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Music Industry – Markets & Sales Data 2014

Image above gives figures in millions of dollars, representing estimated retail sales volume in each region.

How the music industry looks today in 2014

One thing is for sure this competitive industry has ridden out the global economic downturn of 2009 and has continued to provide us with an ever exciting array of products with cutting-edge technology at reasonably affordable prices.

The following data compares the Global turnover of the top 10 companies in the Music Industry during the last 5 or so years. The tables below show how the company revenue & ranking may have fluctuated. Notice how Gibson has moved up, this may be to do with their purchase of certain audio companies during recent years.

Top Ranked Music Companies 2009
Rank 2009 Rank 2008 Company Estmiated Revenues 2009
1 1 YAMAHA $4,322,356,000
2 2 ROLAND CORPORATION $921,523,772
3 4 KAWAI MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS MFG. CO., LTD. $688,373,467
4 3 FENDER MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS $600,750,000
5 5 HARMAN PROFESSIONAL $493,000,000
6 6 SENNHEISER ELECTRONIC $452,000,000
7 7 SHURE INC. $395,000,000
8 8 STEINWAY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS $306,436,000
9 9 GIBSON GUITAR CORP. $287,500,000
10 11 KHS/MUSIX CO. Ltd. $279,000,000
Top Ranked Music Companies 2013
Rank 2013 Rank 2012 Company Estmiated Revenues 2013
1 1 YAMAHA $3,755,767,000
2 3 ROLAND CORPORATION $783,600,000
3 2 SENNHEISER ELECTRONIC $738,000,000
4 7 GIBSON BRANDS $735,679,000
5 4 FENDER MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS $677,300,000
6 5 HARMAN PROFESSIONAL $672,805,000
7 6 KAWAI MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS MFG. CO., LTD. $536,341,000
8 8 SHURE INC. $462,000,000
9 9 STEINWAY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS $373,600,000
10 11 MUSIC GROUP $340,000,000
Top Ranked Music Companies 2014
Rank 2014 Rank 2013 Company Estmiated Revenues 2014
1 1 YAMAHA $3,586,770,000
2 4 GIBSON BRANDS $2,089,700,000
3 6 HARMAN PROFESSIONAL $853,140,000
4 3 SENNHEISER ELECTRONIC $695,280,000
5 5 FENDER MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS $675,000,000
6 7 KAWAI MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS MFG. CO., LTD. $550,240,000
7 8 SHURE INC. $490,000,000
8 9 STEINWAY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS $398,700,000
9 10 MUSIC GRUOP $365,000,000
10 2 ROLAND CORPORATION $357,240,000
Markets & Manufacturing

Just six or so countries manufacture close to 90% of the world’s music and audio gear. They are the United States, China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Indonesia.

Trading figures gathered by the World Trade Organisation (W.T.O.) produce an interesting outline of where the industry is most concentrated.

Top Countries
Country No’ of Companies Sales % Share of Global Sales
JAPAN 28 $6,505,467,634 33.42%
USA 81 $6,136,565,400 31.53%
GERMANY 19 $1,598,317,000 8.21%
CHINA 22 $1,249,711,901 6.42%
HONG KONG 4 $766,452,000 3.94%
TAIWAN 8 $502,225,000 2.58%
SOUTH KOREA 6 $367,950,000 1.89%
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The World Market for Music Instruments 2014

Lets get down to business…

What are the implications of the recent global economic effects on the World Market for Music Instruments?

IN 2009 THE GLOBAL ECONOMY SHRANK BY 2.4%, worldwide retail sales of music products declined 13.7% to 15.1 billion – most likely the largest decline since the early 80’s.

The World Trade Organization instituted standardized product codes two decades ago which has made it easier to track the global flow of imports and exports. This has made it easier to pinpoint and draw conclusions on World market behaviours.

The economic decline of 2009 left no part of the globe untouched but differed from country to country. In the United States and the United Kingdom, where home ownership and personal debt levels were highest, the bursting of the housing bubble prompted an immediate contraction, this lead to financially strained consumers stopping to buy musical instruments. By contrast in Europe, where consumers had accumulated more savings, the declines were smaller and more gradual. However in China, India and Brazil who at this stage had witnessed increases in personal income sales were spurred. Though these countries are large and avoided the global economic downturn their music markets are small in absolute terms.

