# Alternate tunings



## xuthal (May 15, 2007)

What is your favorite tuning for acoustic guitar?
Here are mine

Low C
C G D G A D

Open G
D G D G B D

Unusual open D(aparently created by John Rzeznik
D A D A D D(b*)

Bruce Palmer Model Tuning
E E E E B E

Thats aboot it,share some tunings.:smile:

*optional


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

I play almost exclusively in DADGAD, so I am not so sure I can even call it an "alternate" tuning anymore. kqoct


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## xuthal (May 15, 2007)

Can you send me a link to some tabs in that tuning?I could never get into that particular one but ive heard allot about it.I'll have to give it another shot.


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

This link should be a good start for you.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

My favourite open G

GGDGBD

I used it in this clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tsnyLYAb4c&feature=channel_page


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## xuthal (May 15, 2007)

That was pretty cool.What guitar are you using,and what did you run it through?


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

dadgad
open G (dgdgbd) on lapsteel usually, and on guitar sometimes
New Standard (cgdaeg) on one particular guitar
double drop D (dadgbd), rarely
open D (dadf#ad) rarely
Open C6 (cegace) on lapsteel sometimes

Peace, Mooh.


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## suttree (Aug 17, 2007)

hmmm been a while... some of my favourites (ones that haven't been mentioned) have been.. 

CGCGCD (or E on the high) 

FACGCE

DADFAD (D minor)

I have also used partial capos quite a bit. I can post a couple of tunings for that, if anyone wants to fart around with the technique.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

I forgot to mention some of the baritone tunings.

G modal (gdgdgd)
open E (bebeg#b)
open F (cfcfac)
and standard down 2 or 3 or 4 semitones

...all depending on string guage of course.

Peace, Mooh.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

If I'm not in standard--I'm probably in open G--that's the one that's most natural--and the 6th string isn't too loose. (I tried open C--but tuning down to a C was no good--I didn't like the slackness or tone of the 6th string--but you could leave in tuned to E, and it fits the chord. It may cut out some low runs--but it's better. So I'll stick with open G for now. It even works on my classical.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

xuthal said:


> That was pretty cool.What guitar are you using,and what did you run it through?


That was a cheapo Korean made Vester. I ran it direct to the board via a phantom powered DI.


Thanks,


Mike


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## rollingdam (May 11, 2006)

I use DADGD on a National Resophonic guitar.


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## xuthal (May 15, 2007)

I was jamming with a friend tonight and we were talking tunings and he stumbled upon this one tuning by ear.
D A D G A D
I'm having allot of fun with this one.

EDIT: turns out its open D,pretty cool


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## ashm70 (Apr 2, 2009)

xuthal said:


> I was jamming with a friend tonight and we were talking tunings and he stumbled upon this one tuning by ear.
> D A D G A D
> I'm having allot of fun with this one.
> 
> EDIT: turns out its open D,pretty cool


Open D is DADF#AD


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## tomyam (May 14, 2007)

I think DADGAD is Open Dsus4 .


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

funny story about open tunings.
guy comes over for a beer the other week. not a guitar player, but you know the guy, we all know them. 
grabs a guitar and with great gusto proceeds to show me how he can play enter sandman. or crazy train. or some shit- anyway he goes "this guitar is out of tune." i say try another. theres maybe 10 acoustics sitting here in a row lol. all out of tune. well, all in open tunings. blew me away to realize that none were in standard. shouldve seen the guys face when he started trying out the square-necks lol. "this guitar is out of tune, and they never finished making the neck! wtf! you play this thing? how do you get your hand around it? this is crazy! the strings are like 2 inches high!"


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

fraser said:


> funny story about open tunings.
> guy comes over for a beer the other week. not a guitar player, but you know the guy, we all know them.
> grabs a guitar and with great gusto proceeds to show me how he can play enter sandman. or crazy train. or some shit- anyway he goes "this guitar is out of tune." i say try another. theres maybe 10 acoustics sitting here in a row lol. all out of tune. well, all in open tunings. blew me away to realize that none were in standard. shouldve seen the guys face when he started trying out the square-necks lol. "this guitar is out of tune, and they never finished making the neck! wtf! you play this thing? how do you get your hand around it? this is crazy! the strings are like 2 inches high!"


Ha ha. Ain't it great? The fretless Telecaster guitar, fretless bass, baritone, even banjos, ukuleles, and mandolins have all made people dispute their "correctness", and made me go into explanation mode. The fretless Tele, tuned to open G, was fun, but almost nobody gets it.

Peace, Mooh.


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

Mooh said:


> Ha ha. Ain't it great? The fretless Telecaster guitar, fretless bass, baritone, even banjos, ukuleles, and mandolins have all made people dispute their "correctness", and made me go into explanation mode. The fretless Tele, tuned to open G, was fun, but almost nobody gets it.
> 
> Peace, Mooh.


lol yup- its a perception thing. ive got mandolins and ukes here, but nobody ever wants to check them out. they see a guitar, it looks familiar, they want to try it. but an altered tuning is beyond the comprehension of someone who doesnt actually play guitar. actually beyond that of some who do lol.
whenever i try to show someone how a square neck guitar is played, they go ahhh- just like jeff healy. but its not at all like jeff healy. and at that point i dont have the energy or social prowess to argue.
a fretless tele- that sounds interesting. ill add "yanking the frets off one of my spare necks" to my list of projects on the go-


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

fraser said:


> l
> whenever i try to show someone how a square neck guitar is played, they go ahhh- just like jeff healy. but its not at all like jeff healy. and at that point i dont have the energy or social prowess to argue.
> a fretless tele- that sounds interesting. ill add "yanking the frets off one of my spare necks" to my list of projects on the go-


Yeah, after a while I suggest they pay for my services like any other student.

