E♭ 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♭ (or D♯-G♯-C♯-F♯-A♯-D♯). The guitar is usually played identically to standard tuning, resulting in the availability of lower pitches without requiring the guitarist to learn different chord voicing or fingerings.
The tuning has a number of other features attractive to artists. It allows the use of heavier strings without decreasing playability. It can be used to accommodate a singer's vocal range. 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.
Artists known to use E♭ tuning
- Aaron Lewis
AC/DC - on "Rocker","Up To My Neck in You","Gimme a Bullet", "Night Prowler", "Ruff Stuff", "Love Hungry Man", "Get it Hot" and live performances from 2008 to 2016 (with Axl Rose the band returned to use E standard). Also, their Bon Scott songs are tuned in-between E and Eb.
AFI - since "Sing the Sorrow".
Aerosmith - on "Back in The Saddle"- After the Burial
Al's Band (on "George of the Jungle", "Living with a Hernia", "Dog Eat Dog", "Twister", "Attack of the Radioactive Hamsters from a Planet Near Mars", "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota", "Smells Like Nirvana", and "Cavity Search")- Alice Cooper
Alice in Chains (most songs, dubbed 'Standard Alice tuning' by Jerry Cantrell).
Alkaline Trio (on live performances from 2008-2014 to suit Matt Skiba's deepening voice).- Alter Bridge
Annihilator (Since 2011)
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 from 1997 to 2016 (they returned to E tuning around that time), "Black Lodge" from Sound of White Noise and most songs on all studio albums since Volume 8: The Threat Is Real).
April Wine Pretty much most songs. Caught In The Crossfire, Sign Of The Gypsy Queen, Weeping Widow to name a few.
Autograph (American band) most songs.- Axel Rudi Pell
- B.B. King
- Backyard Babies
- Basement
- Beach House
- Beastie Boys
The Beatles (for their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show)- Big Wreck
Black Label Society - many songs on the albums Mafia and The Blessed Hellride.
Black Sabbath (during some live performances in 1970, to ease the stress on guitarist Tony Iommi's crippled fingers, as well as all songs featuring Ronnie James Dio and Tony Martin as lead vocalists, as well as the 13 album and all live performances from 1980-1982 and 1987-1995.)
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.
Bonfire (band) - almost all albums, except Don't Touch The Light, Rebel Soul; live performances
Brand New - all/nearly all songs on "Your Favorite Weapon" and "Déjà Entendu" albums.
Bryan Adams - some songs
Buckethead – used on many compositions and live performances.
Cain's Offering - most songs- Candlemass
- Cannibal Corpse
- Cattle Decapitation
- Cave In
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".- Collective Soul
The Connells - on the song "'74–'75".
The Cult - live performances since 1989.
The Damned - on their cover of "White Rabbit".
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 Moor - on most albums
Dark Tranquility - on albums the Gallery and Haven
Death (on their cover of "Painkiller")
Def Leppard - on the song "Photograph" and live performances since 1995.
Deftones - on "Mascara" and "Dai the Flu" from the album Around the Fur.- Demons and Wizards
Destruction (on the albums All Hell Breaks Loose, The Antichrist and Metal Discharge and on E-tuned songs in live performances from 1999 to 2004)
Die Ärzte - since their album Geräusch onwards.
Dio - on "Sacred Heart", all songs on Strange Highways and Angry Machines, "Eriel", "Throw Away Children", "Shivers", "The Eyes", "I Am", and "In Dreams", as well as all live performances until 2004.- Disturbed
Dokken - Most songs on the first three albums
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", and "Trial of Tears". The band used this tuning for E tuned songs in recent live performances (especially their Images, Words, & Beyond tour), but their lower tuned songs are kept the same.- Earth
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 and some live performances
Eric Clapton Sunshine Of Your Love, Crossroads, Cocaine, My Fathers Eyes.- Evile
- Exmortus
- Explosions in the Sky
- Extreme
- Failure
Fates Warning (on the entirety of No Exit, some songs from FWX and Darkness in a Different Light, and all live performances)[1]
Feeder (live since 2011 and on the albums Generation Freakshow and All Bright Electric)
Foghat (live performances since 2000)
Funeral for a Friend (on their cover of "Damage Inc.")- 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 entirety of their album Insomniac, most of Dookie and Kerplunk and the songs "Uptight", "Castaway", "21st Century Breakdown", "Before the Lobotomy" and "Youngblood", as well as most live performances of pre-Warning E tuned songs and "We Are the Champions").