In 2009 music products companies around the globe shared difficult operating environments, but the difference in the size of the markets remained enormous.

U.S. and Canadian citizens topped the charts, spending approx. $19 per capita on music products. Compare this to India, where per capita spending was six cents.

Gross national product per capita & median age – are the two key figures used to assess countries’ spending levels.

GNP per capita, or the size of the economy divided by the population, is a reasonably accurate measure of national prosperity.

The more prosperous a country, the more it typically spends on music products.
The music industry relies on the 12-to-28-year-old demographic for the majority of sales, this makes median age another critical barometer.

The intersection of GNP per capita and median age can be seen clearly when comparing the U.S. and European markets. The U.S. market with a low median age- 36.8 compared to 37.2 worldwide- and a GNP per capita that is 3.5 times the global average enjoys the means to spend on music and a disproportionately large group of younger buyers. Together these forces explain why the U.S. is such a rich market.

Now in 2014 music and music making have broad based appeal, but the industry’s largest number of customers still reside in the under 30-year-old age bracket. These are the primary purchasers of guitars, amps, drums, keyboards, and recording gear. And while the reverberations of the 2008 financial crisis were felt by all, they had a disproportionate effect on those 30 and under. A few key statistics illuminate the problem. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, only 47% of the 18-29-year-old age cohort holds a full time job, an all-time low.

The national unemployment rate stands at 6.8% at this writing, but it is 13% for the under-30 group. At a time when earnings opportunities seem to have declined, financial obligations have also increased. The treasury notes that college related debt has soared, rising 275% since 2003. Although hard to quantify, it’s beyond dispute that the financial stress of a key buying group has retarded industry growth.

The GNP in Europe is about 60% of the U.S. level, yet per capita Europeans spend only a third of what Americans do on music. Much of this can be attributed to demographics. A low birth rate in Europe during the last two decades has resulted in a smaller proportion of the younger population and consequently a reduction in the size of the industry’s prime age group.

Prosperous young people provide the raw material for a strong music market.

However, hard-to-quantify cultural factors also play a critical role. China’s remarkable economic growth during the last decade has created a gigantic middle class and turned the country into the world’s largest auto market. Chinese factories also lead the world in the production of most musical instruments and electronics. Yet, the growth of its domestic music products market has consistently lagged behind its larger economy. The best explanation for this disparity is a lack of music making tradition. For over 30 years after Moa took power, Western music was against the law. It is only now people are starting to turn to music as a source of enjoyment. But there is not a great deal of music teachers and few parents have the experience to guide their children into making music.

Contrast China with Japan, where a strong tradition of music making has countered the effects of unfavourable demographics. Japan has the world’s older population and a shrinking number of children, yet thanks to school music programs and widespread parental encouragement, per-capita music spending is over twice the global average.

Native English speakers represent less than 10% of the world’s population, but they have had a disproportionate impact on the global music scene. English-based rock, pop, country, and other genres are present on iPods around the world. No other popular music culture has a similar global reach. Explanations for this can vary from something to do with the centuries-old English folk music tradition, coupled with the way American pop has been a melting pot for so many other musical traditions. Some view this global popularity of English music with suspicion, as in France where state-run radio stations have strict limits on how much English music they can play, or in the Middle East where it’s considered blasphemous. If purchases are any indication, most seem to welcome it with open arms. The impact of this is best seen in the global popularity of the guitar.

Purchasing levels vary from country to country, but the type of products purchased is remarkably similar. In every country where sales statistics are tracked the guitar is the most popular instrument. National prosperity levels determine the best selling price points, but after that product preferences have become remarkably homogeneous. In any country around the globe, the top five selling brands in any product category are likely to be the same.

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Guitar Wing – Wi-Fi Control

Digital Processing in Reach

Guitar Wing, a MIDI controller that wirelessly connects to a computer over Bluetooth LE via a USB MIDI dongle. This revolutionary device has been developed by Livid Instruments in Austin, Texas.

This product received funding by kickstarter.com to get it into mass production.

Guitar Wing gives you the ability to control software while playing your guitar at the same time. Guitarists that have a lot to do with digital signal processing or do a lot of work with Digital Audio Workstations may find this product of interest…Livid Instruments/ guitar-wing

In 2014 just after funding by Kickstarter and launch the Future Music publication gave it Guitar accessory of the Year award.

