The tuning you've named "Csus4th" is a distinctive and resonant arrangement of notes, ideal for creating a rich, suspended harmonic texture. This tuning was specifically crafted for your instrumental song, "Blue Indigo," suggesting its purpose in evoking a particular mood or soundscape.

Verbal Analysis

"Csus4th" offers a grand, open sound, characteristic of suspended chords. By eliminating the major or minor third, the tuning creates an ambiguous yet powerful atmosphere, avoiding immediate emotional cues of happiness or sadness. It's excellent for drone-based music, ambient soundscapes, or compositions that benefit from sustained, ringing tones. The repeated C, G, and F notes across different octaves contribute to a full and harmonically complete sound without the need for complex fingerings. This makes it very accessible for players to achieve a broad, expansive sound right from the open strings, allowing melodic lines to soar above a solid, consonant foundation.

Technical Analysis

The open string notes for this tuning are F2-G2-C3-G3-C4-F4 (low to high). These notes collectively form a C suspended 4th chord (C-F-G). The structure is characterized by:

• A strong foundation with F2 on the 6th string.
• Perfect Fourth intervals between the 5th and 4th strings (G2 to C3), 3rd and 2nd strings (G3 to C4), and 2nd and 1st strings (C4 to F4).
• A Perfect Fifth between the 4th and 3rd strings (C3 to G3).
• The repeating C, G, and F notes reinforce the Csus4 harmony across octaves, providing depth and resonance.

This intervalic structure is conducive to both strumming open, ringing chords and exploring melodic ideas. The prevalent perfect fourths and fifths make for a very stable and consonant sound, reducing potential dissonance when experimenting with new voicings.

Chord Accessibility

With the open strings forming a Csus4 chord, this tuning provides an immediate and inspiring starting point. Barre chords will naturally yield variations of C-based suspended chords or inversions of Fsus2/Gsus4. The consistent intervals on the higher strings (P4, P4) mean that shapes can be easily translated across these strings. For instance, a single finger barring the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th strings at any fret will create powerful root-fifth-root or root-fourth-root structures. The presence of F and C as open notes also simplifies the formation of F major/minor and C major/minor related chords with minimal additional fingering, especially on the lower strings, allowing for a creative interplay between the suspended qualities and more defined harmonic movements.

Current Tuning: Csus4th

The open notes for this tuning are:

• 6th String (Low E): F2
• 5th String (A): G2
• 4th String (D): C3
• 3rd String (G): G3
• 2nd String (B): C4
• 1st String (High E): F4

How to Tune (from Standard EADGBe)

To achieve the Csus4th tuning from standard guitar tuning (EADGBe), follow these string movements carefully. Remember to tune slowly and carefully, especially when tuning up:

• 6th String (Original E2): Tune up 1 semitone to F2. Caution: Tuning up requires care to avoid string breakage.
• 5th String (Original A2): Tune down 2 semitones to G2.
• 4th String (Original D3): Tune down 2 semitones to C3.
• 3rd String (Original G3): Keep as is; no change to G3.
• 2nd String (Original B3): Tune up 1 semitone to C4. Caution: Tuning up requires care to avoid string breakage.
• 1st String (Original E4): Tune up 1 semitone to F4. Caution: Tuning up requires care to avoid string breakage.

Please note that all string movements are within a safe range (less than 4 semitones up or down), so a change in string gauge is generally not advised for this tuning, but always exercise caution when tuning up strings.