The Expressway to Yr Skull

#DETUNINGS#

CHORD CHARTS:
DGDGBD
F#F#F#F#EB
CFCFAF
DADGAD

DADABE

The slacker's tuning. Tune 6th string down to D, 3rd string up to A. Hold down ADA strings to make power chord, as well as DAD strings. Used by Pavement, among others.

DADGBD

Very popular acoustic 'D' tuning. Tune 1st and 6th strings down to D.

DADGAD

Pronounced 'dadgad', this is another folk tuning. Tune down. Chord charts for this tuning.

CGDGBD

Called Low-C, this is another folk tuning. The 6th string is tuned all the way down to C, which gives a nice contrast with the normal-sounding other strings.

DADF#AD

My favourite open D tuning, good for acoustic and slide. Tune down.

DGDGBD

The open G tuning. Chord charts for this tuning. Used by everyone who plays slide, slightly altered versions used by Sonic Youth.

DADABD

Slightly perverse Stephen Malkmus folk-style tuning. Tune 1st down to D, 3rd up and 6th down.

DGDGBE

Similar to the above. Slighter better-sounding tuning, though, I think. Just tune down the 5th and 6th strings two notes.

DGDGGG

Vaguely sitary tuning, as used by Beck on 'Black Hole'. Sounds nice just played open.

EGDGED

Tune 1st down to D. Change 2nd string to a different gauge, such as .010 and tune to an E, or alternatively just tune 2nd string down to E, but it will flap around loosely like a sitar string. Tune 5th down to G. Play power chords on GDG strings, leaving the low E string open. Used by Sonic Youth on most the of more 'rock' songs.

F#F#F#F#EB

Complete thrash tuning. Chord charts for this tuning. Tune 1st down to B, 2nd down to E (or just swap 1st and 2nd strings around). Tune 3rd down to F#, 4th up to F#, 5th down to F#, 6th up to F#. Hold down all four F#s to make a massive one-note 'chord'. Play with maximum distortion. Used on most of the really heavy SY songs.

D#G#C#F#A#D#

For those who want it, this is half-step down. Just tune every string down one note. It sounds a little lower and makes the strings a bit wobbly, but Hendrix used it almost all the time.

EG#EG#EG#

This is a pretty daft tuning. Tune all the strings down except the 6th. Hold down either the three G#s or the three Es and let the open three strings ring out. Used in SY's 'The Expressway to yr Skull'.

EBEEAB

Tune 1st down to B, 2nd down to A, 3rd down to E, 4th up to E, 5th up to A. Used by SY's Lee Ranaldo quite a bit. Power chords readily accessible by holding down low four strings, with or without open strings. For example, a nice chord would be 12-0-0-12-X-0.

EBEG#BE

The 'E' tuning. Tune 3rd up one note, and 4th and 5th up two notes to E and B. Common tuning for slide guitar, and also used by Phoebe out of 'Friends'. No, really.

CGDGBB

Pretty whacked Pavement tuning as used by Stephen Malkmus (although not Spiral Stairs). Tune 1st down to B, 5th down to G. For the 6th string you tune all the way down to a C. The middle GDG strings form a power chord.

CGCFAD

Looks weird written down, but this is yer basic nu/trash-metal tuning, as used by Slipknot et al. Tune all the strings down one step (2 notes), then tune the 6th string down an extra step. Play the same way as drop D, just with more distortion!

CGCGAA

I think this is my own invention. Open, it forms a C 6th chord without a third. Tune strings down low, low, low. Swap the 1st string for a 2nd string gauge or leave it as is for a sitary sound. Also try CCAGAA.

C#G#C#G#A#D#

This is my rock tuning, basically tune all the strings down, except for the 3rd string which goes up one note to a G#. Essentially this means you can play power chords easier.

AADGAD

Originally a folky style tuning, chords played (for example) 5-5-7-5-5-7 or simplified just 5-5-7 sound very evil. All strings tuned down, including the 6th string which is really low. Similar tuning used by Conrad Keeley out of ...Trail of Dead.

F#F#GGAA

Sonic Youth tuning, this really needs the 1st and second strings changed to a heavy gauge, or it sounds a bit odd. Tune 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th down, and tune the 6th string up to F#. Used a lot on the early stuff, most notably on 'Schizophrenia'.

FAEACC#

The Koto tuning, as used by Melt Banana's guitarist. Tune all strings up, except the 1st string, which you tune down to C#. AEA forms a power chord, and playing the open strings arpeggiated plays a melodic scale.

CFCFAF

Jimmy Page's tuning on 'Bron yr Aur Stomp' - an excellent F open tuning. Chord charts for this tuning. Tune all strings down to the note, except for the 1st string which goes up one semitone to F.