The "Open C (Cittern)" tuning for the Cittern transforms the instrument into a vibrant, resonant soundscape built entirely around the C Major chord. This tuning is essentially a C5 (C-G) chord spread across all six strings, with octaves, providing a powerful and fundamental harmonic base. It's highly favored in folk, traditional, and drone music due to its rich, full sound and the ease with which melodic and harmonic ideas can be developed.

Verbal Analysis:

This tuning provides a deep, resonant foundation, making it excellent for rhythmic strumming, arpeggios, and creating sustained drones. The repeated C and G notes across different octaves give the tuning a strong sense of unity and allow for intuitive playing. It's particularly well-suited for accompanying vocals or other instruments, providing a thick harmonic bed. Players will find it easy to create full-sounding chords with minimal effort, often using just one or two fingers for complex voicings or simply barring across the fretboard.

Technical Analysis:

The open strings are tuned to C2-G2-C3-G3-C4-G4. This arrangement primarily features perfect fifths (C-G) and perfect fourths (G-C) alternating between adjacent strings. Specifically, the intervals are:

• String 6 (C2) to String 5 (G2): Perfect Fifth (P5)
• String 5 (G2) to String 4 (C3): Perfect Fourth (P4)
• String 4 (C3) to String 3 (G3): Perfect Fifth (P5)
• String 3 (G3) to String 2 (C4): Perfect Fourth (P4)
• String 2 (C4) to String 1 (G4): Perfect Fifth (P5)

This consistent interval pattern makes the fretboard highly logical and predictable, allowing for easy transposition of chord shapes. All open strings together form a C5 chord (root and fifth only), which is characteristic of open tunings designed for easy chordal playing and drone effects.

Open Chords and Reachable Shapes:

The most prominent open chord is a powerful C5 (C power chord) created by simply strumming all open strings. Due to the repetitive C-G pattern, barring any fret across all six strings will instantly create another C5 chord based on the new root. For example, barring the 5th fret across all strings yields F-C-F-C-F-C, which is an F5 chord. Similarly, barring the 7th fret gives a G5 chord (G-D-G-D-G-D if strings were tuned C-G-C-G-C-G, wait, it should be D not G, but the *shape* is a G5).

Let's re-evaluate the barre chord example for clarity:

• Open Strings: C2 G2 C3 G3 C4 G4 (A C5 chord)
• Barre at 5th Fret: F2 C3 F3 C4 F4 C5 (An F5 chord)
• Barre at 7th Fret: G2 D3 G3 D4 G4 D5 (A G5 chord)

This makes moving through I-IV-V progressions in a rock or folk style particularly intuitive. Minor chords can be formed by adding the minor third (Eb) where appropriate, often requiring two or three fingers rather than just a single barre, though simple two-finger minor shapes can also be easily found on adjacent strings.

Here are the target notes for each string of your Cittern, from the lowest (thickest) to the highest (thinnest):

• String 6: C2
• String 5: G2
• String 4: C3
• String 3: G3
• String 2: C4
• String 1: G4

How to Tune:

To achieve the Open C (Cittern) tuning, please follow these specific adjustments from your instrument's current tuning. Pay careful attention to the direction and magnitude of tuning changes to ensure the safety of your strings and instrument.

• String 6: Tune to C2 by tuning down 4 semitones. Caution: Tuning down 4 semitones is a significant change. If your string feels excessively loose or experiences intonation issues, a heavier gauge string is advised for optimal performance and stability.
• String 5: Tune to G2 by tuning down 2 semitones.
• String 4: Tune to C3 by tuning down 2 semitones.
• String 3: Tune to G3. Keep as is; no change (0 semitones).
• String 2: Tune to C4 by tuning up 1 semitone.
• String 1: Tune to G4 by tuning up 3 semitones.