E♭ tuning

E‐flat tuning.

E♭ (E‐flat) tuning or D♯ (D‐sharp) tuning is an alternative form of guitar tuning. It is based on the standard guitar tuning, except that all of the strings are lowered by one half‐step. The result looks like this: E♭‐A♭‐D♭‐G♭‐B♭‐E♭. The guitar is usually played identically to standard tuning, resulting in a heavier tone without requiring the guitarist to learn different chords or fingering.

The tuning has a number of other features attractive to artists. It allows the use of heavier strings without decreasing playability. The tuning is also easier to play with a saxophone accompaniment (saxophones are usually tuned to B♭ or E♭). It can also be matched with the E♭ pentatonic minor scale formed by the black keys of a keyboard.

Blues legend Robert Johnson was one of the first to experiment with alternate guitar tunings such as E♭. Jimi Hendrix was also famous for tuning down a half-step and Stevie Ray Vaughan used it almost exclusively in his electric guitar playing, as did Slash of Guns N' Roses fame. The tuning remains very popular in rock and blues music, although some (like Pantera) tune down a quarter of a step.

Other artists known to use E♭

• AC/DC - on "Night Prowler", "Ruff Stuff", "Love Hungry Man", "Get it Hot" and live performances since 2008. (Also, many of their songs are tuned to 1/4 step lower)
• AFI - since "Sing the Sorrow".
• Alice Cooper - The guitars in Alice Cooper's have been tuned a half step down on select live songs since circa 1998.
• Alice in Chains (most songs, dubbed 'Standard Alice tuning' by Jerry Cantrell).
• Alkaline Trio (on recent live performances to suit Skiba's weakening voice).
• Anna Calvi on songs such as Suzanne and I.
• Angra - on "Angels Cry (album)" and the song, "Heroes of Sand", from "Rebirth", and during live performances until 2014. (C tuning for their cover of "Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush (both studio version from "Angels Cry (album)" and live))
• Anthrax (on live performances and some songs on Persistence of Time, "Black Lodge" from Sound of White Noise and most songs on all studio albums since Volume 8: The Threat Is Real).
• Beach House
• Black Sabbath during live performances, to ease the stress on guitarist Tony Iommi's fingers, which had been amputated by an accident at a sheet metal factory. This tuning is predominant on studio and live recordings featuring Ronnie James Dio and Tony Martin as lead vocalists, as well as the 13 album. Tony Iommi predominately used C# (3 half steps) tuning on Masters of Reality, Volume 4 and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath recordings.
• Black Stone Cherry (also on live performances of E-tuned songs).
• Blaze Bayley (some live performances).
• Blind Guardian (on most songs)
• Bon Jovi - on live performances since 1988.
• Brand New - all/nearly all songs on "Your Favorite Weapon" and "Déjà Entendu" albums.
• Buckethead – used on many compositions and live performances.
• Candlemass
• Cannibal Corpse
• Cattle Decapitation
• Chris Brokaw- frequently on recordings and live since 1991
• Circa Survive- frequently used throughout their discography
• Coheed and Cambria - many songs e.g. "Welcome Home".
• The Connells - on the song "'74–'75".
• The Cult - Used on "Ceremony", "Born Into This", and all live performances since 1989.
• Danzig - on all albums since Danzig III: How the Gods Kill, and on all songs on Danzig and Danzig II: Lucifuge since 1990.
• Darkthrone - On their early albums. Most notably on 'Transilvanian Hunger'.
• Dark Tranquility (on the albums, the Gallery and Haven)
• Def Leppard - on the song Photograph and during live performances.
• Demons and Wizards
• Die Ärzte - since their album Geräusch onwards.
• Disturbed
• DragonForce (live performances from 2006 to 2010). Also the primary cause for their controversy from Graspop 2006.
• Dream Theater - on the songs "Stream of Consciousness", "The Root of All Evil", "Trial of Tears", and their cover of "Heaven and Hell" by Black Sabbath.
• Edguy (1999-2006) on most songs
• Enslaved (this tuning and drop D♭ on most albums except "Isa").
• Eraserheads starting from their 2nd album Circus, Cutterpillow, some songs from later albums & some live performances
• Evile
• Fates Warning (on the entirety of "No Exit", some songs from "FWX" and "Darkness in a Different Light", and all live performances)^[1]
• Funeral for a Friend (with the E♭ dropped to D♭).
• Galneryus
• Gamma Ray (late 1995 - late 2007 (although some songs in Land of the Free II are in D tuning, which is the tuning the band used from then on))
• Green Day (used for the entity of their Dookie album and Insomniac album and used for some of the songs off Kerplunk and for the songs "21st Century Breakdown" and "Before the Lobotomy").
• Guns N' Roses (most songs).
• GWAR (with the exception of Hell-O).
• Foreigner - used on all live performances with Kelly Hansen.
• Hammerfall (until 2007)
• Helloween (1992-2004)
• Iced Earth - on most songs.
• Jimi Hendrix Experience - most of their songs. Some examples: "Red House", "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", "Spanish Castle Magic", "All Along the Watchtower".
• Joe Stump - on most album recordings and live performances.
