Why do 6-stringers tune down 1/2 step?

Frank Freniere · Post by **Frank Freniere** » 21 Jan 2001 12:46 pm

My son got some 6-string guitar solos tab (Hal Leonard) & it seems that all the really hot stuff (e.g., Slash & Eddie Van Halen) is tuned down a half-step. Is this a coincidence, convenience for the vocalist, or is there some tonality gain or what?

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 21 Jan 2001 2:45 pm

Frank,

It's a tonal thing for metal bands. They tune down 1/2 step to get thicker, deeper power chords, especially in the keys of E and A. It goes back to Jimi Hendrix, and maybe even before that. Jimi didn't downtune for everything, but I know he did downtune 1/2 step on "Crosstown Traffic" and "Little Wing".

Today's metal bands often tune to "Drop D" (string 6 tuned down to D) and then they downtune all of the strings 1/2 step. Limp Bizkit does this a lot. The Drop D makes it simple to play "1 finger" power chords on the bass strings on any fret, and when the guitar is also downtuned 1/2 step and distortion is added, it sounds like thunder from hell... perfect!

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www.dougbsteel.com

Jason Odd · Post by **Jason Odd** » 21 Jan 2001 3:08 pm

Agreed, the Melvins who were a Aberdeen group that moved to Seattle (same hometown and move that Nirvana made), and they were originally a fast hardcore band, but slowed down their tunes and switched to lots of drop D stuff.
Very influentual band, pretty much every grunge group from Seattle in the 1980s adopted a variation on this and eventually a few cleaned it up enough to make the charts, Pearl Jam and Nirvana being the earliest hit examples.
I especially like this style as it's slowly been killing off the thrash group's and their preference for speedy doubletracked thrash chords with painfully long guitar solos. That stuff was great in the early to mid 1980s, but geez it is 2001 after all.

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 21 Jan 2001 5:44 pm

Hmm, Buck Owens and the Buckaroos tuned down 1/2 step.

Maybe "Together Again" was really a grunge tune!

Sam Marshall · Post by **Sam Marshall** » 21 Jan 2001 6:35 pm

Stevie Ray Vaughn used medium gauge strings which improved the tone. He also tuned down 1/2 step so he could bend them.

Sam in AZ

Adam · Post by **Adam** » 22 Jan 2001 10:54 am

Tuning down makes bending strings and singing easier,that's why people started doing it.Nowadays it's popular because low d's and parallel fifths sound cool through modern-day subwoofer setups.Black Sabbath was really the first hard rock band(after Hendrix)to do this.Their 1971 live album has them tuned down to c#!Their guitarist Tony Iommi lost his ring and middle fingers in a sheet metal cutting accident and played with prosthetic finger tips on his fretting hand.Tuning down lessened the discomfort on his hand and at the same time added to their doom-laden sound.This is the one of the bands that inspired the Melvins the most.Seattle-born Jimi Hendrix looms as an even larger influence here in the Northwest and he often tuned down as well.
I play Western Swing steel nowadays,but back in the early '90's I played guitar(tuned to Eb,of course)in a band that shared the bill with the Melvins a couple of times.They are an amazing band.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Adam on 22 January 2001 at 08:13 PM.]</p></FONT>

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 22 Jan 2001 10:59 am

i thought that guitarists than tuned down a half step was to make things easier on them when playing in Bb,Eb,Ab,or other "unNatural" keys on guitbox.
Hendrix played in RxB bands w: horn sections
would that have been a reason for tuning down to Eb ?
Steel what ?

P Gleespen · Post by **P Gleespen** » 22 Jan 2001 11:47 am

Hey Adam, my old band called Stompbox (I was playing bass, tuned to drop D) played with the Melvins in the early 90's a couple times too! Small steel world!

I liked when Buzz would tune his low E down to an ULTRA-low A. Unreal!

(Of course, nowadays, I can just step on the boowah pedal for that low A!)

ajm · Post by **ajm** » 22 Jan 2001 12:58 pm

There's another reason for tuning down, and ol' CrowBear is barking up that particular tree.

Guitarists, especially playing in a trio, like to play in keys with a lot of open strings (G, A, D, E) because of certain voicings and licks. If you've got a singer that isn't comfortable singing in those "true" keys but is OK a half step either way, then tuning down a half step often puts them in a comfortable range.

I never thought about tuning down when playing with horns, but that's a good idea. Then everybody's happy.

To the Buck thing: I read an interview with him one time where he said they tuned down because of the steel player (Mr. Mooney I believe). It seems he was breaking a lot of high G# strings at standard tuning, so tuning down solved the problem.

Joe Casey · Post by **Joe Casey** » 23 Jan 2001 2:41 pm

Maybe it's because they have only half the strings to tune

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CJC

Frank Freniere · Post by **Frank Freniere** » 26 Jan 2001 5:57 am

Thanks everyone.

CrowBear Schmitt · Post by **CrowBear Schmitt** » 26 Jan 2001 10:35 am

another thought....
Back in the days when BB ,Albert,+ Freddy -Kings - were comin up, Skinny strings did'nt X-sist yet !?!
Maybe some remember string gauges back in the 50s ? High E's were 011/012/013 ???
tuning down a half step was'nt enough :
Turn the tuning pegs or grab that Sissy bar
while you try to reach the right note ?
Better yet, Play Steel....

Cairo Zoots · Post by **Cairo Zoots** » 26 Jan 2001 10:26 pm

Before the light gauged sets came out, we used to use B@nj0 strings! Fooled 'em all for a while

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