Verbal Description

The "Tony Barrow" tuning is an intriguing all-fourths setup specifically designed for the 7-string guitar. As its original description suggests, it's an extension of the classic all-fourths tuning often explored on 6-string instruments, bringing its logical consistency to a wider range. This tuning creates a highly geometric fretboard, where the relationships between notes are perfectly symmetrical across all strings. This uniformity can significantly simplify chord shapes and scale patterns, making it very intuitive for players who prefer thinking in terms of intervals and consistent patterns rather than specific fingerings tied to the asymmetries of standard tuning.

Technical Analysis

This tuning establishes perfect fourth intervals (5 semitones) between all adjacent strings. The notes, from lowest to highest, are B1-E2-A2-D3-G3-C4-F4. This means that moving vertically across the fretboard will always result in a perfect fourth interval (or a compound perfect fourth), providing a consistent harmonic framework. This structural consistency is a stark contrast to standard tuning (typically B1-E2-A2-D3-G3-B3-E4 for a 7-string), which features a major third between the G and B strings, creating an asymmetry that players traditionally need to adapt to.

Open Chords and Reachable Shapes

Due to the strict all-fourths nature, simply strumming all open strings (B-E-A-D-G-C-F) will result in a complex, often dissonant cluster of notes rather than a familiar major or minor triad. Therefore, traditional open chords in the style of standard tuning are not readily available without specific fretting. However, this tuning excels in making movable chord shapes incredibly consistent and easy to transpose. Power chords (1-5-8) can be played with identical fingerings across any set of three adjacent strings on the fretboard. Triads, both major and minor, will also have highly consistent, easily transposable shapes across the entire neck. For example, a basic major triad shape fretted on three adjacent strings will retain its exact finger pattern as it is moved up or down the fretboard or across different string sets. This makes complex jazz voicings, extended chords, and modal playing particularly accessible and logical, as the fretboard becomes a grid of predictable intervals.

The inherent symmetry of this tuning also significantly benefits scale patterns and arpeggios, as horizontal and vertical movements will consistently correspond to predictable intervals. This can be a game-changer for improvisation, sight-reading, and developing a deeper theoretical understanding of the fretboard for any guitarist.

Tuning Notes

• String 7 (Lowest Bass String): B1
• String 6: E2
• String 5: A2
• String 4: D3
• String 3: G3
• String 2: C4
• String 1 (Highest Treble String): F4

How to Tune

To achieve the "Tony Barrow" tuning from a common standard 7-string tuning (B1-E2-A2-D3-G3-B3-E4), follow these specific string adjustments:

• String 7 (B1): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones). The string remains at B1.
• String 6 (E2): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones). The string remains at E2.
• String 5 (A2): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones). The string remains at A2.
• String 4 (D3): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones). The string remains at D3.
• String 3 (G3): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones). The string remains at G3.
• String 2 (B3): Tune up 1 semitone. Adjust this string from its standard B3 to C4.
• String 1 (E4): Tune up 1 semitone. Adjust this string from its standard E4 to F4.

Important Note on String Gauges: All string movements in this tuning involve very minor changes of 1 semitone or less. Therefore, a different gauge string is generally not advised for this tuning, as the existing strings should comfortably accommodate these small adjustments without undue stress or significant changes in tension.