Glenn Poorman, May 2001 (updated: May 2003)
The basic gist of it
The tuning of the 10 and 12 string Sticks is one of the things that makes
the instrument so interesting and, at the same time, somewhat tricky for
those coming from a guitar/bass background. First of all, the strings are
split into two groups. Those two groups are the
melody strings (1-5
on a 10-string or 1-6 on a 12) and the
bass strings (6-10 on a
10-string or 7-12 on a 12). If you're wearing the instrument, the melody
strings are the ones furthest to your left while the bass strings are closer
to your head (as shown in the figure on the right). On both sides, the lowest
string is in the middle of the fretboard (usually the first thing people
notice when they look at the instrument). This, of course, means that the
highest strings on each side are along the outer edge of the fretboard.
The melody strings on a Stick are tuned in straight descending 4ths with
the notes getting lower as you move toward your head. This isn't a big
stretch for a bassist as a bass also descends in 4ths as you move toward
your head. For a guitarist, this is also very similar with the exception
that the Stick doesn't have that oddly placed major 3rd that a standard
tuned guitar has between the G and B strings (oddly enough, that can be
a tricky thing to get over).
The bass strings on a Stick are where things get interesting. The bass
strings are tuned in straight ascending 5ths with the notes getting higher
as you move toward your head. This is going to be tricky for a number of
reasons. First of all, for the guitarist/bassist, the intervals between
the strings are different from what you're used to. Plus, with the lowest
string furthest from your head, it all seems upside down. For a player of
any background (guitar/bass/piano/none), it's tricky because the intervals
between the strings played with the right hand are different from the
intervals between the strings played with the left hand. In spite of the
initial
wierdness of this tuning, however, it is worth spending the
time getting used to it and the beauty of this setup should quickly become
apparent. The main reasoning behind the 5ths bass tuning is the chordal
possibilities it provides. With the ability to play the Stick more like a
piano than like a bass, it stands to reason that some players would want to
explore a more pianistic approach to playing. The 5ths bass tuning allows
easy placement of chords from standard major and minor chords to 7 chords,
9 chords, flatted 5 chords, etc. The 5ths tuning also provides voicings for
these chords that don't get mushy the way guitar chords played on a bass get
mushy.
So, just to make things easier on yourself, could you go ahead and tune your
bass strings in 4ths or tune your melody strings in 5ths to provide some
symmetry? The first answer is ... yes you could. Furthermore, I know players
who have done just that. 4ths and 5ths tunings in the bass each have their
merits. As I mentioned earlier, the chordal possibilities with 5ths tuning
are (in my opinion) much greater. Coming from a bass background, however,
you will probably notice that those standard walking bass lines are much
more difficult with the strings tuned in 5ths and you may prefer going back
to 4ths for that reason. The added drawback of the 4ths tuning, however,
is that you lose the effectiveness of some good instructional material
geared for standard Stick tunings. Apples and oranges.
One thing to clarify though. I used the word
symmetry in regards
to tuning both sides of the Stick in 4ths or both sides in 5ths when, in
reality, the 5ths bass 4ths melody tuning actually provides the most
symmetry of all. How? Remembering that going up a 4th yields the same note
as going down a 5th, find an "E" on the lowest melody side string and then
find an "E" on the highest bass side string. Now, staying on the same fret,
move both hands one string to the left. The bass is now playing a "A" a 5th
lower than the original note while the melody side is playing an "A" a 4th
higher than the original note. Continue up the strings you'll find you're
hitting the same note again and again. Symmetry. Take that a step further.
Find a G major triad on the melody side and play the chord along with a G root
note on the third from lowest bass string. Now, keeping your hands in the
same position, simply move both hands one string to the left. Voila! You're
now playing a C major chord. Symmetry. Actually, a better word to use here
may be
reciprocal which is defined by Webster's Dictionary as
inversely related to or
opposite. Even though you hit the
same notes as you move from right to left (or left to right) on both sides,
one side is ascending while the other is descending. Plus ... the word
reciprocal will become more important as we describe the different
tunings.
Instrument Scale (the StickX36™)
In 2001, Emmett Chapman began assembling 10-string instruments made out of a
graphite composite material. These instruments had a scale length of 36"
(as opposed to the standard 34" scale) and had an additional fret added
at the nut. In 2002, he introduced a 12-string made out of the same material
and with the same added fret. In 2003, he began making all of his hardwood
instruments in this new 36" scale length and began referring to all
36" scale length instruments as the StickX36™.
