The Am9 Guitar Tuning: A Deep Dive

This unique Guitar tuning, named Am9, offers a rich and expansive sonic palette, particularly suited for players exploring ambient soundscapes, jazz voicings, or progressive textures. It creates a resonant open chord based around A minor 9, bolstered by a very low C.

Verbal Analysis

At its heart, the Am9 tuning provides an immediate, lush sound when strummed open. The low C string (6th string) offers a deep, foundational rumble, laying a powerful base for the A minor 9 chord that unfolds above it. This tuning feels substantial and harmonically complete, allowing for complex voicings with minimal effort. The blend of deeply dropped bass strings with standard-pitched higher strings creates interesting harmonic opportunities and provides a familiar feel on the treble side while offering entirely new possibilities on the bass.

The creator of this tuning wisely suggests using a heavy bottom 6th string, which is crucial for maintaining tension and intonation given the significant drop to C2. This recommendation ensures the low string remains punchy and clear, rather than flabby.

Technical Analysis

Compared to standard E-A-D-G-B-E tuning, Am9 presents a distinctive arrangement of notes:

• String 6 (low E): Tuned down significantly from E2 to C2.
• String 5 (A): Remains at A2.
• String 4 (D): Tuned up from D3 to E3.
• String 3 (G): Remains at G3.
• String 2 (B): Remains at B3.
• String 1 (high E): Remains at E4.

The open strings form the notes C2-A2-E3-G3-B3-E4. When analyzed, these notes contain the full set for an A minor 9 chord (A, C, E, G, B), with the lowest C acting as an extended bass or a pedal tone. This provides an incredibly full and resonant open voicing, making it very easy to achieve complex harmony without fretting.

Open Chords and Fretboard Access

The primary open chord is a powerful A minor 9 (A-C-E-G-B) with the low C as its deepest note. This immediately grants access to sophisticated harmonic colors. Due to the E-G-B-E arrangement on the higher four strings (from string 4 to string 1), many familiar shapes and chord voicings from standard tuning can be adapted or found on these strings, making the transition less daunting for melodic and lead work. Basic chords like C major (C-E-G) and A minor (A-C-E) are very accessible across the lower-to-mid strings in open position, offering a rich harmonic foundation for composition and improvisation.

How to Tune

Please proceed with care when adjusting string tension. For optimal results and to prevent potential string breakage, it is highly recommended to use a string gauge appropriate for the tension changes, especially for string movements that exceed 4 semitones up or down.

• String 6 (Low E): Tune down 4 semitones from E2 to C2. Note: This significant drop makes a heavy bottom 6th string strongly advised for stability and tone.
• String 5 (A): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones). Remains A2.
• String 4 (D): Tune up 2 semitones from D3 to E3. Caution: Tuning up requires care to avoid string breakage, though 2 semitones is generally manageable.
• String 3 (G): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones). Remains G3.
• String 2 (B): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones). Remains B3.
• String 1 (High E): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones). Remains E4.

String 6: C2

String 5: A2

String 4: E3

String 3: G3

String 2: B3

String 1: E4