# Is playing in open tunings like open c or open B cheating



## CrownofWorms (Jul 27, 2012)

After switching so many different tunings, I always go back to open B. I have to play in open C due to the light strings( 10- 56). But it felt like everything felt more natural and relaxed than normal tuning. So is using this tuning cheating and making a shortcut

Also it increases experimentation with the guitar


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Jul 27, 2012)

The end goal is to play music, so do whatever you need to. For the benefit of your development, I'd say that you should caution not to use the tuning as a crutch. Write and play in all keys, get to know where to find the notes on your fretboard, and nobody can ever fault you for taking a shortcut.


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## groovemasta (Jul 29, 2012)

Cheating.... in art


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## The Reverend (Jul 29, 2012)

It's totally cheating, don't listen to SW.


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Jul 29, 2012)

Come on, give the guy at least some hope.


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## Sikthness (Jul 29, 2012)

it is absolutely cheating. In fact, its even worse than drop tunings as far as cheating!


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## brutalwizard (Jul 29, 2012)

After you put in the cheat codes, by tuning to open tunings you win at music easier. just ask Devin townsend.


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## signalgrey (Jul 29, 2012)

music isnt a competition. I can see how you feel it may be "cheating" but its no more frowned upon than someone playing in DADGAD.

Explore and enjoy.


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## Santuzzo (Jul 30, 2012)

short answer : no

long answer : no way


I myself have never really experimented with open tuning, but I have heard some people write great music with open tunings.


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## peagull (Jul 30, 2012)

I play in open C, but also play in Standard or variations of standard, and will write riffs in one and then transpose it to the other. 

I had one guy tell me I was wrong and all the best music was in Standard E, even though he was wearing an AiC t-shirt  Someone overheard our argument and told him he was an idiot, and that it was no different to sitting down in a different place at a piano.

While he wasn't exactly true, it is how I view it, all the notes are the same, just in a different place. I mainly play in open C as the 2 other guitarists in my band use it. Sometimes a chord fingering is easier in C, sometimes in standard. I still have guitars tuned to both and can enjoy the benefits using both can bring.

I play guitar, not a tuning, understanding the theory behind it is the most important skill you can learn.


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## nostealbucket (Jul 30, 2012)

Playing fast shreddy stuff- possibly.
Playing chords - no. Its a lot harder.


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## The Reverend (Jul 30, 2012)

peagull said:


> I play guitar, not a tuning, understanding the theory behind it is the most important skill you can learn.



Hear, hear. 

Not that I can claim to have such a great understanding of theory.


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## no_dice (Jul 30, 2012)

I don't consider it cheating at all. You still have to do the work to play all the notes, they're just moved around a bit. I feel that open tunings add some nice shapes and voicings you couldn't do in standard tuning.


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## Winspear (Jul 30, 2012)

Pretty much agree with what everyone else says 

One thing I have noticed, is that it can make stuff just..sound better. Mainly on the open strings. They just resonate better together. An open minor chord in the exact same voicing will sound better than a fretted one, in my experience. The ability to add open ringing strings that usually work well with what you are playing is great. I'd guess this is why many acoustic players like them. With both me and a singer-songwriter friend, using open tunings on acoustic just makes us sound like far better guitarists haha. 
It definitely does give you something. But it is in no way cheating. That word should not exist in music  The sound at the end matters - nothing else.


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## Semichastny (Aug 4, 2012)

I will never be able to comprehend why people think they can "cheat" at music.


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## Amanita (Aug 4, 2012)

shortcut? yes
it makes some things easier, while at the same time it makes other harder (eg. chords vs playing scales)
cheating? only if you think about playing as some kind of a competition


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## iRaiseTheDead (Aug 7, 2012)

I always thought 'drop tunings' were "cheating"


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## CrownofWorms (Aug 15, 2012)

nostealbucket said:


> Playing fast shreddy stuff- possibly.
> Playing chords - no. Its a lot harder.



How does it make chords harder

Let's say your don't know any idea's of techniques(sweeping, legato, tapping, accurate alternate picking, economy picking etc) and plus you don't know much of techniques and how to do so

Will you still suck if your playing in open tuning


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## Solodini (Aug 16, 2012)

Not if it's a tuning which makes the notes you want easy to reach.


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## peagull (Aug 16, 2012)

CrownofWorms said:


> Let's say your don't know any idea's of techniques(sweeping, legato, tapping, accurate alternate picking, economy picking etc) and plus you don't know much of techniques and how to do so Will you still suck if your playing in open tuning


 
Do you need to be a great guitarist to write a great song? Does being a great guitarist mean you can now write great songs? Is practicing cheating? It's giving you an advantage over other guitarists who don't practice.

I'm being obtuse as it's early in the morning and just asking questions to make my point doesn't help.

You clearly feel drawn to Open B in some way, yet part of you seems to think that by using it, you are cheating. You need to drop that idea asap as it's only gonna hinder your playing and composing/song-writing. 

I get the feeling that you see the idea of playing full chords using 1 finger is the main benefit of an open tuning (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) I don't see how it's that much different to sliding a Barre chord up and down the neck? I've seen people do it in open tunings or in standard.


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## All_¥our_Bass (Aug 16, 2012)

Open tunings are practically the rule if you're playing slide.


