New standard | |
---|---|
Basic information | |
Aliases | Guitar Craft tuning |
Interval | Perfect fifth |
Semitones | 7 |
Example(s) | C-G-D-A-E-G |
Advanced information | |
Repetition | No |
Advantages | Approximates all-fifths tuning; wide range |
Disadvantages | Very difficult to play standard-guitar music |
Left-handed tuning | All-fourths tuning (approximately) |
Associated musician | |
Guitarist | Robert Fripp |
Robert Fripp has taught new standard tuning to three-thousand Guitar Craft students | |
Regular tunings (semitones) | |
Trivial (0) | |
Minor thirds (3) | |
Major thirds (4) | |
All fourths (5) | |
Augmented fourths (6) | |
New standard (7, 3) | |
All fifths (7) | |
Minor sixths (8) | |
Guitar tunings |
New standard tuning (NST) is an alternative tuning for the guitar that approximates all-fifths tuning. The guitar's strings are assigned the notes C2-G2-D3-A3-E4-G4 (from lowest to highest); the five lowest open strings are each tuned to an interval of a perfect fifth {(C,G),(G,D),(D,A),(A,E)}; the two highest strings are a minor third apart (E,G).
All-fifths tuning is typically used for mandolins, cellos, violas, and violins. On a guitar, tuning the strings in fifths would mean the first string would be a high B. NST provides a good approximation to all-fifths tuning. Like other regular tunings, NST allows chord fingerings to be shifted from one set of strings to another.
NST's C-G range is wider, both lower and higher, than the E-E range of standard tuning in which the strings are tuned to the open notes E2-A2-D3-G3-B3-E4. The greater range allows NST guitars to play repertoire that would be impractical, if not impossible, on a standard-tuned guitar.
NST was developed by Robert Fripp, the guitarist for King Crimson. Fripp taught the new standard tuning in Guitar Craft courses beginning in 1985, and thousands of Guitar Craft students continue to use the tuning. Like other alternative tunings for guitar, NST provides challenges and new opportunities to guitarists, who have developed music especially suited to NST.
NST places the guitar strings under greater tension than standard tuning. Standard sets of guitar strings do not work well with the tuning as the lowest strings are too loose and the highest string may snap under the increased tension. Special sets of NST strings have been available for decades, and some guitarists assemble NST sets from individual strings. [1]
New standard tuning (NST) was invented by Robert Fripp of the band King Crimson in September 1983. [2] [3]
"I was in the Apple Health Spa on Bleecker and Thompson back in September 1983, in the sauna at half past 10 in the morning, almost asleep, and the tuning flew over my head. At the time I couldn't understand what it was for. I was asked to give a guitar seminar at Claymont Court in December 1984, to raise funds for the running of the estate and the children's school. There was a click and I realized the tuning was for the guitar class." [4]
Fripp began using the tuning in 1985 before beginning his Guitar Craft seminars, [5] [6] which have taught the tuning to three thousand guitarists. [7]
String (right-handed) | Note | Frequency (hertz) |
---|---|---|
1 | g' | 392.00 |
2 | e' | 329.63 |
3 | a | 220.00 |
4 | d | 146.83 |
5 | G | 98.66 |
6 | C | 65.41 |
The tuning is (from low to high): C2-G2-D3-A3-E4-G4. The original version of NST was all-fifths tuning. However, in the 1980s, Fripp never attained the all-fifth's high B. While he could attain A, the string's lifetime distribution was too short. Experimenting with a G string, Fripp succeeded. "Originally, seen in 5ths all the way, the top string would not go to B. so, as on a tenor banjo, I adopted an A on the first string. These kept breaking, so G was adopted." [6] In 2012, Fripp suggested that Guitar Circle members experiment with an A string (0.007) from Octave4Plus of Gary Goodman; [8] [9] [10] if successful, the experiment could lead to "the NST 1.2", C2G2D3A3E4-A4, according to Fripp. [8] In 2010, Fripp suggested renaming the tuning as "Guitar Craft Standard Tuning or C Pentatonic tuning". [11]
The lowest five strings are tuned in perfect fifths from a low C. The first string is a minor third up from the E to a G. Since the lowest five strings are tuned in fifths, guitars with NST can be played with the fingerings for chords and scales used on the violin, cello, and mandolin. [12]
The first five strings of NST have all-fifths tuning, and so its all-fifths chords are movable around the fretboard. In contrast, standard tuning has an irregular major-third interjected among its perfect fourths, which complicates the learning of chords by beginners. [13]
The distinct open-notes {C,G,D,A,E} are the notes of the major pentatonic scale on C, which contains only consonant intervals. The C-pentatonic scale omits the open B of standard tuning and all-fifths tuning, which forms a dissonant second-interval with C. With the 1980s King Crimson, Fripp had used pentatonic harmony in "Discipline", "Thela Hun Ginjeet", and "Sartori in Tangier". [14]
"With a note of music, one strikes the fundamental, and, in addition to the root note, other notes are generated: these are the harmonic series.... As one fundamental note contains within it other notes in the octave, two fundamentals produce a remarkable array of harmonics, and the number of possible combinations between all the notes increases phenomenally. With a triad, affairs stand a good chance of getting severely out of hand."
