Tuning Analysis: Break your strings

As its name vividly suggests, the 'Break your strings' tuning is an exceptionally extreme and potentially destructive setup for a guitar. It appears designed for experimental purposes, likely to explore high-tension sounds, the limits of the instrument, or even the auditory experience of string failure. This tuning is not recommended for conventional playing and should only be attempted with extreme caution, if at all, due to the very high risk of string breakage and potential damage to your instrument.

Verbal Analysis

This tuning demands an unprecedented increase in tension across all six strings. Every string is instructed to be tuned a remarkable seven semitones (a perfect fifth) higher than its standard EADGBe pitch. The most alarming aspect, however, is the specified target note for the 2nd string, which is F5#. This note is astonishingly high; if one were to simply tune a standard B3 string up by 7 semitones, it would reach F#4, not F5#. The F5# note is an entire octave higher than what a 7-semitone increase from B3 would typically produce, indicating a truly immense and likely unachievable tension requirement for a standard guitar string. The overall sonic profile, if such a tuning could be safely achieved, would be exceptionally bright, shrill, and fraught with extreme dissonance due to the vast, irregular interval between the 3rd and 2nd strings. This tuning truly embodies its provocative name.

Technical Analysis

• Instrument Type: Guitar
• Resulting Tuning: B2 E3 A3 D4 F5# B4
• Interval Structure:
  • The lower four strings (B2-E3-A3-D4) form a series of perfect fourths. This section of the tuning resembles the lower four strings of a guitar tuned to B standard, but shifted up.
  • The interval between the 3rd string (D4) and the 2nd string (F5#) is an enormous Major 10th (16 semitones). This is an exceptionally large jump in pitch that places the 2nd string under severe and almost certainly dangerous tension, making it the primary point of failure.
  • The interval between the 2nd string (F5#) and the 1st string (B4) is a descending Perfect 4th (or an ascending Perfect 5th), further contributing to the unconventional and challenging nature of this tuning.
• Open Chords & Playability: With the open strings B-E-A-D-F5#-B4, traditional chord shapes become nearly impossible to finger comfortably or harmonically. The bottom four strings (B-E-A-D) could partially suggest elements of an E minor 7 or A suspended chord. However, the extreme jump to F5# on the 2nd string creates an immense gap, effectively rendering the tuning impractical for conventional melodic lines or harmonic voicings. This tuning is clearly not intended for standard musical application but rather for experimental sound design.
• String Gauge Recommendation: All strings are instructed to be tuned up by 7 semitones. This significantly exceeds the cautionary threshold of 4 semitones up or down, indicating that standard string gauges are highly unsuitable. To even attempt this tuning without immediate string breakage, especially for the F5# on the 2nd string, very light or ultra-light gauge strings would be absolutely essential. Even then, the risk remains exceptionally high, and string tension would be extreme.

How to Tune

Please be advised that tuning up by 7 semitones is a severe adjustment that carries a very high risk of string breakage and potential damage to your instrument. A lighter string gauge is strongly recommended for all strings if you choose to attempt this tuning, and proceed with extreme caution.

• 6th String (Low E): Tune up 7 semitones from E2 to B2.
• 5th String (A): Tune up 7 semitones from A2 to E3.
• 4th String (D): Tune up 7 semitones from D3 to A3.
• 3rd String (G): Tune up 7 semitones from G3 to D4.
• 2nd String (B): Tune up 7 semitones from B3. The target note for this string is F5#, which is an octave higher than the F#4 that 7 semitones up from B3 would normally yield. This suggests an extremely perilous tension requirement or a likely impossibility with standard strings.
• 1st String (High E): Tune up 7 semitones from E4 to B4.