The "George Delaney" tuning for Guitar is a vibrant and expressive setup, designed for an immediately "happy sounding" and improvisational experience. It establishes an open E dominant 7th chord, providing a rich harmonic foundation right from the open strings. This tuning is excellent for players looking to explore blues, rock, country, and even jazz-inflected styles without complex fingerings, making it very approachable for both seasoned guitarists and those new to alternate tunings.

Technical Analysis:

• The open strings are tuned to E2-G3#-D3-E3-B3-E4 (from low E to high E).
• Analysing the intervals from the lowest E (6th string):
  • 6th String (E2): The Root.
  • 5th String (G3#): A Major Third above the root.
  • 4th String (D3): A Minor Seventh relative to the root (E).
  • 3rd String (E3): An Octave above the root.
  • 2nd String (B3): A Perfect Fifth above the root.
  • 1st String (E4): Two Octaves above the root.
• The resulting open voicing is an E dominant 7th chord (E7), comprising the notes E, G#, B, and D, with several notes doubled for a full sound.
• This tuning leverages the power of open string resonance, making strummed chords sound full and vibrant.

Chords and Playability:

• The open strings form a complete E7 chord, which is incredibly versatile for blues, rock, and slide guitar playing.
• By simply barring across any fret, you can easily play a dominant 7th chord in any key (e.g., bar 1st fret for F7, 2nd fret for F#7, etc.). This makes transposing very intuitive.
• The presence of the D (minor seventh) against the E major triad (E-G#-B) creates a bluesy tension, enabling easy access to blues scales and mixolydian modes.
• With minor adjustments to the barring, you can easily form other related chords:
  • By fretting the 4th string at the 2nd fret (raising D to E), you achieve a pure E Major chord across the open strings.
  • Experimenting with fingerings on the top strings allows for sus chords, 9ths, and 13ths, adding harmonic depth to your improvisations.
• The description notes it's "Great for improvising with a capo or not," and this is very true. A capo shifts the dominant 7th chord up the neck, maintaining the same intervallic relationships and playability in a new key.

How to Tune:

To achieve the "George Delaney" tuning, begin from standard EADGBe tuning and follow these instructions for each string:

• String 6 (Low E): Starts at E2. Keep as is; no change (0 semitones). The target note is E2.
• String 5 (A): Starts at A2. Tune down 1 semitone. The target note is G3#. (Note: Tuning A2 down 1 semitone results in G#2. To reach the specified G3#, an octave adjustment upwards will also be necessary.)
• String 4 (D): Starts at D3. Keep as is; no change (0 semitones). The target note is D3.
• String 3 (G): Starts at G3. Tune down 3 semitones. The target note is E3.
• String 2 (B): Starts at B3. Keep as is; no change (0 semitones). The target note is B3.
• String 1 (High E): Starts at E4. Keep as is; no change (0 semitones). The target note is E4.

All string movements are within safe ranges, with no string requiring a change of 4 semitones or more, so a different string gauge is not typically required.