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Topic: Alternative Tunings
Open Amaj7 tuning is the next in my alternative tuning series.
Going from standard tuning, lower the second string one step, raise the third string a half step, lower the fourth string a half step, and lower the sixth string one and a half steps.
This is is a pretty obscure tuning. It produces a distinctive, quite dissonant, sound. About the only place you'll find it used are in some 'newage' fingerstyle recordings. I suspect though that it would work well in other situations where its dissonant sound could produce the appropriate atmosphere.
The scale tones created by this tuning are
| String | Scale Tone |
| 1st | fifth |
| 2nd | root |
| 3rd | major seventh |
| 4th | third |
| 5th | root |
| 6th | third |
Like before, my demo starts with the open string strum. It was difficult to come up with something to play with this tuning. The intervals threw me off and the dissonant tone made it even more difficult. What I came up with was 'interesting' but I'd hate to stretch it out to a whole song. Essentially, I barred at the 2nd and 5th fret and picked notes that sounded good, occasionally adding a note. Give it a try for challenge.
Click Here To Download Open Amaj7 Tuning Demo MP3
Please feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions about the Open Amaj7 Tuning and I'll try to answer them as best I can.
