# Guitar players: are some key signatures preferred or easier to play? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 21, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-are-some-key-signatures-preferred-or-easier-to-play/525907 "2010-01-21T22:12:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-are-some-key-signatures-preferred-or-easier-to-play/525907/21 "2010-01-22T14:40:39Z")
Upon review: what \*\*Captain Mumble \*\*said. And regarding \*\*Khaki Campbell’s \*\*comment - yeah, metal players adopted dropped D tuning and de-tuning to a huge degree over the past 10-15 years. Not much to add other than it really takes the guitar to a different place, sonically. Guitars, as a format for a musical instrument, are so freaking versatile. Also, they cover much of the same real estate as a piano, but in such a completely different way. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-are-some-key-signatures-preferred-or-easier-to-play/525907/22 "2010-01-22T14:55:32Z")
> [@Khaki\_Campbell](#): > > Bah, one semitone doesn’t give that much slack on the strings, especially when some bands (Morbid Angel and Carcass) tune **6** half-tones below, and shred the f\*\*\* out of them. Which technique (drop D and below) was developed because Tommy Iommi lost the top of two fingers. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-are-some-key-signatures-preferred-or-easier-to-play/525907/23 "2010-01-22T16:37:48Z")
> [@Khaki\_Campbell](#): > > Bah, one semitone doesn’t give that much slack on the strings, especially when some bands (Morbid Angel and Carcass) tune **6** half-tones below, and shred the f\*\*\* out of them. Out of curiosity, does one have to do anything special to keep the guitar in tune if you tune this far out (that’d be the equivalent of tuning down to Bb-Eb-Ab-Db-F-Bb.) I know that with the guitars I’ve played around with, if you detune more than two semi tones, things start getting really funny, especially up the fretboard. Do you use different strings (like go “down” a string – use a low E string as your second lowest string, instead of the A string) or use an extra-heave gauge or have to get the intonation adjusted or something like that? ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-are-some-key-signatures-preferred-or-easier-to-play/525907/24 "2010-01-22T17:09:38Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Out of curiosity, does one have to do anything special to keep the guitar in tune if you tune this far out (that’d be the equivalent of tuning down to Bb-Eb-Ab-Db-F-Bb.) I know that with the guitars I’ve played around with, if you detune more than two semi tones, things start getting really funny, especially up the fretboard. Do you use different strings (like go “down” a string – use a low E string as your second lowest string, instead of the A string) or use an extra-heave gauge or have to get the intonation adjusted or something like that? I could be wrong, but I believe you have to adjust the truss rod as well as up the gauge of the string. David Wilcox (folker) has a song called [Someday Soon where he tunes it to G-C-G-A-C-G.](http://www.clator.net/wilcox/wilcox-faq-III.html)Wilcox calls this “stage-two tuning,” where the tunings get so weird that you can’t use regular strings. The sixth string is a double- wound bass string that is so big he had to drill out the hole in the tuning peg and at the saddle. He tunes it to a low G, one octave lower than the lowest G on a standard-tuned guitar. He puts a regular sixth string in the fifth string slot to tune it down to C and replaces the regular first string with an electric guitar string in order to tune up to a high G.) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-are-some-key-signatures-preferred-or-easier-to-play/525907/25 "2010-01-22T19:35:08Z")
Fundamentally, you are transitioning the guitar to be more of a [Baritone Guitar](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baritone_guitar)or even a [Piccolo Bass](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piccolo_bass) (both are wikipedia links…) If you set up a normal guitar for heavy dropped tuning, you have to do the type of stuff \*\*stpauler \*\*outlines - you certainly have to go for a much heavier gauge strings… At the other end of the spectrum, just to give you a sense, you have [Nashville Tuning](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashville_tuning) - see the definition where “Nashville Tuning” is in quotations: > [@](#): > > Nashville Tuning" can also refer to the practice of tuning the wound EADG strings on a standardly tuned six-string guitar an octave higher. This is usually achieved by replacing the standard-gauge