Unveiling the Bb (A#) Augmented Fourths Tuning

Verbal Analysis: A Symmetrical Soundscape

Dive into a truly unique sonic landscape with the Bb (A#) Augmented Fourths tuning. This is not your grandfather's guitar tuning; it's a meticulously crafted system designed for adventurous players looking to explore new harmonic territories. As its name suggests, the intervals between every string are an augmented fourth (also known as a tritone), creating a perfectly symmetrical layout across the fretboard. This symmetry revolutionizes how you approach scales, chords, and improvisation, making patterns highly transferable across strings. While it retains the high E string of standard tuning, its extensive range extension comes entirely from the lower end, providing a deep, resonant foundation. It's particularly well-suited for playing "Pajara" scales—symmetrical scales where the period is the half-octave and the generator is the semitone—allowing for intricate, repeating melodic structures. This tuning encourages a fresh perspective on the guitar, pushing beyond conventional harmony into more modern, open, and sometimes dissonant, but always intriguing, soundscapes.

Technical Analysis: Tritones Unleashed

The Bb (A#) Augmented Fourths tuning sets the guitar up with the following open strings from low to high: A#2 - E2 - A#3 - E3 - A#4 - E4. The defining characteristic is the consistent interval of an augmented fourth (or tritone, 6 semitones) between every single adjacent string:

• Low A# (String 6) to E (String 5): Augmented Fourth (6 semitones)
• E (String 5) to A# (String 4): Augmented Fourth (6 semitones)
• A# (String 4) to E (String 3): Augmented Fourth (6 semitones)
• E (String 3) to A# (String 2): Augmented Fourth (6 semitones)
• A# (String 2) to E (String 1): Augmented Fourth (6 semitones)

This unbroken chain of tritones means that traditional open chords, such as major or minor triads, are not readily available or easily formed across all strings due to the inherent dissonance of the tritone. However, this symmetrical design is its greatest strength for other applications:

• Symmetrical Scales: The tuning is perfectly aligned for exploring symmetrical scales and modes, such as the aforementioned "Pajara" scales, diminished scales, or whole-tone scales, where patterns become remarkably consistent across the fretboard.
• Octave & Power Chords: Open strings offer octaves of A# (strings 6, 4, 2) and E (strings 5, 3, 1). While a full open strum is dissonant (an A# and E tritone ringing across multiple octaves), individual A# or E power chords (e.g., A#-F#-A# or E-B-E) can be achieved by selectively muting or fretting, or by playing notes on a single string and its direct octave equivalent (e.g., A# on 6 and A# on 4). Finding traditional major/minor triad shapes will require specific, often spaced-out, fingerings that leverage the octave repetitions or skip strings.
• Modern & Experimental Music: This tuning excels in genres requiring avant-garde harmonies, jazz improvisation (especially over altered dominant chords), and modern classical compositions, where its unique intervallic structure can be fully exploited.
• Reachable Shapes: Due to the consistent interval, any single-finger shape or chord voicing can be directly transposed up or down the neck and across string sets (with careful adjustment for the octave shifts), allowing for rapid exploration of new harmonic possibilities, particularly tritone-based voicings or augmented chords.

How to Tune: From Standard to Symmetrical

To achieve the Bb (A#) Augmented Fourths tuning, you will adjust your strings from their standard EADGBe positions as follows. Please proceed with care, especially with significant pitch changes. For movements exceeding 4 semitones up or down, considering a different string gauge is highly recommended to maintain string tension and prevent damage.

• String 6 (Low E): Tune down 6 semitones to A#2. (Note: Tuning down 6 semitones is a significant change. Consider a heavier gauge string.)
• String 5 (A): Tune down 5 semitones to E2. (Note: Tuning down 5 semitones is a significant change. Consider a heavier gauge string.)
• String 4 (D): Tune down 4 semitones to A#3. (Note: Tuning down 4 semitones is a significant change. Consider a heavier gauge string.)
• String 3 (G): Tune down 3 semitones to E3.
• String 2 (B): Tune down 1 semitones to A#4.
• String 1 (High E): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones) at E4.

String 6: A#2

String 5: E2

String 4: A#3

String 3: E3

String 2: A#4

String 1: E4