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autopatrolled, Sysops
3,990 edits
greatly expanded the scales section, moved sections around a bit
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How to implement the half-fret capo trick: An extra fret slot is cut to allow insertion of a temporary fret in between the 1st and 2nd (permanent) frets. (If the guitar has a zeroth fret, the temporary fret can go between the 0th and 1st frets.) The slot stops short of the treble side of the fretboard. So gravity holds it in place, plus of course the capo. The temporary fret has the barbs on the side of the tang filed off. The extra slot is a bit wider, so the fret can be pulled out easily. It goes in from the side, under the strings, so the strings don't need to be loosened. It can be inserted and removed on stage between songs. The fret is a bit longer, sticks out about 1 inch, so that you can pull it out easily.  
How to implement the half-fret capo trick: An extra fret slot is cut to allow insertion of a temporary fret in between the 1st and 2nd (permanent) frets. (If the guitar has a zeroth fret, the temporary fret can go between the 0th and 1st frets.) The slot stops short of the treble side of the fretboard. So gravity holds it in place, plus of course the capo. The temporary fret has the barbs on the side of the tang filed off. The extra slot is a bit wider, so the fret can be pulled out easily. It goes in from the side, under the strings, so the strings don't need to be loosened. It can be inserted and removed on stage between songs. The fret is a bit longer, sticks out about 1 inch, so that you can pull it out easily.  


== Fretboard Charts (downmajor tuning) ==
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]]
This chart is the same, but extends much further. Some ratios change in the higher octaves, e.g. 16/15 becomes not 32/15 but 15/7.
[[File:The Kite Tuning 2.png|none|thumb|900x900px]]
This chart extends even further, showing the "rainbow zones" and the "off zones". When two guitarists play together, it's very natural for one to play chords in the lower rainbow zone, and another to solo in the higher rainbow zone. The open strings tend to be in an off zone, unless the tonic is fairly close to the nut, or else up around the 3rd or 4th dot. [[File:The Kite Tuning 3.png|none|thumb|900x900px]]
This chart shows the actual notes of an 8-string Kite guitar. The notes circled in red are the open strings of a 12-edo guitar. 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. 
[[File:The Kite Tuning 4.png|none|thumb|900x900px]]
A 6-string guitar is usually tuned to the middle 6 strings of an 8-string:  
[[File:Fretboard 4-6.png|none|thumb|900x900px]]
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.
[[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.
 
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#.
[[File:Kite Guitar Fretboard for a 6-string.png|none|thumb|900x900px]]
 
=== Scale Shapes ===
Printable charts, one of scale degrees, the other of the three main scales. In the latter, some scale degrees appear more than once. In general, use the one that agrees with the current chord.[[File:Scale chart.png|thumb|left]]
[[File:Scale chart 2.png|none|thumb]]


== Relative and Absolute Tab ==
== Relative and Absolute Tab ==
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The Kite guitar can be tuned to a specific pitch using the [http://tallkite.com/misc_files/EDOtuner.txt.zip EDOtuner], a free strobe tuner for microtonal guitars (requires [https://www.reaper.fm/ Reaper] or [https://www.reaper.fm/reaplugs/ ReaJS]). Presets for the Kite guitar can be found here: http://tallkite.com/misc_files/js-MIDI_EDOtuner_txt.ini In Reaper, select Options/Show REAPER Resource Path and put the .ini file in the Presets folder.
The Kite guitar can be tuned to a specific pitch using the [http://tallkite.com/misc_files/EDOtuner.txt.zip EDOtuner], a free strobe tuner for microtonal guitars (requires [https://www.reaper.fm/ Reaper] or [https://www.reaper.fm/reaplugs/ ReaJS]). Presets for the Kite guitar can be found here: http://tallkite.com/misc_files/js-MIDI_EDOtuner_txt.ini In Reaper, select Options/Show REAPER Resource Path and put the .ini file in the Presets folder.
== Fretboard Charts (downmajor tuning) ==
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]]
This chart is the same, but extends much further. Some ratios change in the higher octaves, e.g. 16/15 becomes not 32/15 but 15/7.
[[File:The Kite Tuning 2.png|none|thumb|900x900px]]
This chart extends even further, showing the "rainbow zones" and the "off zones". When two guitarists play together, it's very natural for one to play chords in the lower rainbow zone, and another to solo in the higher rainbow zone. The open strings tend to be in an off zone, unless the tonic is fairly close to the nut, or else up around the 3rd or 4th dot. [[File:The Kite Tuning 3.png|none|thumb|900x900px]]
This chart shows the actual notes of an 8-string Kite guitar. The notes circled in red are the open strings of a 12-edo guitar. 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. 
[[File:The Kite Tuning 4.png|none|thumb|900x900px]]
A 6-string guitar is usually tuned to the middle 6 strings of an 8-string:
[[File:Fretboard 4-6.png|none|thumb|900x900px]]
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.
[[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.
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#.
[[File:Kite Guitar Fretboard for a 6-string.png|none|thumb|900x900px]]


