This unique guitar tuning, aptly named "Sprout and The Bean," is specifically designed for a transcription of a Joanna Newsom track, indicating a bespoke approach to harmony and melody. It significantly departs from standard EADGBe tuning, offering a fresh sonic landscape.

Verbal Analysis

The overall feel of "Sprout and The Bean" is quite deep and resonant, primarily due to the substantial down-tuning across most strings. This creates a slacker string tension, contributing to a unique playability and potentially warmer, less bright tone. The arrangement of notes fosters a rich harmonic environment, moving away from conventional guitar voicings and encouraging exploration of new chord shapes and melodic patterns. It is likely designed to evoke a particular mood or emulate harp-like qualities, given the artist's style.

Technical Analysis

The open tuning is C#3 G#3 B2 E3 G#4 C#5 (from low E to high E string). When played open, these strings form a rich C#m7 (C# minor seventh) chord, specifically outlining the notes C#, E, G#, and B across multiple octaves. The low B2 on the 4th string provides a deep foundation, and the repeated C# and G# notes across different octaves create strong harmonic resonance. This C#m7 foundation makes it very easy to discover natural minor voicings and arpeggios in the key of C# minor directly from the open strings. The arrangement of notes also facilitates reaching extensions of this chord, or exploring related modes and scales with minimal finger movement. For instance, moving a single finger across a fret, especially around the 4th fret, could lead to interesting E major-like voicings (relative to C# minor). The consistent down-tuning across several strings implies a focus on specific harmonic relationships rather than general ease of playing across all keys.

Here are the notes for each string in the "Sprout and The Bean" tuning:

• 6th String (Low E): C#3
• 5th String (A): G#3
• 4th String (D): B2
• 3rd String (G): E3
• 2nd String (B): G#4
• 1st String (High E): C#5

How to Tune Your Guitar

To achieve the "Sprout and The Bean" tuning from standard EADGBe, follow these instructions. Please tune carefully, especially when lowering pitch.

• 6th String (Low E): Starting from its standard E2, tune down 3 semitones to reach C#3.
• 5th String (A): Starting from its standard A2, tune down 1 semitones to reach G#3.
• 4th String (D): Starting from its standard D3, tune down 3 semitones to reach B2.
• 3rd String (G): Starting from its standard G3, tune down 3 semitones to reach E3.
• 2nd String (B): Starting from its standard B3, tune down 3 semitones to reach G#4.
• 1st String (High E): Starting from its standard E4, tune down 3 semitones to reach C#5.

Note on String Gauge: All string movements are within the safe range of -4 to +4 semitones. You should generally be fine with standard gauge strings, but be aware that tuning down multiple semitones will result in a slacker string feel.