Writing Riffs In Alternative Tunings

I decided to try writing riffs in alternative tunings... you should try it yourself!
The tunings are:
Mensis: BF#BEF#B
PaleBlood: GDGA#DA
Enjoy!!
Video edited by John Hollingworth
#rabeaafro #tunings #riffs
⬇️⬇️⬇️ Feel free to read this ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Hey guys, I’m Rabea. I'm the lead guitarist in Toska, Frog Leap & Dorje where I write music, make songs and have a great time with my mates. I also have my own line of guitars with Chapman Guitars, and I’ve designed numerous products with some really cool companies, such as the Victory Amps VX Kraken. Anyway, i hope you enjoy my videos, thank you for watching!
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[@balabeylo1995]

Try BEA BEA tuning, lol

[@RabeaMassaad]

Hahahah great idea

[@MinusCube]

Haha, I was thinking this too.. it would be like a signature tuning :)

[@Module79L]

That's basically baritone 2x. :D

[@TheAkashPatra]

wrong channel!

[@WW-1995]

Just tried it on Guitar Pro 4 cause I was curious but too lazy to do tune my guitar and I already come up with a new song almost instantly. Came back to watch the video and write a reply to you. Thanks

[@TheRWE12]

Alternate tunings are the way to go for originality, no question. Interesting post. Thx. Rabea

[@darionbuck8864]

Facts. Sonic Youth's Rather Ripped came out in 2006, but their stuff never got old because of alternate tunings. 2 of their best songs came from that album, Pink Steam and Incinerate. For those 2 songs, The guitar is tuned to an Eb major when you play the open strings. Pink steam explores some divine sounds in the intro.... Definitely worth a listen

[@InfamouslyCantankerous]

As far as I understand it. DADGAD is neither minor or major. Or something like that. I'm not super familiar but I know John Browne uses it a lot with monuments songs and its killer.

[@paddyfalco8497]

@@InfamouslyCantankerous You're right, there's no major or minor third to make it either of the two. For that there would have to be an f or f# in the open chord. The G makes a suspended fourth (pretty sure that's right...) :) Also, John Browne=one of many man crushes haha

[@InfamouslyCantankerous]

Sweet you definitely have a better grasp then I do. I'm trying to learn theory I just started playing about 4 months ago. And yes john Browne= guitar crush for sure.

[@stevenwebb7068]

Full disclosure: Picked up on your stuff from Frog Leap, great styling, and you always look like you're having a blast. Jumped over here to check you out, and this was the first video I pulled out of the hat. Your name, face and accent don't match at all, at least in my head. Then you pull these wild ass tunings and just chew through, plus show some of that "trying to figure it out oops oops okay now I have it," which is always kind of humble and hard for anyone to show as a professional. Now my brain is fkn broken and I can't wait to put it back together. This IS the inspiration I've been looking for as a guitarist. Instantly subbed and can't wait to look over it all and see more. Thanks for the vids.

[@jadenrrose]

I spent a good 6 months playing in various versions of DADGAD on all of my guitars from nylon string, to steel string acoustic, to electric, and it really helped me "feel" the colour of chords rather than rely on existing shapes. I play mostly in Drop C/C# these days, but that experience has still carried over and I'm more consistently able to take a chord colour that I hear in my head and apply it to the fretboard. This used to be a huge struggle for me, but trying alternate tunings has really connected my ears and fingers.

[@mattw.6726]

Please turn that riff at 11:56 into a full song. It sounds awesome! EDIT: And those ambient-sounding arpeggios in the second alternate tuning!

[@seanconnors1613]

I'm glad I'm not the only one still obsessed with Bloodborne! Fear the Old Blood

[@Skeimag]

Holy crap that riff at 20:33 is lethal. Looking forward to hearing it jammed out on the next grinding gear.

[@StevilKanevil_]

I love trying different tunings. I actually tried to do DADGAD but in D standard as that's where I play but somehow missed it up. Turns out I ended up with Double Drop C. I instantly wrote a new song and I must say it slaps! My other favourite tuning is the Mastodon Drop A(D standard with low D down to A)

[@FezMan94]

D standard is pretty tasty. Baroness play it if I remember right. Haven't done any double drop before though might have to try it out later

[@generalwrex]

Your tones just absolutely wrecks anything on this planet.

[@gunnar_storhaug]

Did someone say DADGAD? *John Browne has entered the chat*

[@jaredt3985]

Yeah Browne is the DADGAD King. Absolute beast of a player.

