This Tuning Made Them Famous (the Coldplay tuning)

[@raykwon7]

That penultimate chord of Yellow (the m11) just elevates the song about 10 levels. I remember hearing it for the first time and it totally blew me away. Yellow is my favourite Coldplay song.❤ Thank you for this video!

[@localbod]

I think the first album is a great piece of work. My favourite on that is Spies.

[@NotSamuelJoshuVa]

never really expected a song tutorial from rhett but man did u not disappoint, keep it up man!! love from singapore!!

[@heysahan]

those first two coldplay records are great and fall under this category of artists who, to my ears, were in some form or fashion inspired by the radiohead bends record. them, muse, travis and doves all did some really killer records in that time period that still sound great today.

[@jmsclbwmn]

You just named some of my favorite bands 🫠

[@joshphillips9033]

Parachutes is an all timer

[@NisGaarde]

Agree that *the first three* albums are great. Almost sound like a completely different band to 2024 Coldplay, which is just ... well, not for me.

[@TheTechManSam]

The fourth is arguable their best though, a lot of people say the first three albums and forget about Viva la Vida

[@paulolapa3040]

@@TheTechManSam Nope. It's only the first three

[@pratyushrudra5797]

​@@paulolapa3040 Viva is better than the previous 3 in my opinion.

[@ruudvanmeegen3952]

@@TheTechManSam Viva la Vida is okay, it's got great songs on it. But it leaned a little bit too much to the commercial market for me. That being sad, i think it is the first 3, but i very much like strawberry swing and Death and all his friends.

[@Skwid-Lives]

If your arguing over the best Coldplay albums your taste in music is really bad

[@CalibSmith]

The grain on that guitar is BEAUTIFUL.

[@consentofthegoverned5145]

Nice slice of spruce indeed!

[@jacopoannese859]

I can't read the name on the headstock...what brand is it?

[@Or_else_it_gets_the_hose_again]

@@jacopoannese859It’s more visible in the thumbnail for the video. The brand is Bourgeois.

[@JackAckley]

Those alternate tunings evoke such powerful emotions that standard tuning chords can’t always capture. Thanks for sharing another, great and insightful video.

[@codycarroll8536]

Thank you for sharing this! You’re the first one I’ve seen that plays it like it sounds. All the other videos are close but not what the record sounds like. Love your content!

[@iryan9]

I think we need more Rhett acoustic content, this is great!

[@rosbyduhart5884]

I've been in a dry spell playing guitar in church. I've grow weary of modern worship music. I think messing around with tunings like this will help breath life in to some of those tunes and help me with my writing also. Good one!

[@markbrooks7257]

Open Tunings, Nashville tuning, and baritone usage has helped bring a lot of new flavors to my playing at Church!

[@fullscanproductions]

@rosbyduhart5884 & @markbrooks7257 Yes indeed alternate tunings & Baritone (I like 1/2 Nashville Baritone) will really help you break out of a rut. The @RhettShull alternate tunings course is the best $9 I ever spent on lessons....period. Here's what I'm currently exploring & If you have a spare lower end guitar (25 ½” scale) sitting around doing nothing and have always wanted to try a baritone guitar, then do the following: Install a set of heavy strings. Acoustics = .014-.059 Electrics = .012-.060 Tune to C Standard tuning. Songs in the key of C work extremely well because you can use key of E chord shapes, as does the key of F where you can use key of A chord shapes. Drop D would now be Drop Bb, and lets you play in the key of Bb using D chord shapes. Swap out the 3rd and 4th strings to get ½ Nashville Baritone tuning: 3rd string: anything .010 thru .012 for acoustics, .008 thru .010 for electrics 4th string: and .015 thru .017 for acoustics and .013 thru .015 for electrics. You can go down to B Standard tuning, but it gets a little loose. If you’re playing with a keyboard, they typically like the keys of C, F, and Bb. This is also a fantastic exercise for transposing on the fly. Also, if playing along with several other guitars it gives you some very unique voicings and isn’t muddy in the mids.

