#1
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Why is standard tuning EADGBE and not EADGCF?
Wouldn't it be more convenient to have them ALL separated by fourths?
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#2
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it's due to the logistics of making chord forms.
It would be theoretically "cleaner" to keep everything as Perfect 4ths, but very messy when you try to make movable barre forms. Otherwise we should just follow suite with the orchestra strings & tune in perfect 5ths to make moving to/from other strings easier.
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#3
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Quote:
It's mostly a matter of ergonomics related to the human hand, not music theory.
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Harmony Sovereign H-1203 "You're making the wrong mistakes." ...T. Monk Theory is the post mortem of Music. |
#4
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The ergonomics issue is debatable. One can still play chords in 4ths tuning, you just can't play full barres - you have to invent alternative movable forms.
Against that, there is an appealing symmetry to chord shapes across the strings (this is one attraction for those who play in EADGCF - yes they exist! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_fourths_tuning): 3-2-0-0-x-x = G x-3-2-0-0-x = C x-x-3-2-0-0 = F 0-2-2-1-x-x = E x-0-2-2-1-x = A x-x-0-2-2-1 = D Similar parallels apply to minor shapes. Of course, there's the issue of muting those top strings when you don't want them! Either that or you need some tricky fingering for full 6-string shapes: G = 3-2-0-0-2-2 C = x-3-2-0-0-2 A = x-0-2-2-1-4 E would have to be 0-2-2-1-4-3 (fret 5th and 4th strings with one finger??) IOW, there are ergonomic issues, but most of them are for players already used to EADGBE. (As the above site says, Allan Holdsworth has said if he was starting again he'd tune EADGCF. But of course he - like most of us! - has too much invested in EADGBE.) A tuning issue might be more relevant for EADGBE. Tuning by ear is easier if the outer strings are the same note and the 2nd string has a harmonic relationship with them (B is same as 7th fret harmonic on 6th string). Also, strings 4-3-2 form a major triad. Of course, that aspect would favour open tunings, drop tunings or DADGAD, but EADGBE has the advantage of a compromise: no one key is much easier than any other, but a good handful are accessible. With open tunings, one key is very easy, but all the rest become harder.
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"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." - Leonard Cohen. Last edited by JonPR; 06-23-2018 at 07:03 AM. |
#5
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Just wanted to chime in that perfect fourths (P4) tuning IS a thing and a few pros do use it, such as Tom Quayle and Stanley Jordan. But only a few.
And let's not forget NST tuning (ala Robert Fripp) which is in perfect fifths. |
#6
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Mostly. In fact it's CGDAEG - minor 3rd on top.
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"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." - Leonard Cohen. |
#7
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Yeah, I think that was mostly for practical considerations because of string tension.
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#8
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First of all, you could tune DGCFBbEb to try out the fingerings the intervals bring (safer and far less likely to take-out your 1st string, plus far less string tension). Then try some scales (both open-scales and all-fretted-scales across the neck). The watch Stanley Jordon play for an hour or so (Your posed question IS his standard tuning). I suspect it might be ok for playing solo lead lines, but not so chord-fingering-friendly. In regards to your question…Every beginner looks for quick-n-easy ways to play things, so if your proposed tuning were actually more convenient, beginning guitar students would be all over it! |
#9
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I guess he could have gone one back and combined bass and standard guitar ranges with FCGDAE. Imagine what one could do with that! I know John Etheridge has experimented with fitting bass strings to his Tele in order to be able to play walking lines while improvising on the top 4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8ydx_9hZKI (The 6th and 5th are tuned to bass E and A - octave below normal - but probably a lighter gauge than the usual bass guitar E and A.)
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"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." - Leonard Cohen. Last edited by JonPR; 06-26-2018 at 02:21 AM. |
#10
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Quote:
But tuning the other four down just a half-step would deal with that issue anyway: D# G# C# F# B E.
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"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." - Leonard Cohen. |