This is an 'Open B Minor7' tuning for the Guitar, providing a rich, melancholic, and versatile sound palette. The open strings themselves form a complete B minor 7 chord, making it exceptionally easy to achieve full, resonant minor 7th voicings without complex fingerings. This tuning is ideal for blues, folk, jazz, and any genre that benefits from a darker, more introspective harmonic foundation, offering immediate access to a deep and expressive tonal landscape.

Technical Analysis

The tuning sets the guitar strings to the following notes: D2, A2, D3, F#4, B3, D4 (from the lowest pitch string to the highest). This arrangement creates an open B minor 7 chord (B-D-F#-A) across the open strings, specifically (D-A-D-F#-B-D). The doubled D notes across the 6th, 4th, and 1st strings provide a powerful drone and harmonic richness. The presence of the root (B), minor third (D), perfect fifth (F#), and minor seventh (A) of Bm7 on open strings allows for immediate exploration of minor 7th harmonies.

Due to its open Bm7 nature, this tuning naturally lends itself to various related chords. Sliding a barre chord up the neck will easily produce other minor 7th chords. Additionally, open string voicings can be found for D major (D, F#, A are all present), A minor (A is present, C/E would need fretting), or even powerful D5 chords using the 6th, 5th, and 4th strings (D-A-D). The consistent D notes also make it suitable for D-centric riffs and drones.

How to Tune

To achieve this 'Open B Minor7' tuning from standard EADGBe, follow these steps for each string. Standard guitar string gauges should be perfectly suitable for these adjustments, as no string requires tuning beyond 2 semitones up or down. As a general guideline, for tunings requiring changes greater than 4 semitones (up or down), a different string gauge is often recommended to prevent breakage or excessive slack, but this is not the case here.

• 6th String (Low E): Tune down 2 semitones from E2 to D2.
• 5th String (A): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones) from A2 to A2.
• 4th String (D): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones) from D3 to D3.
• 3rd String (G): Tune down 1 semitone from G4 to F#4.
• 2nd String (B): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones) from B3 to B3.
• 1st String (High E): Tune down 2 semitones from E4 to D4.