New standard tuning lists four notes (C,G,E,G) from the harmonic sequence (overtones) for the note C. [15] When the low open-note C-string is struck, its harmonic sequence begins with the notes
To strengthen a given chord, Vincent Persichetti's Twentieth-century harmony recommends adding perfect fifths above the initial overtones, rather than adding higher overtones, such as B♭ and the higher C. [16] [17] Persichetti's book influenced Fripp. [18] In new standard tuning
Like all-fifths tuning, [12] NST has a greater range than the standard tuning, a perfect fifth greater (a major third lower and a minor third higher).
Asked whether NST facilitates "new intervals or harmonies that aren't readily available in standard tuning", Fripp responded, "Yes, that's part of it. It's more effective. It's a more rational system, but it's also better sounding—better for chords, better for single notes." To build chords, Fripp uses "perfect intervals in fourths, fifths and octaves", so avoiding minor and major thirds. [2] [19] Quartal and quintal harmony was stressed from the beginning of Fripp's teaching of Guitar Craft. Fripp began a 1986 course with these directions: "Now, pick a note from the following series—[it was a series of fourths or fifths]. When you are ready—do not be in any hurry, but when you are ready play your note, then pick others and play them as the situation demands it. Your first note will be the first intentional note you have played in a week." [20]
It is a challenge to adapt conventional guitar chords to new standard tuning. [20] NST has wider intervals between consecutive strings than standard tuning. [12]
"Most songs (that is music which has both words and instrumental accompaniments) written in the [NST] have a quality of walking on long stilts. There are rarely many intervals, harmonic or melodic, in these guitar accompaniments that are closer than a major third except in the top of the voicing. Close voicings (from a single guitar) in [NST] are possible thanks to the minor third between the first and second string, and this is often the only practical place where close voicings occur with any regularity". [15]
Modern quartal and quintal harmony revives the polyphonic traditions of medieval Europe. Before the common practice period, European polyphony emphasized unison intervals and octaves and also perfect fifths. From the Renaissance to 1900, Western symphonic music was diatonic, emphasizing the tertian harmony of major and minor scales, keys, and chords. [21] Much popular music, especially rock, retains diatonic harmony.
With traditional guitar strings, the low C may be loose and the high G may be too tight. Special gauges are therefore more suitable for NST. For steel-stringed acoustic-guitars, many Guitar Craft participants use either an .011–.058 inch set [5] or an .011–.059 inch set; [22] string-sets may be purchased as a set from a manufacturer or purchased singly and assembled by the guitarist.