[@bdotson1]

Same here

[@andyzar1177]

I have a better suggestion; leave the church haha, half joke, I am also a believer but church rock has become U2 only, needs other flavors.

[@pierresarrazin1740]

Holy Sh*+, now I finally understand why I’ve never been able to make a decent version of it… the tuning!!! Thanks!

[@TheTerrypcurtin]

Rhett the guitar player in the band Dry Cleaning is insane great. No pentatonics. No Dorians. Just groove. My god. The spoken word. Simon Le Bon turned me on to them. I cant stop listening.

[@rowegardner9673]

Coldplay’s first three albums (but esp. the first two) are ridiculously strong. Never understood the haters for their earlier work!

[@brandonkey181]

Their 4th is their best

[@LEMOnBRaINn]

You people are actual Broken records 💀 X&Y isn’t even that good compared to the first 2 but still decent but Viva La vida is a far superior album in everyway you just can’t be bothered to put it on so you declared that it’s only the first 3 that are good cause you are an NPC that just copies what others say instead of having an opinion of your own… also ghost stories is also a great album

[@positivecommenter1]

​@@LEMOnBRaINnIt's not THAT much, but yes, Viva is incredible, Mylo is incredible, Ghost stories is good, I don't like AHFOD, Everyday Life is incredible, and I'm not going to mention their last two

[@aa_aa_aab]

Adrianne Lenker tunes to the similar EADGBD in some of her songs and I love the way she uses it, having a high kind of drone note across chord changes, it’s beautiful !!

[@LMacNeill]

Wow -- that E Maj 7 chord with the open D# sounded so amazing!! You could say it struck a chord with me. 😂 Seriously, though, I guess you don't normally hear an E Maj 7 with an open 7th like that, and it just had an extra-shimmery tone to it that I found fascinating. Definitely going to play around with that tuning when I get a chance.

[@JacksonLamberth]

I just performed guitar for the first time for school with my sister and we played Yellow! That tuning blew my mind! Paul Davids has a good video about this song and the tuning.

[@nedim_guitar]

I hope the performance went well and that y'all had fun!

[@komobabo]

I very recently started changing tunings on different guitars based on your DADGAD video so this video and course are exactly what I needed. Thanks Rhett!

[@robmcd]

I’m sure Rhett would agree so please search “the most beautiful guitar tuning Paul Davids”

[@KordTaylor]

Really a cool tuning. I’m sending to my son and his friends that are into open tunings a lot. Thank you again! 👏🏻

[@dazwold]

There's so many awesome tunings that Coldplay use in their early material which doesn't get talked about often enough. The tuning in Yellow of course, but also these: EADGCC with a capo on the 1st fret- A Message. EADGCF - The Scientist EADGCD# - Square One CACGBC - Till Kingdom Come

[@houseofguelph8825]

Sky of stars is also a tuning

[@leob4403]

Coldplay haters will stumble over themselves to refuse admitting they have any sort of musical sophistication, lowering themselves to blatant lying about how their songs are constructed

[@MrMont-ue8kh]

Thanks Rhett - this is great stuff. I feel like you're one of the deeper thinkers in the guitar youtube world. I don't mean that you know a lot (although I'm sure you do); I suspect that you ruminate on things and take your time with them, a trait which is becoming more rare and therefore more precious as the world changes around us. Thanks again!

[@JimmyLeeJames]

Sounds ALOT like the tunings used by Dave Gauvrin from the Sundays. I would love to hear an analysis of his tunings and chord choices. Very underrated songwriter.

[@venom3936]

That resolve to the Emaj7 is so goated… pure ear candy

[@Jib_]

No way, I just uploaded a riff in EADGBD# cause I liked the sound. Awesome video :)

[@justinhong7638]

You had me noodling on my acoustic for about 20 minutes with this one. Cool voicing, I'm gonna have to try using it more.

[@benjaminferrari2647]

When I had my first day of college i went to my dorm to write some music and put it in this tuning and wrote probably the best song I've ever written, this tuning is truly so inspiring

[@luccacassandra]

Oh my God I've been using this tuning for a year or so and had no idea it was the Coldplay tuning. I listened to that song endlessly as a kid so it makes sense it would've stuck in my head.

