Tuning in Fifths

ToneControlToneControl Frets: 11790
I just took my 29 Baritone, and put strings on to tune it in fifths

Now runs from the  bottom: G D A E B F#

I'm really enjoying it, it opens a lot of options. Needs close mic'ing or the pickup for the bottom end though

Anyone tried this?
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Comments

  • Quite fancy getting a baritone and trying that myself.  I am interested in what you any anyone else thinks.

    Never played a cello, but fingering must be similar, I guess, apart form a certain amount of fretlessness, less strings, a bow and a huge great acoustic body, hmmm so maybe not *that* similar   :o3

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  • ajaxajax Frets: 76
    Fripp tunes in fifths, mostly.  It's CGDAEG, what he calls 'new standard tuning'
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  • ToneControlToneControl Frets: 11790

    my motivation was listening to the theorbo, along with my experiences with an 8 string and my baritones, and my pleasure playing my tenor (4 string) which is tuned in 5ths

    Then I realised I could get that range on a 6 string, Just trying to find what works on it now, G below normal E is pretty low

    I've been doing this on an acoustic, but might try on a 30" electric

    Difference with a cello would be mostly letting a bass string sustain whilst playing melodies and harmonies on the top 2-3 strings

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  • DannyPDannyP Frets: 1667
    So if you're playing up or down a scale/mode are you playing 4 notes per string? Is it a case of big stretches with long fingers or are you shifting position a lot like a cellist?
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  • FazerFazer Frets: 467
    i did have a look at 5th tuning years ago, when i made the change to tuning in 4ths.
    i liked the idea of the extended range on a 6 string but with the 4ths you keep all the notes within manageable blocks and was just more practicle.

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  • My mandolin is tuned in 5ths, GG,DD,AA,EE. It took some getting used to the new chord and scale shapes, but it's no more difficult than going from "standard" to (for example) open D.
    Obviously the smaller scale length on the mandolin vastly reduces the long stretches.


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  • frankusfrankus Frets: 4719
    I've toyed with the idea of doing this as then you've one 4 note chord pattern you can play across 3 sets of strings.

    I think you only lose a few really nice chords anyway.
    A sig-nat-eur? What am I meant to use this for ffs?! Is this thing recording?
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  • ajax said:
    Fripp tunes in fifths, mostly.  It's CGDAEG, what he calls 'new standard tuning'
    I tried this a while back. It's interesting to have to rethink your playing and work out how to play all the basic chords again (which are fairly simple in this tuning), but it could be a great songwriting tool or a rut-breaker, which I think was at least partly why Fripp started tuning that way.
    DannyP said:
    So if you're playing up or down a scale/mode are you playing 4 notes per string? Is it a case of big stretches with long fingers or are you shifting position a lot like a cellist?

    CGDAEG tuning actually duplicates cello tuning on the low strings. If you want to play conventional scales then yes, you need to either stretch a lot or shift position. For me at least, part of the appeal of alternate tunings is that you can't play all the stuff you play on autopilot in stardard tuning. "New Standard Tuning" (although I hate the pompous name) puts big intervals under your fingers much more easily than "Old Standard Tuning" which gives you a very different sound to the tone/semitone intervals you get with standard, unbroken scale patterns.

    Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.

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  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 23955
    I had a 4 string bass that I tuned to 5ths starting from low B to give me a bit more range within a stretch.

    I gave up and bought a 5 string instead!
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  • imaloneimalone Frets: 748
    Also did this fairly recently, Justin Guitar uses it for Coldplay's The Scientist (what?). Quite nice for playing about with intervals and repeated patterns across the strings.

    "New Standard Tuning" (although I hate the pompous name)
    Do wonder how much thought he put into that name, maybe he was trying to put people off.
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  • As interesting a player as Fripp is, I do get the impression that he has a somewhat inflated opinion of himself.

    Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.

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  • ToneControlToneControl Frets: 11790
    DannyP said:
    So if you're playing up or down a scale/mode are you playing 4 notes per string? Is it a case of big stretches with long fingers or are you shifting position a lot like a cellist?
    mostly playing an open bass note (or one fretted with my thumb typically), and 2 or 3 of the top strings from the 5th fret upwards, so not 5 or 6-string full chord voicings
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  • ToneControlToneControl Frets: 11790
    ajax said:
    Fripp tunes in fifths, mostly.  It's CGDAEG, what he calls 'new standard tuning'
    I tried this a while back. It's interesting to have to rethink your playing and work out how to play all the basic chords again (which are fairly simple in this tuning), but it could be a great songwriting tool or a rut-breaker, which I think was at least partly why Fripp started tuning that way.
    DannyP said:
    So if you're playing up or down a scale/mode are you playing 4 notes per string? Is it a case of big stretches with long fingers or are you shifting position a lot like a cellist?

    CGDAEG tuning actually duplicates cello tuning on the low strings. If you want to play conventional scales then yes, you need to either stretch a lot or shift position. For me at least, part of the appeal of alternate tunings is that you can't play all the stuff you play on autopilot in stardard tuning. "New Standard Tuning" (although I hate the pompous name) puts big intervals under your fingers much more easily than "Old Standard Tuning" which gives you a very different sound to the tone/semitone intervals you get with standard, unbroken scale patterns.
    Exactly, it's to provide an opportunity for new harmonies and patterns of playing, instead of autopilot, same reason I keep some guitars permanently in modal tunings and open tunings
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