bands tune down to C, B, A, etc. Put 7 strings in the picture and you have a ton of possible combinations. Meshuggah use 8 string guitars now, and I believe they tune to G or F.

When I think of an alternative tuning, I think of having to retune more than one string.

From what I have seen, most bands who play 7-string guitars generally drop the B to an A. The same premise as drop-D.

 

[aircooled]

soundgarden

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Originally posted by: mpitts

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey

Originally posted by: mpitts
I don't know of that many bands that use alternative tunings. Some may tune down to D (Soundgarden), or tune down 1/2 step (Green day), or both.

A lot of heavier bands tune down to C, B, A, etc. Put 7 strings in the picture and you have a ton of possible combinations. Meshuggah use 8 string guitars now, and I believe they tune to G or F.

When I think of an alternative tuning, I think of having to retune more than one string.

From what I have seen, most bands who play 7-string guitars generally drop the B to an A. The same premise as drop-D.

I don't really know a ton of bands that use seven strings, but the two that come to mind (meshuggah and korn) both tuned them down to A -- not drop, just every string down one step. And the other stuff I mentioned didn't really have anything to do with drop tuning.

 

[Tremulant]

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey
Some people tune lower to get a darker, heavier sound (rock, metal, etc). There are different variations on how one might tune a guitar lower (how low to go, drop tuning vs detuning all strings the same), so you get different people favoring different things. I think it's common to use different tunings when playing acoustic, but eh, I never was into acoustic stuff. Not sure about that really.

Saves The Day tuned a step down (I think, may have been a 1/2 step.. I forgot) on their first two albums to get that heavier sound.

 

[Koing]

soundgarden

(really doesn't have a clue about it but wanted to say it anyway 😛. But looks like good info here though)

 

[Wahsapa]

dashboard confessional(the old dashboard, acoustic only) had a lot of stuff tuned different(half step down)

 

[nan0bug]

Tuning differently allows for faster play or easier to hit chords. I've been tooling around with drop D tuning then tuned down a full step, which is what a lot of deftones songs are tuned to. Also DADF#AD is pretty cool.

 

[bpctech]

weezer's first 2 album's are all tuned a half step down, other bands do this too. The combination of a different tuning and a capo have endless possibilities. Sometimes I like playing songs in a different tuning for the heck of it.

The goo goo dolls are the worst to play, because you have to retune the entire guitar almost always and then all the chords are just 1 or 2 finger chords. (lazy!)

 

[zugzoog]

From what I understand, the standard tuning was to make the chords used in Spanish (&amp; european) music easier to play. As other posters have mentioned, other styles of music (especially Jazz, Hawaiian etc), utilize other chords and so are easier to play with a non-standard tuning.

The other problem with the standard tuning, is that from a harmonic point of view, it is a dog's breakfast. Playing a chord on a guitar tuned to a key is richer than playing it on the standard tuning.

The other players that utilise non-standard tunings are slide guitarists. No explanation necessary here!

 

[RagingBITCH]

Because they care to play in that tuning and like that sound? They're not losing any sleep over someone being annoyed that he has to tune his guitar to Drop C, or 1/2 step down, or DADADD.

 

[thomsbrain]

news flash: bands don't write their music so other people can play it.

different tunings do several things: first, they alter the tonal characteristics of the instrument. tuning one or all of the strings differently changes the tension on the strings and makes them react differently to being strummed. it also changes how they relate to any "static" resonances in the body, neck, pickups, or cavaties in the instrument. most bands these days are tuning lower than usual, which results in a thicker, beefier sound for the band as a whole, and also makes it easy to play in lower keys that a singer might find easier to sing in. the "1/2 step down tuning" in particular is used for this purpose. for some reason many singers find it much eaiser to sing to songs that 1/2 step lower, especially singers who are already singing pretty high (the weezer, green day, and dashboard confessional examples people have mentioned are all almost certainly the result of this). but it's important to realize that a normal guitar tuned to C or B (think smashing pumpkins' last album) sounds different than purpose-built "baritone" guitar (think staind).

second, they offer a different chord and melody palette to the player, and in some cases can facilitate playing things that are too difficult or impossible in a standard tuning. for rock in particular, dropped D and related tunings allow MUCH faster playing of various power chords, along with the ability to hammer on and pull off entire power chords at once. but many guitarist simply like the change of pace, since it forces them to play new stuff and get out of their ruts. I read Sonic Youth used to have a seperate guitar for each song, where the guitarist would twist the tuning pegs randomly, then write a song on the guitar. It forced him to always be original. The downside was he needed like 70 guitars.

But basically, IMO, if you're the type of player who is bothered by messing with tunings, you just shouldn't bother trying to play those songs. Playing other people's stuff is pointless anyway.