?Fripp's C Pentatonic tuning

[5-0 phonebooth]

Known as the 'new standard tuning' (CGDAEG lo 2 hi), it seems to have maintained credibility with thousands of users since introduced by Robert decades ago. Anybody here tried it, use it, had problems with it, found it better than standard? Some guitars may not like the string tension. Thots?

I meant to include what I found on the net promoting the benefits by one user.

When I first tuned up, I was amazed -- it sounded like an
entire orchestra warming up. I quickly figured out a variety
of open and barre chords, and started playing various rock
standards. I was amazed at how easily they transferred and
how much richer they sounded. For example, the Rolling
Stones' "Wild Horses" sounds beautiful using the new tuning
-- one gets a sound very close to that obtained by Mick
Taylor's Nashville-strung acoustic.

I have discovered many benefits of the new tuning. Among
them:

1. The new tuning allows one to play open C and G with two
fingers instead of three, which should make it far easier to
teach to beginners. Open D, Ami, and Emi are also playable
with two fingers, but one must be careful not to hit the
bottom strings.

2. Barre chords -- both major and minor -- are a snap.
Dominant 7s require no more than a shift of one finger.

3. The new tuning is compatible with many traditional rock
and roll voicings. It is easy to get sus4 chords and one can
play Berry-Boogies without too much trouble. Mr. Fripp's
tuning has many of the positive characteristics of Keith
Richard's open-G tuning, but allows for many more
interesting chromatic possibilities. (It is ironic that a
Fripp tuning is so compatible with Keith Richard's style.)

4. It is easier to discover musically interesting patterns
than with the traditional tuning. Gone are the cliches
associated with the pentatonic scale: the guitarist now is
forced by circumstances to confront the entire chromatic
pallete.

5. Seldom do I approach the guitar without coming up with a
new idea. This may be simply because the tuning is new --
I've played guitar for 25 years. However, part of being
creative is a result of experimentation -- hearing something
new "by accident." The standard tuning makes
experimentation difficult.

[woolenmammoth]

6. Everything you play sounds like an out take from Larks Tongues In Aspic.

[huw]

I experimented with it for a while about 10 years (or more?) ago and found it a fascinating tuning to play with. The biggest problem, naturally, was the practical one of the increased tension on the high E string as it got tuned up to G - lots of string breaks!

I didn't find that it changed what I played much, if at all. My "ear" was the same and I was still trying to play the same types of sounds that I liked before changing tuning, so I think anyone's fear of the tuning making you sound like Fripp all the time are unfounded.

Ultimately though I gave it up, probably as much as anything because I was playing in a covers band & it was just easier to have the guitar tuned standard for replicating parts originaly played in standard. I could have worked the parts out in "new standard" given time, but it seemed like a lot of extra work at the time.

[peach64]

This thread is incredibly timely. As I'm finishing up on a `54 Custom build dedicated to Robert Fripp. It's also has a midi guitar bridge, unlike using Humbuckers, I used Staple pickups from GT. I'm looking forward to getting to some of his style, I used to listen to a lot of Krimson back in high school, and caught them on Discipline tour. But my fav line up was with Wetton and coarse Lake.

[5-0 phonebooth]

Originally Posted by woolenmammoth

6. Everything you play sounds like an out take from Larks Tongues In Aspic.

7. RF didn't develope the tuning until the mid '80s, a decade after LTIA.

Originally Posted by huw

I think anyone's fear of the tuning making you sound like Fripp all the time are unfounded.

I could have worked the parts out in "new standard" given time.

+1 ...altho I'd take even a fraction of his soundscape.

Good to hear.

Originally Posted by peach64

This thread is incredibly timely. As I'm finishing up on a `54 Custom build dedicated to Robert Fripp.

I'm so bummed he no longer uses that classic guitar much, if at all now. I sat directly in front and within 5' of him during the LA Gabriel shows in '77 (a dream come true), as he tore it up on his historic Custom LP. Please keep us info'd on your guitar's progress!

I have yet to hear any significant negs per this tuning anywhere I've searched. But the string tension thing has me concerned.

[Guido Sarducci]

Its interesting. You can finger scales exactly like this - Finger Independence 102: 4 Notes Per String - slide the index up and the pinky down. Ive been working really hard at another way. 4 fingers/one finger per note - dont stretch ( youll hurt yourself ) - think of it like 2 pairs of notes on each string. Index middle - shift up ( the hand not the thumb ) ring pinky - shift back - index middle..... Its actually fast and nice but would it ever be as fast as 3 notes per string? Probably not but how can you know unless you try alot. I like the 2 nps arpeggios. And you can make some wild interesting sounds if you sweep pick 1's and alternate pick 3's in the scale but skipping notes. It gets you out of the habit of playing straight scales and arpeggios. String skipping licks on adjacent strings and really wild if you skip strings. And you can tap fast scales 4 nps and arpeggios 3nps.

[5F6-A]

where can I find a tutorial of the basics in this tuning?

[huw]

Originally Posted by 5F6-A

where can I find a tutorial of the basics in this tuning?

There aren't many around. Fripp's "new standard" tuning was part & parcel of his "guitar craft" sceme:

Guitar Craft - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

His approach being somewhat like a kung fu master, he didn't dish stuff out, you were expected to go on the course(s).

Having said that, several ex-guitar craft students have produced their own materials for distribution. I'd imagine it wouldn't be too hard to google something up.