The fretless Tele was great, but I've since switched back to a fretted fingerboard, though the fretless one is still in my shop. It's actually semi-fretless, ie I didn't pull the first five so that open and low position barres were still viable. Generally it required lots more compression and gain
than I'm normally accustomed to in order to get enough sustain, but it made for a killer slide guitar, and for those ambient forays that distract me.

Peace, Mooh.


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## brucew (Dec 30, 2017)

Old thread, not worth starting new one.

Very swampy sounding tuning for slide: B F# B D# F# B


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## mawmow (Nov 14, 2017)

brucew said:


> Old thread, not worth starting new one.
> 
> Very swampy sounding tuning for slide: B F# B D# F# B


Should I guess you use an higher string gauge than recommended for that guitar ?


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## brucew (Dec 30, 2017)

Nah, just playin' around, std diadario's on my old ovation. I envision a Ry Cooder-ish backround track on a moonshine movie.


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## Ship of fools (Nov 17, 2007)

Double dropped D on the E strings I use to play many soft melodies D A D G B D


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## Dorian2 (Jun 9, 2015)

I've only tried a couple.

DADGAD - Dsus
DADFAD - Dmin
DGDGBD - G
DADGBD - Double drop D

Learned each for specific songs and so far Open G is my favorite. Here's a great article on open tunings from Guitar World.

10 Essential Altered Tunings Every Guitarist Should Know | Guitarworld


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## jimsz (Apr 17, 2009)

I'm currently working on something from Lowell George for slide... open A tuning.

EAEAC#E


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

I keep a guitar tuned to an open E major chord

E B E G# B E

Initially it was open D, but I found myself putting a capo on fret 2 so often that I just tuned the guitar up to open E instead.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Further to my previous post which is by now ancient history, I've dropped new standard tuning as it's pretty much a pain in the ass and I have other instruments in fifths tunings like tenor guitar, bouzouki, tenor banjo, and mandolin.


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

I sometimes tune my acoustic to E B D G B E for combining open G and standard fingerings for songs where I mix a little slide in and out.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

Surprised that I didn't chime in the first time around.

I use most of the "standard" alternate tunings:
DADF#AD (Open D)
DADGAD
DGDGBD (Open G)
DADGBD (Double dropped D)
and Dropped D

When I go to the local fingerstyle open mic, I jokingly refer to Standard as "Em11 tuning" just to sound high-fallutin'.


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## brucew (Dec 30, 2017)

cboutilier said:


> I sometimes tune my acoustic to E B D G B E for combining open G and standard fingerings for songs where I mix a little slide in and out.


Seems every single day I learn how little I know. Gonna play with that tomorrow.


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## brucew (Dec 30, 2017)

Ship of fools said:


> Double dropped D on the E strings I use to play many soft melodies D A D G B D


I was playing something in that a couple yrs ago, maybe Gold dust woman? Very pretty tuning, unfortunately my limited abilities/knowledge didn't allow me to find/transpose more songs I could use it for. (have a good ear but am strictly rote learning)


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

bw66 said:


> Surprised that I didn't chime in the first time around...
> 
> When I go to the local fingerstyle open mic, I jokingly refer to Standard as "Em11 tuning" just to sound high-fallutin'.


Gonna steal that line!


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

brucew said:


> I was playing something in that a couple yrs ago, maybe Gold dust woman? Very pretty tuning, unfortunately my limited abilities/knowledge didn't allow me to find/transpose more songs I could use it for. (have a good ear but am strictly rote learning)


Cinnamon Girl and Ohio are in that same tuning (double drop D).

I found a website some years back that listed off songs in specific alternate tunings. Not sure if it's still there or not.


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## Sketchy Jeff (Jan 12, 2019)

lute tuning is worth a try
just like standard tune except drop the 3rd string to F#
the tab takes a while to learn but it's not hard and sounds cool
j


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Mostly I play in standard tuning, but I keep one in open G, mostly for slide, and a three string sort cigar box style guitar with G & D only for the open strings.
I have done drop D on my bass to use the low string as a drone with a D


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## kat_ (Jan 11, 2007)

I like the tuning that Jack Semple uses for his acoustic stuff - DADABE.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

These days I keep one guitar tuned to E,E,E,E,B,E all the time.

It’s addictive as hell.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

zontar said:


> ...
> I have done drop D on my bass to use the low string as a drone with a D


I did that for a very short time before I broke down and got a 5 string bass. (Tuning down a whole step required different strings and set-up so I abandoned that idea.) The singer-songwriter I played with at the time wrote a lot in D, C, and their relative minors, so the extra range (and low roots/tonics) on the five string was useful.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Mooh said:


> I did that for a very short time before I broke down and got a 5 string bass. (Tuning down a whole step required different strings and set-up so I abandoned that idea.) The singer-songwriter I played with at the time wrote a lot in D, C, and their relative minors, so the extra range (and low roots/tonics) on the five string was useful.


The thought has occurred to me, but the extra expense for 5 more more notes isn't so appealing to me.
Maybe I'm checking out the wrong 5 string basses?
Anyway--I've never come across one with a neck I like.
But they do certainly have some advantages & I won't speak against anybody getting one if they want one- or for using one either.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

zontar said:


> Maybe I'm checking out the wrong 5 string basses?


These have been my go to 5 strings for years. I did have a Warwick but dealt it long ago, as good as it was. All were used. The Musicman is the cheap OLP model but really is quite good, nice warm big passive humbucking pickup. The Godin started life as a fretted bass but when Godin wouldn’t sell me a fretless neck I pulled the frets, filled the slots with maple veneer, replained, recut the nut, and set it up. Basically a PJ.


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