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## TheProgWay (Aug 16, 2012)

I don't think there's anything wrong with using open tunings.. shortcuts are all good. But, if you are playing the same damn thing everytime and all songs come out the same, there might be a problem... experiment with variety of keys, harmonies, patterns, licks, etc, its all good


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## CrownofWorms (Aug 20, 2012)

how am i gonna play minor and dissonant chords

And also will I have trouble going back to a guitar in standard intervals


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## 7 Strings of Hate (Aug 20, 2012)

of course open tunings are the game shark of guitar playing. how can any self respecting musician cheat at guitar?!?!?! For shame sir! For shame!


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## JosephVincent (Aug 20, 2012)

Exploring different tunings isn't cheating. If anything it'd be beneficial. It'd teach you relationships between intervals quick.


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## CrownofWorms (Aug 20, 2012)

I guess sounding like gorguts makes it a bit harder and more elaborate(which is fun)


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## Epyon6 (Aug 20, 2012)

Simply with my opinion if you are doing it to make things so much easier and avoiding actual practice and technique then I see it as a panzy thing to do, EXAMPLE: many metalcore kids around here use drop tunings because their too lazy to actually use power chords and not use the drop tunings for the real reason they should be used like for extended range in chords and things of that nature. But you cant "cheat in music" lol.


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## Amanita (Aug 20, 2012)

CrownofWorms said:


> how am i gonna play minor and dissonant chords
> 
> And also will I have trouble going back to a guitar in standard intervals


<sigh> an example...
i tune an 8string EAEAEGBD (and a baritone 6 AEAEGB). this ain't exactly an open chord (on a six you could say it's open A9)
you get all drops on low strings and all thirds on treble side. getting note clusters and all kinds of 7th chords is trivially easy 
now i didn't sit and wonder how should i tune my guitars in some fancy way but experimented a bit and at some point i discovered this particular tuning works surprisingly well _for me_.
yup, sometime i find it a bit hard to remember how to play a guitar tuned in standard


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Aug 20, 2012)

JosephVincent said:


> Exploring different tunings isn't cheating. If anything it'd be beneficial. It'd teach you relationships between intervals quick.



I've never had a problem with intervallic relationships in standard tuning. I'd suspect that retuning as a shortcut would probably encourage more shapewise thinking than intervallic thinking.



CrownofWorms said:


> how am i gonna play minor and dissonant chords



As Amanita points out, all intervals are readily available at your fingertips in standard and drop tuning. Really, I'd stick with standard and actually figure out what's going on, rather than change the entire instrument at a whim and hope that it turns out for the best. How have you been playing those chords before?



> And also will I have trouble going back to a guitar in standard intervals


I suppose that depends more on you than it does the guitar. Actually, much could be said for the rest of the question.


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## CrownofWorms (Aug 20, 2012)

JosephVincent said:


> Exploring different tunings isn't cheating. If anything it'd be beneficial. It'd teach you relationships between intervals quick.



How


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## Choop (Aug 20, 2012)

I really like open tunings, and played in open C for a long time after discovering Devin Townsend. It just is an interesting new way to try and write cool riffs on the guitar for me. I guess it could be cheating if you just want to bar major chords the entire song, but then I didn't know guitar playing was a competition.


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## Projectdream95 (Aug 20, 2012)

Like a lot of people have said, the kind of tuning you use isn't cheating, as each tuning gives you completely different possibilities to experiment with. Just focus on understanding the theory behind the notes you're choosing in your tuning


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## starslight (Aug 21, 2012)

If it helps you get the music out, it's good. That's what I think. I was really into Michael Hedges and Don Ross for a while and made this silly chart to help me be able to practice scales and arpeggios in a wide variety of tunings:


```
different tunings containing the same interval groups:

 DADEA_
 R5R25
_GDGAD
 R5R25

 DADGA_
 R5R45
_GDGCD
 R5R45
  _ADE__
   R45

  C GC GC_
  R 5R 5R
 _F CF CF
  R 5R 5R
__BbFBbF
  R 5R 5
   

 	DADF#A_
 	R5R3 5
       _GDGB D
        R5R3 5
      __CGCE
        R5R3
```

These are just some I came up with for tunings that were popping up frequently in the grandpa's-guitars stuff I was fucking around with at the time (CFCFCF = fuck yeah Nick Drake). I got the idea from studying a lot of slide guitar guys, who often use this principle to play the same licks in the two most common slide tunings, open D and open G.


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## HoKrll (Aug 21, 2012)

Open C opened my mind up to sooo many more possibilities. 
Just playing like you are in standard, but in open c, makes all these incorrect intervals within the scale...but it leads you to new ideas and different ways to approach a sound. If that makes sense.

Anyways, playing minor in open c sucks. Find your inversions! or use diads


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## rjnix_0329 (Aug 27, 2012)

If Devin Townsend is wrong, I don't want to be right. 

If you understand what you are composing and playing, and are simply letting the notes flow from your fingers, it doesn't matter what intervals you have your strings set to.


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## AxeHappy (Aug 27, 2012)

I think he wasn't concerned with, "cheating," but more on cheating himself. Like would it be handicapping himself to play in these tunings because it's easier. 

That said, everything already said covers it. No. Not at all. And this is from a guy who plays almost exclusively in standard.


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