5 Alternate Guitar Tunings You've (probably) Never Tried

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[@blonkeddleharvey2308]

Mayonaise is one of the most beautiful chord progressions I've ever heard. It goes so well with the feedback during those pauses in the song, which was the result of a really cheap guitar Billy Corgan had that would whistle every time he stopped playing it. Also, James Iha originally came up with the tuning and main chord progression for Mayonaise, and Billy Corgan wrote the lead parts, and he plays normal power chords in Eb tuning over James' chords, creating that beautiful blend and wall of guitars. It's one of the few songs on Siamese Dream written by both Billy and James, Soma being the other.

[@Jman.77]

I was always wondering how to get that feedback and make it sound good.

[@timelessperspective]

Watch the story about that guitar. Someone stole it at a show, and he recently found it and immediately started getting into that time in music. It was the coolest thing I've ever heard. I think he actually wrote a new album using it, but don't quote me on that.

[@grimshawr]

Interesting, because Soma and Mayonnaise are my two favorite Smashing Pumpkins songs.

[@zen_023]

this man smashes pumpkins

[@mramisuzuki6962]

Reminds me of Melissa by the Allman Brothers.

[@pantone369c]

Gotta give props to James Iha for writing the Mayonaise chord progression.

[@MarcMunkyTTV]

Finding it wasn't written by Billy makes me feel better about liking it.

[@stephendavies6375]

Hells ya! Dropping the Karnivool riffs! Love it.

[@MortalTendency]

A lot of the music im writing right now is in Open C. I dont think I'll ever go back to writing Standard or Drop tunings ever again. Thanks Devin and SYL for giving me the inspiration 🙏🏻🤘🏻

[@alex11v3]

This guy would freak out seeing Sonic Youth and my bloody valentine tunings. Also the "E!" tuning is called The Ostrich tuning, it was pioneered by The Velvet Underground. It is used on a song called All Tomorrow Parties

[@youngroyalty7991]

YES!!!! I SECOND THIS!!!! I HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS FOREVER

[@jdubs681]

Love seeing someone fully appreciating a great satisfying chord progression as much as I do.

[@TheNightmareRider]

Devin Townsend is a musician I associate with open C tuning. He manages to create songs that are heavy, while still chill!

[@pentexsucks43]

The songs 'Home Nucleonics' and 'Life' being by the same guy, in the same tuning, made in the same sessions will always blow my mind. Dudes a genius.

[@StrangeOne1987]

I was just checking to see if anyone had mentioned Devin. The man is a genius.

[@LxE9799]

I think he uses a different version of open C though - CGCEGC

[@DeceptiveSS]

@@LxE9799 as confirmed in his masterclass, CGCGCE variant is Devin's go-to, along with B variant.

[@LxE9799]

@@DeceptiveSS oh, so I probably got confused

[@joermnyc]

Chris Cornell’s “Seasons” Open F5 tuning, FFCCCF it’s just a beautiful tuning you can mess around in, a lot of drone string stuff, and even try out some slide playing. I tune up, down, down, down, up, up from low to high to not risk breaking a string trying to tune up too much because there’s some big jumps from standard tuning to F and C.

[@johnathanspore2378]

Mark Tremonti uses the same tuning but tuned to a D5. “Ghost of days gone by” by alter bridge is the best example of it Edit: marks is a little different, after looking at your notation (unless you have it flipped) DADADD

[@joermnyc]

@@johnathanspore2378 the first pair of Fs are the low strings.

[@jasonremy1627]

Dude, I have to say, you NAILED the Smashing Pumpkins tone

[@ithomas5576]

My favourite songs in alternate tunings are Firebird by covet and Blowin' Cool by Swervedriver. Yvette absolutely dominates the FACGCE tuning on any song, but Firebird is such a fun, upbeat song that I always love hearing. Swervedriver's Blowin' Cool is in a pretty cool symmetrical tuning (GCDGCD) and the riffs in that song kick ass SO hard. I recommend anyone who hasn't listened to them go do so, especially if you're into that sludgy, rockin' shoegaze sound :)

[@nedim_guitar]

Great stuff! I use Yvette's tuning a whole step down. If the second string gets too loose, I just tune it up a little.