string with the equivalent octave string from a 12-string set. So basically, NT is a “Cheater’s 12-string” where you substitute the lower-gauge strings at the bottom of the guitar with light strings. So you get a 12-string effect of having the higher notes doubled up - you would typically have a standard guitar strumming underneath it on a different track to fill out the sound… So yeah, messing with string gauges adds a whole 'nother dimension to guitars without even getting into alternate tunings…very different from pianos, where if you want to play a “[prepared piano](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prepared_piano)” it is a much bigger change… ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-are-some-key-signatures-preferred-or-easier-to-play/525907/26 "2010-01-22T21:38:04Z")
This reminds me of the scene in “Hail, Hail, Rock and Roll”, a movie about Chuck Berry (well, about him and a concert Keith Richards put together for Berry to finally have an all-star backing band). Anyway, someone (I think Keith?) is talking about how they noticed all of Berry’s songs were in really weird keys for a guitar, B-flat and things like that. Given that Berry mostly played bar chords and up on the neck, it didn’t make a lot of difference, but it was still unusual, as most guitarists would just naturally write them in A or whatever instead. That’s when they realized how important Johnnie Johnson, Chuck’s piano player, was to creating his sound. Because these were all natural piano keys. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-are-some-key-signatures-preferred-or-easier-to-play/525907/27 "2010-01-22T21:42:38Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > This reminds me of the scene in “Hail, Hail, Rock and Roll”, a movie about Chuck Berry (well, about him and a concert Keith Richards put together for Berry to finally have an all-star backing band). > Anyway, someone (I think Keith?) is talking about how they noticed all of Berry’s songs were in really weird keys for a guitar, B-flat and things like that. Given that Berry mostly played bar chords and up on the neck, it didn’t make a lot of difference, but it was still unusual, as most guitarists would just naturally write them in A or whatever instead. That’s when they realized how important Johnnie Johnson, Chuck’s piano player, was to creating his sound. Because these were all natural piano keys. Great observation - and VERY true about Johnnie Johnson - talk about an unheralded founding father of rock… …also, Chuck’s hands are so frigging big that he can use them virtually like a capo to play in normally-hard-to-play-in keys… ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-are-some-key-signatures-preferred-or-easier-to-play/525907/28 "2010-01-22T23:32:59Z")
Just because - Matteo Carcassi - 25 studies, op. 60. A Major - 8 C Major - 4 D Major - 4 a minor - 3 E Major - 2 F Major - 1 G Major - 1 d minor - 1 e minor - 1 Julio S. Sagreras - Lecciones, Book 3 (38 total) a minor - 9 E Major - 6 A Major - 6 e minor - 6 D Major - 4 C Major - 3 d minor - 2 G Major - 1 c minor - 1 I don’t see a lot of Bb Major or Ab minor in there… ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-are-some-key-signatures-preferred-or-easier-to-play/525907/29 "2010-01-23T01:45:04Z")
Sorry - the hamsters ate the part where I said I went through those two books and counted how times each key was used… ---
**Author:** ![jimmiwatson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c0e974/32.png) [@jimmiwatson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmiwatson)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-are-some-key-signatures-preferred-or-easier-to-play/525907/30 "2010-01-25T02:15:37Z")
Most guitarists learn the pentatonic scales of E and A first with the 1-4-5 Blues chord progression first. This is the easiest way to get some good first up sounds from a guitar. This may then be the reason they are favourite guitar signatures. http:playguitar-jimmi.com ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-are-some-key-signatures-preferred-or-easier-to-play/525907/31 "2010-01-25T04:11:50Z")
> [@Captain\_Mumble](#): > > My band has been detuned (Eb) since the early '90’s. > > 2 main reasons- tone and vocal assistance. We’re a blues/rock trio… > > [Snip] > > Throat warbling and didgeridoo impressions are all part of the show …or you could just [play the Blues on an actual didgeridoo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD-AbKtYDU8). Update: With Chuck Berry quote included for extra relevance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-are-some-key-signatures-preferred-or-easier-to-play/525907.md?page=1)