This change has an impact on the instrument tunings. The additional fret on
the new longer instruments was added at the nut while the inlays remain in
the same positions relative to the bridge. That means that, while there is
one fret in between the nut and the first inlay marker on a 34" scale
instrument, there are two frets in between the nut and first inlay on a
36" scale instrument. At the same time, however, the pitch to inlay
relationship stays the same. That means that, while the open lowest bass
string on a standard tuned 34" instrument is tuned to C, on a 36"
instrument it is tuned to B. That way, the note sounded at the first inlay
of the lowest bass string is D regardless of what scale length instrument
you have.
So how do we present tunings in a simple to read format that can be used
regardless of instrument scale? On most fretted stringed instruments
(including Sticks), frets are numbered beginning with fret #1. In an effort
to avoid confusion between fret numbers and inlay positions on the new longer
instruments, Emmett decided to call the additional fret on the 36"
instruments fret #0. That way the first inlay would be at fret #2 regardless
of your instrument length. Later, he began simply referring to the additional
fret as the "X fret". With that, the fret numbered #12 on any Stick instrument
is where the third inlay marker appears and is the position that Emmett refers
to as the "octave position". On a 34" scale instrument, it is the octave
above the open (non-playable) string. On a 36" scale instrument, it is
the octave above the first playable note on the added "X fret".
So with that, the charts commonly used to show Stick tunings were not
changed except to say that, instead of basing them off the previously
open string note, they are now based at fret #12 or the "octave position".
I should also point out that, in addition to the original charts showing
note names and string numbers, the Stick Enterprises website now shows some
very nice
fretboard
diagrams for each tuning and each scale length.
So how is it tuned?
There are a lot of different tunings out there. Emmett Chapman has always
been one to not only seek out new ideas but also support experimentation
from his customers. The result of this is that if you polled all of the Stick
players on earth, you'd find a whole variety of tunings from 4ths/4ths to
5ths/5ths to bass/guitar tuning (including the odd major 3rd) to uncrossed
tunings. These tunings all have their place and there is some great music
being made. Stick Enterprises, however, has nine tunings that they consider
"standard" and are used by most players. Five tunings for 10-string Stick
and four for Grand Stick.
Before we delve too far into what those tunings are, I have to clarify a
couple of things. I was previously a guitarist and, as a guitarist, I
generally tended to think of a tuning change as a completely different
tuning with different intervals between the strings. When I was ordering my
first Stick and was hit with the question "what tuning do you want?", I
immediately responded that I wanted the standard tuning thinking that if I
ordered a different tuning, I wouldn't be able to easily play anyone elses
standard tuned instrument. This decision was somewhat misguided as my
assumptions on what it means to have a different tuning were, for the most
part, false. One of the things that all of Stick Enterprise's tunings have
in common is that all of them are bass in 5ths and melody in 4ths.
Furthermore, most of the tunings only differ on the melody strings. That
means that switching from, for example, classic tuning to matched reciprocal
tuning only means that (on the melody side) you have to remember to play
everything up one whole step (2 frets). A little annoying maybe but no big
deal.
10-string tunings
Ok. Let's get down to specifics.
Classic 10-string Tuning
Let's start with the 10-string classic tuning. This is how the original
Ironwood Sticks of the 70s left the shop and it's still the most popular
tuning today.
Melody
- D
- A down a 4th
- E down a 4th
- B down a 4th
- F# down a 4th
Bass
- C
- G up a 5th
- D up a 5th
- A up a 5th
- E up a 5th (unison with 3rd)
Baritone Melody™ 10-string Tuning
The first variation on the classic tuning was a tuning called
baritone
melody. With this tuning, the bass strings are the same. The melody
strings, however, are tuned down a fourth. This is essentially the same
as removing the highest string, moving strings 2-5 over one, and adding
a string a 4th lower than the lowest melody string of the classic tuning.
Melody
- A
- E down a 4th
- B down a 4th
- F# down a 4th
- C# down a 4th
Bass
- C
- G up a 5th
- D up a 5th
- A up a 5th
- E up a 5th (unison with 2nd)
Deep Baritone Melody™ 10-string Tuning
A variation of the baritone melody tuning is called the
deep baritone
melody tuning. Again, the bass remains tuned the same but the melody
strings are tuned down again. This time one whole step lower than the
baritone melody tuning.
Melody
- G
- D down a 4th
- A down a 4th
- E down a 4th
- B down a 4th
Bass
- C
- G up a 5th
- D up a 5th
- A up a 5th (unison with 3rd)
- E up a 5th
Matched Reciprocal™ 10-string Tuning
Another variation of the classic tuning is called the
matched
reciprocal tuning. Again, the bass strings are the same. The melody
strings, however, are tuned one whole step lower than the classic tuning.
