Ok, being a newb to playing guitar. My mind is warping at all the Drop Tuning talk. What is the practical purpose of drop tunings, and also what kind of drop tunings can I safely do on a standard tuned guitar, that wont require new strings and such? Any toughts would be appreciated. BTW, my Fav band TYPE O NEGATIVE uses drop D, which I think I want to try.
Andy
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Nothing like a big "fat" D chord.
Try double drop D also.....
The only difference between Drop D and standard tuning is that you are going to lower (drop) the 6th string from an E down to a D. Everything else will stay the same. So, get your tuner out and tune it down and give it a try.
From Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drop_D_tuning )
The difference of drop D from standard tuning allows for the three bass strings to form a D5 power chord, which can be shifted up or down the fretboard with a single finger (usually the index) to produce any power chord.
(x = don't play that string)
D5 000xxx
Eb5 111xxx
E5 222xxx
F5 333xxxx
F♯5 444xxx
G5 555xxx
G♯5 666xxx
A5 777xxx
Bb5 888xxx
B5 999xxx
C5 10 10 10xxx
C♯5 11 11 11xxx
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yea lue has got it.Most of the newer bands use it to get a heavier sound. It does get to be a bit of a pain if you only play a song or two using drop tuning because then you are constantly retuning after every song. If you have an extra guitar it's always easier to just keep that in a drop tuning and then just grab that guitar when you want to play a drop tuned song.
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The more you do it, the quicker you will get... it only takes a few seconds and that is okay when you are just practicing. If you are playing live, you definitely need a 2nd guitar set up for it.
My Fingerstyle Guitar Blog:
http://fsguitar.wordpress.com
My Guitars
Ibanez Artwood AWS1000ECE-NT
Schecter S-1 30th Anniversary Edition
Ovation CS257
LaPatrie Etude
Washburn Rover RO10
Drop tuning isn't just for heavier sounds. Here's John Mayer playing his song "Neon" in Drop C tuning.
Notice that he's able to get a bass-like sound out of the open E (now C) string, while playing higher notes on the other strings. Half of the bass notes he plays aren't available on a guitar in normal tuning, and the other half would be a painful stretch. In Drop C it's easier, although I certainly couldn't do it in any tuning...