[@JamesPhoenix1166]

Love The Mayonnaise tuning. So mysterious sounding. Love your videos. 👍

[@denverrandy7143]

Always love that Siamese dream picture.👍Very cool brotha.

[@donaldroberts7055]

Thank you. I play in several tunings. Always looking for more

[@kendrickcarvajalguzman821]

Karnivool!! Hell yeah man!! My Favorite band. Good job on learning this riff, its kinda complex

[@xandersthoughts]

Another known player of open C tuning is Devin Townsend - lots of open power chord riffs and octaves make for a real interesting approach to metal guitar.

[@althejazzman]

Yes! I came here to say this. I have a cheap strat copy set up in that tuning every time I'm inspired after listening to Devin.

[@RainMakeR_Workshop]

I've been in LOVE with minor add 9 tunings since I first heard Opeth using D A D F A E, I most commonly use C G C Eb G D though. I've even done some 8 string stuff with minor add 9 tuning.

[@scottmiln3428]

Yes!! Karnivool showing up in a MiW video! This made my day. Themata is epic! Check out their album Sound Awake - it is incredible.

[@tatecheddar]

Kinda mind blowing how they haven't really made it big outside of Australia. Almost nobody here in the US knows who they are. They're such an incredible band.

[@russ_sibbison]

Two awesome Aussie artists being represented!

[@tylerdiven7841]

Hell yes, more Karnivool please!

[@areminderofwhatweare]

I came up with a tuning a few years ago right after buying a used guitar. I just tuned all the strings to the nearest note and got DADACE which is great for math-rocky stuff.

[@strahinja.obradovic]

One of the weirdest tunings I came across is the tuning for Last Hope by Paramore, which is DbAbEbGbBbC, from low to high (the chord progression in it is absolutely beautiful...I highly recommend learning it)

[@anthonyw6420]

I been playing around with cfcfcd on acoustic. Sounds pretty cool. I love alternate tunings. Keeps me on my toes and mixes things up a bit.

[@aaronkaaimarino]

Nice! Got a BOSS SY-1000 that can do guitar modeling. Gonna try all of these! Thanks!🤟

[@NicHeuwGuitar]

I sort of discovered this tuning and it's amazing: D Bb D F A D Used it in my last video, just have never heard anyone else using this tuning before, there's a similarity with DADGAD tuning because of three strings tuned to D, but it's different and for me it has opened up some new possibilities.

[@johninama585]

Mind Riot by Soundgarden was also in "all E" tuning.

[@Darcinator-music]

So happy to see Karnivool getting some attention. Always been pretty much my favourite band.

[@mikestroud9969]

Yes love that Smashing pumpkin song. Good stuff indeed. ❤️🙏💯👏🎸🎸. Yes chills 💯

[@thecrowing1989]

I was listening to From First To Last recently and my mind was blown when I saw your name in the credits!

[@ethanmuro7779]

Different guy

[@AllAutomotive1410]

Good stuff Tyler. I use D A D G A D on my acoustic guitar. Lots of fun voices in that tuning

[@elcompaqueso5214]

fricken love Mayonaise by the smashing pumpkins, I played it with a classmate of mine last year. super fun tuning man and fun song too.

[@SCIAZMA]

Im excited to try all of these!

[@MedalionDS9]

Nice Siamese Dream cover wallpaper

[@metaltrucker97]

Wow look at you Tyler, going right to the thumbnail, kinda like how Tesla plays "Modern day cowboy" at the beginning of a set.

[@youngroyalty7991]

Cool to see another video on alternate tunings from you, but I must say; I am BAFFLED at how sonic youth, my bloody valentine and american football have COMPLETELY avoided the discussion! They are (I believe) quintessential acts to look at for crazy cool alternate tunings!

