The Complete Book of Alternate Tunings (Guitar Books) [Paperback]

Mark Hanson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Guitar Books | Publication Date: August 1, 1995

Hundreds of guitar tunings in all styles, from folk to Celtic to rock, are included in this unique volume. It covers artists such as Hedges, Kottke, Sonic Youth, Cooder, Crosby Stills & Nash, Pearl Jam, and more. Includes tablature.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"It's hard to imagine a better-written, more logically laid-out, or thorough survey of the rich spectrum of possible alternate tunings than this excellent volume." -- Guitar Player Magazine

"This guide is a must-have for anyone interested in exploring the sonic possibilities of tunings." -- Guitar School Magazine

About the Author

Mark Hanson is internationally known as an author of high-quality guitar instruction materials. His more than two dozen books and videos include such titles as Alternate Tunings Picture Chords," "Paul Simon Transcribed," "Fingerstyle Noel," and "Great American Tablature Songbook." As an editor at Frets acoustic music magazine in the '80s, Mark interviewed such luminaries as James Taylor, David Crosby, and Michael Hedges. Mark continues to author and publish new titles, gives workshops and concerts across the country, and writes regularly for Acoustic Guitar, Fingerstyle Guitar, and Guitar Player magazines, as well as for his website: www.accentonmusic.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Music Sales America (August 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0936799137
• ISBN-13: 978-0936799131
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #700,643 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kick-butt referance, December 6, 1999

By 

John Hall (Tacoma Wa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Book of Alternate Tunings (Guitar Books) (Paperback)

If you've run out of riffs or are looking for a sound that sets you apart, this is THE book. I probably wouldn't reccomend it for less than intermediate (2-3 years on gutiar) But if you're even curious about alternative tunings this book is the best resource you can find for the money, covering the most common dadgad to the obscure i.e. B'Gdf#ad'. It loses points for D.I.Y.ers in assuming a working knowladge of chord and scale theroy. You can over look that as a small trade off for the sheer volume of information and well laid out information and examples. (Pages 85-120 are nothing but lists of artists and tunings, covering Chet Atkins, Sonic Youth and Led Zepplin just for starters.) If you want Hawaiian,Celtic or Heavy Metal you can find something to make your self heard here and if you're fingerstyle folk, just lock the door behind you and take enough food for a couple of days.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A near-excellent intro, November 5, 2005

By 

Anthony D Ravenscroft (Santa Fe, NM United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Book of Alternate Tunings (Guitar Books) (Paperback)

I've been guitaring -- some pro, mostly for my own joy -- for 35 years. I hate "how to play" books... but this is the exception. Don't assume it'll be "the magic touch," but BUY IT, play around with it, bust up a dozen sets of strings, maybe even buy another guitar (like I did) just to leave in "weird" tuning while you experiment.

This book, honestly, will vastly expand your thinking. From Neil Young & Richard Thompson, through Sonic Youth & Soundgarden, you'll learn how to get that unique "sing" from the strings. If you make it through Adrian Legg's tunings without your head melting, let me know.

So why didn't I give it 5 stars? Well, some of it is just wrong -- & the author has no one to blame but himself. Some of the chord diagrammes are simply wrong. Some of the tunings in the Discography are incorrect. And I wouldn't have known this if Mark Hanson hadn't done such a great job of teaching me a new way to hear the tones I produce.

Again: if you're reading this, you need this book.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars NOT Complete, but an EASY intro to it, well written., November 16, 2009

By 

Andrew M. - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Book of Alternate Tunings (Guitar Books) (Paperback)

Ok, I just got this book and now I'm searching further for an actual COMPLETE book of alternate tunings. I have 2 complaints on that front, one not enough tunings in here, and two, and more importantly, not enough chords transposed here to tell you where all the standard plus nonstandard chords are on the fretboard in these alternate tunings. I'm looking now for something much more detailed and comprehensive, most importantly with chords transposed. Like, that's such basic info you need if you want to play your favorite songs on the gittar in alternate tuning. So I'm not happy about that. This is not complete. A truly complete book on the subject would at the very least have a long appendix showing all or at least most of the important standard chords on the fretboards transposed for each tuning. Now on the plus side, this book is beautifully written and simple and easy to understand. I'm happy I bought it because it's a fine intro to the subject, but it should be titled an INTRO to alt tunings, not a complete guide. Sure, I know how to play the gittar at a fairly intermediate level enough to dare to try alternate tunings. I have no illusions I'm suddenly going to turn into Michael Hedges or his master successors in slap technique and other wonders of outrageous instrumental alternate tuning guitar playing, but I just want to enjoy the wondrous magic of the sound of the pretty chords in alternate tuning. This book has certainly made it EASY beyond my imagining. The little sidebar boxed explanations he gives that show how to tune in the alternate tunings are superbly easy to understand, and the explanations and background on who uses these tunings are excellent. He does give you a few standard chords transposed in most of the tunings, such as your basic C, G, Em and Am but still not enough to actually play most of your favorite songs, so now I'm searching for chord transposition info. Because frankly how can you even play a song that you know in standard tuning in the new tunings this way? Of course you can't. I don't know the math to transpose it, and this book doesn't explain that easily enough for me either. Nonetheless, now I can easily tune in a number of alternate tunings and goof around and it sounds perty, and that's nice but no cigars. This book is the place to start, but definitely not the place to finish with alternate tunings. I recommend it to begin with alternative tunings though, as he makes it easy to do the tunings. I was kind of intimidated by the concept until I got the book, so that's a huge step forward for me. Now it looks easy, and all I need is a more comprehensive actual COMPLETE guide.

**Update on finding chords in alternate tunings: The author of this book, Mark Hanson, has another nice book called "Alternate Tunings Picture Chords" that I bought that is pretty good, and I also bought "Mel Bay presents Open Tuning Chord Book" which is also helpful. However, both do not really give you all the basic chords you want in each tuning, they're just a start. The best source I've found is a free site on the internet, Guitar Codex. There are a number of sites with the Guitar Codex, some charge money, but some are free, just google it to find it. The Codex is superb, it is a little interactive graphic that allows you to find virtually any chords (including more complex jazz chords) on the guitar in any tuning, including your own custom tunings, and notes in any scale etc. Bookmark that thing, it is GREAT. The only problem is that with that site and any other somewhat useful site I found for chords in tunings, you can't print anything nor cut and paste into your own Word Document to print without paying for an upgrade, so I googled for a free site with guitar chord blank notation pages (there are many) and printed them, and then wrote down all the chords by hand that I wanted from the free Guitar Codex. For one tuning, Open C, it took me a couple or more hours, to write down all the standard chords one uses the most including let's say 3 different spots they each occur on the fretboard, but that's ok, it's the best method I've found outside of hiring someone for a guitar lesson. That's the options: pay for an upgrade on some guitar lesson site that charges and take the chance to see if it's comprehensive and print it there, do it yourself with the Codex for free and take the time to transcribe, or hire a musician for a lesson.