The Open B Minor Ninth tuning transforms your guitar into a rich, resonant arpeggio, making it an excellent choice for evocative soundscapes and sophisticated chord voicings. As the original description notes, "Chord shapes are a bit wonky, however within the key of D or B it's phenomenal." This tuning truly shines for fingerstyle, atmospheric playing, and composing in minor keys, particularly B minor or its relative major, D major.

Technical Analysis

This tuning consists of the open notes D2-A2-B2-F4#-B3-C5#. These notes collectively form a complete B minor 9th chord, featuring the root (B), minor third (D), perfect fifth (F#), minor seventh (A), and major ninth (C#). The strategic placement of these notes across different octaves (B2 and B3 for the root, F4# and C5# in higher registers) creates a wide, harmonically dense sound when strummed open, providing an instant foundation for melancholic or jazzy compositions.

The beauty of this open tuning lies in its immediate harmonic richness. A single strum of the open strings produces a full Bm9 chord, perfect for starting compositions or adding depth to existing pieces. Beyond the open chord, this tuning facilitates easy access to other minor ninth chords by simply barring across the frets. For instance, barring all strings at the 2nd fret yields a C# minor 9th chord (C#-E-G#-B-D#), and barring at the 3rd fret would give a D minor 9th. This characteristic makes exploring modal harmony surprisingly intuitive and rewarding.

How to Tune

To achieve the Open B Minor Ninth tuning, adjust your strings as follows:

• String 6: Tune to D2, tuning down 2 semitones.
• String 5: Tune to A2, keeping as is; no change (0 semitones).
• String 4: Tune to B2, tuning down 3 semitones.
• String 3: Tune to F4#, tuning down 1 semitone.
• String 2: Tune to B3, keeping as is; no change (0 semitones).
• String 1: Tune to C5#, tuning down 3 semitones.

Note: All string adjustments involve movements within 4 semitones, so a change in string gauge is not typically necessary, though always exercise caution when tuning to ensure string and instrument safety.

String 6: D2 (The lowest string, tuned to D in the 2nd octave)

String 5: A2 (The fifth string, remaining at A in the 2nd octave)

String 4: B2 (The fourth string, tuned to B in the 2nd octave)

String 3: F4# (The third string, tuned to F sharp in the 4th octave)

String 2: B3 (The second string, remaining at B in the 3rd octave)

String 1: C5# (The highest string, tuned to C sharp in the 5th octave)