[@ardrix_musician]

Mayonnaise on an escalator, coming back so see you later

[@romansionis3920]

New last jam just blew my mind. That rifff ayooo

[@ej1_drew]

definitely never tried any of these tunings!!! very cool video and you're such a good player

[@pavlinrusev7087]

Hell yeah! Bet all of these are rly fun, cant wait to try them ❤🎉

[@qthill]

one of my favorite tunings is D D# F# D# F# E, Toby Driver uses it in maudlin of the Well for the intro song and the four interludes on the double LP Bath/Leaving Your Body Map. he says he had experimented with dreaming his music by strumming his guitar in its open tuning right before going to bed, and letting it ring out before sleeping. it is such a strange, melancholic but beautiful sound and it just leaves me feeling stunned in a strange way when i hear it.

[@theshimmeringcarnelians]

Thanks Tyler. I just learned "Mind Riot" by Soundgarden uses EEEEEE tuning.

[@AhnanthsRajan-kb7uq]

Dude you're awesome bro greetings from Malaysia !!!!!!

[@fenderfox5080]

It's so much easier to play mayonnaise in E flat tuning lol,I just tried the original tuning and it was hard there's just a few chords that sound a little off because you don't get the minor notes 😂 sounds amazing Tyler 🤘

[@emperorhorde1999]

Man sometimes you forget just how crushing the pumpkins were love those fuzzy riffs also you cowboyed the shit out of that c tuning sounded great

[@ashleyfieldsmusic]

Nice man! I've been experimenting with alt tunings for about 12 years now. Here's my list: E A D G B D (Charlie Simpson Songs) E A D G C F (The Scientist by Coldplay) D A D G B E (Drop D) D A D G A D (Orignal tunes and Covers) D A D A D E (Fatherson Tuning) D A D F# A D (open D) Open Dmaj7: D-A-D-F♯-A-C♯ D A D F A D (Open D Minor. Eleanor Rigby Cover) D A D F# A E D A C# E B E (Catching the Light by Antoine Dufour) D A E F C E (Ashes in the Sea by Antoine Dufour) D# A# CF A# D (Fatherson Covers) C F C G A E (Story By Trevor Gordon Hall) C# G# E F# B Eb (30 minutes in London by Antoine Dufour) D A C F C E (Into your heart Antoine Dufour C G E G C D (Fatherson tuning) C G C G C D# (open C minor. My Nightmare by Ewan Dobson) C A D G B E (Neon by John Mayer) B F# A D F# B (Reality by Antoine Dufour)

[@zaturnneo]

Open tuning is great for slide work!

[@BassOfPj]

That C tuning is pretty much one string off from Soundgarden's CGCGGE tuning that they came up with for their Down On the Upside Record. Real fun to play in as you get that cool drone effect with the G unison stacked like that on the high strings.

[@GregJonson]

When I was a teen, I discovered this weird tuning where the top 3 strings were from open E and the bottom 3 strings were from open B. I think it was something like E G# B F# B D#. I loved the way the open chord sounded, it was either very ambivalent in interpretation, or you could've tried to explain it in like three different ways depending on what you considered root. Sadly no complete song came out of that, but now I'm lowkey considering coming back to that tuning and doing something cool with it.

[@elcompaqueso5214]

please do bro, I'm definitely gonna try this weird tuning out tho. Thanks for for the idea!

[@jan_Travis]

Forgive me but imma steal that idea. Sounds cool

[@Drunken_Hamster]

Not a guitarist, but I have a strange mind that thinks in patterns, so I really dig the musical interval/theory stuff and I've come up with a tuning I want an ACTUAL musician to try and not only tell but SHOW me what they think of it. Anyway, here goes: D2 A2 E3 C3 G4 D4 (or really anything following that spacing). So you get a major third just like standard (only it's down instead of up) and you get a root-to-root, four-octave spread between 1 and 6 (also just like standard), but with this, you have two sets of perfect fifths instead of the mostly fourths thing. Try it, spread it, get other KZbinrs to try it, IDK. I certainly don't have the skills or equipment to do so, but after thinking about 5ths and the 4 vs 5 vs 6 string dilemma, the string problem, and the whole "needing certain aspects of standard (like the E to E, and that major third in the "middle) to be able to cover popular/existing stuff" whatnot, I really want to hear it. Both how it sounds in general/how a musician can make it work, and to see whether or not it can do cover material, or whatever you call that aspect of playing guitar (I forgot the specific terminology).

