I have guitars tuned to c# and Eb (both standard). and switch between both regularly. I have most of the notes on the top two strings internalised from when I was playing in standard and want to learn the rest. Seeing as most guitar books assume standard E tuning, should I learn the notes as though they were in E, so in E flat the c is a b, and in C# the E is a G etc.? Seems a lot of work learning separate tunings. Does anyone else work this way? I'm not playing with other folk so won't need to communicate the exact notes. I just need a mental map to navigate the fretboard when composing or sight reading.
Comments
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
FWIW, when I use a capo, I tend to write down the music I'm playing as if I was still tuned eBGDAE standard. So, although when I'm capo'd at the 2nd fret a Dm shape starting on 1st string (e) will fret the 3rd fret, and it's actually an Em chord, I'll write it down as Dm so I can quickly work out what shape to use when I read it back. If I had to communicate to a pianist, I'd do the hard yards then and transpose for them at that time.
This may make the professional players on here wince, but you did ask and it's what I actually do - rightly or wrongly.
Off Topic: I always call the the thin string that is usually tuned to a high E as "Top E". So if someone said to me "the top 2 strings" I'd think they meant the two thinnest ones. Physically at the bottom but in terms of note frequency, at the top.
Do you do the opposite, @viz ?
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.