Mirror Tuning™

“Mirror Tuning” is a tuning for six string guitar invented by Bernard ‘Senchant’ Birgenheier. It is a system of tuning the guitar in 5ths, while retaining fundamental shapes every guitar player knows, simply upside down!! Instead of the traditional tuning in 4ths, with a Major 3rd between the 2nd and 3rd strings, Senchant has effectively reversed this by using 5ths and Augmenting the 5th between strings 4 and 5… (the traditional guitars 3rd reversed, which maintains the ability to bar in one position and allows for common shapes to be used!) Perfect 5th tuning does not allow a player to bar chords because the octave is displaced. Senchant’s perspective is very simple, “When you have an instrument with more strings than you have fingers, it closes the door on the ability to grab multiple notes, as guitarists typically do when playing chords, strumming or finger picking. Not being able to bar completely defeats the purpose of having more strings than fingers.” This new tuning opens the guitar up in an inventive and totally new way! Any proficient guitarist can readily adopt this tuning as it utilizes the most basic shapes, simply upside down. This not only offers the range of a traditional 6 string guitar, but the addition of one more octave in a single position! Traditional tuning offers 2 octaves in one position. Mirror Tuning offers 3 octaves in one position.

Any 6 string guitar can now have a bigger range than an 8 string guitar or Chapman Stick!!! …and you want those big fat necks for what exactly!??

Here is how it works:

Traditional Guitar Tuning = 4th 4th 4th 3rd 4th

E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4

Senchant’s Mirror Tuning = 5th +5th(b6) 5th 5th 5th

A1 E2 C3 G3 D4 A4 (nylon string guitars)

G#1 D#2 B2 F#3 C#4 G#4 (steel string 24.75″)

G1 D2 Bb2 F3 C4 G4 (steel string 25.5″)

Please contact us for a set of custom strings and how to easily gain one more octave in one position on any guitar!!!

***Further observation:

• Mirror Tuning is far more resonant than traditional tuning. The open strings and open harmonics create a far better sounding chord than the muddy traditional open string chord and its’ harmonics.
• Mirror Tuning is more closely related to the overtone series. Traditional tuning is not.
• Chord voicings in Mirror Tuning sound “bigger” with less notes because of the larger intervals that can easily be played… described as “more piano-like” or the notes “jumping off the fret board!”
• Little to nothing is lost when converting from a traditional 6 string tuning, but far more musical possibilities are gained by using Mirror Tuning. Minor adjustments to the nut/saddles and proper string gauge is all that is needed!
• Students and players adapt to this new “Mirror Tuning” system quickly because they are not learning a new tuning system, only reversing already learned shapes and patterns. Any guitar player who doubles on mandolin or violin already do this “reversed thinking” by playing on a 5th tuned instrument. It’s like a giant violin with frets!
• Chord shapes are more comfortable as they fall more ergonomically in players hands! Major or minor chords can also be played with one finger!!