[@jspanos500]

Love these types of videos; breaking down songs and digging into some theory.

[@andrewtycksen8746]

I’ve always just played Yellow with the 1st string tuned down; I had no idea about the 4th, which is brilliant! Need 2 by Pinegrove is another example of a song with beautiful chord voicings with the high string tuned down.

[@martijn_yt]

Me too, never heard the difference (and I guess Rhett didn't either 😄)

[@noahpauley]

I play a really similar tuning to the one you landed on. It’s the same except the G is G# so you can play Emaj7 with an E minor position. What I like to do is play the top E string power chords in scale with the rest of the strings open for an interesting sound.

[@nedim_guitar]

That sure sounds interesting!

[@bettsdn]

Bro yes. I started using this after becoming obsessed with the Parachutes album in like 2002.

[@gearsofsounds]

there are multiple songs on the first coldplay album that use the D# string but not all have the D string to B, it was the signature voicing of the first album and it's really what made it jump out of the herd at the time in my opinion.

[@revchadbrooks]

They had another older track "Help Is (around the corner)" using that tuning. I wore it out doing open mics around 2001 and 2002.

[@johndill6594]

I always thought of EADGBD# as the "Pinegrove" tuning from their song Need 2.

[@blok31092]

Wonder if they got it from Coldplay? That’s another incredible song and certainly has the same melancholy vibe.

[@13aphomet]

Man, that acoustic sounds amazing..

[@TwentyMinuteGuitarPlayer]

Beautiful sounding acoustic!!

[@kanterouge5136]

Thanks for sharing, didn't know that! I accidentally found out a similar trick with a capo: one can put a capo on 2nd fret, but leave out the 1st string. That way you'll get F# standard tuning with an E on top. This worked beautiful for us when we covered Radiohead's "Tourist", one of the older videos on our channel.

[@fullscanproductions]

@kanterouge5136 great tip: use a partial capo. Willy Porter was my introduction to partial capos (like the Kyser Drop D and especially their Short Cut 3-String Capo).

[@Elroberto81]

Their 4th album is perfection.

[@erictriplett33]

6:00 that 5 minor down to 4 is a chord prog in the bridge of one of my favorite songs, Gratitude by Brandon Lake.

[@bryanvickers]

I like to tune the first string up to F# when playing in the key of B. Letting the B string and that F# string just ring out on almost every chord sounds beautiful.

[@dpanek]

Great job on the explanation! The tuning definitely adds it's own flair to the song. It sounds like you are doing the hammer on a quarter note too quick though. You are going it on the 1st "and" where in the song it is the 2nd "and"

[@ArthurPerez-t2e]

First three records are amazing indeed, criminally underrated

[@monkeysweeperguitar]

I totally snagged that course. Helluva bargain at $9! I watched the intro and first DADGAD video. 👍🏻👍🏻 good stuff, brother!

[@danbarry8909]

Shiver is a really fun song to play using this tuning

[@keegancole9306]

Pretty sure problems by pinegrove also has that half step down high e string. Good stuff

[@4ndresolis]

and Need 2

[@WHISTLELP15]

just working through all of coldplays songs that have an acoustic guitar it's honestly insane. they almost always have a different tuning

[@flxkrs6568]

9:06 is exactly what "Need 2" by Pinegrove is based on. Really nice tuning

[@JotaJade]

I started using a similar tuning (just dropping the high E to D) from Adriane Lenker and I love it

[@bernie_smith]

Dropping the usual G string to F# and leaving all the other strings as standard, is a frequently used alternate tuning adopted by the mighty Bruce Cockburn.

[@Jcam1906]

Incredible content Rhett, thanks! 🤘🏼

[@Pedalsteelguitarlife]

Awesome video keep up the great work.

[@ClaudioBrogliato]

The sidney live they made back in the days, which is a combination of the first two albums, is one of my fav records. I have a deluxe Tele just to get closer to that sound. I went to see them live during the Twisted logic tour (3rd album) in Verona and the opener was Richard Ashcroft. I also like their fourth album. Since then it was a constant decline with some pearls now and then.