[@KeepTheGates]

Andy McKee has entered the chat

[@pedroabdala7232]

But have you tried this tuning? kzbin.info/www/bejne/sGiuaYmgop2dgrc

[@gunnar_storhaug]

@@pedroabdala7232 very cool stuff, never heard anything like it

[@samvaiphei7398]

@@pedroabdala7232 you got me laughing like hell bro😂😂

[@johndavidponte8135]

Try B F# B D F# A - It’s a bittersweet palate that you can get lost in.

[@VioletSerenade]

Instantly clicked because i just wrote a song in EBEF#BE tuning, and it turned out to be an Indie-Major-Key Banger. Little different from my usual Metal and Hard Rock

[@tfwnoyandere]

danza fan spotted

[@VioletSerenade]

@@tfwnoyandere No clue what that is tbh

[@tfwnoyandere]

tony danza tapdance extravaganza tuned ebebef#be on 8 strings

[@VioletSerenade]

@@tfwnoyandere Oh cool, will have to check them out

[@tfwnoyandere]

@@VioletSerenade i recommend their track this is forever, as a demonstration of that tuning lol

[@nathantompsett6985]

you make everything sound so damn sick! Any chance we can get a part 2 of this? Maybe with the Mastodon Tuning (Drop A with D Standard on the other 5 strings)

[@jadenrrose]

I would recommend taking a look at Ian Thornley's tunings in both Big Wreck and Thornley (Band). One of the least known guitar maniacs who still tours presently, and he's done some crazy stuff with alternate tunings. Also just an all-round great front-man.

[@benbradley1475]

It's refreshing to witness someone who I respect so much, discovering and learning and taking us along on that journey.

[@beldavius]

I'm not a guitarist, but I am a musician, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching you explore the spaces within these tunings. It really made me wish I had learned guitar when I was younger! Super talented! I love it, thanks for sharing!

[@Stratomacaster]

I've always found alternate tunings to promote creativity when you get in a rut (epecially for cool new chord progressions), but man is it hard to solo on the fly. All your usual shapes are gone and muscle memory wants to take over, but you have to fight it.

[@alexandercarlinmusic9467]

I've been messing around in Tiny Moving Parts' tuning (DAEAC#E) and I've been writing some cool stuff I wouldn't have been able to come up with otherwise

[@giuseppepratola5749]

You're always a great inspiration for all of us and what a tone Rabea, what a tone!!!!!

[@SuffyANX]

B F# B D F# B (D) is my favorite. Open Bmin, with the extra high D on 7 strings, basically a lowered version of DADFAD. It's really dark and evil sounding at first glance because of the huge open minor chord, but I've written some really nice chordal/melodic stuff with it, and a lot of cool riffs that bounce between those big 7 string barre chords and cool legato fills. It's a really cool alternative to drop tunings, since you keep the same one finger power chord shape, but can barre it for a minor chord or make it a normal major chord with one finger, and you have the open strings that are all in key with each other

[@janbatistamojdis9]

fan of B and D tuning and drop A here, never tried those you perform here, let's give it a go.. thanks for a great video as always !

[@tarkenton3895]

Glad to see the baritone m9 tuning stuck with you for Vower :)

[@markhenry3403]

Great explanation. I'm trying this out.

[@Senira322]

I can already see it now. Next time Bea does a live show, he'll bring 10 guitars all in different tunings

[@marcelq5386]

I started tuning my Guitar to CGCGCe half a year ago because of Devin Townsend and Strapping Young Lad, and now it's basically everything I use. It's so convenient and allows me to keep my high 3 strings standard (even though the B is a half step higher than usual) while having a Drop C on the Bottom 3. As soon as my custom 7-String Explorer is done, it'll have the corresponding 7-String tuning (with a low G on the bottom)

[@JacobTwoToo]

I play in DAEAC#E a lot and it's great

[@martyawgeez]

Dude I've been using DADGAD but in A for ages, I'm completely taken by that tuning it's so cool.

[@gleebus666]

very very cool to know you dont have a huge knowledge of theory, it svery inspiring that you can find these amazing riffs and phrases using your ear. pure talent. keep it real man

[@angelzors]

Bea! You are seriously one of the top RIFF KINGS!!!

[@troyshaw9356]

Hi! I'm Rabea! Wherever I put my fingers on the guitar, it sounds good!! Cheers!! LOL!! Love this Guy!!

[@ricardoalvarez8403]

I could honestly listen to Rabea nibble for hours

[@JakeTerch]

I love “drop E”, I do drop D and capo on the 2nd fret. Drop D style riffs sound fresh in E tuning!

