The 'Perth' tuning offers a truly distinctive and open sound for your guitar, moving away from conventional voicings to explore unique harmonic landscapes. It's designed for players looking to create ambient textures, progressive motifs, or experimental soundscapes that resonate with a bright, almost shimmering quality.

Technical Analysis

This tuning transforms the guitar's open strings to E2, B2, D4#, F4#, B3, E4. The unique collection of notes (E, B, D#, F#) forms a resonant chord based around E, featuring its perfect 5th (B), major 7th (D#), and major 9th (F#), but notably omitting the major 3rd (G#). This results in an open, slightly suspended, and soaring Eadd9(no3) or Emaj7(no3, add9) voicing. The wide intervals between certain strings, particularly the jump from B2 to D4# (a minor third plus an octave) and the subsequent drop from F4# to B3 (a perfect fifth down), create a rich and expansive harmonic field. This encourages arpeggiated patterns and melodic lines that leverage these significant leaps, offering a broad tonal palette.

The overall character is bright and spacious, with the higher D4# and F4# strings giving it a distinctly ethereal top end. While traditional chord shapes will need significant adaptation, the open strings themselves offer a full, evocative sound that can serve as a foundation for exploration. Consider open power chords (E5 on the lowest strings) or fingerstyle compositions that highlight the unique interplay of the major 7th and 9th.

How to Tune to 'Perth'

To achieve the 'Perth' tuning, start from standard EADGBe tuning (E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4) and follow these specific adjustments for each string:

• String 6 (Low E): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones). The string remains E2.
• String 5 (A): Tune up 2 semitones. The string becomes B2.
• String 4 (D): Tune up 1 semitone. The string becomes D#3.
• String 3 (G): Tune down 1 semitone. The string becomes F#3.
• String 2 (B): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones). The string remains B3.
• String 1 (High E): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones). The string remains E4.

Important Note on String 3 and 4 Octaves: The specified tuning notes for String 4 (D4#) and String 3 (F4#) are an octave higher than the pitches (D#3 and F#3) that would result from the described semitone movements (up 1 from D3, down 1 from G3). If the intention is to reach D4# and F4#, this would imply an additional octave increase (12 semitones) for these strings beyond the described movements. Such a significant increase in pitch (a total of +13 semitones for the D string and +11 semitones for the G string if starting from standard EADGBe) is generally not recommended for standard string gauges and could lead to string breakage or damage to your instrument. It is advisable to use lighter gauge strings or consult a luthier if you intend to tune these strings up by a full octave to achieve the D4# and F4# pitches.

The open strings for the 'Perth' tuning are:

• String 6: E2
• String 5: B2
• String 4: D4#
• String 3: F4#
• String 2: B3
• String 1: E4