I just want to clarify that Hendrix tuned down to Eb because when he was playing with Velvetones, all the songs were in keys that suited brass better so F, Bb, Eb and tuning down to Eb made playing parts easier for those keys. After he left to do his own thing, he just kept doing it because it felt comfortable. He also played a lot in E standard.
A bunch of those Hendrix shows like Isle of Wight he ends up in like Db standard. I think he just pulled it out of his case and tuned it to itself. Always just tuning by ear at those shows
Last October I was in an accident and ended up with nerve damage in my left (fretting) hand. Can't feel my left pinky and the ring finger is half asleep. Inspired by Joey Landreth I tuned to open D. It's now my favourite tuning and probably my main tuning from here on out. Once you figure out the open voiced chords it's super easy to play with only 3 fingers and the reduced string tension helps a lot
@@CliffGraham I think he mostly left because he started his own solo career. If I remember correctly Joey played mostly in open C, Ariel was in B or C standard, and the bass was BEAD tuning. But I could be wrong
I have nerve damage in my left (fretting) hand as well. I'm having surgery actually on Thursday to correct it if all goes well. I was just starting to learn and had to hold up til this was scheduled, so I am hoping to have sensation and strength again soon. Sadly, I don't know enough about it all to do different tunings. There's a whole new finger chart for chords for new tunings though, right? I know so little and am just starting over, plus I have a tendency to overthink, that it's making me think I have to learn a whole new fingering chart for chords for every tuning standard. :(
I too was in a car accident and my fretting hand the left hand is pretty jacked up, I’ve been playing guitar since then and I’m going to try that. I do love some drop D, I just need to adjust to the tuning/notes. My ring and pinky fingers are a constant 8 out of 10 pain level, thanks for sharing.
@@ruvchbrevth The original comment said open D, not drop D. Open D gives other opportunities and flavor than the drop D. I hope you'll fully recover from your injury!
Ever since Rhett made the D standard tuning video I still have my strat and jazzmaster tune in it. Absolutely love how they sound and I wouldn’t have done it without seeing the video
I play guitar one handed (due to a stroke) and on my acoustics I use 13-56 tuned down to C which creates the ideal tension for my hammer on/pull off style
I just ordered a new Fender Strat from Sweetwater and had them plek it based on an Eb tuning setup with my chosen strings and I've never enjoyed playing a guitar more. So easy to play and it sounds so good! I just recieved it last night and I opened my youtube feed today to see this! Synchronicity at its finest.
I learned something new - had no idea you could have a guitar pleked for a certain tuning. Does that mean the playability would be slightly off in E standard, or other, for example, open tunings?
@@James-eg3nf Yeah, I only just found out when I was ordering this guitar. It does mean it will be just slightly off when you change the tuning. If you tune the guitar I just ordered to standard it would raise the action slightly because neck tension is increasing.
@@James-eg3nf but if you set your guitar up (Plek'd or not) for a standard tuning and a really low action and then tune it down to a c standard it can create string buzz or dead strings
@@James-eg3nf you ideally want to to set the guitar up for a specific tuning so that when it's in tune and at a specific string tension on that specific guitar body so that the neck is as straight as possible. You would do the same thing during a traditional guitar setup
I definitely like my strat tuned down. I think a very important reason why is the fact that it starts to produce a sound that we are not accustomed to hearing from our guitars. In my case I learned in e standard. Then I found out about Jimi and SRV and tuned down to eflat and it felt way cooler. Although after playing in e flat for years that became my standard, my brain got numb to it. Mean while I discovered drop D and that was the new cool thing because mt ears werent used to that sound. Since then I've tried all sorts of different tunings, d standard, c standard, even b standard, on the same strat and I feel like the same rule applies. Its just a matter of disturbing the norm and in a way surprising your ears and your brain. The same thing happens when I try open e or g or dadgad. Thats why we hear players saying if you are in a creative rut, switch it up by just changing your tuning. Once you do it you can discover a whole new world of sounds with the same instrument.
Lately I’ve been writing songs with one guitar in E standard and the other guitar in C# standard. They’re relative to each other (E major’s relative minor is C#) and it forces different voicings between guitars. It also creates a very good separation in the mix because of the different voicings. I like writing in C# and E standard together because it makes the guitars feel like totally different instruments.
That's a cool trick! I play baritone (B standard) in my band to separate myself from the other guitarist in E, and to step on the bass players toes. It's a lot of fun.
