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How to play 7 string songs on a 6 string

Dan Shipway

Slim Shady
  •
    • Nov 11, 2019
    726
    158
    9
  • #1
    Hey guys, I have been delving into Dream Theaters repetoir a bit more and have found some riffs I really want to learn but unfortunately they are using a 7 string and I wondered what tuning or what methods I could use to compensate. The tuning is just E standard with a low B added (I think that is standard tuning for 7 string guitars)
    As always, any and all help is massively appreciated.
     

    Rad Synner

    Sold-out Crowd Surfer
    Staff member
    Legend+
  •
    • Nov 11, 2019
    1,416
    4
    4,357
    Montreal
    8
  • #2
    One option I thought about would be buying a set of strings for 7 strings guitar and add on the new low string where your low E was and then go up from there. Obviously, you would have to sacrifice the high E string but thats the only option I can think of. Also adding a bigger string will probably mess a bit with your guitar neck so be careful with that. I cant really think of anything else!
     
    D

    D K

    Free Bird Player
    Nov 11, 2019
    122
    0
    Belgium
  • #3
    What you could do is increase the pitch of the song by 5 semitones and treat the low E of the 6-string as the low B of the 7 string, I did this for the shattered fortress. Or you could do a combination of increasing the pitch of the song and lowering the tuning on your guitar, for example lowering the tuning by a full tone (D standard) and increasing the song’s pitch by 3 semitones. But I don’t really have experience with dropped tuning so I don’t know how low you can go and still have enough tension in the strings.
     

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