Guns N' Roses (most songs).
GWAR (with the exception of Hell-O).
Foreigner - (live performances since 2002)
Hammerfall (until 2007)
Harlequin Innocence, and Superstitious Feeling- Havok
Headpins all songs. Don't It Make Ya Feel, People, Don't Matter What You Say, Turn It Loud to name a few.
Heart (band) "Black On Black II", "Magic Man", "Barracuda" to name a few.
Helloween (1992-2005, 2018-present)
Iced Earth - on most songs.
Iggy and the Stooges (on "Raw Power")- Iron Mask
Jane's Addiction - On "Just Because" and during live performances of E-tuned songs in modern years (although during some period they used standard D for E-tuned songs).
Jimi Hendrix Experience - most of their songs. Some examples: "Red House", "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", "Spanish Castle Magic", "All Along the Watchtower".
Joe Satriani - A lot of songs (like "War" or "The Extremist")
Joe Stump - on most album recordings and live performances.- John 5
John Prine - on "Angel from Montgomery" since 1998
Journey (band) (live performances since 2011)
Judas Priest - on "Wild Nights, Hot And Crazy Days", "Reckless", "Burn in Hell", "Bullet Train", "Hellrider", "Eulogy", "Lochness", "Firepower", and live performances since 2004
Kalmah - on albums Swamplord and They Will Return
Kamelot - on most albums until Poetry for the Poisoned. They also used drop D-flat.
Katatonia (from Brave Murder Day until Last Fair Deal Gone Down)- The Killers
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 and one show in 2016.- Knuckle Puck
Kyuss - on "Capsized" and "Space Cadet"- The La's
Labyrinth (Except their debut album)
Lee Aaron Hands On, Whatcha Do To My Body, Metal Queen, to name a few.
Ling Tosite Sigure although TK uses a capo on many songs, such as enigmatic feeling, telecastic fake show, etc. The band also uses capo live.
Linkin Park - Some songs from their Hybrid Theory (EP) and album; also used in "Easier to Run" (rhythm guitar) and "Somewhere I Belong" from Meteora
- Live
Lita Ford all songs
Loverboy most songs- Lynch Mob (band)
Lynyrd Skynyrd - on "Simple Man", and in live performances since 2000.
Magnum - on some songs since 1992, as well as live performances of E-tuned songs.
Marilyn Manson - on "Angel with The Scabbed Wings", "Kinderfeld", "I Want to Disappear", "King Kill 33°" and Drop Db on "Cruci-Fiction in Space"- Man Overboard
- Manchester Orchestra
- Matchbook Romance
Matchbox Twenty - on "Push".
McFly - on Star Girl.
Megadeth - on Youthanasia (some songs are a little sharper) 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.- Mercyful Fate
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 "Futurism", "Muscle Museum", " Revolt", "Starlight", "United States of Eurasia"
My Chemical Romance - on "AMBULANCE", "Boy Division", "Bulletproof Heart", "Burn Bright", "Kiss The Ring", "The Only Hope for Me Is You", and "Tomorrow's Money"- Nazareth (band)
- Nightingale
Nirvana - Some songs on Bleach, Incesticide, most on In Utero, and on live performances from 1992-1994
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.- Newsted
The Offspring tune to E♭ during live performances since 1994.- Our Lady Peace
- Ozma
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 - the albums were they used this tuning (Projects in the Jungle, I Am the Night and Vulgar Display of Power) are a little sharper- Pat Benatar
- Pentagram
Periphery (On "Priestess")- Poison
- Polyphia
- Powerglove
Powerwolf (less used since "Bible of the Beast")- Priestess
- The Pretty Reckless
- Puddle Of Mudd
Pup (On the album "The Dream is Over")
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" and "Face Off")
Ratt (most songs).