[@gfunkk]

I don't know about Coldplay now, but I do remember the first time I heard this song on the radio and it sounded like nothing else. Those lead guitar lines, especially, are so powerful.

[@claytronico]

I got a "Drop D" capo when I thought capos were cool and I'd have all these uses for them. That one was intended to put on the 2nd fret on all but low E to get a drop D sound. You could fake your modified tuning with that capo over the top on 1st fret, leaving out high E. Easier to just tune down the string though, obviously, just thinking out loud. I go between standard and open G, which is nice because the D & G carry the most tension & on a good day those may not need to be touched up to compensate for the change of total tension on the neck.

[@matthewlilley9410]

When I learned this song 20+ years ago I only tuned the first string down. It never quite sounded right but it sounded good enough. Now I know I needed to drop that fourth string.

[@HWCWTD]

There's a similar chord progression on their second album. The one where he sings about someone being an Island? It's great.

[@tomandtheoutlaws]

They wrote Green Eyes with the dropped high E. lovely song!

[@cor-man]

Nice. Thanks for the lesson Rhett. I agree about Coldplay, their early albums are much more Jeff Buckley, Radiohead/The Bends influenced with great songs and lead guitar work. Are you into the band Doves? Based on this I think you’d dig them.

[@BrentSends]

Really cool way to break out of a 1-4-5 blues rut!

[@infn8loopmusic]

Recently tried DAEAD the Jacob Collier tuning. I enjoyed it but It melted my brain a bit. He mostly uses the middle E as a pedal note and can double up the other notes easily because the strings are doubled. You can get piano like crunch chords easily and they sound great. I ended up stringing a second guitar DAEEAD to get the same effect but with twice the drone and some chorusing effect in the middle. It worked well.

[@aharchives]

You only mentioned Chris Martin, but the entire band is credited for writing this tune, including guitarist Johnny Buckland. Not sure who came up with the tuning and the chords, but are you sure it was Chris???

[@PaulMurphyMusic]

Chris is the songwriter, but the other members chip in with creative input, ie guitar riffs. The other members are credited as Coldplay share the writing credits of all their songs equally, which is so heathy compared to bands like say Oasis where Noel collects 100% of the royalties no matter the input of the band collectively.

[@Boleskinebeatz]

That five minor to 4 is absolutely inspired…

[@claytronico]

the 4 is the payoff. That minor 5 is something special too. Few songs I remember hearing for the first time. That is one of them.

[@iFaissal]

He (or johnny) actually did this in multiple songs. Not this exact tuning, but he changes one or two string depending on the key.

[@Forest_Fifer]

I've seen a tab book that covers some early albums, and pretty much every song is a different tuning

[@variable_sonics5101]

Nice! cool vid man thankyou for this.

[@theboothman3]

Omg that guitar sounds amazing

[@eamonnfanton2165]

Rhet, watch your video and love them. I wonder if you would consider doing a video on setting up a very basic practice setup aimed at keeping the volume down. Something you could take anywhere (home, hotels etc). I would love to practice more but elderly parents complain about the noise, even though would not consider it particularly loud. Is there a way to get a good distortion sound, for instance while keeping the volume low. Likewise with all the other effects and styles of play. Basically a video of setting up a practice rig that covers all the bases while at the same time keeping the volume down and as low as possible. I know it can be done, but I have problems adjusting the gain, distortion, reverb etc while keeping the volume dialled down. If it helps I have a Marshall Code 25w. I also have a Vox Valvetronix 25W but find that getting the actual valve (not solid state) to do its magic means having to push the amp to the point where everyone complains. I'm certain its mostly down to me not understanding how to use the controls (gain, distorting, overdrive, reverb, etc) properly. Just for clarity I would consider myself somewhere between beginner and intermediate

[@meganbower127]

I can't believe you found my secret tuning!!!

[@HouseOfBlueFlame]

You gotta check out Dallas Green from City and Colour, Alexisonfire. In his City and Colour stuff he uses slightly different tunings a lot

[@colinl1980]

How long is your left thumb to bar all your chords here?

