Guitar set-up
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I just want to ask a general guitar question! I recently started to tune all my acoustic guitar strings half step down since I find it easier to play that way. I live in a region with a relatively high humidity level and I'm not really sure if thats the cause, but the action seems to be too high on my guitar making it difficult to play. I find that tuning a half step down releases some of the tension making it easier to play. This has some disadvantages such as making it difficult to follow along with pre-recorded backing tracks and jamming with other musicians who are in standard tuning. But I wanted to get some advise on if its really ok to do this or if it will be detrimental to my overall improvement as a guitarist?
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@Aman-Paul-George
Hi there!
You are right! Tuning the guitar down a half step releases some tension and for some people it might feel a bit easier to play! The playability has very much to do with the setup of the guitar. How high the action is (strings far away or close to the fretboard), string gauge, angle of the neck (truss rod), playing style etc etc. What I suggest you to do is to try a much lighter string guage, to see if it feels ok to play even in standard tuning. Also, if you haven't already, get your guitar set up properly in terms of neck angle and action. The guitar should be easy enough to play in standard tuning. IF you feel like you still have to tune down a half step, and wants to play together with a backing track in E or something, and want to play using open strings etc, you could download a software that can change pitch for your backing track (for example the software "Transcribe!"), and tune down the pitch a half step. Then you can practice along to it. This obviously doesn't solve the issue when you're playing together with other musicians :) You'd have to be in the same key as them, whatever they play ;-) Anyway, let me know if I can help with any further question! Kind regards/Emil
