Tuning Analysis: Open B7sus4

The Open B7sus4 tuning is a rich and harmonically complex open chord tuning for the Guitar, providing a versatile soundscape for various musical genres. It offers a unique voice that blends suspended qualities with a dominant seventh feel, creating an intriguing blend of tension and resolution.

Verbal Analysis

This tuning instantly grants you access to a full B7sus4 chord with just open strings. Its suspended fourth (E) avoids a strong major or minor tonality, lending itself to atmospheric soundscapes, blues, rock, and alternative styles where a slightly ambiguous or open sound is desired. The lower E and A strings provide a deep, resonant foundation, while the higher B and F# strings add sparkle and chime. It encourages drone playing and allows for easy exploration of melodic ideas over the open chord. Sliding a single finger or bar across the fretboard will yield a series of other 7sus4 chords, making it excellent for rhythmic strumming and modal explorations.

Technical Analysis

The open strings are tuned to E2, A2, B2, F#4, B3, F#5 (from low E to high E). Analyzing these notes reveals the core chord: B, E, F#, A. This directly forms a B7sus4 chord, consisting of the root (B), perfect fourth (E), perfect fifth (F#), and minor seventh (A).

The intervals are structured as follows:

• String 6 (E2): The perfect fourth (E) relative to the root B, providing a deep bass extension.
• String 5 (A2): The minor seventh (A) relative to the root B, adding the dominant seventh flavor.
• String 4 (B2): The root B, forming the foundation of the chord.
• String 3 (F#4): The perfect fifth (F#) relative to the root B, reinforcing the B tonality.
• String 2 (B3): An octave of the root B, adding richness and higher register presence.
• String 1 (F#5): An octave of the perfect fifth (F#), providing bright, high-end sparkle.

This arrangement offers a full, wide-voiced B7sus4 chord when strummed open. Due to the repeated B and F# notes across octaves, barring at any fret will create a new 7sus4 chord with a strong, ringing quality. For example, barring at the 2nd fret would yield a C#7sus4. The structure also makes it easy to create powerful B5 (power chord) variations by simply muting or avoiding the A string, or playing just the B, F#, B, F# cluster on the middle and high strings.

How to Tune to Open B7sus4

To achieve the Open B7sus4 tuning, follow these steps from standard EADGBe tuning. Please note: the target notes for strings 3 and 1 derived from the tuning instructions are F#3 and F#4 respectively. To achieve the F#4 and F#5 as stated in the tuning's name and description, further octave adjustments (tuning up an additional octave) would be required beyond these instructions.

Standard Guitar Tuning: E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4

Your target tuning notes for Open B7sus4 are: E2, A2, B2, F#4, B3, F#5.

String Movements:

• String 6 (Low E): From E2, keep as is; no change (0 semitones). Final note: E2.
• String 5 (A): From A2, keep as is; no change (0 semitones). Final note: A2.
• String 4 (D): From D3, tune down 3 semitones. Final note: B2.
• String 3 (G): From G3, tune down 1 semitone. Final note: F#3.
• String 2 (B): From B3, keep as is; no change (0 semitones). Final note: B3.
• String 1 (High E): From E4, tune up 2 semitones. Final note: F#4.

Note: The string movements provided will result in a tuning of E2 A2 B2 F#3 B3 F#4. If your aim is to achieve the F#4 and F#5 for strings 3 and 1 as indicated in the tuning's name and 'tuning_notes' data, you would need to adjust these strings up by an additional octave (12 semitones) beyond the instructions provided. Always exercise caution when tuning, especially with significant pitch changes, and consider using appropriate string gauges for large adjustments.