Overview

This is a unique guitar tuning famously used on many early and latest David Crowder Band songs. It offers a distinctive sonic landscape, moving beyond conventional open tunings to create a resonant and often ethereal sound.

Verbal Analysis

The David Crowder tuning, E A E E B E, presents a full, resonant, and somewhat ambient sound profile. With a strong foundation in E, it creates a powerful drone effect across multiple strings, making it ideal for worship music, expansive soundscapes, and expressive slide guitar. The presence of the A (a perfect 4th from the root E) gives the open chord a suspended or add4 quality, preventing it from sounding like a simple major or minor chord. This contributes to a feeling of openness and slight yearning, often described as 'shimmering' or 'wide'. It's excellent for creating rich textures and allows for easy exploration of melodic lines against a constant harmonic backdrop.

Technical Analysis

• Open String Notes: E2 A2 E3 E3 B3 E4
• Relationship to Standard Tuning (EADGBe): This tuning significantly departs from standard tuning by altering the 4th (D) and 3rd (G) strings.
• Open Chord Voicing: Strumming all open strings produces an Eadd4 or Eadd11 chord, specifically E-A-E-E-B-E. The repeated E notes (on strings 6, 4, 3, and 1) create a rich, ringing drone, while the A (5th string) and B (2nd string) fill out the harmony.
• Intervals from Root (6th String E):
  • String 6: E (Root)
  • String 5: A (Perfect 4th)
  • String 4: E (Octave)
  • String 3: E (Octave)
  • String 2: B (Perfect 5th)
  • String 1: E (Octave)
• Chordal Possibilities:
  • Barring all strings at any fret will create movable Xadd4 chords (e.g., 1st fret is Fadd4, 2nd fret is F#add4), offering a consistent chord shape up the neck.
  • The abundance of E notes makes it incredibly friendly for slide guitar, creating powerful, ringing melodies.
  • The A on the 5th string introduces interesting suspended or major 7th voicings when combined with other notes.

How to Tune

To achieve the David Crowder tuning from standard EADGBe, adjust your strings as follows:

• String 6 (Low E): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones).
• String 5 (A): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones).
• String 4 (D): Tune up 2 semitones to E. This is a moderate tension increase from D to E; please tune carefully.
• String 3 (G): Tune down 3 semitones to E. This is a moderate tension decrease from G to E; ensure the string is stable at the new pitch.
• String 2 (B): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones).
• String 1 (High E): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones).

Note: All string movements are within safe limits for standard guitar string gauges. Tuning up or down more than 4 semitones from standard often suggests a different string gauge; however, in this tuning, all changes are within common and safe ranges.

String 6 (Low E): E2

String 5 (A): A2

String 4 (D): E3

String 3 (G): E3

String 2 (B): B3

String 1 (High E): E4