Kite Guitar: Difference between revisions

This chart shows the actual notes of an 8-string Kite guitar. A 6-string is usually tuned to the middle 6 strings of an 8-string. The ideal string gauges for this tuning are discussed in the "For Luthiers" section. Every 4th fret has a dot, and every 12th fret has a double dot. Three dots equals a 5th.

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. For example, 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 perfect 5th also appears at oh-plus-twelve, (0,+12). The downmajor 3rd is at plus-one-oh, (+1,0). The octave is (+3,+1) and also (+1,+14). A jump of 14 frets can be referred to as a "3 and 2" jump, meaning 3 dots plus 2 frets. Mentally grouping four frets together into one dot facilitates large jumps up or down the fretboard. Thus the octave is at plus-one plus-three-and-two, or (+1,+3+2). The 5th is at oh-plus-three-and-none, or alternatively oh-plus-three-dots, (0,+3+0). The unison is plus-two minus-three-and-one, (+2,-3-1). An upward jump of 11 frets could be called either plus-two-and-three or plus-three-minus-one. Note that plus-three-oh means (+3,0), but plus-three-and-none means +3 dots.

Sixth chords are hard to voice. A close voicing in root position is generally impossible, because the 6th occurs on the same string as the 5th. One solution is to play a riff that alternates between the 5th and the 6th. Another is to omit the 5th, but then the chord can be mistaken for a triad in 1st inversion. Another voicing is the low-6 aka 3rd inversion (6 R 3 5). But this is the same as the close voicing of the corresponding 7th chord, and again the chord can be mistaken. A non-ambiguous voicing is low-5 (5 R 3 6), but it can be a difficult stretch. Also the 9th from the 5th to the 6th is usually not a plain 9th, and can be dissonant. A very good open voicing is high-3-5 (R 6 3 5). However, this voicing is only possible on a 6-string when the root can be played on the lowest string. Other possibilities are high-3-6 (R 5 3 6), high-5 (R 3 6 8 5) and high-6 (R 3 5 8 6).

Adding an 11th (ratio 8/3) to either the ^m6 or the vm6 chord won't increase the odd limit above 9. But a Cvm6,11 chord is the same as an Fv9 chord, and every easy fingering puts the F in the bass, so it's hardly a distinct chord. Adding an 11th to a Cv6 chord makes Cv6,11, which is an FvM9 chord. Again, every easy fingering has F in the bass, and Cv6,11 isn't a distinct chord. Adding an 11th to a ^M6 chord raises the odd limit to 27. Thus adding an 11th only works well with the ^m6 chord.

Obviously, the Kite Guitar can do much more than simply play conventional music. But a good starting place is to take what you know and find it on the Kite Guitar. Translating 12-edo music is sometimes problematic but never impossible.