Interestingly spring 2016 Guitar Center list this product as a top seller! www.guitarcenter.com

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iOS Devices – Software – MIDI Hardware

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Sorting through Guitar Education Software

Choosing your method

Learning guitar takes time and a lot of dedication. Enthusiasm can fluctuate especially when you arrive at a plateau and feel you are not improving. Guitar lessons can be expensive but on occasions help you develop the next set of skills you were looking for. Another approach could be to implement guitar lesson software, you can get all of the benefits of professional guitar lessons with less of a price tag.

There are a number of different software options available but which one gives you the best value for money, suits your style and teaches what you want to know?

Serious or Fun

Guitar education software products can range from serious learning to learning through a more gaming approach. Teaching hit songs in a dynamic interactive environment may have a place in the learning process but may lack some of the core fundamentals of guitar and music theory than a thorough serious learning course. We’ve tried to sort through some of the main contenders in these categories and highlight what their main features are. RockSmith is not included in this article as it received a review earlier but is very much one of the main contenders.

Learn Guitar with Apps & Gaming Software
Coach Guitar
Overview

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CoachGuitar shows you how to play popular songs on acoustic guitar with videos and animated fretboard. No music theory, no tablature, no guitar chords, you can learn to play guitar following a simple video tutorial system and color coded fingering chart. Whilst this app is free the songs taught will cost $3.00 each.

Features

Animated colored fretboard.
HD Videos.
Left or Right handed.
Step by step lessons.
Complete version of songs.
Backing track with voice.
Slowmotion / Loop Player.
Tablatures.
Free lessons included.

System Requirements

iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch

Approx Price: Free to install –
purchase songs at $3.00 / £2.00 / 20kr

coachguitar.com

Guitar Apprentice
Overview

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Guitar Apprentice enables a user to play a “real” guitar along with an onscreen chart that updates in real-time, it’s format is very similar to and obviously influenced by video games like Guitar Hero.

The Gisbson website feature a number of Guitar Apprentice videos – where you can get the idea of what it is all about.

gibson.com

Features

Each song has 15 levels, beginning simply and increasing in difficulty with the increase in level. At the final level, a player is playing each chord contained in the song.
Using this software will cover guitar basics, tuning your guitar, how to use a pick
and other playing essentials.
Further skills taught include;
How to get the right tone for a song
Using the right effects and pedals
Alternate tunings
Slides and bends
Hammer-ons, pull-offs, and tapping
Palm mutes and using the Whammy bar

System Requirements

Broadband Internet
1.5 GHz processor or bigger
1 GB RAM or more
Available for PC, Mac, and mobile devices like the IPod, ITouch, and IPad.

Approx Price:
Purchase songs at $9.99 / £6.15 / 65kr

guitarapprentice.com

Rock Band
Overview

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The series built on a strong foundation of local 4-player guitar, bass, drum, and vocal action, letting players live out their rock fantasies. The Rock Band franchise has gone on to sell over 18 million units worldwide and over 130 million individual song downloads, adding new fans and features along the way, including real-life pro instruments, a collaboration with The Beatles, a devoted UGC community for Rock Band Network, and a music library totaling over 4,000 songs.

Features

Designed exclusively for the Rock Band 3 Pro mode, the Squier by Fender Stratocaster guitar and controller allows players to play the actual notes and chords of their favorite songs. Compatible with PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii For wide-ranging use. (Requires Rock Band 3 MIDI PRO-Adapter – Sold Separately)
Agathis wood body with polyester finish, 22-fret maple neck with polymer fingerboard and position-sensing electronics. Enclosed tuners. Custom bridge pickup. Custom truss rod. 1/4″ output jack.
Standard 5-pin MIDI output jack, compatible with MIDI recording software.

System Requirements

Xbox or PlayStation
Midi adapter

The Guitar: Fender Squier plus the required MIDI adapter – over $300 / £185 / 1955kr

Approx Price: Purchase DVD’s for $15.00 / £9.20 / 98kr…

harmonixmusic.com

Riff Station
Overview

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The ultimate practice app for guitarists and musicians, load your favorite songs and unlock the fundamental structure of the song isolate parts and play along. Riffstation is what happens when software developers who play guitar decide to build the ultimate guitar app. Utilizing audio DSP to bring you the most awesome guitar app available today. It’s easy to use and there are some interesting possibilities with this software.