G 1 | E 2 | A 3 | D 4 | G 5 | C 6 | Distributor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0.011 | 0.013 | 0.023 | 0.032 | 0.046 | 0.056 | Guitar Craft Services [20] (Unavailable in 2012) |
0.012 | 0.015 | 0.023 | 0.032 | 0.046 | 0.060 | Guitar Craft Services [20] (Unavailable in 2012) |
0.011 | 0.013 | 0.022 | 0.032 | 0.047 | 0.058 | John Pearse Strings, manufacturer [23] [24] |
0.011 | 0.013 | 0.022 | 0.032 | 0.047 | 0.059 | D'Addario, manufacturer [22] [24] (available at Guitar Circle courses) [24] |
0.010 | 0.052 (light) | Newtone Strings [25] | ||||
In 2012, a 0.007 inch gauge was being evaluated by Fripp and other members of Guitar Circle, who are considering replacing the first string's G note with an A note, the better to approximate the B note of all-fifths tuning. The 0.007 inch gauge was produced by Octave4Plus of Gary Goodman. [8] [9] [26] Robert Fripp uses lighter strings for electric guitar. [27]
G 1 | E 2 | A 3 | D 4 | G 5 | C 6 | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0.010 | 0.012 | 0.016 | 0.024 | 0.038 | 0.052 | Robert Fripp [27] [28] |
0.008 | 0.012 | 0.015 | 0.026 | 0.042 | 0.052 | Curt Golden [24] |
Robert Fripp currently uses the new standard tuning, beginning in 1984.
Fripp has taught new standard tuning in his Guitar Craft courses. In Guitar Craft and in the 2010 successor Guitar Circles, students use only new standard tuning. Having to use a new tuning challenges students to approach their playing with greater mindfulness and to explore new ways of musical expression. [29]
As of 2011 there have been three-thousand graduates from Guitar Craft.[ citation needed ] Alumni who continue to practice new standard tuning are called "crafty guitarists" or "crafties". [7] Some crafty guitarists formed The League of Crafty Guitarists, which toured with Robert Fripp and have released multiple albums. [30] Guitar-Craft and the League of Crafty Guitarists have trained guitarists who went on to form new bands, such as the Trey Gunn and the California Guitar Trio; [31] Gunn and the California Guitar Trio have toured with Fripp as The Robert Fripp String Quintet. Other alumni of the League of Crafty Guitarists include members of Los Gauchos Alemanes, such as U.S. guitarist Steve Ball; [32] Ball is associated with the Seattle Guitar Circle, [33] along with League of Craft Guitarists alumnus Curt Golden. [34] The collection A Plague of Crafty Guitarists features many NST players including Nigel Gavin. [35] [36] New standard tuning has been adapted for instruments besides guitar. Trey Gunn (Crimson's warr guitar player from 1994 to 2003) and Markus Reuter [37] have adapted new standard tuning for their 8- and 10-string instruments; in 2007 Reuter used a B♭-F-C-G-D-A-C-D tuning. [37] Finnish musician Heikki Malmberg uses a 7-string guitar tuned in sew standard tuning with an additional low F. [38]
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(help)Crowe, Ben. "Custom guitars from Crimson Guitars UK currently in stock". Crimson Guitars. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted and typically has six or twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strings against frets with the fingers of the opposite hand. A guitar pick may also be used to strike the strings. The sound of the guitar is projected either acoustically, by means of a resonant hollow chamber on the guitar, or amplified by an electronic pickup and an amplifier.
Robert Fripp is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session musician and collaborator, notably with David Bowie, Blondie, Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, Daryl Hall, the Roches, Talking Heads, and David Sylvian. He also composed the startup sound of Windows Vista, in collaboration with Tucker Martine and Steve Ball. His discography includes contributions to more than 700 official releases.
A power chord, also called a fifth chord, is a colloquial name for a chord on guitar, especially on electric guitar, that consists of the root note and the fifth, as well as possibly octaves of those notes. Power chords are commonly played with an amp with intentionally added distortion or overdrive effects. Power chords are a key element of many styles of rock, especially heavy metal and punk rock.
The seven-string guitar adds one additional string to the more common six-string guitar, commonly used to extend the bass range or also to extend the treble range.
Discipline is the eighth studio album by English progressive rock band King Crimson, released on 2 October 1981 by E.G. Records in the United Kingdom and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States.
