Hi Christopher,
Thank you for this. It does help with understanding the practical aspects of alternative tuning.
However, conceptually, I might be missing something here.
Why would a musician want to do that (tune the guitar to a different standard)?
I can guess that shifting the standard tuning up or down has more to do with the vocal range, so the band doesn't need to "re-learn" the song. Same shape and alternative tuning. Not sure if I guessed this one right. But I can't understand the practical use of, let's say, a drop D, Open G.
Thanks in advance Christopher.
Transposing can help vocalists. It can also help instrumentalists play in keys that are easier for them, or they are used to. That's another use for capos.
Alternate tunings are good for making it possible or easier to play certain notes together that might be more difficult (or even not possible) to play in standard tuning. Examples:
Open G allows you to play major chords bay simply barring across all the strings on the same fret. This makes slide playing easier.
Drop D gives you 2 notes below the low E that normally wouldn't be available.
One of my personal favorite examples is Van Halen's 'Top Jimmy'. There's no way to get those notes as natural harmonics of the intro unless you retune to that open Dm7(no3rd) chord. And the rhythm guitar part uses that tuning for some standard chord voicings but in somewhat unusual sounding patterns.
So, it's essentially another way to be creative & give you options not normally accessible.
Christopher Schlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Christopher Schlegel Lesson Directory