• Judas Priest - on "Reckless", "Burn in Hell", "Bullet Train", "Hellrider", "Eulogy", "Lochness" and live performances since Rob Halford's return in 2003
• Kamelot - on albums 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and half of the songs from album 9. In some songs, the lowest string is dropped a whole step.
• Katatonia (from Brave Murder Day until Last Fair Deal Gone Down)
• The Killers - used on Mr. Brightside
• Kiss - On all albums from "KISS" to "Dynasty", "The Elder", "Revenge" and from "Psycho Circus" to "Monster". On all live performances from 1973-1981 and 1990-2012, and one show in 2013
• The La's
• Led Zeppelin - on "No Quarter", however only on the studio version, since the tape sounded flat.
• Linkin Park - on some songs
• Live
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - on Simple Man.
• Marilyn Manson - on "Angel with The Scabbed Wings", "Kinderfeld", "I Want to Disappear", "King Kill 33°" and Drop Db on "Cruci-Fiction in Space"
• Matchbox Twenty - on some songs, including "Push", as well as "Long Day".
• Manchester Orchestra
• McFly - on Star Girl.
• Megadeth - on Youthanasia and songs "Angry Again", "Diadems" and "Problems".
• Meshuggah - on the self-titled EP and Contradictions Collapse.
• The Menzingers - used on most songs off of their first record and second record and the entirety of On The Impossible Past.
• Metallica - on "The God That Failed" and "Killing Time", the albums Load, ReLoad and Garage Inc., and on E-tuned songs in live performances since 1995.
• Morbid Angel - exclusively until Domination, where they used B♭ tuning, a variation of E♭, although Covenant featured E♭ as well.
• Neal Morse
• Motörhead - on most albums since their second album Overkill and on some E-tuned songs in live performances since 1978.
• Muse - On songs such as "Animals", recent live performances of "Starlight", and "United States of Eurasia"
• Nightingale
• Nirvana - Some songs on Bleach and Incesticide and most songs on In Utero.
• Nevermore (until Dead Heart in a Dead World when, from then onwards, seven strings were mostly used and tuned to B♭).
• Neverest during live performances and acoustic renderings of most songs.
• The Offspring tune to E♭ during live performances.
• Oasis-For the song Put Yer Money Where Yer Mouth Is.
• Our Lady Peace
• Ozzy Osbourne (On the albums Diary Of A Madman, The Ultimate Sin, and all material with Zakk Wylde, with the exception of Black Rain).
• Pantera on Strength Beyond Strength from Far Beyond Driven
• Pentagram
• Poison
• Protest the Hero (Most songs on Fortress and Kezia, all songs on Scurrilous and Volition).
• Queens of the Stone Age (on "The Sky Is Fallin'")
• Rage Against The Machine (used on Bulls on Parade)
• Ratt (most songs).
• Red Hot Chili Peppers (On the songs "Power of Equality","Breaking The Girl" and the covers of Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Castles Made of Sand" and "Little Miss Lover" from the album Blood Sugar Sex Magik)
• Revocation (Most songs)
• R.E.M. (used on Harborcoat)
• Rise Against (since Revolutions per Minute).
• Scorpions (live performances on some songs and many songs with Uli Jon Roth).
• Saint Vitus (from Born Too Late onward)
• Simple Plan -used during live performances and for the entity of their "No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls" album and "Still Not Getting Any..." album.
• Snapcase
• Stratovarius - used in live performances until 2008 and in all albums except some songs from their latest album, Eternal.
• Slayer - on most albums since Haunting the Chapel and on all E-tuned songs in live performances since 1984.
• The Killers - On Mr Brightside
• The Smashing Pumpkins - Used on "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness". Billy Corgan stated the tuning was used to give the album a darker sound. In modern times originally E tuned songs now are in E♭ in live performances.
• Spock's Beard (late 1995-late 2005)
• Stone Sour (mostly used on their softer songs, or "songs for the ladies" as said by Jim Root).^[2]
• Suede - On most songs
• Sum 41 - On some songs on the album "Does This Look Infected?", most of the album "Chuck" and most songs when played live^[3]
• System of a Down (on "Lost in Hollywood", "Lonely Day" and "Soldier Side")
• Thin Lizzy - Fighting, Jailbreak, Johnny the Fox, Bad Reputation and Black Rose: A Rock Legend are mostly in E♭ tuning, and all live performances since 1975 have been in E♭.
• TISM - on "Shut Up - The Footy's On The Radio" and "The Phillip Ruddock Blues"
• Transatlantic (on some songs)
• Trivium - on some songs and for In Waves album
• Unknown Mortal Orchestra^[4]
• U2 - on Boy, War and many live versions of songs originally written in standard tuning.
• Warrant - on albums "Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich" (though some songs are 1/4 step down), "Cherry Pie", and "Rockaholic"
• Weezer - Most songs written in the "Blue album" and Pinkerton periods were in E♭ tuning.
• Vaginal Jesus - most songs
• Van Halen - Every song featuring David Lee Roth (1974-1985). Most songs 2007-present.
• W.A.S.P.
• X Japan (most songs).
• Yngwie Malmsteen (most songs).
• Zac Brown Band (Zac Brown uses E♭ tuning to better suit his voice) ^[5]

References