California Guitar Trio (CGT) is an acoustic–electric band formed in Los Angeles in 1991 with the aim of expanding the potential of acoustic guitars played in the New standard tuning (NST) introduced by Robert Fripp on Guitar Craft courses. The California Guitar Trio's core lineup consisted of Paul Richards, Bert Lams, and Hideyo Moriya. Today's CGT lineup includes founding members Richards and Lams, with the addition of Tom Griesgraber, a Chapman Stick virtuoso. Highly regarded instrumentalists, the CGT have achieved worldwide renown for their eclectic repertoire, precision arrangements, and expansive sonic palette. The California Guitar Trio has toured globally for over three decades, performing more than 2,000 concerts. CGT has released 21 albums, with their music being streamed over 120 million times on Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.
Among guitar tunings, all-fifths tuning refers to the set of tunings in which each interval between consecutive open strings is a perfect fifth. All-fifths tuning is also called fifths, perfect fifths, or mandoguitar. The conventional "standard tuning" consists of perfect fourths and a single major third between the g and b strings:
In music, a guitar chord is a set of notes played on a guitar. A chord's notes are often played simultaneously, but they can be played sequentially in an arpeggio. The implementation of guitar chords depends on the guitar tuning. Most guitars used in popular music have six strings with the "standard" tuning of the Spanish classical guitar, namely E–A–D–G–B–E' ; in standard tuning, the intervals present among adjacent strings are perfect fourths except for the major third (G,B). Standard tuning requires four chord-shapes for the major triads.
Guitar tunings are the assignment of pitches to the open strings of guitars, including classical guitars, acoustic guitars, and electric guitars. Tunings are described by the particular pitches that are made by notes in Western music. By convention, the notes are ordered and arranged from the lowest-pitched string to the highest-pitched string, or the thickest string to thinnest, or the lowest frequency to the highest. This sometimes confuses beginner guitarists, since the highest-pitched string is referred to as the 1st string, and the lowest-pitched is the 6th string.
Guitar Craft (GC) was a series of guitar and personal-development classes, founded and often presented by Robert Fripp, who is best known for his work with the rock band King Crimson. Guitar Craft courses introduced students to new standard tuning and ergonomic playing with the plectrum (pick), often using steel-stringed, acoustic, shallow-body guitars from the Ovation Guitar Company.
Discipline Global Mobile is an independent record label founded in 1992 by Robert Fripp and producer/online content developer David Singleton. DGM has released solo music by Fripp as well as work by various affiliated musicians and bands including King Crimson, The Vicar, the California Guitar Trio and others. The label has offices in Salisbury, England, and Los Angeles, California.
Crosspicking is a technique for playing the mandolin or guitar using a plectrum or flatpick in a rolling, syncopated style across three strings. This style is probably best known as one element of the flatpicking style in bluegrass music, and it closely resembles a banjo roll, the main difference being that the banjo roll is fingerpicked rather than flatpicked.
Open C tuning is an open tuning for guitar. The open-string notes form a C major chord, which is the triad (C,E,G) having the root note C, the major third (C,E), and the perfect fifth (C,G). When the guitar is strummed without fretting any strings, a C-major chord is sounded. By barring all of the strings for one fret, one finger suffices to fret the other eleven major-chords.
Among alternative tunings for guitar, a major-thirds tuning is a regular tuning in which each interval between successive open strings is a major third. Other names for major-thirds tuning include major-third tuning, M3 tuning, all-thirds tuning, and augmented tuning. By definition, a major-third interval separates two notes that differ by exactly four semitones.
Among alternative tunings for guitar, each augmented-fourths tuning is a regular tuning in which the musical intervals between successive open-string notes are each augmented fourths. Because augmented fourths are alternatively called "tritones" ("tri-tones") or "diminished fifths", augmented-fourths tuning is also called tritone tuning or diminished-fifths tuning.
Among alternative guitar-tunings, regular tunings have equal musical intervals between the paired notes of their successive open strings.
Repetitive tunings are a type of alternative tunings for the guitar. A repetitive tuning begins with a list of notes that is duplicated, either at unison or at higher octaves.
Among alternative tunings for the guitar, an overtones tuning selects its open-string notes from the overtone sequence of a fundamental note. An example is the open tuning constituted by the first six overtones of the fundamental note C, namely C2-C3-G3-C4-E4-G4.
David Singleton is an English record producer, audio engineer, record label director, musician, songwriter, author and Internet entrepreneur. He is best known as the production and business partner of Robert Fripp of King Crimson.