Instructions for Tuning a Guitar a Half Step Down
Jimmie Hendrix often tuned his guitar a half step down and Stevie Ray Vaughn used the same technique as well. The relationship between the strings remains the same, it is not necessary to learn new fingerings for chords or scale. Tuning the guitar down a half step lowers the pitch from "E" standard to "E-flat" standard. The main advantage is that the strings are more flexible and easier to bend. Bending strings is a technique heavily relied upon by blues guitarists and is an essential part of the styles of Hendrix and Stevie Ray. The lower pitch also produces a heavier sound.
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Instructions
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Purchase a chromatic tuner. Chromatic tuners allow you to tune to any pitch of the 12-note chromatic scale. The simplest way to think of the chromatic scale is to visualize the sixth string of the guitar. The chromatic scale can start on any note and it contains every possible note. This corresponds with the 12 frets of the guitar. Start with the open "E" of the sixth string and play every fret until you reach the 12th fret which is also an "E."
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Tune your guitar down a half step using the chromatic tuner. The chromatic tuner will indicate the pitch that you are tuning to. Some tuners indicate pitch with a green light that shows when the string is in tune and red lights to show when the string is sharp or flat. Other tuners use a needle that aligns to 440 in the center when the string is in tune and that fluctuates to the left or right when the string is sharp or flat. Standard tuning for a guitar is, going from the sixth string to the first string, "E"-"A"-"D"-"G"-"B"-"E." Lower the sixth string down to "E-flat," the fifth string to "A-flat," the fourth string to "D-flat," the third string to "G-flat," the second string to "B-flat," and the first string to "E-flat."
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Tune the guitar half a step down with your ear. If you are used to tuning the guitar by ear this is a very simple and quick way to drop the pitch half a step. Play the sixth string at the fourth fret, this is "A-flat," and tune the open fifth string to this pitch. To do this, it is essential that the sixth string is tuned to "E." The fifth string is now tuned to "A-flat." Fret the fifth string at the fifth fret and tune the fourth string to "D-flat." Fret the fourth string at the fifth fret and tune the third string to "G-flat." Fret the third string at the fourth fret and tune the second string to "B-flat." Finally, fret the second string at the fifth fret and tune the first string to "E-flat." Play an E major chord, that is now actually an E-flat major chord, and play all six strings to check the tuning.
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Play along with Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn albums. Now that your guitar is tuned down a half step, it is possible to play in tune with Hendrix and Stevie Ray's recordings and start copying their guitar licks.
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