== Chord Shapes (downmajor tuning) ==
== Chord Shapes (downmajor tuning) ==
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== Scale Shapes (downmajor tuning) ==
Printable charts, one of scale degrees, the other of the three main heptatonic scales. In the latter, some scale degrees appear more than once. In general, use the one that agrees with the current chord.[[File:Scale chart.png|thumb|left]]
[[File:Scale chart 2.png|none|thumb]]
There are many possible scales. Those listed here are select ones with a low prime limit and/or a low odd limit.
Every scale can be thought of as a chord, e.g. the 12edo major pentatonic scale is a 6add9 pentad. Many pentads and heptads have an innate comma which 41edo does not temper out. Thus many Kite Guitar scales are "fuzzy", meaning a scale degree may vary by 1 edostep. In the tables below, a note that may be either a M2 or a vM2 is indicated by (v)M2. In general, major scales have a fuzzy 2nd and minor scales have a fuzzy 4th. Harmonic and subharmonic scales are not fuzzy.
The modes of a scale are grouped together. Not every mode is shown. Two modes of a scale will use the same prime subgroup, so modes are grouped by subgroup.
Each scale has steps of various sizes, shown in the far right columns. Two modes of a scale will have the same step sizes, so modes are also grouped by step sizes. The step sizes are also shown in edosteps. The L/s ratio can be calculated directly from this. For example, the downminor and upmajor heptatonic scales have a very large ratio of 8/2 = 4, giving them a lopsided feel. But the downminor/upmajor <u>pentatonic</u> scales have a very small L/s ratio of only 9/7 = 1.29, giving them a 5-edo-ish feel.
=== Pentatonic Scales ===
Every pentatonic scale has 5 modes, but only those modes with a non-fuzzy perfect 5th are listed.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!subgroup
!name
! colspan="6" |scale
!as a chord
! colspan="2" |step sizes
|-
! rowspan="2" |ya
(2.3.5)
!downmajor
|P1
|(v)M2
|vM3
|P5
|vM6
|P8
|v6,(v)9 chord
| rowspan="2" |vM2 M2 ^m3
| rowspan="2" |6 7 11
|-
!upminor
|P1
|^m3
|(^)4
|P5
|^m7
|P8
|^m7,(^)11 chord
|-
! rowspan="2" |za
(2.3.7)
!downminor
|P1
|vm3
|(v)4
|P5
|vm7
|P8
|vm7,(v)11 chord
| rowspan="2" |M2 ^M2 vm3
| rowspan="2" |7 8 9
|-
!upmajor
|P1
|(^)M2
|^M3
|P5
|^M6
|P8
|^6,(^)9 chord
|-
! rowspan="2" |yaza
(2.3.5.7)
!harmonic
|P1
|M2
|vM3
|P5
|vm7
|P8
|v9 = 8:9:10:12:14
| rowspan="2" |vM2 M2 ^M2
vm3 ^m3
| rowspan="2" |6 7 8 9 11
|-
!harmonic mixolydian
|P1
|vm3
|P4
|P5
|vM6
|P8
|vm6,11 = 6:7:8:9:10
|-
! rowspan="2" |"
!subharmonic
|P1
|M2
|^M3
|P5
|^m7
|P8
|^9 = 9/(9:8:7:6:5)
| rowspan="2" |vM2 M2 ^M2
vm3 ^m3
| rowspan="2" |6 7 8 9 11
|-
!subharmonic mixolydian
|P1
|^m3
|P4
|P5
|^M6
|P8
|^m6,11 = 12/(12:10:9:8:7)
|}
=== Heptatonic Scales ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!subgroup
!name
! colspan="8" |scale
! colspan="2" |step sizes
|-
! rowspan="2" |ya
(2.3.5)
!downmajor
|P1
|(v)M2
|vM3
|P4
|P5
|vM6
|vM7
|P8
| rowspan="2" |^m2 vM2 M2
| rowspan="2" |4 6 7
|-
!upminor
|P1
|M2
|^m3
|(^)4
|P5
|^m6
|^m7
|P8
|-
! rowspan="2" |za
(2.3.7)
!downminor
|P1
|M2
|vm3
|(v)4
|P5
|vm6
|vm7
|P8
| rowspan="2" |vm2 M2 ^M2
| rowspan="2" |2 7 8
|-
!upmajor
|P1
|(^)M2
|^M3
|P4
|P5
|^M6
|^M7
|P8
|}
=== Octatonic Scales ===
The prime subgroup for all these scales is yazalatha (2.3.5.7.11.13). Omitting the bolded note makes a heptatonic scale that uses harmonics 7-14.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!
! colspan="9" |scale
!as a chord
! colspan="2" |step sizes
|-
!harmonic
|P1
|M2
|vM3
|~4
|P5
|~6
|vm7
|'''vM7'''
|P8
|8:9:10:11:12:13:14:15
| rowspan="2" |A1=^m2, ~2, vM2, M2
| rowspan="2" |4 5 6 7
|-
!harmonic mixolydian
|P1
|~2
|vm3
|'''vM3'''
|P4
|P5
|vM6
|~7
|P8
|12:13:14:15:16:18:20:22
|-
!subharmonic
|P1
|M2
|'''^m3'''
|^M3
|~4
|P5
|~6
|^m7
|P8
|18/(18:16:15:14:13:12:11:10)
| rowspan="2" |A1=^m2, ~2, vM2, M2
| rowspan="2" |4 5 6 7
|-
!subharmonic mixolydian
|P1
|~2
|^m3
|P4
|P5
|'''^m6'''
|^M6
|~7
|P8
|24/(24:22:20:18:16:15:14:13)
|}
== Translating 12-edo Songs to 41-edo ==
== Translating 12-edo Songs to 41-edo ==
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. Generally the translated version is an improvement, because it's so well tuned.
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. Generally the translated version is an improvement, because it's so well tuned.
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