ALTERNATE TUNINGS IN ACOUSTIC GUITAR.

USES AND APPLICATION

By Juan Prada Goyeneche

Dissertation to apply for the Major in Music degree at Universidad Pedaggica

Nacional in 2015

This dissertation is built around the utilization of alternate tunings

for guitar, taken from and analyzed in three different musical pieces
written by Andy McKee (Kansas, USA, 1979). It is particularly interested
in the performance and disposition of the guitarist when approaching the
challenges they present. The guitar is a very popular instrument in the
musical world. Since its introduction (during the XVI century), it has been
used by amateurs and professionals due to its easy access, size and
sound. It is an instrument ruled by the canons of the western
temperament system. The guitar is usually tuned in the standardized
EADGBE tuning system. However, several performers, composers and
teachers have explored different ways to tune the instrument, creating
new possibilities of instrument knowledge for several levels of
musicianship.

Changes in one or more of the guitars strings radically alter the

technical preconception and the hand disposition for the instrument.
Because of this, the study of a repertoire that uses alternate tunings on
guitar requires a better understanding of the instrument, of its technical
concepts and of its performance. It also demands deep involvement of
the guitarist with the piece, due to the possible complications generated
once the known fingering maps for chords and scales are altered.

Moreover, its important to take into account the audible aspects of

these tunings, referring to the surrounding atmosphere and the timbre
characteristics that are generated when plucking the strings and to how
the altering of a preconceived order can generated different sensations
when approaching different pieces of music.

Alternate tunings have not been approached extensively in a direct

and concise way due to the standardized EADGBE system. Over time,
and with the beginning and blooming of the technological era and the
globalization of knowledge that came along with the internet, a number
of guitarists (Andy McKee, Don Ross, Antoine Dufour, Michael Hedges,
Jon Gomm, Tommy Emmanuel, Tony McManus, among others) that had
the experience and knowledge in the field, decided to show their works
to the world, with tremendous success and an unexpected welcome. In
this way, access to videos showing different logics in the approach to the
guitar in several innovative pieces has been made possible, allowing the
listener to not only experience different sound properties than they may
be used to, but to observe and analyze the different technical and
performance skills required to study said pieces.

Throughout history, Music has transformed into a more intricate and

demanding process due to the constant search for innovation. In that
sense, its accurate to say that music has become more complex with
the passing of time. Complexity doesnt refer precisely the complications
that come out of something new, but to the higher elaboration that
something may have compared with the existing, common notions in the
society and culture where it is presented. In other words, the fact that
something complex exists doesnt mean a need is created for something
that allows the musical resources of the performer to be used. The
richness of musical complexity lies in the spiral that is produced when
the interpreter starts always from what was considered innovative
before, and then adds something new, and that new element becomes a
starting point itself instead of a goal reached. Whats best than a
continuous musical learning process? Why set limits to what you can and
want to do?

Historically, music has been subject to changes directly associated

to the context, time and places that surrounded it, thus creating an
infinite number of styles and resources for composers and performers
worldwide to use. Guitar music has also been affected by these changes
and because of them, technique improvements and possibilities hasnt
stopped to this day. Due to the questions and concepts mentioned
before, the question that generates this investigation is born: What
performance and technical elements can the study and analysis of 3
guitar pieces by Andy McKee that use alternate tunings contribute to the
development of a music student?

One of the first moments of interest in the study of tuning as a part

of a guitar players learning process that comes out of an academic text,
appears in the guitar method written by the renowned Spanish guitarist
and teacher Fernando Sor (1778-1839), who says:

By knowing how the guitar is tuned, the knowledge of the intervals of

the diatonic scale indicates where to press the string to find the
intermediate sounds between two open strings.1

This way, guitar players use their own resources as well as the ones
they learn during their musical learning path. In addition to these, it is
necessary to develop a set of new resources that allow a different
approach than the traditional one, as far as performing music on the
guitar concerns. Therefore, the main objective of this investigation is to
explore the technical and performing elements and resources given by
the study of alternate tunings on guitar. It also attempts to promote the
mindset of self-analyzing the learning processes around the guitar, given
1 Sor, F. (1924). Method pour le Guitar. London. Robert Cocks & Co. Pag. 7 .
the difficulties and new tools that appear when approaching alternate
tunings. This interest began with the research presented by the
American teacher and researcher William Sethares (1955). Sethares
summarizes the essence of the challenge presented by alternate tunings
and its relevance in the learning process of guitar players:

New tunings inspire new musical thoughts. Alternate tunings let you play
voicings and slide between chord forms that would normally be impossible.
They give access to nonstandard open strings. Playing familiar fingerings on
an unfamiliar fretboard is exciting - you never know exactly what to expect.
And working out familiar riffs on an unfamiliar fretboard often suggests new
sound patterns and variations.2

To find and support said contributions, 3 tools were used for the
exploring and consolidation of the positive aspects of studying alternate
tunings. The first one was the design of an exploratory and descriptive
study3 of the different processes of study, practice and performance of
guitar works that present the guitarist with the challenge of tuning the
instrument in a different way, through a thought process called self-
observation4. Thanks to the definition of this methodological approach,
meta-cognition was also employed as a pedagogical application tool,
defined as the self-observation of learning pathways and the monitoring
of the progress in them, thanks to the use of previously acquired
knowledge. Finally, musical analysis was utilized to catalog the musical
elements of the chosen guitar pieces for a better understanding and for
2 Sethares, W. (1995). Alternate Tuning Guide. Madison, Wisconsin. Pag 1.

3 Hernandez Sampieri, R. (1999) Metodologa de la Investigacin. Mxico DF.

Pag 58-62. Exploratory studies take place when the main goal is to examine
an investigation topic or problem that hasnt been approached before

4 Lopez-Cano, R. (2014) Investigacin Artstica en Msica: Problemas, mtodos,

experiencias y modelos. Barcelona, Espaa. Pg 150. Self-observation is the
equivalent of the participative observation of academic qualitative methods but
referred to the same subject that does the observation.
the discovery of pedagogical processes that may be applicable thanks to
their use.

Within common learning processes, the relevance of studying

proper tuning is taken for granted, whether it is standard or alternate
tuning. The possibilities of timbre and fingering patterns that each
tuning presents, enable the performance of certain pieces, allowing also
to explore a different harmonic depth than the one allowed by
conventional tuning. It allows as well to develop a compositional
language of our own, enriched by both aspects, that can be focused on
the creation of new music that uses alternate tunings. Sethares
describes the importance of new challenges for a guitar player as the
basis for the utilization of alternate tunings:

New tunings are a way to recapture the wonder you experienced

when first finding your way around the fretboard. 5

Modifying the tuning of the instrument doesnt leave common

pedagogical processes unused, but challenges them to take a different
look and to apply new logics and new thought processes on the guitar,
thus achieving a deeper knowledge of the instrument and awakening
different sensations and needs in the performer that push hi mor her to
delve into the guitar more and more.

Excerpt from the dissertation written by Juan Prada, May 2015.

5 Sethares, W. (1995). Alternate Tuning Guide. Madison, Wisconsin. Pag 1.