Tuning Overview: Tritones in G

As its name suggests, the 'Tritones in G' tuning is an adventurous and highly experimental setup for your guitar. The original description perfectly captures its essence: "This one's only got tritones...diminished fifths? Augmented Fourths? You decide! Why use this tuning...beats me." This isn't a tuning for traditional melodies or standard chord progressions. Instead, it leans heavily into dissonance and a unique, unstable soundscape, making it ideal for avant-garde, atmospheric, or experimental music styles.

Technical Analysis

This tuning sets the open strings to G1 C#3 G2 C#4 G3 C#5 (from lowest to highest string). The defining characteristic is the pervasive tritone interval (augmented fourth or diminished fifth) between G and C#. Each G string is followed by a C# string, and each C# string is followed by a G string, creating a repeating G-C#-G-C#-G-C# pattern across the fretboard, albeit at various octaves.

A crucial technical aspect of 'Tritones in G' is its re-entrant nature. This means the strings are not ordered strictly from lowest to highest pitch. Specifically:

• String 5 (C#3) is tuned significantly higher than String 4 (G2).
• String 3 (C#4) is tuned significantly higher than String 2 (G3).

This re-entrant arrangement, combined with the tritone intervals, creates a highly complex and dissonant harmonic foundation. The intervals between adjacent strings are:

• String 6 (G1) to String 5 (C#3): A compound augmented fourth (+2 octaves), a very wide interval.
• String 5 (C#3) to String 4 (G2): String 5 is actually much higher than String 4, making this a large descending interval from C#3 down to G2 (a compound diminished fifth).
• String 4 (G2) to String 3 (C#4): A compound augmented fourth (+1 octave).
• String 3 (C#4) to String 2 (G3): String 3 is higher than String 2, a large descending interval from C#4 down to G3 (a compound diminished fifth).
• String 2 (G3) to String 1 (C#5): A compound augmented fourth (+1 octave).

Potential Chords & Musical Applications

The open strings themselves (G, C#, G, C#, G, C#) form a stack of tritones. This is not a traditional major, minor, or even dominant chord. It's essentially an ambiguous, highly unstable sonority that defies conventional harmonic analysis. Players might interpret this as a G7b5 without the third or fifth, or a highly dissonant altered chord.

Due to its inherent dissonance and re-entrant structure, this tuning is best suited for:

• Soundscapes and Drones: The open strings create a resonant, tension-filled backdrop for ambient or experimental pieces.
• Atonal and Noise Music: It provides a fertile ground for exploring sounds outside of traditional harmony.
• Textural Playing: Sliding, scratching, or percussive techniques can be enhanced by the unusual intervals.

Finding conventional chord shapes will be a significant challenge, encouraging exploration of new fingerings and voicing that leverage the tritone relationship. Prepare for a sonic journey into the wonderfully weird!

Open String Notes

• String 6 (Low E): G1
• String 5 (A): C#3
• String 4 (D): G2
• String 3 (G): C#4
• String 2 (B): G3
• String 1 (High E): C#5

How to Tune 'Tritones in G'

To achieve the 'Tritones in G' tuning, you will be adjusting your strings from a standard EADGBe tuning. Please note the significant tension changes involved, and consider the recommendations for string gauges.

• String 6 (Low E): Tune down 9 semitones to G1. *Extreme tension change: consider a different string gauge.*
• String 5 (A): Tune down 8 semitones to C#3. *Extreme tension change: consider a different string gauge.*
• String 4 (D): Tune down 7 semitones to G2. *Extreme tension change: consider a different string gauge.*
• String 3 (G): Tune down 6 semitones to C#4. *Extreme tension change: consider a different string gauge.*
• String 2 (B): Tune down 4 semitones to G3. *Significant tension change: consider a different string gauge.*
• String 1 (High E): Tune down 3 semitones to C#5. This change is generally manageable with standard string gauges.

Always tune carefully and gradually. For extreme tuning changes as seen here, string integrity and guitar neck relief should be monitored closely.