[@Metro_Gnome]

Pine Grove Was a viral dance last year. The pine Grove shuffle Tuning and song are both similar

[@cantemirash]

Which guitar is Rhett playing? Sounds good! A very useful video!

[@FingalPersson]

changing tuning even just the E to drop D will require new intonation, not sure if this applies to acoustic guitars but for electric it does 🙂

[@kevone-eo6pq]

depends what string gauge you are using. in most cases it's fine without any intonation.

[@FingalPersson]

@@kevone-eo6pq Well the intonation, no matter gauge will be off if you drop to D. If you change to heavier gauge or lighter, most likely you have to relief the tension in the neck by adjusting the trust rod then set the intonation. If you swap out 9's to 13's you would also need to file down the nut grooves for the 13's as well. But going from the gauge the guitar manufacturer has set for your guitar to heavier gauge will also void the guarantee but you can set lighter gauge without voiding the guarantee.. saying it will be "fine" without intonating when you change tuning is not something I agree on as the notes on 12th fret and up will be shaper or flatter depending on the tuning you change to. But if you only do power chords and never play on 12th fret and above, then sure, that will be fine since you won't notice the change of tone much. Elaborate if you think I'm wrong.

[@slash196]

​@@FingalPersson you're not wrong but literally nobody cares about stuff like this.

[@FingalPersson]

@@slash196 nobody cares about their guitar being intonated? I don't believe that for a second lol! And nobody cares if their voiding the warranty of their product? I don't believe that either. Just because you don't care, that does not reflect everybody else 🙂

[@ThatGuy-mj6jm]

@@FingalPersson I get what you're saying but I have to admit, on a lot of guitars you wouldn't really notice it? Unless you have very accurate, pitch perfect hearing. Which I think you might have? I can change tunings on most of my guitars without affecting the intonation to a point where I think it sounds horrible. As for string gauges and warranty - does it really void the warranty? I've never heard of this before. And most guitarists, whether they're customers or sell guitars they receive from manufacturers, tend to change the strings to a different gauge. For example; a lot of electric guitars ship with quite cheap 9s on them, and on guitars like Telecasters and Jazzmasters, these often are immediately swapped out for 10s or heavier. As for acoustics, I think I'll pay closer attention to how string gauge and alternate tunings affect how I perceive the "niceness" of the sound. It's possible that very subtle changes in intonation make all the difference when it comes to recording, for example. I don't think it's quite right to say that only people who play only power chords wouldn't notice these changes. They don't exactly leap out and slap a listener in the face. I mean, I met an autistic lad once who was put off by extremely slight changes in tuning, which was interesting and actually quite cool, I thought. But most of us don't notice it. EDIT - I think it's also worth noting that most people don't necessarily worry about warranty, unless they have a guitar with known issues such as Gibson and their headstock weakness. Most people buy guitars, and modify them so at least some degree. That can be a change as subtle as string gauge. When it comes to the financial investment, most people will sell them on to other players. Interactions with the manufacturer are usually restricted to faults noticed upon receipt.

[@sillybearhours]

that e major 7 voicing is truly peak

[@ShiningHourPop]

I’ve written three songs in EADGBDb. It’s such a cool sound.

[@craigmsmithmd]

Guitar sounds GREAT in this.

[@adizero93]

This! Clarity, bass, warmth, sooo good!

[@d.r.3708]

Hey what’s the good chromatic tuning app people use? So many of them have something wrong, whether that’s ads or only guitar standard as an option. I’m down to pay

[@caseystevens462]

Ohhh. I never thought of changing the tuning of the two strings that are duplicates/repeating notes when you play traditional chord shapes, like bar chords. like the high e and d string. instead of only getting 3 notes out of six strings you get like 5.

[@dougcrowe1226]

I line that last thing you did also- kind of quicker and the standard voicings - i can get some nice tone variation

[@JojoFryrocks]

Ok despite the fact that I hate Coldplay and really can't stand any of their songs, including Yellow so there's no way I'd want to know how to play it, this tuning itself is so simple and beautiful it might actually be my new favourite thing. Thanks Rhett!