[@GitShiddy]

B-F sharp- C sharp-D-A-B is a tuning I'll use, mainly on acoustic or cleaner electric, for some interesting harmonic complexity. Super easy to sound bad on but when you get it right it's gorgeous.

[@mdfrench27]

I really enjoyed this so far I've only learned dropped guitar tuning

[@tothpeter2296]

F A# F A# D# G C is the tuning I use on my 7 string now. It's like Drop A#, but it also has hints of F standard. Model is Cort KX500MS SDB (it doesn't have the natural back, so it can be considered as a prototype or a demo product. Heh...lucky me.) I also considered tuning it a half step up (F# B F# B E G# C#), so I can learn some Mnemic riffs without using a pitch shifter. I also used these tunings on my 7 string: F F A# D# G C F (Drop F in C std. variant - 7 string version) F D# G# C# F A# D# (F std. in A# std. var.)

[@anshulrajoria915]

I just tuned to the KARNIVOOL tuning to learn C.O.T.E. and I love it.

[@heavymachete6235]

one of my favorite alternative tunings is one that i thought of where you tune it to standard, drop the second lowest down a half step, and raise the 3rd lowest up a half step. then when you bar the 3 strings you get a major 7th triad. its really cool sounding.

[@HitMarkersAreFun]

ah, the world of alternate tunings,they can sound so great when performed by the right people. alas, I suck at all tunings, barely even novice at standard, lol. but I still like to hear them. I'll tell you a couple of reallly good musicians on YT that have done and continue to do some really great content in alternate tunings - CharlesBerthoud(mainly does it on base, wild on the the le-fay detuners) and Ichika Nito(mainly on guitar with his hand breaking songs). Bea, keep it up, let's see what else you can come up with on some alternate tunings!

[@EisensteinPrime]

Beautiful. I can hear your Tool influence bleeding through like it got stabbed in the jugular. 😂

[@adamkollarSOOT]

Stay where you are my friend! You made my whole world with your close to music.By the way, your song, prayermonger sounds interesting. Altough original hit my religion. DROP any is our world! :)

[@huwthegamer4]

Rabea your a riff god mate

[@johankarlsson1052]

so awesome sounds

[@mxaxe5591]

Very awesome! Just goes to show what one can do by "taking those chances", theory or not. I think theory at times can really detract from the excitement of "just finding" great new sounds. Fighting through the dark! Yes!

[@xxxbernumxxx]

Hey Rab hope you are doing great. Love your riffs bro. Rock on \m/

[@divinepalmer9438]

ive been playing in the mark holcomb tuning for about 2 years its on of my favorite sounds ever

[@papakefis4252]

Love your playing , riffing , music and thought behind this video!! Wish we could see more of this from you!! Also I would like to see the construction of a song ,"real time" with this kind of tunings or whatever you want!! Cheers Bea!!!

[@ShadowGoatPen]

Heh.. I don't even play guitar I just love listening to you noodling around and chatting about it. Thanks Bea :D

[@morbidangel989]

I love messing around with open tunings. I actually primarily stay in an open C (C-G-C-G-C-E) sort of tuning (I tune it up to C#), which comes from Devin Townsend being my favorite artist. I've also messed around with both the major and minor add9 sorts of tunings, which comes from Periphery's Scarlett (the major version) and Haunted Shores (the minor version), and I liked those quite a bit too. I have a 7 string that I'm tuning to open A# (just the open C intervals tuned down to A#) with an F on the highest string (which adds a minor 3rd interval on top of the open A# tuning). I personally did't quite like the DADGAD sort of interval tuning as much when I tried it, but maybe I should give it another chance and experiment with it again.

[@jibicusmaximus4827]

love your sick unique style brother.

[@pashul1n]

Rabea MAAAN you got very FIT man. Cheers)

[@ilovegreenock]

Great educational video!

[@saftpressenditmar8794]

Drop F# alternative: F# F# B E G# C#. The tuning architects are using very often.

[@ashesog4204]

I have a fun tuning for you to try but I did it on my 8 string E G D A E G B C! Wrote an ep in this tuning and had lots of fun with the new chord structures and harmonics of this tuning!

[@justinshort3623]

So good to see how healthy and happy he looks and how comfortable he is with himself nowadays.

[@juanpablovaldez1264]

You my good sir are a musical genius, I vibed hard listening to you noodling over those deep, dark and wicked chords, cheers from Argentina Bea!