Red Hot Chili Peppers (On the song "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)
REO Speedwagon (on live performances since 2009)
Revocation (Most songs until switching to 7-string guitars in B♭)
R.E.M. (used on "Harborcoat")
Rise Against (since Revolutions per Minute).
Rush (On the song "Emotion Detector")
Scorpions (live performances of some songs and many songs with Uli Jon Roth).
Saint Vitus (from Born Too Late onward)
Secret Sphere (except The Nature of Time)
Seether (used on most songs and during live performances since 2003)
Simon & Garfunkel (on "The Boxer" and "The Sound of Silence")
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.
Slash (most songs on solo albums, and albums from his solo band Slash feat. Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators).
Slash's Snakepit (most songs)
Slayer - on most albums since Haunting the Chapel and on all E-tuned songs in live performances since 1984.
The Exploited - On "Beat the Bastards", "System Fucked Up", "They Lie", "Fightback", "You're a Fucking Bastard", "Lie to Me", "Noize Annoys" and "Was it Me" (although they use standard E on live performances for this songs)
The Smashing Pumpkins - On "Geek U.S.A" and "Mayonaise" of Siamese Dream. Used on many songs of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness album. Billy Corgan stated the tuning was used to give the album a darker sound.- The Smithereens
Sex Pistols (all live performances during their reunion shows)- Snapcase
- Social Distortion
- Sonata Arctica
- The Sound of Animals Fighting
The Sounds - used by Felix Rodriguez & Jesper Anderberg on most songs.
Staind (Aaron's rhythm guitar parts only)
The Starting Line (mainly during live performance)- Steel Panther
Spock's Beard (late 1995-late 2005)- Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stone Sour (mostly used on their softer songs, or "songs for the ladies" as said by Jim Root).[2]
Stratovarius - used in live performances until late 2009 and in all albums except some songs from their latest album, Eternal.- Streetheart (band)
- Stryper
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]
The Sword (on the song "Mist and Shadow")- Taking Back Sunday
- Temperance
- Testament
Thin Lizzy - Some songs on Fighting, most songs on Jailbreak, Johnny the Fox, Bad Reputation and Black Rose: A Rock Legend are in E♭ tuning, and all live performances since 1975 have been in E♭.
Thunder - for the song "Moth to the Flame".
TISM - on "Shut Up - The Footy's On The Radio" and "The Phillip Ruddock Blues"- Touché Amoré
Transatlantic (on some songs and live performance)
Trivium - This tuning was used along with drop D-flat and B-flat tuning (7-string) since In Waves album and live performances since 2011, also used on their cover of "Master of Puppets" by Metallica.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra[4]
U2 - on Boy, War, the song "Bullet the Blue Sky" and many live versions of songs originally written in standard tuning.
Van Halen - Every song featuring David Lee Roth (1974-1985). Most songs 2007-present.
Velvet Revolver - on live performances of E tuned songs after their second album, and also on all live performances of GNR classics "It's So Easy", "Mr. Brownstone", and "Paradise City".- Versailles
- Vision Divine
- Visions of Atlantis
Warrant - on "Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich" album, most songs on "Cherry Pie" and "Born Again", and on the albums "Rockaholic" and "Louder Harder Faster".- Warbringer
Weezer - Most songs written in the Weezer ("Blue Album") and Pinkerton periods were in E♭ tuning.
White Skull (Starting from their 3rd album)
Woods of Ypres (on their final album, Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light)- The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die
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
^ Cooper, Adam. "Jim Matheos of Fates Warning – Guitar Rig and Gear Setup – 2011". Guitar Geek. Retrieved 4 March 2015..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ "Jim Root Rig Rundown". All Axess.
^ "TNS Interview With Deryck! TNS: Why are all guitars tuned to Eb when you guys play live? Deryck: I play so hard live that I had to go to heavier gauge strings. If you're tuned at regular tuning the strings are so tight and don't play that well".
^ "Interview on KEXP".
^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JziUUICWR8