The name
matched reciprocal comes from the fact that, with this
tuning, you have the same notes on either side except that one side is
descending and the other is ascending (as you can see in the chart). So
while all of the standard Stick tunings could be considered
reciprocal,
this tuning actually has the same notes on the same frets on both sides of
the Stick (hence the word
matched).
Melody
- C
- G down a 4th
- D down a 4th
- A down a 4th
- E down a 4th
Bass
- C
- G up a 5th
- D up a 5th
- A up a 5th (unison with 4th string)
- E up a 5th
Deep Matched Reciprocal™ 10-string Tuning
The last 10-string tuning is called
deep matched reciprocal. This
tuning takes the matched reciprocal tuning and lowers both the melody and
bass strings one whole step. Lower notes ... but still
matched
reciprocal.
Melody
- Bb
- F down a 4th
- C down a 4th
- G down a 4th
- D down a 4th
Bass
- Bb
- F up a 5th
- C up a 5th
- G up a 5th (unison with 4th string)
- D up a 5th
12-string tunings
12-string (or
Grand) Sticks are simply an extension of a 10-string
Stick. Again, I began life with a misguided notion that the extra two
strings would just make the instrument that much more difficult to learn
when that is, in fact, not the case. In the simplest case, you take a
10-string Stick, add an additional high string on the melody side, add
an additional high string on the bass side, and you have a Grand Stick.
The fretboard is a bit wider to facilitate the extra strings and the string
spacing is somewhat narrower. These minor differences, however, are usually
only a brief annoyance when your switching from one to the other but not when
you're starting out fresh. Additionally, when ordering a Grand Stick, you
have the option of a 6+6 tuning or a 7+5 tuning. What this means is that
your Stick can be setup to have 6 melody strings and 6 bass strings or it
can be setup to have 7 melody strings and 5 bass strings. This decision
has to be thought out a bit more thoroughly than a simple tuning change as
this decision will effect the bridge and the pickup of your instrument
(something that is quite a bit more difficult to change than just the
tuning).
Classic 6+6 12-string Tuning
So let's start with the classic 6+6 tuning. The interesting thing about
the melody side tuning of the classic 6+6 Grand is that the result is
the same as if you took the 10-string baritone melody and 10-string classic
tuning and combined them. If you remember, I mentioned that switching from
10-string classic to 10-string baritone melody was just like removing the
high string, moving strings 2-5 over one, and adding an additional low string.
With the classic Grand 6+6 tuning, you get to keep the high string AND add
the additional low string.
Melody
- D
- A down a 4th
- E down a 4th
- B down a 4th
- F# down a 4th
- C# down a 4th
Bass
- C
- G up a 5th
- D up a 5th
- A up a 5th
- E up a 5th (unison with 3rd)
- B up a 5th
Classic 7+5 12-string Tuning
As I mentioned before, one option when ordering a Grand Stick is to get
the 7+5 configuration (7 melody strings and 5 bass strings). The tuning
for this setup is essentially the same as the classic 6+6 tuning except
that the additional bass string is removed and a seventh melody string
is added a 4th down from the C# that was the lowest string on the 6+6
melody side.
Melody
- D
- A down a 4th
- E down a 4th
- B down a 4th
- F# down a 4th
- C# down a 4th
- G# down a 4th
Bass
- C
- G up a 5th
- D up a 5th
- A up a 5th
- E up a 5th (unison with 3rd)
Matched Reciprocal™ 12-string Tuning
As is the case with the 10-string Stick, there is a variation on the classic
6+6 Grand tuning called the
matched reciprocal tuning. Again, the
bass strings are the same. Just like the 10-string, however, the melody
strings are tuned one whole step lower than the classic tuning leaving
you with the same notes on the same strings on each side except that one
side is descending while the other side is ascending.
Melody
- C
- G down a 4th
- D down a 4th
- A down a 4th
- E down a 4th
- B down a 4th
Bass
- C
- G up a 5th
- D up a 5th
- A up a 5th (unison with 4th)
- E up a 5th
- B up a 5th
Deep Matched Reciprocal™ 12-string Tuning
The last 12-string tuning is called
deep matched reciprocal. This
tuning takes the matched reciprocal tuning and lowers both the melody and
bass strings one whole step.
Melody
- Bb
- F down a 4th
- C down a 4th
- G down a 4th
- D down a 4th
- A down a 4th
Bass
- Bb
- F up a 5th
- C up a 5th
- G up a 5th (unison with 4th)
- D up a 5th
- A up a 5th
Classic 6+6 12-string Tuning with High Bass 4th
A bass side variation of the any 6+6 12-string tuning is to tune the
highest bass string up only a 4th from the previous strings as opposed
to the standard 5th. This allows you to play the powerful root-5-root
combination on the highest three bass strings with just a single finger
barred across those strings. As I said, while the chart below shows the
classic 6+6 tuning with the high bass 4th, you can apply this to any 6+6
tuning.