[@wandersjesse]

love the videos man! thanks for all the insight fr!

[@BaldPerspective]

Cool tunings. It's really interesting that Satriani used something as stark as the EEEEEE-tuning.

[@thepostapocalyptictrio4762]

Ohh.. the “Ostrich” tuning.. in E this time. Very good!! ps.. very nice guitar👍

[@scottwhitlow8468]

You should definitely do more of these. I was surprised that an Alter Bridge tuning didn’t get in there (especially with using the Myles Kennedy guitar 👍🏻 ). Which by the way, do you find you have to do a lot of adjustments to the guitars at all? Especially for the lower tunings?

[@dane6k6]

That was great. I have been experimenting with open G. Kind of following Keith Richards. rhythm style of playing is my style

[@Krambitz01]

I will try this.. Nice

[@SSPGwemlin]

The smashing pumpkins riff sounds like a kinda ambient post rock songs from the Cry Of Fear soundtrack lol.

[@Cosmefulanito2812]

Speaking about Jimmy Page I really like the DADGAD he uses for Kashmir, it has a cool exotic sound

[@SkydiverJoeyBeth]

I play a half step down n o w and it always sounds crazy to hear standard tuning and even crazier when you have to learn a song in standard on KZbin and then play it a half step down

[@davidp7833]

My four guitars are in different tunings. I can cover most of the songs I wanna play. I learned a bunch of soungarden when I only had one guitar. Those tunings were all over the place. Those guys are nuts lol

[@nedim_guitar]

This was cool, Tyler! I saw this guy on KZbin (Two Year Old Bear) doing Midwest emo intros. One of the tunings he uses i DAEEAE, if I remember correctly. Sounds cool.

[@andrewmize823]

I do a lot of work in C standard, because something about that range works well with playing style and my singing voice. I realize that technically IS an alternate tuning, but I've never been an open tuning kind of player for the most part. I'll put the low E string in all manner of weird pitches, but I like having the option of regular chord shapes from the A string up. I guess I'm not as versatile as Nick Drake or Jimmy Page, but it works for me.

[@andrewpappas9311]

Mayonaise is one of my favourite Smashing Pumpkins songs so I had no idea that it was in a different tuning, that sounded awesome. Also two other bands that come to mine for bands that use different tunings are Soundgarden and Sonic Youth, because my god do they use some funky tunings but it’s awesome

[@Jasonmakesvideo]

i like to make a tuning around a chord and then tune the strings accordingly. makes for some fun experimentation

[@xAD21x]

wooooh karnivool

[@ramifications2140]

I knew Zeppelin was gonna be here but thought it would be The Rain Song, but stomp is an awesome tune.

[@Dave-nm3xc]

Rain Song is a great one too. 🤘

[@Trit_Leflore]

Those are nice tunings.

[@peterlarmour7767]

MAYO tuning is the most underated tuning we love smashing pumkins

[@kentuckyrex]

I've used a lot of open tunings. I started playing with them on the banjo and I would just bring them over if I felt like playing the guitar that day.

[@evhenchernyshov4090]

thanx for smashing pumpkins, never knew this tuning. tone is amazing on mayonaise. drowned me in my youth with this chords

[@charlottewilkerson8391]

You should check out an artist named, "CHRIS WHITLEY" He plays a chrome resonator through a Marshall amp with distortion but I think it sounds better without he plays in a myriad of alternate tunings

[@cwm180]

How about all fourths tuning? Been playing with this one a bit and it actually makes a lot of sense for chord shapes.

[@AleArzMusic]

Definitely gonna try this......with a Mayones guitar?

[@DenisBencic]

When your brought Led Zeppelin I immediately thought of the Rain Song tuning. That would've been awesome to include in the video :)

[@emanuelrayvillaflores7759]

This video has just introduced me to The Smashing Pumpkins, I've always known about them but I've never got into their discography before

[@josephschwenn5660]

Part 2 please! Also have you tried Gothic tuning?

