This unique tuning, prominently featured in Andy McKee's renowned compositions "Rylynn" and "For my Father" (as heard with a capo on the 3rd fret on the original track), creates a distinctive and resonant sonic landscape. It is meticulously designed to facilitate intricate fingerstyle arrangements, offering a compelling blend of deep, foundational bass notes and bright, chime-like upper registers. The overall character leans towards a rich, often melancholic yet frequently hopeful, harmonic palette, ideal for expressive and percussive playing styles.

Technical Analysis

The open string notes, without a capo, are: G2, D#4, F3, A#4, C4, F4 (from the 6th string, low E, to the 1st string, high E). This is a highly unconventional and non-linear tuning, characterized by significant intervallic jumps and non-sequential octaves between adjacent strings, which is typical for specialized fingerstyle tunings.

• The collection of pitch classes present in the open tuning (G, D#/Eb, F, A#/Bb, C) forms a C minor pentatonic scale. This provides a strong tonal foundation, making it conducive for melodic exploration and harmonic movement within this specific scale.
• When all open strings are strummed, the resultant chord is a complex sonority that is not a simple major or minor triad. It can be interpreted as a C minor 7 chord (C-Eb-G-Bb) with an added F, or a related cluster, offering a rich, modern, and suspended sound.
• The application of a capo at the 3rd fret shifts the sounding pitch of these open strings to A#2, F4, G#3, C#5, D#4, G#4. This transposition maintains the unique intervallic relationships while raising the overall pitch, thereby adding brilliance and cutting power to the sound, especially in the higher registers.
• Due to the underlying C minor pentatonic framework of the open strings, chords and arpeggios built around C minor or F minor will be readily accessible and particularly resonant. Barre chords at various frets will effectively translate the open string relationships, enabling complex harmonic movements up and down the neck. The notable intervallic leaps between strings (e.g., from the 6th string G2 to the 5th string D#4) are engineered to facilitate unique voicings, rich harmonic textures, and the percussive techniques often employed in contemporary fingerstyle guitar.

How to Tune (from Standard EADGBe)

To achieve this distinctive tuning, adjust your guitar strings from standard EADGBe as follows. Please exercise caution, especially with significant upward tuning. When tuning up more than 4 semitones, a different string gauge is highly advised to prevent string breakage or excessive tension and to ensure optimal playability.

• 6th String (Low E): Tune up 3 semitones to G2.
• 5th String (A): Tune up 6 semitones to D#4. Note: Tuning up 6 semitones is a substantial adjustment. A heavier string gauge is strongly recommended for this string.
• 4th String (D): Tune up 3 semitones to F3.
• 3rd String (G): Tune up 3 semitones to A#4.
• 2nd String (B): Tune up 1 semitone to C4.
• 1st String (High E): Tune up 1 semitone to F4.