The tuning "Open Amin7" for Guitar, as described, is a deep and resonant open tuning. It's explicitly designed to allow an A minor 7 chord to ring out across all open strings, offering a rich harmonic foundation. The creator mentions its inspiration from Ichika's 'Ethereal' Dmaj7 tuning, suggesting a focus on clean, ambient, and harmonically lush soundscapes, often found in modern fingerstyle and progressive guitar work.

Verbal Analysis

Stepping into 'Open Amin7' immediately bathes the player in a melancholic yet deeply satisfying sound. The open strings, when strummed, effortlessly produce a full A minor 7 chord, which feels both ancient and modern. The low A (A1) anchors the tuning with a profound bass presence, while the spread of the remaining notes across the neck creates a beautiful, chiming resonance. It's a tuning that invites exploration through arpeggios, gentle strumming, and expressive fingerstyle, allowing for ethereal soundscapes to unfold with minimal effort. The inspiration from Ichika's "Ethereal" tuning implies a preference for clean tones, intricate melodies, and atmospheric textures, making this tuning perfect for introspective compositions or ambient washes.

Technical Analysis

This tuning sets the guitar strings to A1-E2-G2-C3-G3-A3 (low to high). These notes collectively form the constituents of an A minor 7 chord (A-C-E-G). Breaking down the intervals and repetitions:

• A (Root): Found on the 6th (A1) and 1st (A3) strings, providing a strong root presence across multiple octaves.
• E (Perfect 5th): Located on the 5th string (E2), establishing the dominant harmonic relationship.
• G (Minor 7th): Present on the 4th (G2) and 2nd (G3) strings, giving the chord its characteristic minor 7th quality.
• C (Minor 3rd): Occupies the 3rd string (C3), defining the minor quality of the chord.

The open tuning itself is an A minor 7 chord, meaning that barring all strings at any given fret will yield a transposed minor 7 chord (e.g., 1st fret = A#min7, 2nd fret = Bmin7). This simplifies playing and allows for quick harmonic shifts. The distribution of notes across two octaves (A1 to A3) provides a wide harmonic canvas. The presence of repeated notes (A and G) across different octaves adds to the chord's richness and sustain.

This tuning also makes accessible a variety of related chords and voicings:

• A Minor Triad: By simply muting or avoiding the G strings, or altering them, one can easily achieve an A minor triad.
• A Major 7: By raising the C (3rd string) to C# and the Gs (2nd and 4th strings) to G#, an A major 7 chord can be formed with slight modifications.
• A Minor 9/11: Adding a single finger to certain strings can introduce extensions. For instance, fretting the E2 (5th string) at the 2nd fret (F#) can hint at an A minor 9 sound.
• Drone Capabilities: The low A and high A, coupled with the open E and Gs, are perfect for creating sustained drones, over which melodies and harmonies can be played.

The significant downtuning on all strings (especially -7 semitones on most) results in a much lower string tension than standard tuning, which contributes to its unique resonant qualities and can make string bending feel effortless. It also strongly suggests using a heavier gauge string set to maintain tension and intonation, and to prevent excessive floppiness.

Tuning Notes

Here are the specific notes for each string in this Open Amin7 tuning, from the thickest (6th) to the thinnest (1st) string:

• 6th String: A1
• 5th String: E2
• 4th String: G2
• 3rd String: C3
• 2nd String: G3
• 1st String: A3

How to Tune

To achieve the Open Amin7 tuning from standard EADGBe tuning, follow these specific adjustments for each string. Due to the significant changes in pitch for almost all strings, a different gauge string set (heavier than standard) is highly recommended to maintain proper tension and intonation, and to avoid string floppiness or breakage when tuning up/down significantly.

• 6th String (Low E): Tune down 7 semitones from E to A1. *(Warning: This is a significant change. A heavier gauge string is advised.)*
• 5th String (A): Tune down 5 semitones from A to E2. *(Warning: This is a significant change. A heavier gauge string is advised.)*
• 4th String (D): Tune down 7 semitones from D to G2. *(Warning: This is a significant change. A heavier gauge string is advised.)*
• 3rd String (G): Tune down 7 semitones from G to C3. *(Warning: This is a significant change. A heavier gauge string is advised.)*
• 2nd String (B): Tune down 4 semitones from B to G3. *(Warning: This is a significant change. A heavier gauge string is advised.)*
• 1st String (High E): Tune down 7 semitones from E to A3. *(Warning: This is a significant change. A heavier gauge string is advised.)*