Dropping down a tone…

[steak&chips]

I’m often finding I need to tune my guitar down a whole step in order that I can sing in a decent range. I tend to use 10s on an acoustic, but should I move to 11s to get a better tone when tuned down?

An example would be on Don’t Look Back In Anger, when it hits the chorus “…and soooo Sally can wait…”, that top note on “so” is a proper strain to hit and it doesn’t suit the song to scream it to cover up. So tuning down is increasingly the only way I can do without it sounding terrible, but some open chords just don’t feel right.

 

[soulman969]

It's not uncommon for those of us who tune down a half step or more to immediately notice the difference in how some chords sound. Ir's especially true for me since my electrics are all tuned to standard pitch.

That said I have almost always tuned my acoustics down a half step for exactly the same reason and as I've aged it's become even more important. I'll even change keys to find the most comfortable range.

I think you'll find that as you play more in any altered tuning you get more accustomed to hearing it and tend to notice it less. Anyway, altering the key or tuning is far better than running out of vocal range.

 

[steak&chips]

I often wonder where my voice will go in about 20 years time - will probably need to sing along with a bass! Although I don’t actually have a deep speaking voice, it’s just a limited high range. I guess we all have to live with what we have been gifted (or not gifted) with regards to singing.

It’s an interesting conundrum, because in standard tuning sometimes all it takes is a capo on the 1st, 2nd or 3rd fret to bring the key in to a place that vocally doesn’t require singing high, which feels counterintuitive. Difficult to pull off with a song where everyone in the pub knows it well and they go for the ‘regular’ key if singing along.

 

[Maguchi]

I usually don't tune down and just play a Bb Eb Ab and Db chord in E standard tuning at the 1st fret. You play those chords for a little while and they become 2nd nature.

 

[AJ6stringsting]

On my my 25.5 length guitars, I use 10, 13, 17, 26, 36, 46 , but on my 24.75 Gibson V or Epiphone LPC, I use 11, 14, 18, 28, 38, 52 to get the same feeling.

But if I have to down tune, I use my RP-12's or use the Whammy Pedal on my Digitech 2112 .

 

[Jon Kerr]

I’m not much of an acoustic player so I don’t have any direct experience for you. But on electrics I actually like using the heavy bottom NYXLs 10-52 on anything I’m going to be down tuning at all. Drop D, Drop C#, Eb, etc… Im lucky enough to be able to keep at least one guitar setup in each of those tunings. Gives me the support on the heavier strings so they don’t get floppy like a wet noodle. But still light enough on the treble strings to feel familiar. Standard tuning I use 10-46 on everything.

Probably irrelevant for acoustic, but I also picked up DigiTech Drop pitch shifter. It does an OK job. It doesn’t sound as good as a properly setup and down tuned guitar. But it’s fine if I just want to try something.

 

[Mike Hickey]

If I tune down with my Les Paul it loses it punch on the bottom end. It's easy to just change keys or better yet get a singer. There's a noticable loss of dynamics when you lower the key by more than a step. More importantly detuning a Les Paul ruins it's tone