Features

Get Guitar Chords For Any Song.
Chord Diagrams Synced With Your Music.
Change Key and Practice at Your Own Speed.
Practice Songs in Any Key.
Loop Riffs With Perfect Timing.
Transcribe Guitar Parts Easily.
Isolate the Guitar and Learn From the Masters.
Mute the Guitar and Play With Your Favorite Bands.

System Requirements

Windows XP & Vista, Windows 7 & 8
Mac OSX 10.6 and Higher – 64 Bit only

Approx Price: $54.00 / £33 / 350kr

riffstation.com

Serious Learning Software

Guitar Pro 6
Overview

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Guitar Pro is a musical software program offering all of the functionalism that all guitarists need.An innovative learning tool created by Arobas Music, is just one example of the many products out there designed to help people progress with their music, without the help of a traditional music school or teacher.

Features

Edit, visualize, and share your scores.
Learn to play or improve your technique.
Accompany yourself by creating the instrumental tracks of your choice.
Enjoy a series of essential tools: scale-validating tool, tuner, metronome, guitar fretboard.

System Requirements

Administrator’s rights for installation, Internet connection for activation
Intel Pentium 4 type processor
1 GB RAM
Sound card – DVD-ROM drive
256 MB free HD space
Screen resolution 1024 x 768

Approx Price: $80 / £50 / 530kr

guitar-pro.com

Guitar Method
Overview

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Produced by eMedia, Guitar Method is one of the more highly rated guitar software education options. It includes over 70 songs and 165 lessons featuring Kevin Garry Ph.D. as the instructor.This program comes with a large amount of tools such as a digital recorder and an electronic chord dictionary that can aid the learning curve more effectively. From beginner to progressive guitarist this package has something to offer from it’s extensive amount of lessons it can teach new techniques and chord combinations.

Features

Fully scalable lesson screens
70+ songs covering rock, blues, classical, country and folk genres
Music notation display options
More than 50 full motion videos with a full-screen viewing option
Interactive feedback for melodies
Animated fretboard displays fingering positions as the music plays
Variable-speed MIDI slows down the audio to any tempo
165 Step-by-Step Lessons
Automatic tuner allows you to play into your computer’s microphone and immediately get feedback to see if you’re too high or too low.
Chord dictionary with fingering charts and recorded sounds for over 250 chords.
Digital metronome allows you to set your own tempo and work on your picking speed, rhythm and timing.
Digital recorder allows you to compare your recordings with the instructor’s version, fine tune your skills and store musical ideas.

System Requirements

Sound card
VGA+ display
16 MB of free RAM

Approx Price: $50 / £30 / 310kr

emediamusic.com

Guitar Coach Deluxe
Overview

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Guitar Coach Deluxe incorporates features such as an animated fretboard and recording tools, it includes a Chord Miner Professional that catalogues over 7000 chords and 41 chord types in every key. You can also build your own chord progressions, download chord sets and print arrangements. Guitar Coach contains 6 different modules it is possible to download each module individually or purchase the whole collection by mail order.No left hand facility, PC only.

Features

6 CD-ROMs containing lots of content to help you learn.
Each lesson covers a different aspect of guitar playing.
Full screen videos to help you learn new songs.
Download lessons individually ($12.50) or purchase the whole collection ($50.00)
Start from the basics of strumming techniques and chord fingerings.
40+ interactive guitar lessons.
30+ professional instructional videos with full-screen & slow-motion.
Practice tools, including variable-speed backing tracks & repetition loops.
Animated, variable-speed fretboard and strum hand to check fingering and accuracy.
Audio accompaniment to build ensemble performance skills.
Practice loops to help you perfect difficult passages.
Recording capability so that you can hear yourself playing with the backing tracks and track progress.
60+ full-screen practice videos with adjustable speed.
7000+ chords with multiple voicings of 41 chord types in every key.

System Requirements

PC only
8x CD-ROM drive
120MB of hard drive space
64MB of RAM
16 bit sound blaster compatible sound card
Internet connection preferred for product activation

Approx Price: $50 / £30 / 310kr

musiccoach.com

Teach Yourself to Play Guitar
Overview

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This guitar lesson software is based on the bestselling book, Alfred’s Teach Yourself to Play Guitar and teaches both acoustic and electric guitar lessons with interactive video clips. Although this program teaches all of the basics such as reading music notation and tablature, chords and scales it does not include rhythm lessons or have the ability to run repetitive loops.This software excels in the area of visual instruction where the combination of an animated fretboard and full motion video gives visual learners everything they need to learn to play the guitar.