[@Guitar9235]

The only other alternate tuning I played is Esus2 used by John Mayer on “in your atmosphere” and “something’s missing”. E B E F# B e.

[@larsheuker]

Thought it sounded like "Beat it" when you went over the strings from low to high

[@stormyandcold]

No way, I've been covering this for years and didn't know the D string was down tuned. I've always played it with just the E to D#

[@TheDrunkenScoundrel]

When you play that tuning in ut open strings it sounds like dropping something straight onto the strings of a grand piano.

[@RennedyBr]

What a beautiful guitar.

[@bxsoup]

@RhettShull - You actually didn’t “miss” anything . In “America” or Western Music , we are use to hearing sounds in a certain pitch and pattern . Other countries have musical scales that have notes in between our 12 notes system . Thus when we hear those sounds , it sounds strange because we are not use to hearing sounds in that manner . I implore you to purchase Yusef Lateef - Repository of Scales and Melodic Patterns . There are a plethora of World Scales and Patterns .

[@Onestringpuppet]

I never knew this. Ive always played it in the key of A

[@TheGreatConstantini]

Thank you for the video. First off, your guitar sounds beautiful. Does your alternate tuning course show voicing sat all. I been playing guitar for years, not well albeit, but when I try alternate tunings it’s just hit and miss finding fingerings.

[@1loveMusic2003]

I don't care what anyone says , the writing on that album was very inspired.

[@benedekgabor.]

When I heard it for the first time I was amazed. It has such a cozy, comforting, intimate vibe while being really sweet and melancholic at the same time. I miss that kind of vibe and instrumentation.

[@tb88202]

First time I heard “Sparks” was in Wedding Crashers. Blew me away.

[@1loveMusic2003]

@@tb88202 my favourite

[@blok31092]

@@tb88202same here. Hearing that song in that moment had such an impact on me and my musical interests looking back

[@JoelKelso7]

Those albums for me were really good. From 2007 onwards for me they went downhill. Yet upwill famous wise. I think i expected them to become even better. More deep. More experimental. They came from Buckley/Radiohead territory. Yet they became a all Raibows and sunshine kind of boys band. They nice guys and good musicians. All the best for them.

[@FreeGuitarSecrets-RG]

Very Nice Rhett...

[@FabioLovaglio]

This was interesting and cool!

[@samueltaylor2757]

Rhett: "I bet you recognise this song@ Also Rhett: **plays the most generic two chords of the song**

[@kevinreedmusic]

I started writing a song in this tuning during the pandemic, maybe I’ll finish it soon.

[@pdeandajr]

I learned this way back when from Definitely Dean’s channel.

[@yellavonjella2893]

Thanks Rhett....

[@SolarisPlexus]

what app do you use on your phone to tune? also id love a video on phone apps or other small things you use that are free or cheap

[@wildmilne]

What is the mic and guitar? Sounds awesome.

[@michaelsteven1090]

Great record..Remember when it hit.

[@strahinja.obradovic]

You should check out the tuning for Last Hope by Paramore. Tuning really amazed me, because playing in alternate tunings is my favourite thing about guitar. It's Db-Ab-Eb-Gb-Bb-C. Pretty cool, right

[@nicgundy]

YO!!! I “found” something similar which was E A D G B Eb; messing around it during 2020 when I wanted to play in B without a capo

[@jeremythornton433]

Wow! Very nice.

[@nicholasarndt1542]

Mayonaise by the Smashing Pumpkins uses a similar tuning

[@nedim_guitar]

James Iha used Eb-Bb-Bb-Gb-Bb-D on Mayonaise. Not really similar, as far as I can see, but it's also an interesting tuning.

[@nicholasarndt1542]

@@nedim_guitar it's close enough, I thought I'd at least point it out

[@nedim_guitar]

@@nicholasarndt1542 Hey, you're allowed to say things. I'm a bit of a know-it-all sometimes when I have some information and feel the need to get involved. I wasn't trying to crap on your comment, just to be clear.

[@nicholasarndt1542]

@@nedim_guitar I get you dude, all good!