Why do bands often tune down a half tone? Is it just to accomodate Eb Major more easily or is ther another reason?

Why do bands often tune down a half tone? Is it just to accomodate Eb Major more easily or is ther another reason?

I think its just to sound "heavier". But I'm not full sure. I think to accomodate Eb major/minor is also a very likely reason.

Strings become looser thus easier to play and you get a thicker tone.
It can be to accomodate the singer's voice.

Some instruments sound better detuned, Les Pauls for example.

And Fender PJs are another good example.
listen to Guns n Roses for uberrr tone!

Sometimes it's for vocal reasons, as was the case in early Greenday.

To drive people nuts when they try to play along with the CD. :D

To drive people nuts when they try to play along with the CD. :D

+1, I need a bass to keep constantly de-tuned for the Metallica Load and Reload albums.

You can always play higher up on the neck if you want to increase the pitch. How are you going to decrease the pitch?

This isn't just important for the band/music, but the singer as well who may not be able give the same delivery in a different key.

Guitar player have been detuning a far back as the 60's that I know of and probably further back. It does take some tension off the strings and make bending an such easier. I know Clapton was doing it some back then with Delaney@Bonnie. SRV liked the fat sound of heavy string so would tune down to make them easier to bend.

I knew some bass player back then would tune down to match the guitar player. As time went on bass players needed to go lower to keep working when keyboard bass was used on records and they needed the extra range. Since then drop tunings have become pretty common for the extra fat tone they bring. They can be a pain if you only do it now and then because the reduce tension strings are moving more and if action is low rattle.

The great country-rock guitar player producer Pete Anderson has a guitar with two extra low frets. So what would be an low E on a normal guitar is D. I like the idea of the extra low frets, it would be cool to see a bass made that way.

I like the idea of the extra low frets, it would be cool to see a bass made that way.

Phil Kubuki liked the idea so much, that's exactly what he did (if I understand your description correctly).

Phil Kubuki liked the idea so much, that's exactly what he did (if I understand your description correctly).

In general the same idea. Phil is doing like the extenders on string basses and add two lower notes on the E string. Then a lever system to play the notes with. The guitar Pete Anderson has the whole neck all six strings are longer by two frets. In fact you don't even notice it, its a longer neck.

Black Sabbath tune down half a tone because it's easier on Tony's fingers and Ozzy's voice.

When you play symmetrical scales like Whole-Tone scale in the Eb-Ab-Db-Gb tuning, you gain access to all the other notes while playing in the same position as you would tuned E-A-D-G - if that makes sense.

in our case, it's for the range of the singer....he just doesn't trust himself on his upper register where his voice is the most solid and sounds best.

an observation...transposing songs originally recorded 1/2 step down back to standard sometimes sounds very awkward. it makes alice in chains songs sound cheery and happy.

You also have to remember that people also used to detune to be able to play along easier with horns. Alot of horns used to be Ab or Bb and people like Hendrix used to tune down so that they could access a flat open string. Simple but effective stuff....
Also, there is a story out there that Charlie Parker used to go to jam sessions in the clubs with his sax tuned to B. So what you may think, but when he started to play standards in the normal fingering positions (therefore sounding half a step out) all of the other sax players would freak and get off stage!

Black Sabbath tune down half a tone because it's easier on Tony's fingers and Ozzy's voice.Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Sabbath tune down a step and a half?

Yeah, im pretty sure they downtuned more than half a tone. But maybe his fingers got stronger later and they tuned up a bit. Atleast in the start they were lower than half a tone downtuned.

I've usually heard that it was started in the '60s to make string bending easier for guitarists. There was an old interview with John Entwhistle in which he complained that when started with the Who, he had absolute pitch, but after years of tuning down, he'd lost it!
Yes, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Hendrix both used heavy strings for the tone and tuned down to make bending easier.
My guess is that "Nu-Metal" bands tune down to sound more ominous, scary, or whatever. Of course, if you're using a 5-string bass, it's not much of an issue.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Sabbath tune down a step and a half?

Iommi has said on his message board that he tunes Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb and plays all Sabbath songs like that now. They've used a lot of different tunings in the past - Master of Reality is all tuned down a step and a half.