Backwards Guitar Demos

[mrblitz]

Lately I've been tuning my guitar 'backwards.' There is a picture at the website which illustrates what I mean by this. There are several videos there at the top of the page which shows what it sounds/looks like.

Unfortunately they are large files (50+ mb) so you will most likely need a fast connection.

http://www.ravenwitchwoman.com

[mrblitz]

The example diagram shows the guitar tuned backwards, and down two full steps from a regular guitar; from e to c.

Being in c instead of e allows for really large string bends. On the other hand, keeping the 3rd string in particular in tune is problematic; particularly with this Ibanez.

Be that as it may, if a person wanted to stay in e tuning, they could take the notes listed in the drawing and tune up 2 full steps from each one.

From what I've noticed, the looser strings overall make fast picking runs more difficult, as each string takes more time to recover upon being picked; back to its original position.

On the other hand it would seem that having loosened strings makes two-handed tapping or legato 'easier' to do.

The main thing is - all discussion of tuning to c or e or whatever aside - that in tuning 'backwards,' all of the stuff I previously knew has to be relearned in a mirror fashion. Each scale or chord pattern has to be 'flipped over.' In some cases old chord voicings have to be ditched entirely as they're not practical in their reversed form; and new voicings have to be invented.

At first, I had switched the strings as well, so that the thickest string was in the '1' position, and the thinnest in the '6' position. The problem with this approach was that, on a standard guitar without a modified nut, the thick strings sat 'too high' on the one hand and the thin strings fell 'too low' into the nut grooves.

So I went back to more or less a standard string configuration, with backwards notes. If a player wanted to reverse the strings as well, I would recommend a nut modified for that. As for that 4th string being 'out of order,' I long ago filed that groove on the nut for a larger string. It was because of some other tuning which was being experimented with at the time. That's probably neither here nor there though.

Be that as it may, one of the pecularities or 'features' of this tuning is that you can start up a scale from the 1st string, and as the letter designations of the notes themselves go 'up,' the actual sounds are going down.

So if a player started on the 1st string, 'a' note and played a-b-c-d-e-f-g and so forth 'up' through the thick strings to the 6th string, the scale is going up but down at the same time.

All of that aside, the switched or 'mirrored' effect of this tuning leads to a lot of voicings I'd never before discovered.

The thing with being tuned to c or e or whatever is a matter of personal preference. In 'c' I trade off in losing some ability to pick fast, whilst gaining the ability for 'monster' string bends and perhaps a more fluid legato.

Anyway, that diagram is simply an idea; one of many. There are literally unlimited ways in which a player can tune their guitar.

As mentioned before, tuning down - whether in forward or reverse - is a way of allowing for crazy string bends.

[Gjermundsen]

seriously..i dont get it..lol
i mean..why bother?

[mrblitz]

It really doesn't play quite the same as a standard guitar. It doesn't sound the same either. The voicings or note combinations are different.

It's also akin to re-learning the instrument, extrapolating everything into reverse; and where a 1:1 forward:reverse conversion isn't possible, it calls for the creation of entirely new voicings.

[Lucifer2066]

Man that's kinda funny cuz everytime I pick up a right handed guitar it's all backwards for me and it sucks. So why not just get a lefty and see what us leftys have to deal with all the time?

I know all about having to file the nut cuz I have had to string many guitars backwards just to play. But you also have to re-intonate the guitar as well.

But in your case you don't have to deal with the other problems that I do. Like all of the knobs being right under your strumming arm where you are turning your volume and tone down all the time. Or the cutaway being reversed and you can't get to the high notes as easy. Then there is the strap buttons being balanced backwards making the guitar want to roll forward and the neck point down.

There are even little things like the numbers on the volume and tone knobs being backwards, the pots turn backwards, the pickguards guard the part ya don't need and let ya mess up the finish on the other side, tuning pegs are on the bottom and turn backwards, the little fret markers on the side of the neck are on the bottom where you can't see them. The cord jack is under yer armpit in a real akward place. Yeah us lefties are all too familiar with backwards...lol
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