r/metalguitar • u/Marcojolo • 9d ago

4ths tuning

Why don’t metal guitarists use 4ths tuning. Seems like it would simplify everything as far as learning the fingerboard. Seems like it is tailor made for metal especially.

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u/Conscious_Badger_510 9d ago

I dont feel like relearning every single chord shape that i already know, it would make some things like scale runs easier because it means all the patterns repeat perfectly over the fretboard but it would be a headache trying to relearn the chord shapes

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u/Marcojolo 9d ago

In a metal context aren’t you basically using 3 string chords for the most part? All the triads you know on the EAD and ADG string sets are now the same on the other string sets. Nothing new to learn as far as that….. Same thing applies to power chords.

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u/K_oSTheKunt 8d ago

Kind of, not really. Depends on how diverse metal you listen to, more techy and proggy stuff certainly use all the strings.

It would be a headache to re-learn 8 years or so of muscle memory, patterns, shapes. I personally don't see the benefit of 4ths tuning - the standard tuning was invented for convenience for the guitar for a reason