# "Gambale Tuning" finally revealed.



## God Hand Apostle (Jan 26, 2006)

Same relative tuning as guitar but up a 4th with the two high strings down an octave.

6th string = A ( usually the 5th string )
5th string = D ( usually the 4th string )
4th string = G ( usually the 3rd string )
3rd string = C ( usually the 2nd string but up a half step )
2nd string = E ( same pitch as 2nd fret on a D string on a regularly tuned guitar )
1st string = A ( same pitch as 2nd fret on a G string on a regularly tuned guitar )


Frank says, "6th, 5th, 4th and 3rd strings of the Gambale tuning are A,D,G and B strings from a standard 10s set. 2nd and 1st strings of Gambale tuning I use D and G string from a 9s set tuned up a whole step."


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## dpm (Jan 26, 2006)

that is rather odd


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## Shawn (Jan 26, 2006)

It is odd. He smokes though. The Light Beyond is the last great cd I checked out of his.


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## distressed_romeo (Jan 27, 2006)

Finally! Been waiting to find out about this for a while!
I suspected it was something like this, although I thought it was standard tuning with the middle two strings strung an octave higher, like the tuning Pat Metheny uses on his acoustic baritone guitar. Going to give this a try this evening!


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## WayneCustom7 (Jan 27, 2006)

Man that fucks me up...


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## distressed_romeo (Jan 27, 2006)

Just strung up one of my sixes in it using the gauges Gambale suggested; it's going to take a while to really explore all the possibilities, but it's certainly interesting...it has a really bright, chimy sound, and normal chord fingerings sound totally different. I'm planning on sticking with it for a while and seeing what happens with it.


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## dpm (Jan 27, 2006)

I think I might give this a try, maybe tuned down a bit.


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## Roland777 (Jan 27, 2006)

I guess I'll try out all fourths instead.


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## dpm (Jan 27, 2006)

Roland777 said:


> I guess I'll try out all fourths instead.



Do it, 4ths is _it!_


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## Roland777 (Jan 27, 2006)

dpm said:


> Do it, 4ths is _it!_



Been meaning to try it out, but it means that I'll have to recompensate all the solo's I've written, reform the tapping patterns and get used to reshaped "wah"-chords (normally barring the top 3 strings across the same fret)... Tell me, is it worth the benefits in the end?


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## dpm (Jan 27, 2006)

I can only speak for myself. When I switched to all 4ths I'd been playing for over ten years, and was pretty competant over the whole fretboard. All of a sudden, in 4ths, the guitar made a _whole_ lot more sense to me, and my playing improved a lot (imo). Prior to that I couldn't help but see the fretboard as two entities, like - BEADG being the first, and GBE being the second. Now it's all one instrument, BEADGCF, and I can move any pattern or shape anywhere with the same relative result. As far as adaptation goes, all you need to do mentally is move the notes on the two treble strings down one fret, not really a big deal. My C and F strings are 1 gauge lighter than I normally use for B and E to compensate for the higher tuning btw


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## distressed_romeo (Jan 31, 2006)

Reviving this thread again...

Experimented with this tuning for a bit now! It would be really interesting to use it in the same way as nashville tuning; double a strummed guitar to fill out the sound. It would kinda awkward to use live though, as it doesn't really work for anything except chordal stuff, and I don't have the cash for a doubleneck, so for now I think I'm just going to keep it in reserve as a recording tool.


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## God Hand Apostle (Mar 2, 2008)

So, my favorite "internet shredder" Marshall Harrison had disapeared from cyberspace for a while...his web page is still gone. But a couple days ago, he uploaded 2 new vids to youtube. Seems hes been playing with this tuning enough to have Conklin build him a 3/4 size 7 string just for this tuning. Check it out.

Part I:
YouTube - Marshall Harrison plays a 3/4 scale, 7 string guitar

Part II:
YouTube - Marshall Harrison and the 0.75 scale guitar (part II)

Dude has some of the best taste in guitars. I love all the instruments he has.


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## playstopause (Mar 2, 2008)

^
 Holly shit, this guy's crazy: 



Oh, and holly bump!


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## distressed_romeo (Mar 2, 2008)

God Hand Apostle said:


> So, my favorite "internet shredder" Marshall Harrison had disapeared from cyberspace for a while...his web page is still gone. But a couple days ago, he uploaded 2 new vids to youtube. Seems hes been playing with this tuning enough to have Conklin build him a 3/4 size 7 string just for this tuning. Check it out.
> 
> Part I:
> YouTube - Marshall Harrison plays a 3/4 scale, 7 string guitar
> ...