Features

336-page Essential Dictionary of Music.
Over 60 songs covering blues, country, folk, jazz & heavy metal.
Learn to read standard music notation and TAB.
Perform songs in a variety of styles, and play chords, scales and cool licks on either acoustic or electric guitar.
Exercises to reinforce your technique as you follow along with music right on your screen.
Interactive song player lets you change tempos, adjust audio levels, and record your performance.
Videos of an instructor teaching and clearly demonstrating lessons.
Bonus games reinforce concepts taught in the method.
Customizable ear training program gives you the tools to play any song you hear.
Interactive guitar tuner keeps you in perfect tune.

System Requirements

64 MB RAM
640 x 480, 16-bit color display
8x CD-ROM drive

Approx Price: $32 / £21 / 210kr

guitarcenter.com

Gibson Learn and Master Guitar
Overview

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This set of 20 DVDs, 5 CDs and a 100+ page book sets out a comprehensive learning guide. The set of 20 DVDs which contain the video lessons that as you follow you will build up a complete and well rounded knowledge of playing guitar. The lessons cover everything from the basics of guitar maintenance through to the important steps of learning to play from both tablature and music notation, to advanced technique and developing your own unique playing style.

Features

20 professionally produced DVDs
Lessons divided into 20 sessions covering a huge range of playing styles, techniques and theory.
5 Jam Along CDs
Advanced training in all popular playing styles
100+ page lesson book
Free student support site.

System Requirements

64 MB RAM
640 x 480, 16-bit color display
8x CD-ROM drive

Approx Price: $249 / £150 / 1600kr

learnandmaster.com

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Rocksmith 2014 Edition

Rocksmith is owned by Ubisoft who is a French multinational video game developer and publisher, headquartered in Montreuil-sous-Bois, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 29 studios in 19 countries and has further subsidiaries in 26 countries. It is currently the third largest independent game publisher in the world, as well as in Europe and the United States. This is a big business enterprise but how does their guitar education software perform? In actuality is it something that can really help aspiring guitarists on their way? Is it better than Guitar Apprentice another contender in guitar music video education software and are either of these better options than the more conventional serious music software?

Ubisoft says that the game offers “the fastest way to learn guitar” and, while that claim is impossible to test, what’s clear is that with the right mix of talent, dexterity and dedication, Rocksmith 2014 will make a musician of you. Skills learned from this program could help an aspiring guitarist develop their playing ability onto the next stage.

The software expertly models numerous amps and effects pedals to recreate the specific guitar tones featured on six decades’ worth of tracks. If Rocksmith is not set up correctly it can suffer from a lot of lag which is the time taken between striking a note on the guitar and the output being played on screen and through your speakers. It is not sufficient to use the HDMI cable for both video and audio output but by splitting the audio signal through a separate amplifier reduces lag to an acceptable level. Ensuring minimal lag is of paramount importance. See this set-up guide Optimize Your Audio Setup

Rocksmith 2014 presents more than 50 tracks, which can be sorted after a decade or a category. Once a song is selected and you begin to play you are tasked with playing a small handful of notes, as you continue the software will introduce more notes adapting to the complexity of your skill level. Notes travel down a stave in the Guitar Hero style, but with six different coloured strings and a camera that whizzes up and down the on-screen depiction of a guitar neck, it can take a while before sight-reading becomes instantaneous. Once mastered, however, the notation reveals several benefits over standard guitar tablature: sustained notes are drawn with lines as long as the note must be held; vibrato is expressed with a wobbly mark while bends are shown as physical curves.

There is a full range of Marshall and Orange amplifiers, speakers and an assorted range of effects pedals can be used to create your own guitar sounds which can, in turn, be used elsewhere in the game. One of the useful features is ‘Session Mode’ which allows you to select a particular style of drummer, bassist and keyboard player, set a key and a musical style and play over the top of the virtual band’s backing. The band (who seem to be at their most comfortable with the 12-bar blues) will even follow your lead in terms of their energy and volume.

Rocksmith 2014 sits somewhere between instructional software and rhythm action game. Improvements have been made from the initial release with the Riff Repeater and the inclusion of Session Mode proving invaluable. Serious guitar players may be better served by more serious software such as Guitar Pro, Guitar Method and Guitar Coach but those looking for a softer, more approachable tutor will find great value in the game.

