Why eadgbe tuning

It could have been tuned in 5ths as violins are, but they need to be, as they only have four strings, with a much shorter string length making it difficult to play, say, up to its '24th fret'.

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Charan Pai Charan Pai 2 2 gold badges 4 4 silver badges 11 11 bronze badges. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Cello, for example, is tuned CGDA. A major third is measured as two full tones apart, or 4 piano keys like C to E , or 4 frets on the guitar.

From low string to high string the resulting gaps are: fourth-fourth-fourth-major3rd-fourth. Early forms of the guitar have used similar tunings all the way back to the 15th century. Certainly the popular form of the guitar as we know it from the 20th century onward has used this as the normative tuning for both electric and acoustic guitars. So why do we continue to use this tuning for the guitar? The answer is that standard tuning strikes a balance between playing scales and playing chords.

It makes visualizing and playing them easy. The problem is that this system also creates large and awkward stretches for the fingers when playing chords — specifically on the two high strings. By using a major 3rd between G and B, the chord tones on the higher strings come down a fret, making them easier to play as part of the chord.

Tuning reference notes for guitar in standard tuning. Guitar Tuner E. Distorted Electric 2! Create Variation. Show Tuning Map. Loading Tuning Map. Loading Tuning Data. Description - Standard Guitar Tuning Standard tuning has evolved to provide a good compromise between simple fingering for many chords and the ability to play common scales with minimal left hand movement.

Loading an obscene amount of Scales. By instead using the major third interval between the 2nd and 3rd strings in standard tuning, the chord notes on the higher strings are moved down a single fret.

As a result the chords are much less of a stretch to pull off. They are totally ruined as constant compensation would be required to avoid that jarring minor second interval. Check out the video below in which he explains and demonstrates why this tuning makes so much sense to him and others!

In addition, tuning to a high B is almost impossible, even with modern day strings! There is a way around this however…. As mentioned above, violins, mandolins and cellos are all tuned in perfect fifths — so why not guitars?

Although the cello is a larger instrument, it is played vertically, which allows the fretting hand to more easily reach notes.