I would like to hear you do this the other way around. Play a low tuning and THEN play a standard tuning. I think the experiment itself tends to favor whatever you play NEXT. And I think playing standard tuning after would also sound "better"
I don't know whether or not it would sound "better" but I would love to hear him playing the same thing in both tunings for comparison. My issue is that in these comparison vids he seldom plays the same chords and licks but more "plays around" so it's hard to tell how one actually compares to the other.
@@nuthinbutloveI agree. These comparisons while playing different licks on each tuning/amp/guitar/etc is silly. We’re only going by what the person making the video says and taking it at face value rather than making up our own mind
Styles were wildly different, as far as how they played what they played. SRV played so heavy handed and aggressively he needed 13’s to hold up to the abuse.
@@JoaoGabriel-lz3wpHendrix played with a good amount of effects and Marshall amps. They both played loud as fuck, I doubt you’d hear a tonal difference in the string gauges
I love Eb and C#, been playing Eb for a few years and now I feel like C# has grown on me. P-90s sound fantastic with it. Really enjoyed the video, too. I'd love to watch some more stuff like this, it's pretty inspiring
For the specific track that you jam, I think Eb sounds the best. Alternate tunings, even those that are just lower than normal DOES actually change your playing. I've been stuck on rut for years. But when I changed one of my guitars to baritone tuning, I, suddenly felt inspired to play again.
I don't play metal, but about ten years ago I played my friend's guitar that was tuned down a whole step to D because he plays metal, and I've been tuning my guitar that way every since. Never owned a capo until then, now it a standard component in my case.
When you drop to D you are also reducing the string tension on the neck which lowers the action. The strings get closer to the pickups which increases output. It’s always a good idea to lower the pickups slightly when you do this so that it doesn’t affect your sustain. When you do that you will really hear and feel a difference in the guitar:)
I believe the amplitude of a vibrating string is also higher when it's at lower tension, so you actually need a tiny bit more bow in the neck so the strings aren't hitting the frets.
@@SlimeyGuitarStrings yes, you can do that as well upon inspection of the neck. The gauge of strings can determine how much tension there is as well. The neck radius can also play into the equation. Bottom line though is if you like how it plays and feels, that’s all that matters:). You definitely don’t want pickups that are too high such that they pull against that string vibration and kill the sustain.
Originally i'm from the metal side of the universe with a jazz influence and the love for classical guitar. The jazz influence became bigger over the years but, what kept the same was my love for the 8 string guitar. Regarding the lower tunings, it is really fun to play around with it altough, i have to say it's quite hard to get chord voicings out of the low F# that suits the situation, beside metal and Ambiente. People should be more open to different tunings and strings on the guitar. Btw. Great video from you
Absolutely. In the 80's, Motley Crue also used D tuning. Wildside, Girls, Feelgood... It gave them a down & dirty sound and helped set them apart sonically.
I knew I was getting a swamp rock vibe from the lower tunings, but couldn't figure out why. Saw this comment, went and listened to Born on the Bayou and was like "Oh yeah... that's the stuff right there"
There’s so many songs that have been written in standard tuning, it’s nearly impossible to hear an open cowboy chord or progression without your brain instantly recognizing countless songs from the past that sound similar. Tuning out of standard introduces your ear to progressions in new keys and new trails that haven’t been so nicely paved before you.
Low tunings absolutely thrive on single coil guitars, cause they maintain clarity in the low-end if they have good pickups. PAFs usually already have a darker sound, unless it’s like the Lollar El Rayo or something voiced like that.
I started tuning my 12 string down 1/2 step a few years ago. I liked the sound so much I have just about all my guitars (acoustic and electric) 1/2 step down.
I'm 66....and you just changed my life. I know what to do with my quiver of cheap guitars. I don't need a baritone. I can buy less Rev Willys, too. Already I was tuning lower on some instruments, Lute as low as 410hz. The simple mellow jam is also nice inspiration, as my background is keyboards, and reeds. I got a cheap bass....the strings cost more than the guitar. Very cool video for me.
I spent lots of time in high school getting familiar with alternate/low tunings . Its my advice for anyone who’s got the basics down to apply those to other tunings & inspirations will come your way
I’ve been playing Eb for decades and love it, but if I was a blues player, D standard might be my jam. Then I might have to pay drop C on the low E and that would cover a lot of ground for me. Nice demo!
Here's what I wonder though. Is the preference for lower tunings simply a matter of being so used to E Standard, that the change up in of itself is enough to make it seem "better?" When something is so common and a regular part of everyday life, you can become dull to it. Like if you eat an apple for lunch every day, but one day you run out of apples and have to resort to an orange, that orange is going to be a lot more exciting and fresh. In fact, you may even believe the orange is the superior fruit. Now of course, its all subjective, but I do have to wonder if that applies here. Just, food for thought.
