Tuning Analysis: 'When You Sleep' by My Bloody Valentine

This unique guitar tuning, named 'when you sleep - mbv', is specifically designed for the iconic My Bloody Valentine track, 'When You Sleep'. It's a prime example of the innovative and often radical tunings used in shoegaze music to achieve its characteristic ethereal, shimmering, and sometimes dissonant soundscapes. This particular tuning moves far beyond standard EADGBe, creating a rich harmonic bed for complex textures and droning melodic lines.

Verbal Analysis

The open strings of this tuning, C-G-D-B-C-D, immediately conjure a sense of deep resonance combined with delicate, almost clashing upper harmonies. The low C and G strings provide a powerful, droning bass foundation, perfect for the wall-of-sound aesthetic My Bloody Valentine is known for. The middle D string acts as a strong anchor, while the higher B, C, and D strings introduce fascinating, tightly-packed intervals. This creates a shimmering, chorused effect when strummed open, and allows for intricate melodic phrases to bloom within a stable harmonic framework. It's a tuning that encourages experimentation with sustained notes and tremolo, evoking the dreamlike quality central to the song.

Technical Analysis

The open notes are set to C2-G2-D3-B3-C4-D4 (low to high). Analytically, this tuning essentially forms a Cmaj9 (no 3rd) or Cmaj7 (add9, no 3rd) chord when strummed open. The notes C, G, B, and D are present, comprising the root (C), perfect 5th (G), major 7th (B), and major 9th (D). The absence of the 3rd (E) provides an ambiguous yet rich harmonic canvas, allowing other notes to imply major or minor qualities based on melodic context. The intervals across the strings are particularly interesting:

• String 6 (C2) to String 5 (G2): A perfect 5th (7 semitones).
• String 5 (G2) to String 4 (D3): A perfect 5th (7 semitones).
• String 4 (D3) to String 3 (B3): A major 6th (9 semitones) – a significant jump creating openness.
• String 3 (B3) to String 2 (C4): A minor 2nd (1 semitone) – a tightly clustered, almost dissonant, yet resonant interval.
• String 2 (C4) to String 1 (D4): A major 2nd (2 semitones).

This combination of wide, open fifths in the bass and tightly voiced seconds in the treble allows for a unique blend of power and delicate shimmer. The open B-C-D on the higher strings creates natural cluster voicings, perfect for generating the harmonic complexity found in My Bloody Valentine's work. Chords played using this tuning will often feature these open strings as drones, with fretted notes adding further melodic and harmonic tension.

How to Tune

To achieve the 'when you sleep - mbv' tuning, you will need to adjust your guitar strings as follows. Please exercise caution, especially with significant changes in pitch.

• String 6 (Low E): Tune down 4 semitones from E to C2. (Caution advised; tuning down 4 semitones is a significant change. Consider a heavier gauge string if this is a permanent tuning.)
• String 5 (A): Tune down 2 semitones from A to G2.
• String 4 (D): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones) at D3.
• String 3 (G): Tune up 4 semitones from G to B3. (Extreme caution advised; tuning up 4 semitones significantly increases string tension. It is strongly recommended to use a lighter gauge string for this string or approach with extreme care to avoid breakage.)
• String 2 (B): Tune up 1 semitone from B to C4.
• String 1 (High E): Tune down 2 semitones from E to D4.

The target notes for each string in this tuning are:

• String 6 (Low E Equivalent): C2
• String 5 (A Equivalent): G2
• String 4 (D Equivalent): D3
• String 3 (G Equivalent): B3
• String 2 (B Equivalent): C4
• String 1 (High E Equivalent): D4