Alternate Guitar Tuning

If you're becoming bored with your guitar playing or you're just looking to try something new, putting your instrument in an alternate guitar tuning might be just the thing to spice things up. Many guitar players actually go their entire lives thinking that there is only one way to tune a guitar. While there are many things you can do in standard tuning, learning an alternate guitar tuning or two can really change how you approach the instrument in a positive way. This article will highlight some popular players who utilize alternate tunings in their playing and introduce you to some of the most popular tunings.

While standard guitar tuning is the most prevalent type of tuning, there are many famous players who have made a name for themselves using alternate tunings:

• Joni Mitchell – Known as a folk musician in her early career, Mitchell made colorful use of alternate tunings later in her career while playing with jazz musicians on albums such as Hejira and Don Juan's Reckless Daughter.

• Keith Richards – Keith Richards and Mick Jagger comprise one of the most successful songwriting duos in rock music history. Many of the biggest hits of the band feature Keith playing in alternate tunings, most notably open G.

• Thurston Moore – Maybe not a household name for many people, Thurston Moore is the guitarist for the avant garde punk band Sonic Youth and has made alternate tunings a radical art form. Check out the classic 1988 release Daydream Nation for something completely different.

The following is a list of popular alternate tunings. Each tuning in the list has six letters associated with it. These letters are the notes that you need to tune your guitar strings to in order to put the guitar in that particular tuning. For example, the tuning DADGAD (or Modal D) means that you would tune your guitar as follows: the biggest string on your guitar (the low E string in standard tuning) is tuned to D, the next biggest string stays tuned to A, the next stays tuned to D, the next remains a G, the next is tuned to B and the thinnest string is tuned to D.

There are a few things to keep in mind before you begin retuning your guitar. First of all, never tune your guitar to a tuning that increases the pitch of the strings. If you increase the pitch of the strings, you are also increasing the tension that the strings put on your guitar's neck, which can severely damage your guitar. You want to always use tunings that decrease the pitch of the strings. You can always use a capo to increase the pitch of your guitar if you need to.

The most common alternate tunings guitar players use:

• Open C – CGCGCE
• Open D – DADF#AD
• Open A – EAC#EAE
• Open G – DGDGBD
• Modal D – DADGAD
• Modal G – DGDGCD
• Open D Minor – DADFAD
• Open G Minor – DGDGA#D

Some of the more far out tunings:

• Admiral – CGDGBC
• Buzzard – CFCGA#F
• Collins – FCFAbCF
• Iris – BDDDDD
• Lefty – EBGDAE
• Spirit – C#AC#G#AE
• Triqueen – DGDF#AB

Now that you know some different tunings, you'll be on new and unfamiliar turf when you pick up your guitar. The first thing you will notice is that none of the old chords and scales you used to know apply anymore; that's the point. Instead of thinking of this as a negative, try to go with it and see where it takes you. Place you fingers on the guitar in random ways and strum a few times. Keep playing around until you like what you hear. Next, try sliding that fingering up and down the neck some. The instrument will feel different, and your approach will be different, but sometimes you stumble upon some magic through this process. Before you know it, you'll be able to navigate around in an alternate tuning just fine.

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