Guitar Types

I want to explain some interesting things I have discovered as a guitarist over the years I have been playing. There are a lot more to try out than six-strings in standard tuning out there for those who are curious.

Alternative tunings

This was the first thing I tried out (and relatively early in my playing). As one who enjoys Foo Fighters, I wanted to learn some of their songs. In Everlong, (at least) one of the guitars are so-called “drop-tuned”. Drop-D to be specific.

Drop-tuning the lowest string

This is a tuning where the lowest string is “dropped” (tuned down) to match the third string (an octave down). As standard tuning (from low to high) starts with E A D, it now becomes D A D, creating a extended power-chord across the three lower strings on the guitar. This can make a standard six-string sound quite a bit heavier if this is desirable. But why drop-tune one string when you can drop the whole guitar?

Drop-tuning the whole guitar

Enter E-flat (or any other tuning that preserves the standard string intervals). E-flat or E-flat Standard is the same as the standard “E-tuning” but one half-note down. Even though it’s a small change it can alter the overall sound of a guitar quite drastically. After I did this with my Hagstrøm Viking, I could never tune it in E again. It’s quite possible to go lower (or higher) as one wishes. The lowest I’ve drop-tuned (normal) guitars is down to baritone.

The Baritone Tuning

If you ever play a baritone guitar (intentionally constructed for baritone tuning), you will notice it usually has a longer neck to preserve the tone clarity. If you have noticed the interesting shape of grand pianos, the lower strings are usually a lot longer than the shorter ones. There is math to justify this, but it’s been too long since I looked at it to be able to explain it simply here. Just know that it exists. Baritone tuning is more or less to bring the guitar “one string down” (with a catch on the second string high to low). Instead of the classical E A D G B E, baritone guitars are tuned B E A D F# B. The reason the second string seems kinda off is to preserve the intervals so that you can play “normal” chords.

This is because musical notation and the names of the notes is ridiculusly stupid (in other words strongly adapted for pianos). One would think there’s a whole note between all the letters for the notes, but this is not true from B to C, and E to F (being half-notes).

Fan-Fretted Guitars

Also called “multi-scale” guitars (perhaps a more accurate description). This is a interesting type of guitar where the lower strings actually are longer than the higher (similarly to pianos). This is especially useful for guitars having more than six strings where the lower can get quite muddy depending on the setup. If you like metal as I do, you have probably noticed that they play notes so dark you wont find them on a six-string.

Not six-string Guitars

Enter seven-string (or eight-string) guitars. A seven-string is litterally a six string with an additional low-B slapped onto it. It might initially seem to just be a baritone with a high-E, but trying to play normal chords on it will instantly break this intuition. Remember the catch on the second highest string to preserve the intervals? It’s not (normally) tuned this way on a seven string as the lower strings are usually just intended for epic power-chords. This way it can actually be played as a “normal” guitar if you ignore that low-B.

The “New Standard Tuning”

And then you have King Crimson… (think Pink Floyd just weirder). Robert Fripp has made his own tuning going C2 G2 D3 A3 E4 G4. Instead of the normal intervals on guitars, he’s approaching the fifths found on violins and the like. This gives a broader dynamic range when it comes to the highest and lowest on the guitar, but it doesn’t really play the same. But you can play some interesting sounds. Haven’t got to try this one out yet, but would have been interesting at some point.

Summary

Well there you go. Some nice keywords to look up.