GUITAR
10 MYTHS ABOUT ALTERNATE TUNINGS | David Harsh
Have you always wanted to play in alternate tunings , but felt a little intimidated by the process ? Not anymore .
Let ’ s dispel 10 myths together and find some hidden treasures when it comes to alternate tunings . I encourage you to catch the video version of this article while it ’ s available so you can watch me demonstrate some of these concepts and to see my list of tunings . You can find the video right here :
Drop-D can fall into this category . This is the best place to start . All you do is start with a standard-tuned guitar and then tune one string down – your 6 th string , until the 12 th fret harmonic matches the open 4 th string D ( watch the video to see how .)
MYTH # 2 – “ ALTERNATE TUNINGS CAN BE ACHIEVED WITH A PARTIAL CAPO .” If we were to take a standard tuned guitar and place a partial capo on strings 5 , 4 , and 3 on the second fret , and play those notes open , they would sound an Esus4 .
If I tune another guitar to DADGAD and place the capo on the second fret , I ’ ll have access to the same open notes that sound an Esus4 . And although some of the chords might sound similar on both guitars ( see the video ), that ’ s where the similarity between the partial capo and the alternate tuning end .
Look at this closed voicing A Major scale on a standard-tuned guitar with a partial capo , and contrast it to a DADGAD capo 2 guitar
The 6 machine heads on our guitars are like a 6-digit combination lock , and the alternate tunings we can access with them can be incredibly enjoyable . Here are 10 myths I ’ m going to dispel about alternate tunings . You ready ?
MYTH # 1 – “ ALTERNATE TUNINGS ARE TOO DIFFICULT TO GET INTO .” By definition , an alternate tuning is any tuning that ’ s different from standard tuning , so even
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