I feel like I agree with your notion. I feel sort of the same "energy" from an up-tuned guitar, say to F. Like some of The Smiths songs, or playing with a capo. But I also agree that lower tuning sounds and feels "better". What ever that means. :)
I had an acoustic that I thought sounded too bright. I tuned it to Eb standard and thought it really opened up the sound. So I recorded a song using a capo on the first fret (essentially E standard), then re-tuned my guitar to E standard and recorded the same song. Playing them at the same time and alternating between the two, I couldn't hear a difference. They sounded exactly the same. I'd been fooling myself. To really test, record a song in E standard, then tune down to Eb standard and record the same song with everything else the same. Let someone rename the two files so that you don't know which is which and see how well you can tell the difference.
I am not a fan of downtuning my guitars. But I am a fan of lower tunings. "THAT MAKES NO SENSE, SAM!" Well, I have a 7-string guitar. I don't like lowering it to Drop A or otherwise lowering things. But I love having an extra 5 low notes. I love the power added to chords with that extra low note, when I want it. My daughter (who is 7) listened to Yvette Young, and we tuned daughter's guitar to a tuning similar to Ms. Young's. FACGCE, or "Open Fmaj9". Lowering D to C and raising B to C, E to F was just what sounded cool to us.
Almost all your arguments are related to string tension. You need to redo this video with different string gauges to compensate for the detuning and maintain (almost) constant string tension between tunings.
It's really rad to see you guys testing this stuff out. I write and play metal and my current favorite 6 string tuning is AGCFAD. You get really interesting standard tuning play between the A and G since the octave is between those two, not the first and third.
I love D standard for a fender scale length guitar. I also keep an inexpensive takamine acoustic in D standard to compensate for the fact that I've never been able to set it up all that well. It's always sounded good and now it's much easier to play AND sing with.
I've got an old Washburn acoustic MIJ Festival (great guitar!). Loves D standard tuning, strung with light gauge strings. Sounds great and reduces stress on this cherished guitar.
@@timeconsumer325 it sure does. I guess it's easier on electrics because with most bridges you can intonate each string individually (the intonation changes with different tunings), while on acoustics you have a "static" bridge so it sorta is what it is. I was just trying to make it easier on the neck with the lower tuning, didn't work as expected lol
It would be interesting to hear this with other guitars. I tuned my Telecaster to Eb, but ended up going back to E standard because it didn’t sound right. I love my Martin dread in D, though.
I Tuned an acoustic guitar down to C Because the strings were hurting my fingers and i figured it would ease the tension and be easier to play. Not only was it easier to play, but i liked the sound of it. I didn't realize how common it was for people to do that. Later i went and bought light strings for my acoustic and 9s for my electric just cuz 9s were the only gauge i hadn't tried yet. The 9s feel great in E standard. Then i put it in D natural and wow i love it. It's super slinky. 10s might be better for D natural, but I'll probably keep 9s on for awhile. Feels like water
i end up playing in c and a# a lot, because i like the tones you can get with that as a base and a lot of effects stacked on top. listening to boris really opened my ears to what you can do with super low tunings.
For the past few years, I've been tuning some of my guitars to A Standard (ADGCEA), five semitones above E Standard, but recently I started thinking about going the other direction, and tuning to D Standard, both for guitar and bass. I plan to increase my string gauge; normally, I use .010 gauge on a 24.75" scale length, but I will probably go up to .011 gauge, because I do want to maintain the tension to which I am accustomed. I do this primarily because I have a low voice, and it helps me with transposing songs. When tuned to A Standard, I use .008 gauge strings, which end up about the same tension as .010 gauge in E standard. I can play the "normal" chord shapes, and the guitar will play a perfect fourth above, while I can sing a perfect fifth lower than the original melody, and be in tune with my instrument. However, .008s are prone to breakage, especially on scale lengths longer than 24.75". I'd like to acquire a 24" or 22.72" scale instrument, but my choices in those scale lengths are limited, so I thought of going the other way, and tuning down a whole step to D Standard, instead, which would mean I could use any standard scale guitar or bass easily, although I will have to have the nuts on my guitars and basses recut for the thicker strings.
I have a 30 inch scale jazzmaster tuned down to drop E and conpared to my drop usual drop C tuning it completely changes how you want to play the instrument and the tone completely alters which is so damn cool and the wierd thing ive noticed the lower you go into extended ranges youll find single coils are the way to go for more clarity which is wild considering im a metal player which is mostly known for humbuckers.
