Verbal Analysis: The Rufus Tuning

The "Rufus Tuning" is a deeply personal and unconventional tuning, born from a period of musical exploration described as "A tuning I used before i knew how to play guitar in tune." This makes it a raw, uninhibited sonic landscape, free from traditional constraints. It serves as a poignant tribute to a childhood dog, Rufus, whose name also adorned the guitar on which this tuning was conceived after the pet's passing. The backstory of a missing string during its creation further emphasizes its unique, perhaps accidental, character.

Verbally, this tuning evokes a sense of introspection and perhaps a touch of melancholic beauty, reflecting its origin story. The significant detuning on multiple strings (some by as much as 10 semitones) suggests a very low tension feel, making string bending effortless and giving chords a slacker, perhaps darker, resonance. The resulting open notes, forming a complex Bsus4(add9) chord, would lend themselves to ambient textures, open-string drone playing, and possibly slide guitar, due to the inherent harmony and the heavily slackened strings.

Technical Analysis: Unconventional Harmonies

Technically, the Rufus Tuning features a unique arrangement of five strings, with the 6th string (low E) explicitly absent during its creation. The open notes are:

• String 5: F#3
• String 4: B2
• String 3: C#4
• String 2: E3
• String 1: F#4

Arranged from lowest to highest pitch, these notes are B2, E3, F#3, C#4, F#4. This combination forms a Bsus4(add9) chord (B, E, F#, with an added C# as the 9th), with the F# note doubled across two octaves. This creates a rich, harmonically complex open sound that leans towards a suspended tonality, avoiding a definitive major or minor feel.

The intervals are wide and open:

• B2 (Root)
• E3 (Perfect 4th above B)
• F#3 (Perfect 5th above B)
• C#4 (Major 9th above B)
• F#4 (Perfect 5th above B, two octaves higher)

The tuning's heavily detuned nature means that fretting notes might feel unusually loose, and intonation could be challenging if not properly set up. The large semitone drops on the higher strings (-6, -7, -10 semitones) strongly advise the use of heavier gauge strings to maintain playability and avoid excessive floppiness, especially for strings 3, 2, and 1.

Chords played on this tuning will naturally resonate with the Bsus4(add9) harmony. Simple single-finger barres across all five strings would produce variations of this chord or related voicings. Moving a barre shape up the neck would explore the sus4(add9) tonality in different keys. Due to the significant open intervals, this tuning is likely ideal for experimental music, ambient soundscapes, or compositions that intentionally avoid conventional harmonic structures, aligning perfectly with its origin as a tuning made "before I knew how to play guitar in tune."

How to Tune: From Standard to Rufus

To achieve the Rufus Tuning, you'll be tuning down significantly. These instructions assume a standard 6-string guitar setup, where the 6th (low E) string is the missing one, meaning you'll be adjusting strings 5 through 1 (A-D-G-B-E). Note that some target octaves for the final notes may differ from what you would get by simply applying the semitone shift to standard EADGBe pitches, reflecting the unique character of this tuning.

• 5th String (Standard A2): Tune down 3 semitones to F#3.
• 4th String (Standard D3): Tune down 3 semitones to B2.
• 3rd String (Standard G3): Tune down 6 semitones to C#4. Caution: This is a significant drop. Consider a heavier gauge string to maintain tension and playability.
• 2nd String (Standard B3): Tune down 7 semitones to E3. Caution: This is a significant drop. Consider a heavier gauge string to maintain tension and playability.
• 1st String (Standard E4): Tune down 10 semitones to F#4. Caution: This is a very significant drop, almost an octave. A much heavier gauge string is strongly advised for this string to avoid extreme floppiness and potential intonation issues.

• String 5: F#3 (F sharp in the 3rd octave)
• String 4: B2 (B in the 2nd octave)
• String 3: C#4 (C sharp in the 4th octave)
• String 2: E3 (E in the 3rd octave)
• String 1: F#4 (F sharp in the 4th octave)