The 'Lovely Tuning' presents a truly unique and expansive soundscape for the guitar, moving far beyond conventional open tunings. Verbally, this tuning can evoke a sense of vastness and ethereal beauty. With its extremely wide sonic range, from the deep F2 on the sixth string to the incredibly high D5# on the first, it suggests an ambient, almost celestial quality. Players might find it lends itself to drone-like textures, shimmering arpeggios, and melodic lines that exploit the significant jumps in pitch between certain strings. It's less about traditional strumming and more about exploring resonant harmonies and extended melodic patterns, creating a sound that can be both mysterious and uplifting.

Technical Analysis

This tuning, F2 A2 G2 A3 B3 D5#, is technically unconventional due to its non-linear interval structure and extreme octave shifts. The intervals between consecutive strings are:

• String 6 (F2) to String 5 (A2): A Major 3rd (4 semitones). This forms a strong, consonant base.
• String 5 (A2) to String 4 (G2): A Major 2nd down (or a Minor 7th up, 2 semitones down). This creates an interesting, slightly dissonant or suspended tension against the lower F-A.
• String 4 (G2) to String 3 (A3): An Octave + Major 2nd (14 semitones). This is a very significant jump in octave, creating a wide separation between the bass and mid-range strings.
• String 3 (A3) to String 2 (B3): A Major 2nd (2 semitones). A standard interval.
• String 2 (B3) to String 1 (D5#): An Octave + Minor 3rd (15 semitones). This is another massive jump, resulting in an exceptionally high pitch on the first string.

The overall range from F2 to D5# spans three full octaves plus an additional Minor 3rd, offering a vast tonal palette. The G2 relative to F2 and A2, along with the high D5#, creates an open chord that is ambiguous and rich in overtones rather than a standard major or minor triad.

Open Chords and Possibilities

While this tuning does not immediately present a standard major or minor open chord, it offers unique harmonic clusters:

• The lowest two strings, F2 and A2, form a clear Major 3rd, providing a stable foundation.
• The full open string voicing (F A G A B D#) contains an F, G, A, B, and D#. This combination suggests extended harmonies with a suspended or unresolved quality. It could be interpreted as an Fmaj7sus2 or an A minor-based harmony with significant extensions and alterations.
• The top three strings (A3 B3 D5#) themselves form interesting melodic shapes and provide a bright, almost bell-like quality. The B3 to D5# is a Major 3rd interval across an octave.
• This tuning is particularly well-suited for creating ambient soundscapes, using fingerpicking to highlight the wide intervals, and crafting melodies that utilize the significant octave shifts for dramatic effect. Drone notes can be sustained easily across the lower strings, providing a rich backdrop for upper string melodies.

How to Tune

• String 6 (F2): Tune up 1 semitone.
• String 5 (A2): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones).
• String 4 (G2): Tune down 7 semitones. Caution: Tuning down 7 semitones is a significant change. A lighter gauge string may be advisable to maintain proper tension and intonation, or the string will be very slack.
• String 3 (A3): Tune up 2 semitones.
• String 2 (B3): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones).
• String 1 (D5#): Tune down 1 semitone. Extreme Caution: The target note D5# is exceptionally high for a guitar's first string, being significantly higher than standard E4. Achieving this pitch will place extreme tension on the string, likely requiring a very light gauge string specifically designed for such high pitches to avoid breakage and ensure playability. This is an advanced setup, and extreme care should be taken to prevent string breakage or damage to your instrument.

• String 6: F2
• String 5: A2
• String 4: G2
• String 3: A3
• String 2: B3
• String 1: D5#