The Buzzard Tuning, proudly presented by HowlProductions001_ on TikTok, offers a truly distinctive and profound sonic experience for your guitar. This deep, resonant tuning reconfigures your instrument's voice, diving into a lower register that's perfect for crafting powerful drones, heavy riffs, and expansive atmospheric textures.

Verbal Analysis

• Imagine the deep, guttural call of a buzzard; this tuning captures that primal essence with its extraordinarily low fifth string (E2), which is actually tuned lower than the sixth string. This creates an incredibly rich, often dark, and heavy harmonic foundation.
• Striking all open strings yields a commanding E Major chord, uniquely voiced with the distinct C# notes creating an E6 or C# minor over E feel. This open voicing provides an immediate sense of grandeur and resonance, making it ideal for powerful, sustained chords.
• The unusual string relationship, particularly with String 5 tuned below String 6, opens up creative possibilities for drone-based compositions, heavy, chugging rhythms, and expansive fingerstyle where the low E can act as a constant, thrumming bass.
• Chords become remarkably accessible with single-finger barring across the frets, allowing for easy exploration of different major and minor tonalities relative to the open E Major shape. Common chord shapes like power chords will sound incredibly weighty and full.

Technical Analysis

• The open strings are tuned to C#3 E2 G#3 C#4 G#4 E4 (from thickest to thinnest).
• This tuning can be technically described as an Open E Major 6th (E G# B C#) without the B, or more precisely, a C# minor triad voiced over an E bass (C# E G# / E). The prominent notes across the open strings are E, G#, and C#.
• The most striking feature is the dramatic drop in pitch for String 5 to E2, making it the lowest note on the guitar despite being the second thickest string. This creates a challenging but rewarding low-end extension that can be used for deep, rumbling bass lines or complex harmonic structures.
• Interval-wise, relative to the lowest E2 (String 5), the open tuning presents octaves of E, and a recurring Major 3rd (G#) and Major 6th (C#), providing a rich and somewhat dissonant harmonic texture that can be very expressive.
• Due to the significant down-tuning on multiple strings (especially strings 5, 4, and 3), players should be aware of potential string tension issues. Heavier gauge strings are strongly recommended to maintain optimal playability, intonation, and to prevent fret buzz.

String 6: C#3

String 5: E2

String 4: G#3

String 3: C#4

String 2: G#4

String 1: E4