"unusual" tunings...

[Michael Campbel]

I'm new at this and am JUST getting to where I can start to remember where the notes are on the fretboard. If I tuned differently, all that knowledge would be moot (or at least for the strings I changed).

My question is, why do people do this? I can understand getting access to notes you wouldn't otherwise have (like, something lower than low E on a 4 string), but recently I've seen a lot of threads recently where this was NOT the case. (As in, "my guitarist is tuning like so and wants me to tune thusly...")

Is tuning to a different set of notes to aid fingering? So all the stringed instrument players' hands LOOK the same when doing the same note/chord? Something else?

I'm not criticizing the practice; I just genuinely don't understand it.

Help?

[knumbskull]

in the case of drop tuning, yes you are right - it's usually a matter of trying to match what the guitarists/rest of the band are doing with minimum fuss.

5-stringers with a low B will tell you that a 5-er replaces the need to drop tune. YMMV

some, only a few i think, like to tune their basses like cellos in 5ths rather than 4ths. so low to high you would be E/B/F#/C#, or different depending on what your low string is tuned to - i think the guy from avante garde band Lightning Bolt does this, starting at a low C.

short answer - it does not make fingering any easier IMO. if anything it makes is harder.

on guitars, because they are more polyphonic than bass, you can get some interesting results through alt tunings - Keith Richards is famous for this, or Sonic Youth more recently.

on bass, i think it is much less widespread. i'm sure someone who knows more about this than me will be along shortly

[Calaverasgrande]

I tune to C above B. It is a nice comprimise between drop D and B. It also is more manageable both string tension-wise and amp/cabinet wise.
It kind of funny though when I look at the guitarists hands I have to mentally add 2 semtones to whatever they are playing.

[odin70]

I tune one bass in fifths C-G-D-A (like a cello) I do it for a couple of reasons.

1. I love to play the cello suites by Bach (they where of course written for fifth tuning)
2. If forces me to use my ear more, be more creative, avoid old habbits/patterns.
3. It gives me the range of a 6 string bass.
4. Playing chords is great fun with that tuning. You can play chords you can only dream of with a"normal" four stringer.

There is of course some dissadvantages as well..compared to fourth tuning.

[pharaohamps]

Originally Posted by knumbskull

in the case of drop tuning, yes you are right - it's usually a matter of trying to match what the guitarists/rest of the band are doing with minimum fuss.

5-stringers with a low B will tell you that a 5-er replaces the need to drop tune. YMMV

+1 to this. I've played with lots of guys that drop-tune (I play a lot of metal) and rather than re-learning how to play the bass with every new band, I just play the 5ver.

I never thought about it before, when I played mostly guitar, but I played with lamarjones and he was just playing the 5-string. The band was DGCFAD or CGCFAD (down a whole step or drop-C,) but Leo had us all beat with his low B I asked him why he didn't play tuned down and he gave the reasons I mentioned earlier. Made so much sense to me that I got a 5 string and started practicing.

If you're on a 4, then de-tuning makes sense. I see a lot of metal players tuning BEAD, and that's cool for them, but it wouldn't work for me personally. Do what you like

[wetzelman1]

I'm in a stoner math metal band. I don't understand why no one ever brings up the point of how you play your instrument as part of what tuning your in. We've been playing in drop c and have recently gone to an AGCF tuning. Drop C gave us the needed lowness and power matched with speed, the AGCF tuning almost requires a more percussive kind of playing with it's relationship to the other strings. It has a more standard tuning relationship but such lower transitions. Opens up different chords that weren't available.

[Rick Nicak]

+1 to Wetzelman1

Michael Manring, solo bassist, is famous for having a ton of different tunings. His reasons for doing it, from what I have read, is that it opens up different sounds, and as Wetzelman1 as already said, different chords that weren't available.
Also, remember that our fourth tuning is just a matter of convention. Many renaissance musicians had alternate ways for tuning. For example, one of Bach's sons, I believe it was Carl, had a clavier with black keys to play the half step, or "diatonic step".
If anyone is interested in tunings and "Equal Temperance", I recommend a book called "How Equal Temperance Ruined Harmony (and why you should care)"

[chaosinside]

Originally Posted by Michael Campbel

I'm new at this and am JUST getting to where I can start to remember where the notes are on the fretboard. If I tuned differently, all that knowledge would be moot (or at least for the strings I changed).
...
Help?

I've been wondering the same thing, I'm learning the notes on the fretboard, but what happens when the bass is detuned?, I understand that tuning the bass, for example, BEAD, and on the 4th string 1st fret I have a C note, and so on, but then, what's the importance in learning the notes on standard tuning if there are some other "interesting" tunings?

[TOOL460002]

i mostly play standard, but all down a half step is fine too. any more than that and i have issues with string tension and the extra noise that can add.

that said, i was trying to play along with a buddy that drops everything a full step, and then his low string another full step. having that drop tuning, especially for faster metal type stuff gives you easier access to octaves. i found that trying to play it without the extra full step drop on the low string is ridiculously hard and a bit of a stretch.

[sirmike75]

5 string tunning e flat dropped d.
low b tunned to a