[@daveweir784]

The Last progression was amazing, I have dabbled in several alternate tunings and had lots of fun with it, one you may want to try just for the sake of experimentation is New Standard Tuning(Robert Fripp).. They definitely get you thinking outside the box, I have 7 guitars at my disposal and I have tuned to various open tunings and some to Drop tunings. Have fun with it, the experimenting is a blast and with your noodling ideas you are sure to make more killer riffs! :)

[@cameronjm79]

IMHO....This is why some of the best songs ever, were written by people who don't know theory. You never know what you will find, when you go "Fighting through the dark" as you put it. When you have rules, it does give you more tools but it also tends to make people fall into a state of almost being "trapped" by the rules and the tools, so to speak. Sometimes you gotta be unafraid to hit some ugly notes to find the beautiful ones.

[@MotoTweak]

100% agreed

[@fateunleashed9680]

I entirely agree. I've taught myself instruments and even in school. To me its best to stumble your way to success by being like a rat in a maze finding the perfect way to the cheese as you know it's there you just have to find your path for the maze of your life.

[@EpicStuffMan1000]

Personally, I don't think it matters whether you know theory or not. Theory gives you the explanation of why those notes sound the way they do. It's not a set of rules, or even a guideline, to think that would be to misunderstand the point of theory entirely. People who "don't know theory" actually do, they just know the sounds instead of the names as well. Theory follows the music, never the other way around.

[@numetalmarius1241]

duuuude you have the most soothing voice ever. I could listen to you all day.

[@josefayala1974]

I kinda wish you had done the first track from the last Toska album I love that song... A Tall Order!

[@fromthe4gotten]

I would love to own a ML3 modern one day. Not a huge tele fan but that rainforest one is gorgeous 😍

[@ronabishekviswaraj7404]

Amazing content.. Thank you so much.. Inspiring lesson for upcoming guitarists like myself..

[@andrewgoreham-smith2505]

Great video. This is exactly what I wanted to see. It was interesting to watch how you adapted and how you changed your approach. DADGAD is a very rewarding tuning to play in.

[@IronBroadsword1]

Really great video, as someone who knows quite a bit of theory, hearing your approach and thoughts behind what you are doing is extremely interesting and valuable!

[@veithdelberg5106]

you describe perfectly, how i play guitar ... on EVERY tuning! LOL Dude, you're amazing, good too hear new stuff!

[@davedavem]

Song name: Fighting Through The Dark Great video! Loved seeing the process and the stuff you came up with was awesome.

[@valendis]

I am so GASing at that Mensis guitar, can't wait to get one, hopefuilly start of the year!

[@aldito7586]

Nice Rabea !!!

[@benheaver4332]

Great way to mix up what you know !! 👍

[@MrTroyBettis]

Man Bea this has really inspired me to delve into alternate tunings further. Thanks for inspiring brother!!!!

[@wilsonsguitarlounge8244]

I have a question. You say you don't have much knowledge on music theory, so what did you study at ACM? I'm currently enrolled at Berklee and I'm completely surrounded by music theory and I can't really imagine what else a music school would teach. Is ACM more focused on production? Or maybe just building connections? I'm really curious because I've always thought you had a good amount of theory knowledge, and that you just didn't think about it too much when writing. Also, you should try New Standard Tuning sometime. It's super weird but its really cool once you get used to it. Keep up the great work man!

[@oggan97]

Hi Rabea, I would love to see a video on how you record your guitar while making videos and when creating music. Really like your videos!

[@bloodreyna6700]

Great vid. I think that the beginner approach is going to become a wider knowledge of the fret with time, but the first feeling is that new discovering of the guitar and a simpler way of playing that throw away the tics that we get when playing for sometime. I use to move between d shapes: Drop d, double drop d, open d major, open d m, dadgad, so I keep some part recognizable and some new. Really interesting topic for me at this moment and walking throught the mist the darkness and the jungle into the unknown is exciting.

[@TheChonkySquirrel]

Really is a great way of getting new riff inspirations whilst exploring alternative tunings. Trying to transcribe it back into a tuning one is more comfortable with afterwards, quite a mind opener as well for musical creativity. John Browne of Monuments/Flux Conduct is a great example of using DADGAD guitar tuning. Cheers from Montreal! Always enjoy your videos.

[@bobisadrummer]

I first got into DADGAD tuning thanks to Darron Korb and the soundtrack he made for the video game Bastion. I love how easy it is to have drone note noodling on the higher strings while having familiarity to a dropped tuning from the lower strings for chugging and such.

