Kite Guitar: Difference between revisions

Jason has since explored other tunings besides DADGAD and DGDGAD, such as E A vC# vG B ^^D (a 3:4:5:7:9:11 chord) and D A D vF# vC E (a 2:3:4:5:7:9 chord). He prefers placing the first fret 3 edosteps above the nut. This creates a half-fret offset without a capo. A capo on the 1st fret could remove the half-fret offset, if desired.

This chart is in relative not absolute notation, meaning it shows intervals not notes. At the bottom is P1, a perfect unison. This is the tonic of the scale, or the root of the chord. This chart shows all the intervals within easy reach of this note, up to an octave. There are four "rainbows": one of 2nds, one of 3rds, one of 6ths, and one of 7ths. These plus the 4th, 5th, 8ve, and a few other notes add up to 25 of the 41 notes. Every single ratio of [[odd-limit]] 9 or less appears here.   

[[File:The Kite Tuning.png|none|thumb|416x416px]]

[[File:Fretboard chart w capo 2.png|none|thumb|900x900px]]

''Main article:'' '''[[Kite Guitar Chord Shapes (downmajor tuning)]].'''  

''Main article:'' [[Kite Guitar Scales|'''Kite Guitar Scales''']] (practical guide)

[[File:Scale chart.png|thumb|left]]

[[File:Scale chart 2.png|none|thumb]]

Since the fretboard is isomorphic, any interval can be expressed in '''relative tab''' as a vector. This is particularly useful for in-person oral instruction of chord shapes. For example, in the downmajor tuning, going up 2 strings and down 1 fret always takes you up a perfect 5th. In relative tab, that move is spoken as "plus-two, minus-one", and written as (+2,-1). The downmajor 2nd is at "oh, plus-three", (0,+3). The downmajor 3rd is at "plus-one, oh", (+1,0).  

Note that in absolute tab, strings are numbered in descending order, but in relative tab, a positive move is an ascending move. Thus moving from the 3rd string to the 1st string is plus-two, not minus-two.

The Kite guitar in downmajor tuning can be tuned by ear using the octaves at (+1,+3+2) (see the explanation of relative tab in the previous section). The open 6th string should be an octave bellow the 5th string's 14th fret. This can be written as (6th, 0) = (5th, 3rd & 2). We can double-check the tuning using the unisons at (+2,-3-1). Thus the 6th string at the 13th fret should match the open 4th string, and (6th, 3rd & 1) = (4th, 0). Finally, the 3rd harmonic of the 6th string should match the open 1st string (technically it should be half a cent sharp of it).  

[https://guitarix.org/ '''Guitarix'''] is a GNU/Linux guitar-effects software which has 41-equal as a built-in tuning option. Source code at the link.

''Main article:'' [[Kite Guitar translations|'''Kite Guitar translations''']]

Remember, these are all just guidelines, not hard and fast rules! There is often more than one good way to translate a song.  

Obviously 7-limit JI material translates easily. Material in either 19-equal or 22-equal usually translates fairy easily. 19-equal tempers out 81/80 but inflates 64/63 to a full edostep. Vice versa for 22-equal. (In fact, 41-equal is somewhat like a cross between the two edos. 41-equal's edomapping is the sum of those of 19 and 22 for most primes except 13 and 23.) Just as translating 12-equal or 19-equal material with an 81/80 comma pump requires a half-fret pitch shift, translating 22-equal material with a [[250/243|Triyo aka Porcupine]] comma pump does too. As does translating 19-equal material with a [[49/48|Zozo]] comma pump. The same rules apply.   

The Bohlen-Pierce 13-EDT scale is a subset of 41-equal, so a direct translation is possible, but usually awkward to play. Another possibility is translating to one of the [[Kite Guitar Scales#Octotonic (3L 3m 2s)|Octotonic (3L 3m 2s)]] scales, which have unequal steps, but avoid the 3 wolves of B-P (^5, v8 and M10).  

''Main article:'' [[Kite Guitar originals|'''Kite Guitar originals''']]

* Cents table and frequency table

Sources for 7-string and 8-string guitars

Various exercises and techniques by various teachers. The circle of 5ths, half-fret bends, etc.

A "Kite-like" guitar can be tuned to edos 19, 22, 41, 60, 63, 85 and 104, as well as rank-2 Laquinyo/Magic.

A theoretical exploration of 41-equal scales. The 5 categories are pentatonic, diatonic, semitonal, fretwise and microtonal.

How to name any note in any chord on any root in any key, using ups and downs. Suggested formats for key signatures.

How to name various triads and tetrads, even those not easily playable on the Kite guitar such as C~7.

Avoid large numbers and tedious mental calculations by counting kites, dots and frets.

Explores lattices and commas, aimed at composers.

It's possible to tune a Kite guitar to quasi-[[62edo]], with less than 1¢ error over most of the fretboard. Every other fret yields [[31edo]].

The first true Kite guitar was made in April 2019 by Kite Giedraitis by adjusting the frets on his cable-tie guitar. He was directly inspired by Matthew Autry's experiments with [[Skip-fretting|skip-frettings]]. Matthew explored large edos like 72 and 130, but had never explored 41. Kite's May 2019 paper announcing the invention: [http://tallkite.com/misc_files/The%20Kite%20Tuning.pdf The Kite Tuning] (16 page pdf).

Others had come close to the Kite guitar, but either didn't use 41-edo, or had unequally spaced frets. See Graham Breed's [[Magic Guitar]] (2013) and Mason Green's [[Devadoot]] guitar (2016).

The term "Kite" as in Kite guitar, Kite keyboard, Kite trumpet, etc., refers to [[Skip fretting|skipping]] every other step of 41-edo, so that adjacent notes are 2\41 apart, and notes 1\41 away are less accessible. Thus Kite guitar is short for Kite-fretted guitar, Kite keyboard is short for Kite-keyed keyboard, etc.