[trv]

I apologize if this has been asked before...

I’m trying to learn a couple songs that are normally played on 6 strings tuned down 2 steps, on my 7 string in standard tuning. As far as I can tell my options are:

1. Tune the 7 string down 2 steps and play like I would on a 6 string.

2. Keep the 7 string tuned standard and just adjust my positioning accordingly.

3. Tune the 7 string up 1/2 a step (or put a capo on the first fret) and play everything one string lower and adjust my positioning wherever necessary.

4. Tune a 6 string down 2 steps and play it the way it was written.

Because i’m too lazy to constantly change tunings i’m trying option 2, but I imagine this is making things more difficult playing-wise. So how do you guys approach this?

I would use a capo.

[Naren]

I would not change the tuning. Depending on the kind of song it is, I'd just play it in standard. If it's a song where the C is being riffed quickly while notes around the 7th and 9th frets are being played, it would be way too difficult to play in standard without doing anything. In that case, I would capo off the first fret.

I play a lot of songs in 6-string B-standard, drop-D, whole step down, and even drop-Db on my seven-strings tuned in standard. I don't really see the point of using a six or retuning the seven (I'm generally against tuning the low B all the way down to G) when you can play all that stuff without retuning on a seven in standard.

The capo might be the best idea.

[WarriorOfMetal]

if it's metal with a lot of stuff that's hard to play without having the open Eb string, i would go with option 1 or 4. i have a personal distaste for capos.

[TomAwesome]

If transposing your playing or playing it in B instead of C doesn't work for you, a capo should work fine. Maybe I'm just lazy, but I probably wouldn't want to retune my whole guitar just to learn a song or two.

[trv]

Thanks for the insight guys. I think i’ll keep trying to learn in standard tuning and just use a capo whenever necessary. Like Ari i’m not a big capo fan, but I guess it beats retuning and resetting up the guitar for every other song.

With that being said, I guess i’ll have to go out and get a capo.

Thanks again, rep all around!

[FortePenance]

I'd actually tune up. Unless you had a 6-string that you wouldn't mind switching everytime you wanted to play this song.

[ukfswmart]

Originally Posted by FortePenance

Unless you had a 6-string that you wouldn't mind switching everytime you wanted to play this song.

+1 - keep the 7 tuned for 7-string stuff, and downtune a 6 if you want to play in C

[oompa]

ive said it before, ill say it again. if you have the music on your computer, get a tempo controller.

for example, if winamp is your player, download pacemaker:

PaceMaker v2.1 (freeware)

control tempo and pitch separately/independently. a song is 2 steps down? pitch the song down 1.0 steps. simple as that. if its too fast at start? slow it down 10-50%. you can memorize settings for each song as well, so that you can make a playlist of songs in all different (regular) tunings, and then just play them after eachother and practice without touching the tuning on your own guitar

[trv]

That program sounds great; do you know if there's one that would work on a mac with itunes?