Discordant Drift Tuning: An Analysis

The Discordant Drift Tuning is an highly unconventional and experimental setup, born from a creative process described as spontaneous and emotionally driven. This tuning truly embodies the spirit of genres like screamo and midwest emo, which often explore dissonant harmonies, angular melodies, and open, ringing textures that diverge from traditional rock structures.

Verbal Analysis

This tuning immediately strikes one as unusual due to its scattered octaves and wide intervallic jumps between strings. It is clearly not designed for easy, open strumming of common major or minor chords. Instead, it seems geared towards creating rich, complex soundscapes, arpeggiated figures, and possibly dissonant voicings that evoke a sense of tension, release, and introspection—hallmarks of its namesake genres. The individual notes are spread across a wide pitch range, allowing for expansive melodic lines and atmospheric washes of sound. The guitarist exploring this tuning will likely find themselves composing in a fresh, unconstrained manner, leveraging the unique sonic palette it provides.

Technical Analysis

The open string notes from lowest to highest pitch are: A2 (String 5), F#3 (String 6), A3 (String 2), E4 (String 1), F#4 (String 4), G#4 (String 3). This is a highly non-linear arrangement.

Open String Notes:

• String 6: F#3
• String 5: A2
• String 4: F#4
• String 3: G#4
• String 2: A3
• String 1: E4

Intervallic Relationships:

Analyzing the pitches from lowest to highest across all open strings provides insight into potential voicings:

• A2 (String 5) to F#3 (String 6): Major 6th (9 semitones)
• F#3 (String 6) to A3 (String 2): Minor 3rd (3 semitones)
• A3 (String 2) to E4 (String 1): Perfect 5th (7 semitones)
• E4 (String 1) to F#4 (String 4): Major 2nd (2 semitones)
• F#4 (String 4) to G#4 (String 3): Major 2nd (2 semitones)

The combination of notes E, F#, G#, A across different octaves suggests a tonal center around A major or F# minor, but with a highly open and spread voicing. The non-adjacent octaves of similar notes (A2 and A3, F#3 and F#4) can create shimmering, layered sounds.

Potential Chords and Voicings:

• A5 Power Chord: Strings 2 (A3) and 1 (E4) naturally form an A5 power chord, providing a solid, resonant foundation that can be easily shifted up the fretboard.
• Melodic Fragments: The close proximity of F#4 and G#4 (String 4 & 3) and the wide gaps elsewhere encourage melodic playing and arpeggiation rather than full strummed chords.
• Dissonant Clusters: Combining select open strings, particularly A2-F#3-A3 or F#4-G#4, can create intentionally dissonant or 'sparkling' chord clusters typical of experimental and post-rock sounds.
• Open, Emotive Voicings: The unique intervallic structure allows for creation of complex open voicings with minimal fretting, ideal for atmospheric or 'math-rock' inspired textures. For example, an open A2 (S5) and A3 (S2) with E4 (S1) and F#3 (S6) could form an A(add9)sus4 or similar extended chord with an F# bass, depending on fretting.

How to Tune to Discordant Drift Tuning

To achieve the Discordant Drift tuning, start from standard EADGBe tuning and adjust each string as follows. Please note that this is a highly unconventional tuning, and some strings involve significant pitch changes relative to their standard starting pitch. Always exercise caution when adjusting string tension. For optimal performance and guitar health, especially with extreme pitch adjustments, a professional setup or appropriate string gauges may be advised.

• String 6 (Low E): Tune up 2 semitones. The target note is F#3. (Achieving F#3 from a standard E2 string represents a substantial pitch increase; proceed with caution.)
• String 5 (A): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones). The target note is A2.
• String 4 (D): Tune up 4 semitones. The target note is F#4. (Achieving F#4 from a standard D3 string represents a substantial pitch increase; proceed with caution. For movements of 4 semitones or more, a different string gauge may be advised.)
• String 3 (G): Tune up 1 semitones. The target note is G#4. (Achieving G#4 from a standard G3 string represents a substantial pitch increase; proceed with caution.)
• String 2 (B): Tune down 2 semitones. The target note is A3.
• String 1 (High E): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones). The target note is E4.