R, I was painting my kitchen ...and not really paying attention to the upload until you got to the C# vamp. My ear said stop everything you're doing and listen to this brother preach on guitar! TY for the sermon.
This video was very timely. I just had my Squier Jazzmaster Vintage Modified returned to me from my guitar tech. It now has an 11-50 D'Addario Jazz Light Flat Wound strings! I agree. E flat is the way, the truth and the life for 10s and 11s. 9s is for E standard, in my opinion.
I’m a bass player in a band that tunes down to C Standard. For me there were two things I had to fight. Being tuned so low, the bass sounds dull. So I have to play with some sort of overdrive always on to cut through. Also no matter what 34” scale bass I played with super heavy strings, they seemed to never sound right. Moved over to a Dingwall 4 string with lighter strings and POW! Absolutely glorious.
My band and I have been playing in D standard for decades and it has taught me to lighten my attack on the strings so I don't bang them past their sweetest range. You can see when you use a tuner and bang the string hard that it will go sharp and then settle down to the target pitch. I think I've heard Tim Pierce say to learn to play light so you can have the most dynamic control right at your finger tips. I also play lots of slide in standard and you don't want to hit the strings too hard or you won't get a consistant contact between the string and the slide. Tuning down makes you play differently. More fluid would be my description.
So after watching, I grabbed my G&L Tribute Fallout and rolled it back to D Standard. Can't say that worked for me. Maybe with 11 or 12's. So I went up a half and now THAT'S where it's gonna live! It really gave the neck P90 something to say.
I watch, enjoy and learn from all of your videos Rhett. -I've used C # in the bass with standard tuning and playing in the key of E for a long time and have written with that tuning. On electric. I had the honor of playing with Eric Bibb in concert, and backstage he hipped me wise to the fact that he tunes to D Standard. It's nice when one guitar is tuned that way and the other player is in standard and the different colors derived. Because we play shapes and guitarists love open string shapes it sounded great with him in D standard and me in E Standard. -Your new course is what I've been looking for, having played in tunings, etc but always searching scale wise. And, just dwelling perhaps in one or 2 tunings. RU-vid and books help but they are scattered whereas this looks like an encyclopedia. Thanks! -
Rhett's comments about how the sound changes when tuned down is entirely accurate and that's because E-flat is at 415 Hz whereas standard tuning is 440 Hz. That semitone down definitely makes a totally new sound based on the vibrations and any harmonics it may produce on a 6-string guitar tuned down a half step. Even a bigger difference in timbre in D-tuning.
Wow, for some unknown reason I tuned my Strat down to D a couple of weeks ago and instantly fell in love with how it felt and sounded! I'm thinking I will keep it there. I tuned down to Eb for many years in my power trio days and my bass player would tune down also. When sitting in with others in standard tuning it was a PITA. But D tuning will be easier for me to instantly transpose when playing with folks in standard tuning.
I love C# standard with 11-52 strings on SG guitars. It's slinky but feels great for bending ease. You know it is great for that stuff, qyou know that band from Birmingham, UK, can't remember the name, anyway. For Strats, E flat is great with 9 to 42, some much fun with 7,5" neck radius, and also 9,5". "Timbre" is the Word !
And here I am wanting a tenor guitar or octave mandolin. I play in a group with piano, bass , and keys. The low end is all taken up, so I am trying to find different ways to cut through. I’ve even been looking at modifying an 8 string acoustic to be strung in 4 courses being tuned ADGB.
I kept mine tuned down one whole step for a few years. It was handy for quick changing to three other tunings. I finally put it back in ordinary tuning sometime during the pandemic, trying to just give myself some other real estate to have fun with, and get my muscle memory for space more standard. I can't really look, and so far haven't put anything along the back of the neck, to line me up quick. l just like the smoothness of my neck.
I was in the Guitar Center I West LA and they had a used Danelectro baritone that someone had put 10s on and tuned to E-standard....that was a seriously cool feeling and sound.
