Hi, need some friendly advice,
For some reason i hate drop D tuning and yet most of my favorite bands use it!! What shall i do!!??
I love trivium and god forbid,killswitch engage,machine head, etc etc and id love to sound like them but i hate drop d tuning. I feel like its cheating or for people that cant play very well. Maybe i dont understand it very much? Help me understand. Or maybe i am too lazy to go from standard tuing to drop d?
I love carcass,at the gates, arch enemy, the haunted etc and i'm not sure which direction to concentrate on. Drop D or standard tuning?

uhmmm....just drop that fucking e string if you wanna play those songs

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Its a common misconception that drop tuning=cheating. It really isnt. I dont think Nile, or Origin, are cheating much, at all...

There are benefits to each tuning, just do what you find easiest. Experiment. You'll find which tuning you prefer eventually. I like standard because Im used to it, and I know how to form chords and stuff easier in it when utilising the bottom string. Thats just me, though.

Drop tuning=cheating? Well if all you play is powerchords, then yeah, but usually the bands with sufficient intelligence to downtune don't play solely powerchords.

Why don't you just drop all your strings a step to Standard D if you dislike one-finger powerchords?

I'm learning that Arsis song in Drop-C and Nile's "Execration Text"... definately NOT cheating. :P

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try some lamb of god... they have some pretty sick riffs that would be impossible to do in regular tuning... too much of a stretch...

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DITTO

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Drop D is not cheating , Jimmi Page used it for Moby dick , Pantera used it , zakk , Soundgarden , Jerry Cantrell , Drop D is a legimitate weapon .
You actually have to know what your doing to use it right.
Good Luck

Martyr uses drop-d.

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I ahte the feeling of 'drop tuning' in regards to one finger powerchords, nothing to do with 'cheating' but I just don't like the interval differences. I don't really play a lot of chuggy riffs thatuse that tuning system though and prefer runs etc.Even dropped riffs I find easier to play in standard (tuning allowing) such as Unas Slayer of the Gods (Nile) and other classic drop-D riffage like Davidian by machine head...

I just don't like the interval differences. the tuning to me is fun for a few minutes but i can't use it beyond a novelty, and seeing as I have only one guitar (which has a floyd rose) I don't really bother.

Some years ago I wrote a song in g minor and had to be in standard tuning with a dropped Eb. All the bottom powerchords were like A4ths on regular tuning, weird shit.

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Drop D=Cheating? not at all...For example lets take well known band as Iron Maiden

Since Adrian Smith is back he playes with Drop D tunning because it comes very usefull to get abit sharper and deeper sound and classics like Wrathchild sounds amazing with Drop D in it...

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h uses drop d now because he wanted to make the new albums sound a bit heavier not too much mind.....considering there are 3 guitarists now
all in standard tuning would be wierd.

also number of the beast he uses drop d,the trooper for some strange reason considering the songs in e ,

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There is no such thing as cheating on giuitar as long as it's helping be creative, bands don't even use drop D for power chords, like all the ones mentioned and the blues artists.

Nothin wrong with drop-tuning...unless you are in slipknot or chimaira

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Oh help, the loud distortion also hurts my ears but all my favourite bands use it, what should I do??
Just de-tune the fucking string and play the tunes you find to favour it really is that simple! How fucking lazy do you have to be to the extent that you can't be bothered to re-tune one string? What happens if your guitar goes out of tune naturally??

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thats what i was thinking, it only takes a second, unless you have floyd, in which case fair enough...

If you have a Floyd, you can get a 'D-Tuna' ( which you might not want to do, since its a tad expensive ), or set it up so that when you loosen the bridge tuner all the way down your E string is at D ( I had a tremelo once and resorted to this ).

If you don't have a locking nut, then tune your E-string down to D ... and then tune it back up again when you're done playing

Some bands that use drop tuning in some or all of their songs:

Martyr
Psycroptic
Odious Mortem
Theory In Practice
Nile
Origin
Neuraxis
Lykathea Aflame (I think)

Your statement that dropped tunings equal cheating has just been disproved. Have a nice day.

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Buy another guitar and tune one DRopped and the other in standard tunning.

Chao

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just tune how you fucking want to tune. If you realy want to play in a standard tuning, but want to sound like the bands, tune in standard D or something.

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Sorry if i offended anyone when i said about cheating etc.
I'm just getting frustrated with what direction to go. The band that i am in is on hold at the minute and we tuned as standard tuning but in D. I'm trying to write new riffs and i'm just trying to find a new sound i guess. When the band gets back together i want to impress them and have something new and fresh and exciting to work on instead of just similar stuff that we had before,which is also awesome but i don't want every song to be similar. (carcass,haunted,pantera,metallica etc). I guess it'll be better to stick with the tuning we had and work on that. I guess an odd drop D every so oten wouldn't hurt right? Even with only having 1 guitar. Maybe i'll learn some more iron maiden,guns n roses and ac/dc and add that side of rock to the trivium,carcass side of things and see what happens?
Thanks all for you suggestions.

Well i don`t understand, is there only people here wich listen to and play "drop d mtv modern rock gay"??!! This is a metal forum right? and "nu-metal" machine head and those otehr (mostly) american bands, slipknot and shit, is not metal, but what i would call something like "modern mtv poprock"
You can call it subshit or whatever to.
I wonder since everybody answer this person. and btw, iron maiden dont use drop-d, maybe adrian smith uses it or whatever i don`t know, i like the first albums, this was my introduction to metal, and i have even heard th latest, dance of death or something, and that does not sound like someone playing drop-d to me. Ok i am pretty new to guitar, but old maiden was really good.

