About Ostrich Tuning

The "Ostrich Tuning," famously associated with artists like Lou Reed and The Primitives, transforms the guitar into a truly unique sonic landscape. This tuning is characterized by its unison approach, where all strings are tuned to various octaves of the same root note, in this case, A# (B-flat). It creates a dense, resonant, and often hypnotic sound, moving far beyond conventional guitar voicings.

Technical Analysis

Technically, the Ostrich tuning presented here is an A# Unison tuning. The open strings are voiced as A2#, A3#, A3#, A4#, A4#, A4#. This arrangement features a low A# (A2#) followed by an octave jump to A#3 on the 5th and 4th strings (creating a unison pair), and then another octave jump to A#4 on the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st strings (forming a three-string unison cluster).

The overtone series produced by these multiple unisons and octaves is incredibly rich and full, making it ideal for creating drone-like textures and sustained chords. While not conducive to standard open chord shapes, this tuning truly shines when using a slide, as a single bar across any fret will instantly produce a perfect major chord (e.g., barring the first fret from A# will give you a B major chord, the third fret a C# major chord, and so on). Finger-picking can create chimey, bell-like sounds, and single-note melodies will have an unparalleled thickness and sustain due to the sympathetic vibrations of the unison strings. It encourages a highly textural and experimental approach to playing, perfect for avant-garde rock, ambient music, or achieving a distinct, almost sitar-like resonance.

How to Tune

To achieve the Ostrich tuning, you'll be adjusting your strings from a standard EADGBe setup. Please pay close attention to the semitone adjustments as specified below. When tuning, use an electronic tuner to reach the target note precisely.

• String 6 (Low E): From standard E2, aim for A#2. Tune down 6 semitones. Caution: Tuning down 6 semitones is a significant change; a heavier gauge string is advised for optimal tension and tone.
• String 5 (A): From standard A2, aim for A#3. Tune up 1 semitones.
• String 4 (D): From standard D3, aim for A#3. Tune down 4 semitones. Caution: Tuning down 4 semitones is a significant change; a heavier gauge string is advised for optimal tension and tone.
• String 3 (G): From standard G3, aim for A#4. Tune up 3 semitones.
• String 2 (B): From standard B3, aim for A#4. Tune down 1 semitones.
• String 1 (High E): From standard E4, aim for A#4. Tune down 6 semitones. Caution: Tuning down 6 semitones is a significant change; a heavier gauge string is advised for optimal tension and tone.

Always tune slowly and check your intonation. Due to the radical changes for some strings, it might be beneficial to have your guitar professionally set up for this specific tuning if you plan to use it extensively.

The Ostrich tuning sets all strings to various octaves of A#:

• String 6 (Low E string becomes): A2#
• String 5 (A string becomes): A3#
• String 4 (D string becomes): A3#
• String 3 (G string becomes): A4#
• String 2 (B string becomes): A4#
• String 1 (High E string becomes): A4#