Kite Guitar: Difference between revisions

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A 6-string guitar is usually tuned to the middle 6 strings of the full 8 strings:

[[File:Fretboard 4-6.png|none|thumb|900x900px]]

This is called the mid-6 tuning, as opposed to a low-6 tuning vD to vA, or high-6 tuning ^A to ^E. (Not to be confused with the low-6 or high-6 ''voicing'', see the [[The_Kite_Guitar_Chord_Shapes_(downmajor_tuning)|chord page]].)

This is called the mid-6 tuning, as opposed to a low-6 tuning (vD to vA), or high-6 tuning (^A to ^E). Not to be confused with the low-6 or high-6 ''voicing'', see the [[The_Kite_Guitar_Chord_Shapes_(downmajor_tuning)|chord page]].

* 8-string guitar: full-8

* 7-string guitar: low-7 or high-7, or possibly mid-7 (low-7 plus a dot, E to Eb)

* 6-string guitar: low-6, mid-6 or high-6

* 6-string bass: full-6 (low-6 down an octave)

A bass guitar (unless fretless) is tuned similarly to guitar. It would ideally be 6 strings.

* 6-string bass: full-6 (the guitar's low-6 down an octave)

* 5-string bass: low-5 or possibly high-5

* 4-string bass: low-4, mid-4 or possibly high-4

This chart shows all the notes, not just the natural ones. But it's too much work to memorize all this. Just learn where the 7 natural notes are, and learn your intervals. Since the open strings don’t work as well, one tends to think more in terms of intervals than notes anyway.

This chart shows all the notes for the full-8 tuning, not just the natural ones. But it's too much work to memorize all this. Just learn where the 7 natural notes are, and learn your intervals. Since the open strings don’t work as well, one tends to think more in terms of intervals than notes anyway.

[[File:The Kite Tuning 5.png|none|thumb|900x900px]]Some keys are somewhat awkward to play in. For example, a vG scale is either too close to the nut to have a plain major 2nd, or else way up at the 16th fret where the fret spacing becomes too cramped to play chords comfortably. There's a "sweet spot" for the tonic on the lowest 3 strings, from about the 5th fret to about the 12th fret. This defines a 3x8 rectangle containing 24 keys, roughly every other one of the 41 possible keys. The lowest string of an 8-string is tuned to vD not D so that the common keys of C, G, D, A and E fall in this sweet spot. D is tuned to A-440 standard pitch, to bring these 5 keys as close to 12-edo as possible. D agrees exactly, A is 2.5¢ sharp of 12-edo, E is 5¢ sharp, and so forth along the spiral of 5ths.

[[File:The Kite Tuning 5.png|none|thumb|900x900px]]Some keys are somewhat awkward to play in. For example, a vG scale is either too close to the nut to have a plain major 2nd, or else way up at the 16th fret where the fret spacing becomes too cramped to play chords comfortably. There's a "sweet spot" for the tonic on the lowest 3 strings, from about the 5th fret to about the 12th fret. This defines a 3x8 rectangle containing 24 keys, roughly every other one of the 41 possible keys. The lowest string of an 8-string is tuned to vD not D so that the common keys of C, G, D, A and E fall in this sweet spot. D is tuned to A-440 standard pitch, to bring these 5 keys as close to 12-edo as possible. The D note agrees exactly, the A note is 2.5¢ sharp of 12-edo, E is 5¢ sharp, and so forth along the spiral of 5ths.

In 12-edo, all 12 keys are needed so that a vocalist can get within 50¢ of their optimal range. In 41-edo, using only these 24 keys, one can get within 30¢ of the optimal range. 30¢ from optimal is sufficient, 15¢ from optimal is overkill, so the other 17 keys aren't really needed. The 24 most comfortable keys on a 6-string guitar are: A vBb ^Bb vB ^B C ^C vDb Db ^C# D vEb ^Eb vE E ^E vF ^F Gb ^F# G vAb ^Ab ^G#.

