The Mayfield tuning, famously associated with the legendary Curtis Mayfield, is a unique and distinctive Open F# tuning. Mayfield, a self-taught guitarist, devised this tuning, which he reportedly aligned with the black keys of a piano, shaping his signature soulful sound throughout his career. This tuning would have profoundly influenced his harmonic choices and melodic approach, contributing to the distinct, often ethereal quality of his music.

Technical Analysis:

This tuning transforms the guitar into an Open F# Major chord (F# A# C# F# A# F#) when played open. This means that simply strumming all open strings produces a rich, resonant F# Major chord. The repetition of the root (F# on strings 6, 3, 1) and the major third (A# on strings 5, 2) across different octaves provides a full, harmonically complete sound. The perfect fifth (C# on string 4) anchors the chord, ensuring a solid harmonic foundation.

The symmetrical nature of the tuning, particularly with the F# and A# notes mirroring each other on the outer and inner string pairs, lends itself to intuitive chord shapes and melodic patterns. Barring across any fret will instantly produce a major chord in the corresponding key (e.g., barring at the 1st fret yields a G Major chord). This open quality encourages slide guitar techniques and facilitates the creation of lush, harmonically dense textures with minimal effort.

Achieving this tuning involves a mix of upward and downward adjustments across the strings, with most changes being relatively minor (1 to 2 semitones), making it generally safe for standard gauge strings.

Open String Notes:

• String 6 (low E): F3#
• String 5 (A): A3#
• String 4 (D): C4#
• String 3 (G): F4#
• String 2 (B): A4#
• String 1 (high E): F5#

How to Tune:

To achieve the Mayfield tuning from standard EADGBe, follow these string adjustments:

• String 6 (low E): Tune up 2 semitones to F#. (Target: F3#)
• String 5 (A): Tune up 1 semitone to A#. (Target: A3#)
• String 4 (D): Tune down 1 semitone to C#. (Target: C4#)
• String 3 (G): Tune down 1 semitone to F#. (Target: F4#)
• String 2 (B): Tune down 1 semitone to A#. (Target: A4#)
• String 1 (high E): Tune up 2 semitones to F#. (Target: F5#)

Note: All string movements are within a safe range for standard guitar strings, generally not exceeding 4 semitones up or down. For significant changes beyond this, a different string gauge might be advised, but it is not necessary for this tuning.