Ubisoft has done a great job balancing the game and educational elements to keep things interesting while also helping you learn.

Rocksmith website

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Guitar Chords

Have fun with guitar chords

Guitar chords in different guitar tuning’s create different tonal ambiances, here are just a few start off with. To develop the idea of building chords in any tuning the “circle of notes” could be helpful.

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[x_button shape=”square” size=”large” float=”none” href=”https://guitartuning.org/guitar-chords/open-e-chords/” title=”guitar chords” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover”]Open E Chords[/x_button]

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[x_button shape=”square” size=”large” float=”none” href=”https://guitartuning.org/guitar-chords/modal-d-chords/” title=”guitar technique” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover”]Modal D Chords[/x_button]

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[x_button shape=”square” size=”large” float=”none” href=”https://guitartuning.org/guitar-chords/open-d-chords/” title=”guitar technique” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover”]open D Chords[/x_button]

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[x_button shape=”square” size=”large” float=”none” href=”https://guitartuning.org/guitar-chords/open-g-chords/” title=”guitar chords” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover”]Open G Chords[/x_button]

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[x_button shape=”square” size=”large” float=”none” href=”https://guitartuning.org/guitar-chords/open-a-chords/” title=”guitar chords” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover”]Open A Chords[/x_button]

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[x_button shape=”square” size=”large” float=”none” href=”https://guitartuning.org/guitar-chords/open-c-chords/” title=”guitar technique” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover”]Open C Chords[/x_button]

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[x_button shape=”square” size=”large” float=”none” href=”https://guitartuning.org/guitar-chords/g6-chords/” title=”guitar technique” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover”]G6 Chords[/x_button]

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Guitar Tunings

Explore guitar tunings

Below we have some pages that list out a wide range of guitar tunings

Guitar tunings

There is no limit to the amount of tuning variations that can be made, we’ve listed an amount of some of the more regular ones. You can even have a go at making you own.

All tunings

To see a listing of guitar tunings to make comparisons continue to – All Tunings

Circle of Notes

The circle of notes technique can help to find chords and scales in any given tuning. It helps to find the interval relationship between chords and scales by giving the order of notes on the fretboard of a guitar. This order will stay consistent with the position on the fretboard may move depending on the tuning. To find notes for a chord or scale in a particular tuning, have a look at the – Circle of Notes

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Self-tuning Guitars

The evolution of self-tuning guitar systems

One of the first self-tuning guitar systems to appear was the Transperformance (U.S.), the company, founded in 1987 by Neil Skin with the express purpose of developing self-tuning for guitars and other stringed instruments. In 1990 Tranperformance delivered the first working system to Jimmy Page of Led Zeplin a widely respected guitarist and noted for his talented use of open tunings.

The company Transperformance was later bought by AxCent Tuning Systems in 2008 and is still in existence today. axcenttuning.com

This self-tuning guitar evolution continued as patent records show that in 1998 a company named ATD filed an application for a bridge mounted self-tuning device. This device was exhibited at the Millennium Dome, London in 2000 along side a number of other innovative devices that won a NESTA Award and were selected to celebrate design and innovation in Britain at the turn of the millennium.

In 2005, a German-based company Tronical, introduced their take on a self-tuning device, unlike the Transperfomance and ATD system this device addresses tuning from the head-stock rather than the bridge.
www.tronical.com
www.soundonsound.com/review
www.reddit.com/review
www.reddit.com/why does everyone seem to hate the Min-E tune system/
wackerman.blogspot.se/2014 Gibson G Force and Min-E tune

In 2007 Gibson introduced the guitar “Robot” which was using the Tronical tuning system, this was met with mixed opinions but Gibson and Tronical continued their collaboration and during the next years brought out their further products “Dark Fire” and “Dusk Tiger” respectively. These guitars not only featured Tronical self-tuning but also camillian tone virtual sound modelling.

Another alternative arrived around 2010 with a bridge called Evertune, this does not tune your guitar but it compensates for when your guitar goes out of tune. evertune.com

One can only wonder at where this will all lead to!

How helpful can self-tuning guitar systems be for guitarists?

Can self-tuning be the logical step in the evolution of the guitar and part of the future similar to auto focus on cameras or electric windows in cars?

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