Kite Guitar: Difference between revisions

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Unfortunately, tuning the Kite guitar to EADGBE causes the conventional chord shapes to have wolves. For example, the usual E major chord shape 0 2 2 1 0 0 would translate to either 0 3 3 2 0 0 = E vB vE G# B E, or else 0 4 4 2 0 0 = E ^B ^E G# B E. Either way, the chord contains three wolf octaves and two wolf fifths. (In addition, the major 3rd isn't 5/4 but 81/64.) The usual Em, A, Am, D, Dm, G and C chord shapes also have wolves. The tuning can be slightly adjusted so that one of these chord shapes is in tune. For example, E ^A ^D ^G B E puts E downmajor = 0 3 3 1 0 0 in tune, as well as E upminor = 0 3 3 0 0 0. While this is an improvement, the other chord shapes still have wolves. No adjustment to EADGBE will get more than a few of the conventional chord shapes in tune. Thus learning new chord shapes is inevitable.

There are two main types of tunings. '''Isomorphic tunings''' in 3rds facilitate playing 7-limit chords and chord progressions, and exploring the 7-limit lattice. '''Open tunings''' such as DADGAD facilitate exploring the 13-limit tonality diamond.

There are two types of Kite guitar fretboards, even-frets and odd-frets. In the former, all or almost all of the frets are an even number of edosteps from the nut. In the latter, it's an odd number. The even-fret layout is for isomorphic tunings and the odd-frets layout is for open tunings.

Isomorphic means "same shape", and there is only one shape to learn for any chord. The standard isomorphic tuning is the '''downmajor tuning''', in which adjacent open strings are tuned a downmajor 3rd apart. Alternative isomorphic tunings use an upminor 3rd or an upmajor 3rd. A '''dimorphic''' ("two shapes") tuning alternates downmajor 3rds with upminor 3rds, or 4ths with major 2nds. The drawback to dimorphism is that every chord has two shapes. The advantage is that the open strings make a diatonic scale.

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But anyway, the two designs can coexist on the same fretboard by simply inserting an extra fret between the 1st and 2nd instead of moving the 2nd fret lower as I have done, and by varying the tuning of the open strings as you please. It's a fantastic way to access the resources of 41edo on a guitar, without having an absurd number of very closely-spaced frets!"

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 1.5 inch, so that you can pull it out easily. Putting a large piece of wide tape on the part that sticks out helps prevent it from being lost.

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. Putting a large piece of wide tape on the part that sticks out helps prevent it from being lost.

Alternatively, the extra fret can be a permanent one.

Alternatively, the extra fret can be a permanent one. The extra fret is indicated in tablature by a letter: "a" if it's between the nut and the 1st fret, "b" if it's between the 1st and 2nd frets, etc.

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.

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Every interval appears in several places on the fretboard. Typically one is within a few frets and another one is many frets away. Mentally grouping four frets together into one dot facilitates large jumps up and down the fretboard. For example, the octave is (+3,+1) and also (+1,+14). A jump of 14 frets is a "3 and 2" jump, meaning 3 dots plus 2 frets. Thus the octave is at "plus-one, plus-three-and-two", or (+1,+3+2). The 5th at (0,+3+0) is spoken as "oh, plus-three-and-none", or alternatively "oh, plus-three-dots". 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 up three strings, but plus-three-and-none means up three dots.

Notes can be referred to similarly in '''absolute tab''', which names each string/fret combination, i.e. each location on the fingerboard. For example, a low E on an 8-string is at "eighth ~~and first~~", written (~~8th~~, ~~1st~~), meaning 8th string, ~~1st~~ dot. This is particularly useful when one wants to tell another guitarist what key they are in, without having to use note names. For example, one might be in the key of "sixth~~, second and~~ three", (~~6th~~, ~~2nd &~~ 3) meaning 6th string, 3 frets above the ~~2nd~~ dot. "Sixth and two" (~~6th,~~ 2) means 6th string, 2nd fret. "Sixth and oh" (~~6th,~~ 0) means the open 6th string~~. See also [[Kite Guitar Fret Numbering|KDF fret numbering]]~~.

Notes can be referred to similarly in '''absolute tab''', which names each string/fret combination, i.e. each location on the fingerboard using [[KDF Fret Numbering|KDF fret numbering]]. For example, a low E on an 8-string is at "eighth single", written (8 ,0), meaning 8th string, low single dot. This is particularly useful when one wants to tell another guitarist what key they are in, without having to use note names. For example, one might be in the key of "sixth double three", (6 ,,3) meaning 6th string, 3 frets above the low double dot. "Sixth and two" (6 2) means 6th string, 2nd fret. "Sixth and oh" (6 0) means the open 6th string.

Unlike relative tab, absolute tab doesn't require isomorphism, and can be applied to any guitar, as long as the dot locations are agreed on. For 12-edo, dots are at frets 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, etc., thus the 10th fret is fourth-and-one.

Unlike relative tab, absolute tab doesn't require isomorphism, and can be applied to any guitar, as long as the dot locations are agreed on. Instead of counting kites, one simply numbers the dots directly, so KDF becomes DF. For 12-edo, dots are at frets 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, etc., thus the 10th fret is fourth-and-one. DF numbering can be applied to a Kite guitar with an odd-frets layout that puts dots on the harmonic series.

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.

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

=== [[~~Kite Guitar~~ Fret Numbering~~|Numbering the Frets by Counting the Kites~~]] ===

=== [[KDF Fret Numbering]] ===

Avoid large numbers and tedious mental calculations.