[@jasonremy1627]

I'm pretty sure the "Every String is E" tuning was first used by Lou Reed in the Velvet Underground. I think that's "Ostrich Tuning"

[@hunterprice3320]

One of my favorite alternate tunings is Open C5 its basically open c but is just a big power chord so its not major or minor.

[@cembellsteve]

WOW!!!! So many thing to say. Open C, sounded like DADA= DIZZ KNEE LAND song I said it last time. Give this guy a shoestring or a rubber band, and he can make it sound amazing. I like these types of videos, more technique You killed it on this one. Good job!

[@WyldeStarrTheWexican]

I quite likeOpen D5 tuning personally & have a guitar dedicated for this -- D A D A D D (Creed 's 'My Sacrifice' & Alter Birdge's 'Open Your Eyes' use this)

[@firefox71]

I thought for sure that the Seasons tuning would be on here FFCCCF

[@charlottewilkerson8391]

YOU ARE A GOD! NOW I MUST BREAK OUT MY GUITAR! OH THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING THIS! This was my favourite album when I was a teenager. ( Siamese Dream) well until I discovered JEFF BUCKLEY 'S GRACE ALBUM. And that's still my favorite today. Desert Island Album 😮

[@charlottewilkerson8391]

Ever tried DADGAD A HALF STEP DOWN IF YOU TUNE THE G UP A HALF STEP ITS AN OPEN Gchord

[@BasedHyperborean]

Wow. You're a lot, aren't you?

[@keithbarlow9701]

Yeah the tunings are really cool and fun. But omg that Karnivool riff is fucking awesome. How have I never heard of them??

[@DeviemTwen]

Mayonnaise has quite the range. It can be a food, an instrument, and a song all in one! Horseradish has something similar.

[@bradleyjohnson8780]

I remember readin somewhere that Lou Reed of the Velvet Underground used that kinda tuning where it’s all one note on some of their songs - called it “ostrich tuning” or something like that lol

[@solidtenpin]

Goo Goo Dolls - Name is another good alternate tuning song to check out.

[@djmoulton1558]

Surprised you didn't mention David Crosby's Em11 tuning (EBDGAD). Lots of tunes fit on C Major tuning, e.g. Neil Young's Helpless, Tragically Hip's Ahead By A Century, Bruce Cockburn's Foxglove. Bron yr Aur sounds like "Brawn Ear Our."

[@dwkluka511]

I also love Loathes baritone variation that goes E A E A D F#

[@Gian4455]

That Satriani tune sounds a lot like Soundgarden, which makes sense since those guys loved to use weird tunings...

[@alifighter206]

Best Guitar Tunings 👍👍

[@Peanutbutterheavy]

The Smashing Pumpkins have so many riffs Corgan is an underappriciated riff lord

[@penfold7800]

Nice sounds.*

[@hansvandermeulen5515]

Your open F tuning is really open G tuned down a whole step, therefore ideal for slide playing and tons of blues.

[@Trevkage]

i always wondered if you could do studio tours videos i get so confused which is the actual studio haha

[@waliveroliver5854]

I love Siamese Dream so much

[@redearthpaul178]

My favourite is D minor, DADFAD, lots of interesting drones and chords. I believe robbie kroeger used it on a doors songs, 'end of the ???'? Its spooky anyways

[@letsgogaming6350]

Interesting never thought of that

[@Rightchickenwing]

6:14 Oh yes this song is a banger!!

[@nametag4409]

3:21 Oh well i’ve tried this one but one tone lower , i just wanted to play Korn but i don’t had a 7-string guitar

[@Crimzon_Tears]

Mayonnaise is one of the first songs I learned. Smashing pumpkins is definitely in my top 3 bands

[@williamcadence]

My fave tuning is DADADD with a heavy plate reverb ❤

[@killians9510]

You should listen to Mellowing and Open Passageways by All Them Witches, beautiful songs and tuning; DACGAE (also they’re a band from Nashville so now you have to)