Most open tunings call for the re-tuning of the existing strings on the guitar to notes other than the standard E A D G B E. “High stringing” calls for a different approach—the notes of the strings stay the same, but the bottom four strings are replaced with strings that are one octave higher than usual. This tuning is also commonly known as “Nashville tuning”.
Nashville tuning makes the guitar sound more homogeneous because the span of notes is reduced from three octaves to two. The resulting sound has a charming shimmering effect that reminds me of a harpsichord. You can hear the sound of the Nashville tuning on your guitar right now by fretting the E A D G strings over the top of the neck with your first finger on the 12th fret. That’s the sound of your open strings in Nashville tuning.
I don’t recommend tuning your only guitar to this tuning, but if you have a second steel-string guitar sitting around, this tuning provides a fun alternative with plenty of creative possibilities.
In the olden days, you had to buy a whole set of 12-string strings to get the high-octave E A D G strings. But nowadays, D’Addario has given us their EXL150H High-Strung Guitar Strings that provide the exact six strings you need for this tuning for just $3.99 per set. You can see them here:
accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/D’Addario-EXL150H-HighStrung-Guitar-Strings?sku=102243.
[photo: House of Sims]
Okay, I’m the first to admit it—many of the greatest rock guitarists used long straps that positioned their instruments somewhere just above their knees and played with their arms extended straight downwards in ape-like fashion. Think Slash, Keith Richards, Chuck Berry. And that’s why many of the current generation of rockers follow that example. It’s iconic and it looks cool. But, it creates a lot of technical problems.