I honestly have no fucking clue what you are trying to say. Did you just say everyone here listens to; and I quote-"drop d mtv modern rock gay"?

Its far from the case? Most people here are in to Death Metal (A broad, sweeping statement; this im aware of and there are alot of people who dont, but this is the majority that Ive picked up on...)

Forgive me if I misunderstood your point, but damn, i just dont understand...

besides, most people flame the nu-metal listening n00bs here right away

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Classic Wrathchild
Verse riff
Guitar 1,2
e|---------------------------------------------------
B|---------------------------------4-5-5-4-5-7-5----
G|-7/9-9-9-9-7/9-9-9-9-7/9-9-9-9-----------------5-
D|-5/7-7-7-7-5/7-7-7-7-5/7-7-7-7-------------------
A|---------------------------------------------------
E|---------------------------------------------------

Tadays Wrathchild
Verse riff
Guitar 1,2
e|---------------------------------------------------
B|---------------------------------4-5-5-4-5-7-5----
G|-7/9-9-9-9-7/9-9-9-9-7/9-9-9-9-----------------5-
D|-5/7-7-7-7-5/7-7-7-7-5/7-7-7-7-------------------
A|---------------------------------------------------
E|---------------------------------------------------

e|--------------------------------------------------
B|--------------------------------------------------
G|--------------------------------------------------
D|--------------------------------------------------
A|-0h2-2-2-2-0-2-2-2-2-0-2-2-2-2------------------
D|-0h2-2-2-2-0-2-2-2-2-0-2-2-2-2-4-5-5-4-5-7-5-0-

Well, try to play each of them and see what sound you like the most...
You dont have to tune all the guitars by drop D - you can do with one guitar in standard tuning and one in drop D

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youve tabbed them on the wrong strings but never mind

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No wonder it sounded cunty LOL

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Shit! I knew something wrong!

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Hummm...intresting point...I should try tabing songs when I am on hight and then see how would it sound like...

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you should

steve harris wrote rime of the ancient mariner when he was stoned

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drop d isnt cheating. you can play alot more tech stuff in drop tunings....... ex. Lamb of God. fucking tech as hell.

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Sorry, LOG ain't that technical.

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If you think the band song you are listening to are too easy in drop d play them in standard tuning. If the song is in drop D and it is easier playing it that way why do you want to make yourself more uncomfortable by making it standard tuning. The point of music is not to make yourself as uncomfortable as possible unless your trying to improve your playing capabilities.

Thats what I do but only for death. I dislike dropped tuning.

Ok good that most in this forum are into death metal, but i have also seen others here talking about other shit like machine head, fear factory or whatever. I am into some death metal as well. But when talking to other almost every now knows what "death metal is", than for example black metal.
When i would say to another stupid, trend person, yeah, i listen to like black/pagan metal and so, later that person says: yeah he listens to DEATH metal, and i did not even said DEATH metal to him =). But even so, he only knows what death metal is, or think how it is, he would probably think of slipknot, in flames or anything like that. See what i mean , not that death metal is any sort of trend, real death to say so.

Dropped-D tuing is ok when you USE the deeper sound.I hate people how tune their strings down to play easilier

not there older stuff, but most of the songs on ashes of the wake were really tech.

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Sometimes I downtune my top three strings to B-E-A and of course that allows me to have the range of a seven string with a little bit of complication or I downtune the top three strings to be certain drone notes. . . depending on what style I am playing. . . . Nothing wrong with downtuning in my mind. . . like they say. . . as long as you aren't doing it breaking benjamin style.

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Drop... cheating. Drop... cheating. Drop... ... ... but please.
What is it about using the full potential of your axe that is cheating? I've played and written in drops from D to A and though I sometimes get the feeling that there are more possibilities in those six string than I will ever discover I can't say it seems wrong to me.

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If no suggestions will ease your mind, perhaps this one will.

If you solely plan on playing powerchords, do whatever tuning you want.

As for me, I will stick with standard tuning (either in D Eb E):

I don't just play powerchords. I play open chords and barrechords.

The reason I like to use standard tuning is that my index finger frets the root everytime, whether it's for a power chord or a barrechord. Also, the rest of my index finger mutes the lower strings while i'm playing power chords.

Because I have learned barrechords, my hand has a naturally fit on the fret board that looks like I'm fretting barrechords but I'm really playing powerchords.

I don't have to change, or even move, my fingering when i'm switching from a barrechord to powerchord.

A good example of a practice is to fret a B barrechord on the A string second position using just your index and barring your ring finger. strum the top two, three, or all five strings and you either have a powerchord or barrechord.

Someday, you may want to play barrechords in the future. Playing in standard tuning will help your muscle memory in fretting the root of the power/barre chord.

That's my sole reasoning.

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Yes, I too prefer the standards - up or down - but one can do pretty fun stuff with drops as well. You can apply any piece of basic knowledge of musical harmony and make funny but original chords in any drop/tuning. Point is, as long as you do not rip off someone else and call it your own, then there really is no such thing as cheating in this business.

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i would suggest buying the eddie van halen D _Tuna system if your that worried about dropping the E string everytime. Its a switch that you put on your bridge and you just flick it to drop the string down a step. I think it only costs about 40 dollars

I have aversion for drop D tuning from Nu-Metal. Most of their guitar real potential never gets used and yet they keep bragging of how superb they are in guitar. Fucking two faced hypocrites.

Your forgeting Fuck...I'm Dead, The Day Everything Became Nothing and Pig Destroyer.

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and lamb of god

I was only talking about bands that are good though.

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