Melody
- D
- A down a 4th
- E down a 4th
- B down a 4th
- F# down a 4th
- C# down a 4th
Bass
- C
- G up a 5th
- D up a 5th
- A up a 5th
- E up a 5th (unison with 3rd)
- A up a 4th
How to tune
Having had the pleasure of attending Stick seminars and also taking on
a couple of local students, I've heard the question posed many times
"how do I tune my Stick". The first reaction could be that this is kind
of a silly question. But is it? Knowing what pitches to tune your strings
to is easy. Either you've carefully selected your tuning or you've consulted
the tunings listed on this page or on the Stick Enterprises web site. The
pitches to tune to, however, are not usually the source of the question.
Coming from a guitar or bass background, your first instinct is to pluck
the open strings and tune them. The problem with that is, of course, that
there is no such thing as an open string on a Stick. With the damper down
at fret one, plucking an open string won't produce much more than a dull
thud.
So what do you do? Before I get into that, I will say that you really should
have a chromatic tuner. Back in my guitar days, I prided myself on needing
only a single pitchfork and my ears. I even went so far as to scoff at the
many players I met who, without a tuner, were incapable of tuning their
instrument (actually I still find that a tad disgraceful). My snotty purist
attitude has a couple of flaws though. First, even with the best ears, the
noise of a club before a gig is almost certain to make tuning with your ears
a major nightmare. Add to that switching from guitar to Stick, and the effect
that being even slightly off can have on the full range of your instrument
makes having a chromatic tuner almost a must. My purist attitude lasted about
two days after my Stick arrived before I broke down. The good thing is that
chromatic tuners can be pretty cheap. I bought one made by Korg for somewhere
between 25 and 30 dollars.
So you have your tuner and you've realized that you have no open strings.
The first reaction is probably simply to tap on fret #1 and use the pitches
one half step up from the open strings. This isn't necessarily wrong but
you can do better. Even if your instrument is intonated perfectly, there is
still a slight margin of error. If you tune down by the nut, you could go
increasingly out of tune as you travel up the fretboard and into the area
where you're most likely to be playing. Since you have no open strings and
you have a tuner that will tune any pitch, the best thing is to tune in the
area where you play most of the time.
Personally, I tune straight across fret #7 from string #1 all the way
through string #10 (or #12) using the pitches that are a perfect fifth up
from the pitches the open strings are tuned to and this works fine for me.
Greg Howard recommends tuning on a different fret between the bass and the
melody side simply because, in your playing, your hands will rarely be
playing across the same fret. So Greg might, for example, tune the bass side
across fret #9 and tune the melody side across fret #12.
Where ever you decide to do it, you should absolutely be wearing your
Stick (not have it lying on a table or something) and you should be using
the hands you play with to do the tapping. In other words, when playing
the melody side, tap with your right hand and turn the tuning pegs with
your left. Inversely, when tuning the bass side, tap with your left hand
and turn the tuning pegs with your right. The reason this is so important
is because, since the Stick is essentially nothing more than a very long
fretboard, the neck can easily warp slightly if you bend forward, set it
down on a hard surface, etc. So you want the instrument to sit exactly how
it sits when you're playing while you tune.
Example
So just to show you an example of how I would go about tuning my 10-string
instrument ... I sling it on and tune as follows. First, my 10-string is
a 34" scale instrument tuned Baritone Melody. This means my open string
pitches are (from string #1 - #10):
- A below middle C
- E down a 4th
- B down a 4th
- F# down a 4th
- C# down a 4th
- C below low bass E
- G up a 5th
- D up a 5th
- A up a 5th
- E up a 5th.
Since I tune at fret #7, however, I'll tap on that fret across the board
and use the pitches that are a perfect fifth up from the open string pitches.
Turning the tuning pegs with my left hand and tapping with my right, I'll
start on string #1 at fret #7 and tune strings #1 to #5 as follows:
- E above middle C
- B down a 4th
- F# down a 4th
- C# down a 4th
- G# down a 4th.
Moving to fret #7 on string #6 (the lowest bass string) and switching
hands (so I tap with my left and turn the tuning pegs with my right), I'll
tune the bass strings on fret #7 as follows (again a perfect fifth up from
the open string pitches):
- G above low bass E
- D up a 5th
- A up a 5th
- E up a 5th
- B up a 5th.
So that's all there is to it. Now you're in tune and you can happily
tap well into the evening.