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ChristopherSchlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 08/09/05
Posts: 8,465
ChristopherSchlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 08/09/05
Posts: 8,465
01/12/2022 2:58 pm
Originally Posted by: darickmendes

I was wondering , is it still possible to play correctly songs which are in different tunning at a standard tunning?

It depends on the tune & the tuning. The further away from standard tuning a song is, the more difficult it can be to play or approximate what is happening.

If a song uses a drop D tuning, then you can play everything except the low notes D & E-flat (open string & 1st fret) on the low string because in standard tuning that's an E & those 2 notes simply are not available. So, a low power chord D is unavailable.

|-----------|

|-----------|

|-----------|

|-----------|

|-0--(A)---|

|-0--(D)---|

But you could play it as a higher voicing in standard tuning.

|-----------|

|-----------|

|-----------|

|-7--(A)---|

|-5--(D)---|

|-----------|

Same chord, but different voicing. Noticably different sound.

If a song uses slack tuning, (a half-step down on all strings), then it you'd have to play everything one fret down in standard tuning. This means you can play the same chords, but you'd have to use different voicings. And of course all open strings are off so, using any voicing with an open string won't work.

If a song uses a drastically different tuning (DADGAD, for example), then you can approximate the chord progression, but standard tuning won't sound similar.

Hope that helps.


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