G'day Rhett, Thanks for an interesting video. I watched your recent video where you recommended tuning down to C# std, but this latest video gave me the hint I needed. The reason for the change in tone when tuning down could be due to the weight of each string between the nut & the bridge. The frequency & amplitude of vibrations in steel are dependant upon the natural frequency of the steel, the energy exciting it, & its weight (or the assembly's weight). If you change any 1 of these factors, the steel will vibrate at a different frequency, or stop vibrating altogether. As you release tension on the strings, the amount of string between the nut & the bridge is increasing, as is the weight. Since the natural frequency of the string's steel hasn't changed, it will vibrate at a lower frequency. Or, you will have to strike the string harder to reach the same tone. This is similar to a problem occurring on motorcycles many years ago, where handlebars would vibrate contsantly, causing the rider's hands to go numb. They added bar-ends to the handlebars, which added weight to them, & changed to assembly's natural frequency such that it wouldn't be excited by the existing vibrations in the whole motorcycle. The handlebars stopped vibrating, & increased the rider's comfort. I hope this sheds a little light on the subject. Once again, thanks for a great video. Keep up the good work. Andrew
D Standard for sure - but I've always loved DADGAD - played over E Standard... so count me biased! LOL! I should add - that like many comments - my love of DAGAD was borne of a broken left ring finger a number of years ago. I needed to keep playing with a splint on (knucklehead!) and DADGAD fit the bill. I found that I could play ANY style over the many backing tracks I had written with DADGAD and was amazed at the tonality harmonies that I could come up with to double track the primary rhythm guitar parts of songs.
Eb does 2 things for me 1. Makes me want a strat again 2. I think a lot of the joy I get it is that it evokes memories of music in Eb. It’s nirvana and Hendrix and my favorite garage band in college that just instantly brings back good memories
I spent years (decades) as a rock/metal player and always tuned standard or a half step down. As I've gotten older my playing turned more bluesy and melodic and my ear just tends to prefer lower tunings. I now keep my electrics at C# or D and my acoustics at C or C#. Of course, after 40 years of loud, high gain amps my hearing might also be going. 😉
While what you said is definitely true, i think the majority of the effect you're feeling/hearing is from being outside a "default" key you're used to hearing. That is, a similar effect could be had by playing with a capo in higher tunings. Its all good though. We should get out of the standard range. Play with a capo, play alt tunings, etc. Its all inspiring. I do think a non-tremolo guitar would've been better to test these things on, along with changing gauge as needed.
I agree that the tone seems change with less string tension. Remember the string gauge video you did with Beato? 9s sounded way better than 10s. Maybe it's also finding the right gauge for each tuning.
For me, it's definitely a fun thing to try with - both lower, and higher, give different spice. The moody vibes of lower tunings are kickass, but the increased tightness can be cool even going a little higher pitched. Trying it all and rotating through has lead to the most fun for me.
I recently dropped my Tele to drop Db and it sounds really cool. I am working on some heavier pop-punk/easycore stuff so that made sense. I might just end up leaving it between there and Eb standard for when I play at my local church.
I started tunning my acoustic guitar half step down because I rarely play without capo. I think it makes the guitar softer and since I always play chords with capo, the strings are always closer to the fret. Even if you tune half step down and then you capo on first it feels more comfortable than no capo and standard tuning.
7 years ago I joined a blues band. All the Trower, Hendrix, and S.R.V. songs we played were in e flat. I've gotten so used to it that standard tuning sounds weird to me now. I left that band and now I tune down to D standard. Sounds great with single coils, p90's, and it helps acoustics sound fuller too.
One of my AE is an Ovation LongNeck (28" scale) with Medium 13-56 in D Standard (or drop string 6 to C) .. the tension is snappily responsive and fret spacing allows smooth bends, hammer ons, pull offs, etc. I use a National thumb pick and all fingers. Just bought a used LP Florentine that I'm upgrading with Ratio machines, TUSQ XL Nut, a Schaller roller bridge and Duesenberg Les Trem. After watching this, I'll order a custom set from Stringjoy with a heavier guage, balanced tension then tune to D Standard (drop C). Also, I just enrolled in your new Alternate Tunings course. Beam me Up, Rhett! 😅
I tuned my tele down to D standard and never went back, even the intonation was perfect for a vintage tele bridge, almost except the F string, but just a little
As a guitarist that shouldn't claim that he's been playing for almost thirty years, I've almost exclusively played in Eb. I've heard many players state that Eb is the tuning that one should use, full stop, when playing Strats. I've used it on every guitar I've played on, and I've run the gamut from .013 to .009. The only gripe I've ever had is when I've tried out a new string set (usually Ernie Balls) and the G is too light. I say this knowing that everyone's attack, grip, instrument, etc. is unique and that your experience will vary. Tune to Eb.
E flat sounded amazing! C# as well but I get what you're saying that it starts to "fight" the bass. D very nice as well. For me it's crazy they all sounded best than E standard.
