@@PaulDavids I absolutely tune by ear AFTER tuning with a tuner. Even though it says it's perfect pitch it never rings out right to me. I usually have to tune slightly down on higher note strings to get it to strum perfect. :)
Just imagine Frusciante - watching Paul's epic detailed breakdown of Scar Tissue's B string tuning - and being like 'huh... I guess I was out of tune' 😅
crazy. but not that crazy. paul is one of the foremost guitar players/teachers/influencers on youtube. anyone on youtube who's ever searched anything about the guitar has to have come across one of his videos even if they didn't click on it - including some of the top recording guitarists ever
@@360.Tapestry It's actually a bit surprising he said some guy and not Paul Davids, but I guess Rick's a busy guy who doesn't consume as much geet tube as us. Still quite a big ol SRV feather in his cap.
I used to tune my guitar with Scar Tissue when I don't have a tuner (in the old times before smartphones) because it is an easy riff to match the tuning. Now I know why it always sounded bad afterwards, except for that one song 🤣
There are different temperaments for tuning that do sound more organic or maybe pleasant is the right word but since the equal temperament is pretty standard you sound out if you use them
I calibrated the scale in my checkout lane to weigh by using what i thought was a 1 lb weight? But it was actually a 1 kilogram weight. I was basically giving everbody banana and apples at half price.
It boils down to the guitar being an imperfect instrument - even when you tune the strings perfectly, when you start playing it, it will sometimes sound out of tune as opposed to a harp or piano - the solution to this is a True Temperament Guitar (the frets are not perfectly straight, - but squiggly) Paul has a video on that as well. Steve Vai as well.
@@someguy2744 Pianos have the same tuning problem because they’re also tuned to equal temperament (actually to be precise, they’re tuned with stretch tuning, where it gradually gets more sharp or more flat as you approach the ends of the keyboard). So, even on a piano this interval will not sound “perfect.” That said, guitars have that same problem plus another one: the fret spacing isn’t always perfect, so they end up with additional errors beyond what’s already there from equal temperament.
This is a total normal thing we do in the band and orchestra world! Thirds are 14 cents flat and 5th and 14 cents sharp. Each player adjusts to what they hear! So cool to hear frusciante using it!
Justly intoned 5ths are 2 cents sharp, not a full 14. Twelve-tone equal temperament turns out to have fairly good fifths! Something I've noticed is that even when people tune by ear, major thirds aren't a full 14 cents, but something a bit less. I looked at spectrograms of some barbershop quartet recordings once, and on big in-tune chords the major thirds were more like 3-10 cents flat. One reason might be that being any flatter than 13.68 cents sounds worse than having thirds that are a bit sharper.
Do you really think he would film his reaction before having seen Frusciante's reaction for the first time, so technically before he knew he had the intention for this vid? It's all click bait acting lol And if you believe he did, then you seem to be a person that buy's in willingly some fake stuff.
@@Getyabootsoffskinny John Frusciante moved on from copying Hillel & found his own thing very quickly. He joined a band as an 18 year old & made it world famous by the time he was 21.
Eddie Van Halen did that years ago with the B-string. I grew up on VH but didn't even know that. I eventually was doing it too and was so surprised when I read Ed had been doing it for years. I just always thought that my guitars were crap and that's why it wasn't in tune. LOL
@Some Guy it's a really cool listennif you haven't checked out the episode. A few times, JF goes into his infamous cryptic stories about voices/spirits. Those were Rubins favorite parts, and so were mine. 😅
that was one of my favorite videos of yours Paul. I had a feeling that it was something that John didn't necessarily do on purpose. I really love the scar tissue riff. It has such an original sound.
I always feel like a guitar is slightly out of tune with itself depending on where you play certain strings. No matter how much I intonate the guitar I have yet to play a guitar that I don’t here this disparity. John did this out of intuition. Absolutely amazing that Rick Ruben saw your video and talked about it with John, so epic.
Proper intonation can be a tricky thing. Jimmy Hendrix used to just ignore or play around it; Neil Young would play an opening chord, make a face, twist a peg, play it again, and say ‘perfect’ although it wasn’t. Beautiful sound is in the ear of the beholder.
This was so wholesome from start to finish, then the little kiddie at the end. I just can't, been having a rough time recently and this just warmed my heart. Thank you 😊
Can't remember who posted it but I remember a video of a guy explaining why you want to tune the B -15 cents always due to the intonation of most guitars spacing slightly differently on the B, if you're tuning by ear fretted note to fretted note (not playing the open string) you'll naturally end up in this tuning
@@reidjames4638 actually, one whole step is 200 cents and a half step is 100 cents. A quarter step (unplayable on guitar, only through bends), is 50 cents.
This is why frusciante is one of the best and most underrated guitar players to ever live. He literally took an out of tune string and made it into a “happy accident” instead of a mistake, and the end result was one of RHCPs most iconic songs/rifts
Honestly what likely happened is he tuned it by ear mid-recording. I play trombone, so I know these random tuning things cuz I have to *and* can feasibly act on them. It sounds more in-tune to a musician even if it’s technically flat in the 12-tone system.
It's a pretty well known trick. EVH also uses it in tons of songs. It has to do with microtones and the fact you dont get those intervals on a guitar. It's also why if you have a keen ear - your guitar will often sound out of tune on the B string even when the tuner says it is perfect. Try playing EVH "feel your love tonight" then try playing it with the B tweaked slightly flat. You will see
You make a great point, I often feel like a D chord is slightly out of tune even tho the tuner says the strings are in tune. Of course intonation can be a bit tricky as well
No way he was 14 cents flat on recording on purpose. Thanks for making videos with intelligent content instead of trying hard to look cool or chicks using boobs for views.
It's called natural tuning and it dates back (not that is has disappeared, but in modern music we use a different tuning) to before Bach wrote his "Wohl temperierte Klavier". It is still used in baroque and Renaissance music. It allows a group of players to tap into each others overtones and gives an angelic felling and body to the music
I love this whole short. The respect, the enthusiasm, the expertise, and the fun at the end with your kid playing with the guitar strings. Makes me a proud dad.
A professional piano tuner once tried to explain why they can't use digital tuners. And they sort of deliberately don't tune them "perfectly". I think he mentioned Bach's Well Tempered Clavier.
Seriously one of the best RU-vid channels out there. Regardless of this being a guitar channel, the way you approach your craft, and then deliver content, is so compelling enjoyable to watch.
This is really eye opening for me. I don't have perfect pitch, but when I tune the B on my acoustic with an electronic tuner, it always sounds out of tune or off pitch. Typically, I tune it down using a reference harmonic from another string.
I just listened to that Broken Record podcast last week. I had watched your original video, now I see this - full circle! I was a bit shocked that Frusciante kind on blew it off like he did.
