Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 16:24:29 -0700 From: <et-post at blackcat dot demon dot co dot uk> Subject: Re: new standard tuning
To Gary Ormond, hopefully this is a helpful response:
> Now, I don't know if this has been discussed a million times before and the > FAQ was sadly of no help in clarifying this, so here is my post. I am > curious as to the point behind "new standard tuning" (as I believe it is > called). I have been playing guitar for almost 20 years and have always > used the traditional 4ths tuning with only two notable exceptions;
Ah, the key word here is "traditional". In my opinion, NST represents a break with "tradition".
> Now, if I have this tuning right, I am totally baffled as to the point of > using it. The guitar WORKS in fourths it does NOT work in fifths!
Certainly it "works" in fourths. But, "any" tuning works as well, it just changes what you can do with the instrument.
When I first heard of NST I couldn't wait to try it out. I, too, wondered what the point was. I can't say that I've stuck with the tuning (mostly because guitar is not my main instrument) but I certainly learned a few things (such as the need to use a lighter gauge of string on the higher pitched strings lest a 'D' string pop in a most unpleasant way). Here's a couple of useful things I learned:
As with any alternate tuning, voicing chords requires different fingerings. NST is so different that is leads to very, very different chord voicings from the traditional tuning. Why does this matter? Try it sometime. In NST chart out a C-chord and find one that you can play. It will have a different flavor from a traditional chord. If you have two guitars in a band, there is nothing quite as boring as both playing the same exact chord form (assuming no effects). It will always sound more interesting to have one play an open chord and the other play a bar chord (for instance). In the same way, if you have two guitars, one tuned normally and one tuned to NST, they cannot play the same chords -- it's physically impossible.
With NST, the guitar essentially becomes a new instrument. Yes, scales, arpeggios, chords, all must be approached in a different way. But, as with all instruments, how they are setup (or built) determines what is easy and what is hard and will guide the hands and musical creativity in certain directions. I found that playing in NST led me to entirely different chord progressions and melodic lines compared to what my hands were used to playing in a traditional tuning. Interestingly, working in fifths will be no surprise to violin players (as I was early in my youth). You have to admit that fifths work there just fine. You are right that you really have to stretch to work with NST. Actually, this has led me to watch Mr. Fripp's playing much more closely. His hands don't look all that much bigger than normal and also plays with a very compact hand position and does not seem to shift a huge amount while playing. I still can't figure out how he makes it look so easy, but then, that's always the case when watching a real pro.
> I just cannot understand the value of the exercise and wonder deep down > whether it is in fact Mr Fripp's intension to simple take a lot of > promising guitarists and totally destroy their technique and playing > style as part of some neo-zen experiment into the deconstruction of the > instrument while getting paid to do so.
The value? Incredible music and new musical expression. That's what I hear from King Crimson and I'm sure NST is but one example of working outside the "established" norm to take music where it's never been before.
I have to say though, that the switch to NST cannot be as much as an upheaval to a guitarist as it would be for say, a traditional bass player to switch to the Warr guitar that Trey Gunn uses (upside down bass strings!!!), or, for a drummer to play the "drumitar" (check out Future Man that plays with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones).
> The alternative is that I know next to nothing about guitar and should > either start learning again or quit altogether. This is cannot accept.
No matter how much you know, you can always learn more and your music will be the better for it. By the way, you might be interested to note that my point of view comes from one who does scientific research for a living. The source of my long time love of King Crimson comes from the recognition of them as the leading R&D (research and development) force in the music industry. I place NST as just one of the many new techniques they've used over the years.
--Marc
(ex-lurker as of this post)