Hmmmmm...that doesn't look or sound like the Gambale tuning. What he's done is more like taking standard seven-string tuning up a fourth, or if you like, taken the High A tuning on the seven-string (EADGBEA) and tuned the third string up a semitone, so the string relationships are the same as standard B-E tuning. It's a pretty cool idea. I'd actually thought about it myself as a potential eight-string tuning (BEADGCEA).

Anyway, nice videos...makes me wanna go practice my economy and hybrid picking!


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## stubhead (Mar 3, 2008)

Hybrid picking is my dirty little secret: at high speeds doing strict alternate picking like Steve Morse and John Petrucci is _really_ hard, because the changes in pick direction on odd-numbered notes is so hard to track - the only people who can do it are the ones who put in 8 and 10 hours a day for years.  Both economy and hybrid picking let you sneak in a note now and then that let your alternate picking stay on even beats, though alternate is at the heart of it and still needs to be practiced. That's what the guy in this video is using the hybrid for, and I'm sure that's one reason why Zakk Wylde, Andy Timmons and John 5 throw in the middle finger.  (If you listen to Paul Gilbert's picked "trills" carefully, they're all two or four notes long - try a _three_-note trill, and watch how bad it fucks up your picking....)

I spent more time learning Morse licks than any other (Coast to Coast & Southern Steel, two _perfect_ ten-out-of-ten albums) and I figured out that if I was going to really get them, I just had to cheat. Both Petrucci and Morse pride themselves on playing through the most difficult sequences possible, and their songwriting reflects their exercises (sometimes too much, re Dream Theater ). To actually play each lick right without glossing over some notes, I need all the help I can get. Greg Howe hammers notes he doesn't pick for the same reason, but you're stuck with less dynamic control - it actually seems harder to me to play this way, without my right hand "knowing" where the notes are.

Gambale's tuning looks like he could use it to add in notes to a lick with an unexpected timing or location, but I don't really like his playing enough to want to listen to it long enough to learn anything...  - nothing wrong with that, some people just resonate with you and some don't. Semi-latiny fusion grooves make my skin crawl these days, as does retread 70's blues-rock. 

Mahavishnu for President! oh wait he's English....


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## distressed_romeo (Mar 3, 2008)

Interesting post. Personally, I'm another one who slaved all through his teenage years to be a master alternate picker, but I've come to the conclusion that I'll never be a Morse/Fripp/McLaughlin in that department, and now it's just one of the approaches I practice and use in my own playing, along with legato/tapping, a little hybrid picking, and sweep/economy picking. Nowadays I just mix 'em all up in whatever combination's needed to get the notes out rather than trying to do everything with a rigid method, and I've found I've made a lot more progress that way than when I was trying to alternate pick everything. One thing that's been creeping into my playing a lot recently is the Al DiMeola/Mike Romeo/Shawn Lane thing of mainly alternate picking, but occasionally incorporating two successive down or up-strokes when crossing strings to make the picking more logical when it's based on odd note groupings like fives or sevens.
Personally, I'd say using alternate picking exclusively would be limiting (for me), but as foundation, it's absolutely essential.


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## bostjan (Mar 3, 2008)

I used to be pretty good at alternate picking until I broke my elbow. Then I *had* to learn another way, and it was good.

I never saw this thread until today... ?


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## Apophis (Mar 3, 2008)

Nice vids


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## JasMiller (May 1, 2012)

Also like Nashville tuning--same as 12 string without the lower octave strings--but down a 5th. This tuning would be cool transposed to lots of pitches, like starting with drop D for instance. Love Frank. Starting on A is efficiently optimized, like everything else he does.



God Hand Apostle said:


> Same relative tuning as guitar but up a 4th with the two high strings down an octave.
> 
> 6th string = A ( usually the 5th string )
> 5th string = D ( usually the 4th string )
> ...


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## Konfyouzd (May 1, 2012)

So is this like taking the E off of a normal guitar and starting at the A instead?


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## loktide (May 1, 2012)

anyone else notice this tuning is the same as if you were using a capo on the 5th fret on standard tuning? 


on a second note: holy necrobump


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## SirMyghin (May 1, 2012)

Konfyouzd said:


> So is this like taking the E off of a normal guitar and starting at the A instead?




doubly posted


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## SirMyghin (May 1, 2012)

Konfyouzd said:


> So is this like taking the E off of a normal guitar and starting at the A instead?




Seems like the top 2 strings are weird, I thought guitar tuned up a 4th at first too. It is odd in that the 3rd string appears to be the highest, not the first.


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## Konfyouzd (May 1, 2012)

Oooh... That *is* weird.


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## groovemasta (May 2, 2012)

You bumped this for that ?


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## Stuck_in_a_dream (Jun 14, 2014)

Here is one mega uber necro bump  

Frank finally posted a video explaining it, only today, he took his time on this one


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## Winspear (Jun 14, 2014)

That is fantastic.


