Why guitar tuned

Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Why is the guitar tuned like it is? Ask Question. Asked 10 years, 8 months ago. Active 2 years, 6 months ago. Viewed 45k times. Improve this question. David Kethel David Kethel. Try it! You'll either love the 'CF' or you'll know why not! It helps with the bar chords.

Many bar chords would be impossible if not for the G - B interval. I've recedntly been experimenting with E A D G C F straight 4ths tuning having played guitar for 20 odd years in standard tuning. You can blat about the neck using the same methods and don't have to pay attention so much to patterns or worry that you're going to miss that semitone and hit a bum note. Makes it quite a lot easier. Also the E and B are a bit tighter than normal so they sound slightly brighter. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes.

Man, I wish I could source that. Improve this answer. Dave Jacoby Dave Jacoby This: "Guitars, being tuned mostly in fourths, make chords much easier" — Jduv. Yeah, it sounds like the tuning gives a good compromise between playing melodies and chords. My further recollection is that it was Bob Brozman where I found that theory, but I can't recall if I read it or heard it.

That is brilliant, that " In order to prove that, you would have to have guitar method books from the first millennium A. Also, as Neil Meyer mentioned, bar chords are much easier if the top and bottom strings match. I kinda like the idea of straight fourths, if only because it could mean fewer unreachable stretches for my small hands.

There are a lot of fourths tuning resources here: commons. I like the fact that you presented and explained a viable alternative and also explained a valid reason why one might want to keep at least one guitar tuned "standard".

Actually you can easily do both with one guitar. Going from "straight fourths" to "standard" only involves re-tuning two strings by a half-step. It only takes a couple of seconds. That's what I do. For beginners, it's actually unbelievably helpful to setup a guitar using all-fourths. After playing with it for a while and going back to standard tuning, you start to realize how to make slight adjustments when playing the B and E strings.

I was under the impression it was more historical than anything else, although Wikipedia tells me: Standard tuning has evolved to provide a good compromise between simple fingering for many chords and the ability to play common scales with minimal left hand movement.

Uniquely, the guitar's tuning allows for repeatable patterns, which also facilitates the ease of playing common scales. Mandolin and the bowed string instruments have repeatable patterns, which lay out nicely per scale, but are crap for chords. I think it's tuned like it is to maximize the number of strings we can use in chord voicings. If the guitar were tuned in fourths, barre chords would be out. JimR JimR 2, 12 12 silver badges 15 15 bronze badges.

Well, there are even better tunings for playing chords. Classical guitar tuning is just a balance between playing chords and soloing. Problem with tuning in fifths is the hand stretch. I wouldn't exactly call the guitar's chords "easy", though I've tried writing an experimental program to identify what barre chords would be available for a tuning given certain constraints e.

Many other tunings end up with far fewer possibilities. Just turn on the tuner and strum the string. ChordBuddy offers exceptional guitar tuners to ensure your instrument is in tune. Chordbuddy has also launched a product that conveniently combines a capo and a tuner.

It has become very popular amongst musicians and you can find it by clicking here. To tune a guitar the old-fashioned way, first tune the 6th string to low E. If you already know this pitch, tune on. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Skip to content Skip to primary sidebar Skip to footer. All-fifths, all-fourths, etc. The Benefits of Standard Tuning So why do we continue to use this tuning for the guitar? Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.

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