YouTube Thread of Alternate Guitar Tunings

Inspired by this thread: 90s Dropped-D tuneage - S/D

Not as interested in filling this with Sonic Youth stuff or Keith Richards open-G as some more unusual variations. Like, e.g.

"Question?" by the Moody Blues in open C (12-string tuned to CGCGCE)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wDHvmCVRxU

"Coming Right Along" by the Posies in open Cm7 (CGCEbBbC)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVH7AxjG7lw

"Save It For Later," The English Beat, open D5 (DADAAD)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nndsXLxGdU‎

"My Wave," Soundgarden, open E5 (EEBBBB)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEbYxEXM2cE‎

That Soundgarden tuning is pretty close to a lot of Sonic Youth tunings, so I am not really clear on your distinction other than that everyone knows Sonic Youth uses alternate tunings so why bother. Interested to see where this thread goes though!

Just Intonation Tuning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I5Ft9Gxgo0

they have removed and relocated the frets on the guitar and bass so that they can play in JI

and they're on tour now so check em out, mang

xp yeah, no real objection other than "they're the go-to example for this stuff."

Make sure you listen to the Posies one if you've never heard it. Getting a guitar to stay in tune for a 6+ minute song with the low E tuned to C is not easy, I'm sure.

I played bass for almost an entire gig with a broken E string and A detuned down to E.

Understood Phil D., just noting the similarity in that tuning, i.e., the stacked BBBB type of thing. Thanks.

ILX brigade thread is probably 95 alt tunings

In probably 80-90% of Pavement songs, Malkmus played CGDGBX or DADxxD.

Ricky Wilson ruled my world re: guitar tunings. A sampling of B-52s songs:

Strobe Light: DADXBB
Rock Lobster: CFXXFF
52 Girls: EADXBB
Private Idaho: EBDXBB
Party Out of Bounds: BADXG#C#
Dance This Mess Around: CFXXFF

have never been able to figure out Stereolab's tunings, no one seems to write about this

what note is X

or are you suggesting he just removed middle strings all the time

Yep, X = missing string.

I've found this Ricky story several places on the net. Maybe apocryphal, maybe true.

i can tell you something about ricky’s “style.” i spent some time with ricky. we were playing different things and he kept trying different tunings. after a while i said, “well, why don’t you just try standard tuning and maybe we can come up with something interesting that way too?”

he said, “i don’t know standard tuning” so i said, “well, what tuning are you in, (G?, D?, etc…) and i can show you how to get to standard tuning from there” and he said, “i don’t know what tuning i am in.”

I said, “huh, you don’t know what tuning you are in? how do you write songs?” and he said, “i just tune the strings till i hear something i like and then something comes out.”

so i asked him, “well, how do you replay the songs you have written, like rock lobster? do you write down the tunings?” and he said, “no, i don’t write anything down, and i have no idea how the tunings go. i asked him, “how the hell do you play the songs again then”, and he said (in all seriousness), “i don’t know!” if you try to copy ricky’s style, you are in for a hell of a figure out.

i can tell you something about ricky’s “style.” i spent some time with ricky. we were playing different things and he kept trying different tunings. after a while i said, “well, why don’t you just try standard tuning and maybe we can come up with something interesting that way too?”

he said, “i don’t know standard tuning” so i said, “well, what tuning are you in, (G?, D?, etc…) and i can show you how to get to standard tuning from there” and he said, “i don’t know what tuning i am in.”

I said, “huh, you don’t know what tuning you are in? how do you write songs?” and he said, “i just tune the strings till i hear something i like and then something comes out.”

so i asked him, “well, how do you replay the songs you have written, like rock lobster? do you write down the tunings?” and he said, “no, i don’t write anything down, and i have no idea how the tunings go. i asked him, “how the hell do you play the songs again then”, and he said (in all seriousness), “i don’t know!” if you try to copy ricky’s style, you are in for a hell of a figure out.

Damn, c/p error, sorry.

Keith must have picked up on that, because I'll be damned if I can ever figure out the chord voicings for "Roam."

that's ... crazy? how could he ever perform live without spending 10 minutes tuning between each song?

Yeah, I think he was smarter about that stuff than he let on. After their success he used several guitars, and had a guitar tech to retune for specific songs.

Love that Posies song, thanx for posting

has anyone here used Big Bad Bobby Fripp's new standard tuning? the one he based his guitar craft school around and all of his 80s works around? I tried it, but the strings would break too easily and its not useful if you want to play songs that do not sound like Fripp or, say, bela bartok.

haha i've never heard league of crafty guitarists but i've always been kinda fascinated by the concept of drill sargeant fripp instilling proper guitar technique into his troops.

Joni Mitchell - Sisotowbell Lane (CGDFCE w/ capo on the 2nd fret)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RawwI77ytIM

John Fahey - Dance Of The Inhabitants Of The Palace Of King Philip XIV Of Spain (CCCGCE)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hziq6PRwKpE

CSNY - 4+20 (EEEEBE)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3_x2I8FQ8Q

U.S. Maple - Go To Bruises (Dropped A?? AADGBE?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxBkHhSOHe0

not sure abt this one, i remember reading somewhere that todd from usm used to tune his low E string all the way down to A to make up for the lack of low end. pretty sure arab on radar and a bunch of bassless bands from that period employed similar tricks.

Always been curious about the U.S. Maple tunings, as well as Polvo. I have never seen them documented anywhere but would love to know what they are.

polvo - My Kimono
BF#F#EG#C#
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aomnAxx-lkk

Hah, thanks! "Play along"

re: US Maple tunings... I know that Todd specifically had a guitar that had semi-tone frets embedded in it so he play notes in between notes (a la his part in Breeze Its Your High School), and I think that same guitar had a super low E or a bass string on the end so he could play those bass notes. I got to see them a bunch around that time as my friend was tour managing their Talker tour.

lotsa goo goo dolls songs not that anyone cares abt them

DDDDdd
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r998weOUiM

Nice summary of Nick Drake's tunings here
http://www.algonet.se/~iguana/DRAKE/tunings.html

oh wow thanks for that link to the drake tunings

Hah UMS, was just going to post that same thing. Thanks indeed, that's cool.