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 Unfortunately, tuning the Kite guitar to EADGBE causes the conventional chord shapes to have wolves. For example, the usual E major chord shape 0 2 2 1 0 0 would translate to either 0 3 3 2 0 0 = E vB vE G# B E, or else 0 4 4 2 0 0 = E ^B ^E G# B E. Either way, the chord contains three wolf octaves and two wolf fifths. (In addition, the major 3rd isn't 5/4 but 81/64.) The usual Em, A, Am, D, Dm, G and C chord shapes also have wolves. The tuning can be slightly adjusted so that one of these chord shapes is in tune. For example, E ^A ^D ^G B E puts E downmajor = 0 3 3 1 0 0 in tune, as well as E upminor = 0 3 3 0 0 0.  While this is an improvement, the other chord shapes still have wolves. No adjustment to EADGBE will get more than a few of the conventional chord shapes in tune. Thus learning new chord shapes is inevitable.
 There are two main types of tunings. '''Isomorphic tunings''' in 3rds facilitate playing 7-limit chords and chord progressions, and exploring the 7-limit lattice. '''Open tunings''' such as DADGAD facilitate exploring the 13-limit tonality diamond.
+There are two types of Kite guitar fretboards, even-frets and odd-frets. In the former, all or almost all of the frets are an even number of edosteps from the nut. In the latter, it's an odd number. The even-fret layout is for isomorphic tunings and the odd-frets layout is for open tunings.
 Isomorphic means "same shape", and there is only one shape to learn for any chord. The standard isomorphic tuning is the '''downmajor tuning''', in which adjacent open strings are tuned a downmajor 3rd apart. Alternative isomorphic tunings use an upminor 3rd or an upmajor 3rd. A '''dimorphic''' ("two shapes") tuning alternates downmajor 3rds with upminor 3rds, or 4ths with major 2nds. The drawback to dimorphism is that every chord has two shapes. The advantage is that the open strings make a diatonic scale.
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 But anyway, the two designs can coexist on the same fretboard by simply inserting an extra fret between the 1st and 2nd instead of moving the 2nd fret lower as I have done, and by varying the tuning of the open strings as you please. It's a fantastic way to access the resources of 41edo on a guitar, without having an absurd number of very closely-spaced frets!"
-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 1.5 inch, so that you can pull it out easily. Putting a large piece of wide tape on the part that sticks out helps prevent it from being lost.
+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. Putting a large piece of wide tape on the part that sticks out helps prevent it from being lost.
-Alternatively, the extra fret can be a permanent one.
+Alternatively, the extra fret can be a permanent one. The extra fret is indicated in tablature by a letter: "a" if it's between the nut and the 1st fret, "b" if it's between the 1st and 2nd frets, etc.
 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.
@@ Line 465: / Line 467: @@
 Every interval appears in several places on the fretboard. Typically one is within a few frets and another one is many frets away. Mentally grouping four frets together into one dot facilitates large jumps up and down the fretboard. For example, the octave is (+3,+1) and also (+1,+14). A jump of 14 frets is a "3 and 2" jump, meaning 3 dots plus 2 frets. Thus the octave is at "plus-one, plus-three-and-two", or (+1,+3+2). The 5th at (0,+3+0) is spoken as "oh, plus-three-and-none", or alternatively "oh, plus-three-dots". 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 up three strings, but plus-three-and-none means up three dots.
-Notes can be referred to similarly in '''absolute tab''', which names each string/fret combination, i.e. each location on the fingerboard. For example, a low E on an 8-string is at "eighth and first", written (8th, 1st), meaning 8th string, 1st dot. This is particularly useful when one wants to tell another guitarist what key they are in, without having to use note names. For example, one might be in the key of "sixth, second and three", (6th, 2nd & 3) meaning 6th string, 3 frets above the 2nd dot. "Sixth and two" (6th, 2) means 6th string, 2nd fret. "Sixth and oh" (6th, 0) means the open 6th string. See also [[Kite Guitar Fret Numbering|KDF fret numbering]].
+Notes can be referred to similarly in '''absolute tab''', which names each string/fret combination, i.e. each location on the fingerboard using [[KDF Fret Numbering|KDF fret numbering]]. For example, a low E on an 8-string is at "eighth single", written (8 ,0), meaning 8th string, low single dot. This is particularly useful when one wants to tell another guitarist what key they are in, without having to use note names. For example, one might be in the key of "sixth double three", (6 ,,3) meaning 6th string, 3 frets above the low double dot. "Sixth and two" (6 2) means 6th string, 2nd fret. "Sixth and oh" (6 0) means the open 6th string.
-Unlike relative tab, absolute tab doesn't require isomorphism, and can be applied to any guitar, as long as the dot locations are agreed on. For 12-edo, dots are at frets 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, etc., thus the 10th fret is fourth-and-one.
+Unlike relative tab, absolute tab doesn't require isomorphism, and can be applied to any guitar, as long as the dot locations are agreed on. Instead of counting kites, one simply numbers the dots directly, so KDF becomes DF. For 12-edo, dots are at frets 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, etc., thus the 10th fret is fourth-and-one. DF numbering can be applied to a Kite guitar with an odd-frets layout that puts dots on the harmonic series.
 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.
@@ Line 584: / Line 586: @@
 How to name various triads and tetrads, even those not easily playable on the Kite guitar such as C~7.
-=== [[Kite Guitar Fret Numbering|Numbering the Frets by Counting the Kites]] ===
+=== [[KDF Fret Numbering]] ===
 Avoid large numbers and tedious mental calculations.