In 12-edo, all 12 keys are needed so that a vocalist can get within 50¢ of their optimal range. In 41-edo, using only these 24 keys, one can get within 30¢ of the optimal range. 30¢ from optimal is sufficient, 15¢ from optimal is overkill, so the other 17 keys aren't really needed. The 24 most comfortable keys on a 6-string guitar are: A vBb ^Bb vB ^B C ^C vDb Db ^C# D vEb ^Eb vE E ^E vF ^F Gb ^F# G vAb ^Ab ^G#. Here's all the notes of the mid-6 tuning:

[[File:Kite Guitar Fretboard for a 6-string.png|none|thumb|900x900px]]

@@ Line 191: / Line 191: @@
 A 6-string guitar is usually tuned to the middle 6 strings of the full 8 strings:
 [[File:Fretboard 4-6.png|none|thumb|900x900px]]
-This is called the mid-6 tuning, as opposed to a low-6 tuning vD to vA, or high-6 tuning ^A to ^E. (Not to be confused with the low-6 or high-6 ''voicing'', see the [[The_Kite_Guitar_Chord_Shapes_(downmajor_tuning)|chord  page]].)
+This is called the mid-6 tuning, as opposed to a low-6 tuning (vD to vA), or high-6 tuning (^A to ^E). Not to be confused with the low-6 or high-6 ''voicing'', see the [[The_Kite_Guitar_Chord_Shapes_(downmajor_tuning)|chord page]].
 * 8-string guitar: full-8
 * 7-string guitar: low-7 or high-7, or possibly mid-7 (low-7 plus a dot, E to Eb)
 * 6-string guitar: low-6, mid-6 or high-6
-* 6-string bass: full-6 (low-6 down an octave)
+A bass guitar (unless fretless) is tuned similarly to guitar. It would ideally be 6 strings.
+* 6-string bass: full-6 (the guitar's low-6 down an octave)
 * 5-string bass: low-5 or possibly high-5
 * 4-string bass: low-4, mid-4 or possibly high-4
-This chart shows all the notes, not just the natural ones. But it's too much work to memorize all this. Just learn where the 7 natural notes are, and learn your intervals. Since the open strings don’t work as well, one tends to think more in terms of intervals than notes anyway.
+This chart shows all the notes for the full-8 tuning, not just the natural ones. But it's too much work to memorize all this. Just learn where the 7 natural notes are, and learn your intervals. Since the open strings don’t work as well, one tends to think more in terms of intervals than notes anyway.
-[[File:The Kite Tuning 5.png|none|thumb|900x900px]]Some keys are somewhat awkward to play in. For example, a vG scale is either too close to the nut to have a plain major 2nd, or else way up at the 16th fret where the fret spacing becomes too cramped to play chords comfortably. There's a "sweet spot" for the tonic on the lowest 3 strings, from about the 5th fret to about the 12th fret. This defines a 3x8 rectangle containing 24 keys, roughly every other one of the 41 possible keys. The lowest string of an 8-string is tuned to vD not D so that the common keys of C, G, D, A and E fall in this sweet spot. D is tuned to A-440 standard pitch, to bring these 5 keys as close to 12-edo as possible. D agrees exactly, A is 2.5¢ sharp of 12-edo, E is 5¢ sharp, and so forth along the spiral of 5ths.
+[[File:The Kite Tuning 5.png|none|thumb|900x900px]]Some keys are somewhat awkward to play in. For example, a vG scale is either too close to the nut to have a plain major 2nd, or else way up at the 16th fret where the fret spacing becomes too cramped to play chords comfortably. There's a "sweet spot" for the tonic on the lowest 3 strings, from about the 5th fret to about the 12th fret. This defines a 3x8 rectangle containing 24 keys, roughly every other one of the 41 possible keys. The lowest string of an 8-string is tuned to vD not D so that the common keys of C, G, D, A and E fall in this sweet spot. D is tuned to A-440 standard pitch, to bring these 5 keys as close to 12-edo as possible. The D note agrees exactly, the A note is 2.5¢ sharp of 12-edo, E is 5¢ sharp, and so forth along the spiral of 5ths.
-In 12-edo, all 12 keys are needed so that a vocalist can get within 50¢ of their optimal range. In 41-edo, using only these 24 keys, one can get within 30¢ of the optimal range. 30¢ from optimal is sufficient, 15¢ from optimal is overkill, so the other 17 keys aren't really needed. The 24 most comfortable keys on a 6-string guitar are: A vBb ^Bb vB ^B C ^C vDb Db ^C# D vEb ^Eb vE E ^E vF ^F Gb ^F# G vAb ^Ab ^G#.
+In 12-edo, all 12 keys are needed so that a vocalist can get within 50¢ of their optimal range. In 41-edo, using only these 24 keys, one can get within 30¢ of the optimal range. 30¢ from optimal is sufficient, 15¢ from optimal is overkill, so the other 17 keys aren't really needed. The 24 most comfortable keys on a 6-string guitar are: A vBb ^Bb vB ^B C ^C vDb Db ^C# D vEb ^Eb vE E ^E vF ^F Gb ^F# G vAb ^Ab ^G#. Here's all the notes of the mid-6 tuning:
 [[File:Kite Guitar Fretboard for a 6-string.png|none|thumb|900x900px]]