dietermoreno

Is it possible for 6 string guitar to tune lower than drop C and scales still work?

rockingamer2

Scales are scales no matter what. What you should be concerned about his how floppy your strings will get.

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Ahteh

As long as all 6 strings are tuned down the same amount of steps you can still use the same shapes, yes. You'll obviously have to move them accordingly though.

AlanHB

Scales will still work if you have no strings on the guitar.

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Hail

Haha What

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ccannon1

I play in drop F and scales don't seem to work for me

my solution was to just palm mute the open F string, people seem to love it

jthm_guitarist

it's called METAL!!!

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SGstriker

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As long as you have thick enough strings and your guitar is setup for them, it shouldn't matter how low you tune, as long as they aren't completely slacked.

Also? Drop Z is the way to go.

AlanHB

Err can you play scales in standard tuning?

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ccannon1

are they those shape things?

dietermoreno

So normal strings won't work? What is the reason why normal strings won't work?

So if I tune to drop b, does that mean that from 9th fret to 12th fret being one whole step becomes from 15th to 18th fret being one whole step? So that means then I ignore the dots on the fretboard and have to learn where the new intervals are on the fret board?

EmilGD

No it means your strings would be more like spaghetti, rather than bowstrings, except the part where you eat it.

EDIT: And 9-12th/15-18th is one and a half step. And yes the position of the notes does of course change, in E Standard the lowest B is on the 7th fret of the low E string, and two octave higher B on the high E string is also on the 7th. In drop B the unison B on the low E string is on the 12th fret, and there is a B an octave lower on the open, while on the high E string the B is now on the 10th fret.

dietermoreno

I don't get it. What is "unison b"?

Is 8th fret to 10th fret one whole step, one half step,
or is it half step + 1/3 step = 3/6 step + 2/6 step = 5/6 step?

Then what is the logic behind the positioning of a dot on the fret board at every odd fret up to 9 and then a dot at 12 and then a dot at 15 and then restarting every odd fret?

I thought every dot represented a change of one whole step, meaning that some notes take larger intervals, so to play some notes it requiers more frets?

steven seagull

To be honest I don't think there's an awful lot of logic behind the location of the dots, they certainly don't mean what you think they mean.

I could be wrong though, I'll wait for someone to post the actual reason

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rockingamer2

Ignore the dots.

Half step = one fret
Whole step = two frets

All the natural notes (C D E F G A B) are separated by whole steps, with the exception of E-F, and B-C, which are separated by a half step.


Digression: Why are the dots where they are? Never thought to ask that question.

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EmilGD

I don't think the dots have any other purpose than making it easier to visually navigate the fretboard (in a positionwise non-musical way).

MaggaraMarine

The scales are the same. They just sound lower. Just like if you play a D chord in drop D, in drop C it would be C chord. It's the same fingerings but the pitch is different. Same thing with scales. If you play D major scale in drop D tuning, with the same fingerings in drop C it would be C major scale. Same fingerings, different pitch.

But when I play in lower tunings and I play the fingering of E major chord (022100), I will still think it as an E major chord, even if I was playing in C standard.

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dietermoreno

Okay, makes sense.





So then for the 6th string (low string) the 12th fret to the 13th fret is one half step and is the location of E and F respectively in standard E tuning, and then the 7th fret to the 8th fret is one half step and is the location of b and C respectively in standard E tuning, correct?

So then for the 6th string (low string) the 16th fret to the 17th fret is one half step and is the location of E and F respectively in drop b tuning, and then the 11th fret to the 12th fret is one half step and is the location of b and C respectively in drop b tuning, correct?

Wouldn't having thicker gauge strings decrease performance in picking techniques that need thin flexible strings, such as tapping, hammer ons, pull offs, economy picking, and sweep picking?

cdgraves

No techniques work if your strings sound like saggy mattress springs. You need a certain amount of tension for the string to "snap" past the edge of a pick or finger.

You have a guitar, right? Just tune it down to B and listen for yourself why you need really thick strings for tuning below Eb.

edit: Tune the high E string up and down -last-