Tuning Analysis: Deep Harmony Ascent

The 'Deep Harmony Ascent' tuning for guitar presents a highly unconventional and experimental sonic landscape. Breaking significantly from standard guitar tunings, it features a unique combination of pitches spread across a very wide range, with drastic, non-linear interval changes between adjacent strings.

Verbal Analysis

This tuning is not conducive to traditional open chord voicings, instead lending itself to textural, atmospheric, or perhaps even percussive styles of playing. The low strings (D#3, A#3, C3, F3) provide a deep, resonant foundation, while the higher strings (A#4, E4) introduce bright, almost piercing elements, creating a dynamic contrast and an expansive sonic palette. Players exploring this tuning might find it suitable for avant-garde compositions, drone music, or a very specific melodic and harmonic approach that leverages the unusual intervallic relationships rather than standard chord shapes. The tuning's name itself suggests a journey through varied depths and heights of pitch, characteristic of its wide intervallic leaps.

Technical Analysis

Technically, this tuning sets the guitar strings from lowest (6th) to highest (1st) to D#3, A#3, C3, F3, A#4, E4. This results in a highly irregular intervallic structure between adjacent strings:

• String 6 (D#3) to String 5 (A#3): A Perfect 5th (7 semitones up).
• String 5 (A#3) to String 4 (C3): An unusually large descending Major 7th (dropping 9 semitones).
• String 4 (C3) to String 3 (F3): A Perfect 4th (5 semitones up).
• String 3 (F3) to String 2 (A#4): An exceptionally wide interval of an Octave + Augmented 4th (jumping 20 semitones).
• String 2 (A#4) to String 1 (E4): A descending Diminished 5th (dropping 6 semitones).

This irregular pattern makes finding conventional open chords challenging, encouraging a more arpeggiated or single-note approach, or the use of partial chords and specific inversions that adapt to these unique string relationships. The overall sonic range spans from D#3 to E4, covering almost two full octaves (from 155.56 Hz to 329.63 Hz), which is quite broad for a standard 6-string guitar.

Open Chord Observations

Due to the extreme and irregular intervallic jumps, standard open major, minor, or dominant 7th chords are not readily accessible or easily formed across all strings. The open notes (D#, A#, C, F, A#, E) do not form a common triad or seventh chord. Players would need to experiment with two or three-string partial chords, drone combinations, or single-note melodic lines to navigate this tuning effectively. The presence of both C and E, along with F, hints at possibilities within C or F modalities but is heavily influenced by the D# and A# (Eb and Bb) which create a complex, somewhat dissonant, or highly altered sound if all strings are strummed simultaneously.

How to Tune

To achieve the 'Deep Harmony Ascent' tuning, follow these specific adjustments from standard EADGBe tuning (E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4):

• String 6 (Low E): Tune down 1 semitone to reach the note D3#.
• String 5 (A String): Tune up 1 semitone to reach the note A3#.
• String 4 (D String): Tune down 2 semitones to reach the note C3. (This involves a moderate adjustment downwards.)
• String 3 (G String): Tune down 2 semitones to reach the note F3. (This involves a moderate adjustment downwards.)
• String 2 (B String): Tune down 1 semitone to reach the note A4#.
• String 1 (High E): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones) at the note E4.

Important Note on String Gauge: When tuning, particular care should be taken with larger semitone movements. While the specified adjustments are mostly within a manageable range (less than 4 semitones up or down), generally, if a string needs to be tuned down by more than 4 semitones or up by more than 4 semitones from its standard pitch, it is advisable to consider using a different gauge string. This helps avoid undue tension or looseness, potential string breakage, or issues with intonation.

Notes in Tuning

• String 6: Tuned to D3# (D-sharp in the 3rd octave).
• String 5: Tuned to A3# (A-sharp in the 3rd octave).
• String 4: Tuned to C3 (C natural in the 3rd octave).
• String 3: Tuned to F3 (F natural in the 3rd octave).
• String 2: Tuned to A4# (A-sharp in the 4th octave).
• String 1: Tuned to E4 (E natural in the 4th octave).