How many of you play a guitar tuned down to Eb?

[Teleblooz]

A good friend's band plays a half-step down, I think just because it's easier on the vocalists. I sat in with them once where I had to re-tune my guitar (the other times I used one of theirs). It just somehow didn't sound quite right to me tone-wise.

[byrdbrain]

With two guitarists you can get massive sounding open chords
if one of them tunes down a whole-step and plays, say, open D
while the standard-tuned guitar plays an open C chord.
More practical for recording than live, but it's a great, shimmering sound.
I think Robert Quine and Lou Reed may have done a bit of that on The Blue Mask.

[airtractorfan]

Playing songs from a church hymnal with a piano player is a very good reason to tune down 1/2 step to Eb. Most songs in the hymnal are written in flats[a few in sharps#] which allows a guitar player tuned to Eb to play on the dots[fret markers] instead of between the dots.A song in Eb allows you to use the 1st position E chord and open string notes also.
Most church piano players had rather play in flats instead of sharps.Most of the Keys that we guitar players use are sharps# [ A G D E ] Please reference the Circle of Fifths.

Example : Amazing Grace in a church hymnal is usually written with 1 # next to the treble cleft which is the key of G
A lot more of the songs are written with b[F] bb[Bb] bbb[Eb] bbbb[Ab] bbbbb[ Db] flats next to the treble cleft than with sharps#.

I was at a Bill Gather Homecoming Concert and Bill told the new piano player who was blind to play a particular song in 4 flats instead of using the letter Key Ab. As a guitar player I would much rather play tuned down to Eb and play in the 5th fret position on the marker than standard tuned on the 4th fret position with no dot.

I do agree that a guitar player should know the fretboard well enough to play any song in any key [standard or Eb tuning] without the use of markers but I'm all for doing it easier.

[airtractorfan]

Playing songs from a church hymnal with a piano player is a very good reason to tune down 1/2 step to Eb. Most songs in the hymnal are written in flats[a few in sharps#] which allows a guitar player tuned to Eb to play on the dots[fret markers] instead of between the dots.A song in Eb allows you to use the 1st position E chord and open string notes also.
Most church piano players had rather play in flats instead of sharps.Most of the Keys that we guitar players use are sharps# [ A G D E ] Please reference the Circle of Fifths.

Example : Amazing Grace in a church hymnal is usually written with 1 # next to the treble cleft which is the key of G
A lot more of the songs are written with b[F] bb[Bb] bbb[Eb] bbbb[Ab] bbbbb[ Db] flats next to the treble cleft than with sharps#.

[voided3]

I suppose what I don't get is bassists that tune down to Eb. I can believe it for tonal purposes, but if you have a five-string you can easily get the Eb mojo without retuning. That said though, I mostly play a four string and if I'm playing in Eb, I go for the lower chord tones in my lines like G and Bb to fatten it up if needed. That and there is my Zoom multi-effect pedal with the octave down mode

[winny pooh]

Playing in E-flat is great for songwriting, as it makes all those regular open chords sound fresh. I don't do it myself but can see its uses, for me everything in standard aside from my double bass tuned down to D.

[BillyG]

C'mon people, use the ♭ symbol.

[FirstBassman]

What happens when you play at a jam with that guitar? I'd think that you'd just have to tell everyone else what key you're in etc. Does the Bass player necessarily have to tune his bass to Eb also?

If the bass player can’t play in whatever key you call out (Eb or any other) then he has no business playing at a jam.
He’s got every note there on the fretboard he needs.

I don't remember jimi worrying too much about being in tune either though.

ha! yeah, that was a secondary consideration in those days ... when i first heard Dylan's "Highway 61" album, i wondered if they were doing some exotic mideastern 12-tone tuning (the raga-rock era, you know). i ultimately realized they were just too stoned to get in tune!

WARNING – name dropping about to happen.

I once asked Jorma what he and the band did before there were cheap portable tuners and strobe tuners and so forth.

He said “No problem. It was easy.”

“Easy?” I asked. “How?”

“We’d just play out of tune!”

[Maestro]

Originally Posted by chet

I read in GP that Clapton wrote "Sunshine of Your Love" after hearing Jimi a few times. Great stories this month.

Jack Bruce wrote Sunshine with Pete Brown, according to the Classic discs Disraeli Gears DVD. Ginger baker also complains about not getting credit (he says he wanted it to go 4 ways)

Clapton is usually credited with adapting the bass riff for guitar, and writing the bridge.

The Classics DVD is really interesting, as is the Cream the complete story DVD


I go a half step down for a bunch of Leonard Cohen songs like ''Take this waltz'' their way easier to play that way.

[Cross Roads]

I have a Strat I keep at Eb.
Some backing tracks I practice with are in this key (SRV).

[trag-o-caster]

I actually get teased by some other local players for NOT tuning down. I play in a variety of situations besides my own blues bands. I do weddings, corpo gigs, etc. with horns, keys, and tuning anything other than standard is just not an option.

I hear a perfect "E" note in my head and tune to it. I haven't owned a tuner in decades, and tuning a half step flat would make my brain go flat I'm afraid!

[ThreePlyGuy]

I use hybrid sets on some of my teles for that kind of slack feel. Tunning down is fun sometimes on Strats but I don't like the sound of it on teles.YMMV.

[Doug Ferguson]

I keep one guitar tuned down a whole step, then capo at the 2nd fret for a standard tuning. If I need to drop it a half step it's easy enough. The main reason I use this setup is for the lower action. The songs I play in Eb are few and far between, but there are several and they're easier to sing a half step down.

[Cygnus]

As with a number of people, I have my strat at Eb simply for jamming along with my Hendrix and SRV albums. That, and the fact I now have 12s on it, which for me is heavy.

[tboy]

When singing your butt of 4-5 hours a night, the half step down advantage helps greatly if your hi-range isn't there, like nights with a cold or sore throat.

[e-merlin]

I keep one of my Kramers tuned down for when I feel like learning some VH. I suppose if I took it to a jam I could capo it. Floyds aren't that hard to set up, but I only like to do it once.

[tuuur]

Yep, we do too. Easier on the vocals, those Dead Moon songs are way high for me.

[thekillingjoke]

Yep, I tune down to Eb. I did it for the sake of my voice.

I make my bassist tune down to Eb as well, just so it doesn't confuse the hell out of him. We treat Eb as though we're playing in standard tuning.

[hotgoalie11565]

Originally Posted by chet

I have a Strat that I have tuned to Eb to play Stevie and Jimi Hendrix songs. I think Eb lets you play with a horn section also.

When I had two strats I also tuned down a half step. When I build my second one I'll tune my current one down.

[woodman]

i'd tune down and use heavier strings in a heartbeat if i could talk the whole band into it.

[Charlie Bernstein]

My band has one fast tune in Ab, and I can't keep up with it. So I keep one guitar tuned to Eb and pretend the song's in A.

So sue me.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Originally Posted by BillyG

C'mon people, use the ♭ symbol.

Naw, man! You gotta use the b symbol!

Sheesh. Everyone's a critic...

=O.

[blacklinefish]

A lot of people here claim that they tune their guitar in A=440hz. I hope not! You do realize that you would snap that neck (well strings first probably) tuned that high.

The guitar is NOT at concert pitch, it is one whole octave below. Technically speaking, we are at A=220.

An argument could be made that the fifth fret of the 1st string is 440, but that is not the 'A' above middle C. We are all tuned down.

--gh