- Dropped D tuning:
All the strings except the low E (fat string) have the same tuning.
You tune the low E DOWN to a low D. To do this you just tune down until
the tone matches the tone of the high D string.(of course these tones are
an "octave" apart, which means they're both D's, but one's higher than the
other.)
e|----------------------------------------------------------------|
B|----------------------------------------------------------------|
G|----------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-----------0----------------------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-------0--------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| |
|___|___ These two notes will share the same tone. The low D
will be an octave below the high D.
Staying in tune consists of a few key elements:
- Properly stretched strings--basically this means that when putting on a new
set of strings, you need to tug on the strings to stretch them out. you cannot simply tune
the new set up to pitch and expect it to hold--you have to yank on the string and then
keep retuning until it no longer goes flat after you yank. i prefer to use an electronic
tuner for this--not because my ears stink, but because more often than not i find myself
doing the stretching in a very noisy environment, such as a club or during soundcheck when
the drummer is whacking the hell out of his snare drum.
- A well-cut nut--this means a nut that is just perfect for the string gauge
that you use. if it's too tight, when you use the tuner, the string will get pinched in
the nut, and then when you bend or play, this pinching will give, causing the string to go
flat.
- Stable tuners--this is not as big of a deal, since most tuners--even the
really bad ones don't slip.
- Proper tuning technique--this sounds really STUPID, but it's EXTREMELY
important. when you tune, always tune in the SHARP direction. let me give an example:
suppose you are trying to tune the fifth string to A. currently the string is flat. In
order to tune properly you need to turn the tuning gear until you hit A. If you go SHARP,
the WRONG thing to do is to turn the gear down until you hit A. The reason this is
incorrect is because there is still a minute amount of slack in the tuner--no matter how
good the tuner is, there is ALWAYS some slack.
for those of you who would doubt this, try overshooting your target note and then
tuning DOWN toward the note. once you hit the note, take your finger and give the string a
big yank. now check your tuning again--i GUARANTEE it's going to be flat, if only a few
cents or so.
If you go too far sharp, the PROPER way to tune is to turn the gear so that the
resulting note is DELIBERATELY flat. In other words, going back to our example, if you
overshoot your A note, then turn the tuner so you are FLATTER than A. now give the string
a tug as you would do when you are stretching. the slack in the tuner will give. now tune
towards the A, being careful not to overshoot. if you overshoot, repeat the process. The
key is to tune in the SHARP direction only!
If you fail to observe any of these points above, you're going to be in a mess, because
stable tuning requires all of the above elements to be in place. Likely you're going to
find that your tuning problem is the result of a combination of the above factors--after
following all of the above guidelines, I usually find that even the worst and cheapest
guitars stay in tune just fine.
