Shift C-major chord three strings in major thirds tuning on six-string guitar

First and second inversions of C-major chord on six-string guitar with major-thirds tuning

Repetitive tunings are alternative tunings for the

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

. A repetitive tuning begins with a list of notes that is duplicated, either at unison or at higher

octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

s. Among

regular tunings Among alternative guitar-tunings, regular tunings have equal musical intervals between the paired notes of their successive open strings. ''Guitar tunings'' assign pitches to the open strings of guitars. Tunings can be ...

, there are four repetitive-tunings (besides trivially repetitive tunings such as C-C-C-C-C-C); this article discusses three

minor-thirds tuning Among alternative guitar-tunings, regular tunings have equal musical intervals between the paired notes of their successive open strings. ''Guitar tunings'' assign pitches to the open strings of guitars. Tunings can be ...

major-thirds tuning Among alternative tunings for guitar, a major-thirds tuning is a regular tuning in which each interval between successive open strings is a major third ("M3" in musical abbreviation). Other names for major-thirds tuning include major-third tuni ...

, and

augmented-fourths tuning Among alternative tunings for guitar, each augmented-fourths tuning is a regular tuning in which the musical intervals between successive open-string notes are each '' augmented fourths''. Because augmented fourths are alternatively ...

(but not

major second In Western music theory, a major second (sometimes also called whole tone or a whole step) is a second spanning two semitones (). A second is a musical interval encompassing two adjacent staff positions (see Interval number for more deta ...

s tuning, which is not repetitive on six strings). Among

open tuning Guitar tunings are the assignment of pitch (music), pitches to the open string (music), open strings of guitars, including acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and classical guitars. Musical tuning, Tunings are described by the particular pitc ...

s, there are repetitive versions of

open C tuning Open C tuning is an open tuning for guitar. The open-string notes form a C major chord, which is the triad (C,E,G) having the root note C, the major third (C,E), and the perfect fifth (C,G). When the guitar is strummed without fretting any s ...

and

open G tuning Among alternative tunings for the guitar, an open G tuning is an open tuning that features the G-major chord; its open notes are selected from the notes of a G-major chord, such as the G-major triad (G,B,D). For example, a popular open-G tuning ...

, which have been associated with the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Russian guitar The Russian guitar (sometimes referred to as a "Gypsy guitar") is an acoustic seven-string guitar that was developed in Russia toward the end of the 18th century: it shares most of its organological features with the Spanish guitar, although som ...

s, respectively. Repetition eases the learning of

fretboard The fingerboard (also known as a fretboard on fretted instruments) is an important component of most stringed instrument String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating s ...

and chords and eases

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

. For example, in major-thirds tuning, chords are raised an octave by shifting fingers by three strings on the same frets. Repetitive tunings are listed after their number of

open Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999 * ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001 * ''Open'' (YF ...

pitches. For example, the repetitive open-C tuning C-E-G-C-E-G has three open-pitches, each of which is associated with repeated notes .

One

The trivial tuning repeats the same note every string. It is also called a

unison In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm. Definition Unison or per ...

regular tuning Among alternative guitar-tunings, regular tunings have equal musical intervals between the paired notes of their successive open strings. ''Guitar tunings'' assign pitches to the open strings of guitars. Tunings can be ...

. :C-C-C-C-C-C.:

Other trivial-tunings repeat their single notes on a higher octave (or on higher octaves), for example, :C-C-c-c-c'-c'.

Two

The following tunings repeat their notes on a higher octave after two strings: *

Augmented-fourths tuning Among alternative tunings for guitar, each augmented-fourths tuning is a regular tuning in which the musical intervals between successive open-string notes are each '' augmented fourths''. Because augmented fourths are alternatively ...

, for example, B-F-b-f-b'-f'. Any note fingered on one string can be fingered on two other strings. Thus chords can be fingered in many ways in augmented-fourths tuning. It is also a regular tuning in which the interval between its strings is a

tritone In music theory, the tritone is defined as a musical interval composed of three adjacent whole tones (six semitones). For instance, the interval from F up to the B above it (in short, F–B) is a tritone as it can be decomposed into the three a ...

(augmented fourth). * A

cittern The cittern or cithren ( Fr. ''cistre'', It. ''cetra'', Ger. ''Cister,'' Sp. ''cistro, cedra, cítola'') is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is d ...

tuning, such as C-G-c-g-c'-g'. There are other tunings for the cittern.

Three

The following tunings repeat their notes after three strings: *

Major-thirds tuning Among alternative tunings for guitar, a major-thirds tuning is a regular tuning in which each interval between successive open strings is a major third ("M3" in musical abbreviation). Other names for major-thirds tuning include major-third tuni ...

, such as E-G-c-e-g-c' and : D-G-B-D-G-B-D,

Chord inversion In music theory, an inversion is a type of change to intervals, chords, voices (in counterpoint), and melodies. In each of these cases, "inversion" has a distinct but related meaning. The concept of inversion also plays an important role in mu ...

is especially simple in major-thirds tuning. Chords are inverted simply by raising one or two notes three strings. The raised notes are played with the same finger as the original notes. The major-thirds tuning is also a regular tuning having a

major third In classical music, a third is a musical interval encompassing three staff positions (see Interval number for more details), and the major third () is a third spanning four semitones. Forte, Allen (1979). ''Tonal Harmony in Concept and P ...

interval between strings. *

Open G tuning Among alternative tunings for the guitar, an open G tuning is an open tuning that features the G-major chord; its open notes are selected from the notes of a G-major chord, such as the G-major triad (G,B,D). For example, a popular open-G tuning ...

, which is used as D', G', B, D, g, b, d' for the (7-string)

. *

Open C tuning Open C tuning is an open tuning for guitar. The open-string notes form a C major chord, which is the triad (C,E,G) having the root note C, the major third (C,E), and the perfect fifth (C,G). When the guitar is strummed without fretting any s ...

For the

English guitar The English guitar or guittar (also citra), is a stringed instrument – a type of cittern – popular in many places in Europe from around 1750–1850. It is unknown when the identifier "English" became connected to the instrument: at the time of ...

's open C tuning, there are ten strings—of which the highest eight are paired in four courses (duplicated strings), C E GG cc ee gg.

Four

Diminished seventh chord in the chromatic circle

In each

, every interval between successive strings is a

minor third In music theory, a minor third is a musical interval that encompasses three half steps, or semitones. Staff notation represents the minor third as encompassing three staff positions (see: interval number). The minor third is one of two com ...

. It repeats its open-notes after four strings. Doubled notes have different sounds because of differing "string widths, tensions and tunings, and heyreinforce each other, like the doubled strings of a twelve string guitar add chorusing and depth," according to William Sethares. In the minor-thirds tuning beginning with C, : C-D-F-a-c-d the open strings contain the notes (c, d, f) of the diminished C chord. The minor-thirds tuning is also a regular tuning, which has a

interval between consecutive strings.

Notes

References

* * {{Guitar tunings, Repetitive Repetitive guitar-tunings

One

Two

Three

Four

See also

Notes

References