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## rockskate4x (Jun 14, 2014)

now it just needs two more strings for drop A to work some walking bass underneath those close chords!


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## speedyone (Jun 22, 2014)

I'm considering using this tuning, but would like feedback from anyone who has done it-- how does it affect lead playing?

Take a typical sweep/arpeggio, or descending pentatonic licks ala Eric Johnson...on the video, Gambale says when you hit the two highest strings, you go DOWN in pitch.

Does that make for cool sounds, or is it just a mess when trying to play scales or do sweeps?

It seems if you were doing a typical 3 note per string scale, when you get to what SHOULD be the high B string you'd have to go up like 4 or more frets to get the same "tonality" of hearing the pitch going higher instead of lower?

Please let me know your thoughts if you've played lead with this tuning, and if I'm right about ascending scales sounding "weird"....

Is it a trade-off; cool sounding chords, but awkward or strange sounding scales?


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## mcsalty (Jun 23, 2014)

This thread has to be the undisputed king of Necrobumps by now


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## speedyone (Jun 23, 2014)

I thought it better to bump this thread than start a new one....?

Have you tried the Gambale Tuning method?


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## mcsalty (Jun 23, 2014)

speedyone said:


> I thought it better to bump this thread than start a new one....?
> 
> Have you tried the Gambale Tuning method?



Wasn't blaming you dude, you're not even the first post today. Look at all the post dates; first post was in 2006 and it's been getting necrobumped since 2008


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## Vhyle (Jun 23, 2014)

That... is amazing. That sounds so good. I want to try it, like yesterday.


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## Winspear (Jul 31, 2019)

Necrobump of necrobumps.

So I've been into the idea of tunings like this for a while now. Actually first found them via Pat Metheny
Pats 'Baritone Half Nashville' tuning takes a 6 down to A and then raises the middle two an octave.
Gambales version takes a 6 UP to A and lowers the top two an octave.
I realised they are actually the same thing, but Pat has basses an octave lower.

I've since enjoyed Pats tuning on baritone acoustic, but restrung to a heavily modified version of Gambales this week. Just so happens I've been getting into 5ths tuning at the same time, so thought I'd hybrid the two.
Gambale tuning...in 5ths!
C2 G2 D3 A3 E3 B3
This is a lot of fun as you have the cluster idea on top still, medium-low bass available, and the full range of a 6 retained because 5ths is so stretched. I like that it gives the chord fingerings of fifths but with manageable range for a straight scale 6 too.
I started working on some piano arrangements - it's very interesting having those close treble pairs because not only are piano voicings possible - but any of those awkward fingerings you run into when arranging can be played in such an extremely different way, the options are quite endless.
I'm playing this on acoustic with tapewound basses and all flatwound trebles (that's right, flatwound high B courtesy of Thomastik Infeld!). I'd say clips soon but I know I'd be lying 
I like how compared to Pat/Gambale, the two top pairs of strings are in ascending order rather than the top pair being lower than the middle pair.

Thought the thread was worth a bump to draw attention to any such cluster-voiced tuning !


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## Bearitone (Jul 31, 2019)

God Hand Apostle said:


> Same relative tuning as guitar but up a 4th with the two high strings down an octave.
> 
> 6th string = A ( usually the 5th string )
> 5th string = D ( usually the 4th string )
> ...


... Isnt this just A standard flipped around?


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## Winspear (Jul 31, 2019)

Bearitone said:


> ... Isnt this just A standard flipped around?


He's written it upsidown to usual. It is capo'd A standard, but the top EA are down an octave.


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## ixlramp (Jul 31, 2019)

C2 G2 D3 A3 E3 B3
Interesting. The normal way to play 7ths chords in fifths is, on ascending strings: root fifth 3rd 7th. Because in your tuning the top 2 strings are dropped an octave the 3rd and 7th end up 'where they should be' for piano type chords.
This is a little like something i think about, which is adding extra strings to divide fifth intervals in a fifths tuning, in the higher range of a guitar.


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## Winspear (Jul 31, 2019)

Exactly! Cool, I've thought about that too, like 5ths plus minor 3rds - A1 E2 B2 F3# A3 C4 Eb4 - regular 7 string range. Wow yeah that's extremely close to how my tuning works out - just two strings a semitone different and swapped. At a glance it seems my Gambale style version seems to allow more variation on fingering direction making more chords playable in vastly different ways - where as 3rds has the more logical but perhaps limiting fixed direction string tp string transpositions

Worth noting that in more recent years since this thread was made there are some videos on the Gambale/Metheny tuning. (Again, Metheny is the same thing with basses an octave lower)

Nice demo


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## Ilia Tilev (Aug 5, 2019)

I've tried fourths for a year it was fun but all of the songs i made were for standard so i switched back


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