[@ledhendrix5054]

Great intro Riff Rabea , this is a great vid , I went off on a discovery using new tunings , and it just opens up the guitar into a whole new world . I'm lucky to have a few guitars that dont have Floyd Rose bridges , which makes doing this a lot easier. Also to pick up on what you said about not having any theory knowledge I've got by without having any real in depth knowledge, also i read an article yesterday about how Tony Iommi met and got on with Eddie Van Halen and it was really good to hear Tony and Eddie say that they both do not have any guitar Theory Knowledge during a conversation , so to read that makes me feel good and gives me inspiration to just carry on learning new songs a riffs without in depth Knowledge.

[@71goaliemask]

Hi Rabea, this was a GREAT episode, catching up on the KZbin s on my day off. I've been delving into open timings on electric lately after years of only really using them on acoustic guitars. My latest fave is CGCGCE (low to high) it's amaze balls. Skate on!

[@lukasroler9380]

next toska album is going to be fire

[@Hairyloft]

Sounded so good, baritone is a beaut. Thanks for the riffs.

[@MetinFTW]

Hi Bea! Before even watching more than the intro..... You look great man! Good job on whatever you are currently doing to get so fit^^, You are a great inspiration on many fronts

[@CodyStClair-hq7oz]

You have become one of my main inspirations on playing guitar, I've played for years but your style has changed my playing big time. Would you happen to have any cool ambient settings for a boss katana??

[@benbishop7512]

John Browne writes in DADGAD, great tuning.

[@zorgmontag960]

Baritone TeleBucker + Beast = F***ing awesome

[@seviflores]

Rabea I'd love to see a video on how to count proggy sounding riffs to better comunícate with other players. It'd be really useful to me to be able to explain it drummers I jam with. I'm sure you have plenty of knowledge in this area given your drumming background and ability to create songs with Toska in odd time

[@Pericles777]

It's not so different but, I use a 7-string in Drop C with an extra low G on the bottom 7th string GCGCFAD . On my 8-string I tune to C-standard but with an extra F on the 1st and 8th string like this F C F Bb Eb G C F

[@147lucasnascimento]

The sound was great I’ll try it. Thanks man to show this for us

[@sb632]

This could be a cool series of videos. I would LOVE to see you write in open C tuning. That was one I got from mark holcomb as well

[@kapers5772]

WE NEED MORE LIKE THIS

[@coreyweber9511]

That was fire. keep it up. Also, love those reaction videos.

[@19universe81]

Great insight on an interesting topic. I recently discovered that Joe from Black Peaks has come up with very unique chord voicing in standard tuning which sound totally new to my ears. Just to say that sometimes it’s just a matter of changing the approach in what we already have, but I agree with you that this could be difficult if you are doing the same things for so long...

[@MartinBrissonStudio]

« Some of them will sound bad » me see Rabea nailed it .... yeah right gonna sound bad ahah nice video as always!

[@sierraesquivel]

Very awesome

[@donkeybong4074]

Looking Great Rabea, Keep it up man!!

[@edwinbarker7763]

immensely cool man!! such an inspiration as always, cheers bro

[@groovemonkey2498]

You’ve entered an awesome place. Don’t let the pharisees at the temple of syrinx deny you your priesthood.

[@Jesterhead21]

Dude it's always a big pleasure to watch and hear you play. Always excited about the tone you get out of that guitars and amps and I always get a smile on my face knowing why I bought a Super Kraken myself. Here's a question I have about the new standard range models you play. How do they compare to your older sig models. Is the new standard range more like your old pro and the new pro way up? I really liked the old red baritone and this new standard range is tickling me. Thanks mate! Cheers

[@RabeaMassaad]

Hey thank you so much! Really appreciate it. Yeah so with the standard range they’re all about playability. The necks are great! The main thing was because Chapman said I can bring out standard versions, I thought to myself I’m just gonna go hog wild on the pro line. Which is why they’re super high spec parts and woods and cost a lot more. I knew the standard range would be more affordable for people so I wanted to make sure they got the most valuable part of the guitar for the money, and I think that’s in the necks. They look great and the pickups are really good, but what I love most about the standard range is the playability and stability of them. They’re solid. So I’m really glad aboht that

[@Alterwill]

Dorje please... And yes, awesome tuning and riffs!

[@CatalystOfFire]

Ever since Opeth released Ghost Reveries in open A minor tuning, I've enjoyed listening to Ghost Reveries by Opeth lol

[@djvycious]

Hey man, haven't watched one of your videos in a while. Lookin' good with the weight loss! Amazing work! Great video also.

[@darkhorseO3]

Great intervalic structure ;)

[@zsoltg]

That tone 😍