Estimated reading time 5 minutes
Table of Contents
Introduction
Do you want your band to sound better? Have you ever been frustrated that your guitar or keyboard sounds out of tune when you play chords? Learn how to get a killer sound for your band by retuning your keyboards and guitars using Supplemented Equal Temperament. Supplemented Equal Temperament (SET) works with equal tempered (ET) instruments. It also works with variable pitch instruments such as singers, violins, brass, and winds. Read more to find out how it works.
This article uses musical terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the post.
The soundtrack below gives an idea of what it sounds like when two SET tuned instruments jam.
Two SET Tuned Guitars Playing Together:
How Get the Killer Keyboard Sound: SET Keyboard
Mobile users: for best results reading the music examples, tilt your screen 90o to the right.
To get a killer sound on the keyboard, you need to tune to SET. Prior posts talked about tuning the keyboard to and how the chords work on the SET tuned keyboard:
How to Get the Killer Guitar Sound: SET Guitar
Likewise, to get a killer sound on the guitar, you need to tune to SET.
- To tune the guitar to SET standard tuning, you need to have a keyboard already tuned to SET.
- Tune the guitar by first tuning strings 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 with an electronic tuner.
- Then, fret the A on the 3rd string, 2nd fret and tune it to the A below middle C on the keyboard.
If you don’t have a micro-tunable synth but still want to hear how SET sounds on guitar, you can use the new online guitar tuner:
You’d use the 2 Cent Resolution Tuner. This puts the guitar into this tuning:
When tuned like this, the open E major chord sounds more in tune: fuller, brighter, and more focused.
- The major third and octaves are tuned pure, and the fifths are near pure.
- This remains true for the E-form barre chords with roots on the sixth string.
- The tuning of other open and barre chord voicings is compromised, e.g., the open C or the A-form barre chords. Listen carefully when trying other chord forms.
Use major scales, as well as major and minor pentatonic scales, over these chords when soloing. Once again, listen carefully as you play.
The Overlap Between the SET Tuned Keyboard and SET Tuned Guitar
The Supplemented Equal Temperament tuned keyboard and guitar work together to create the killer sound.
- However, some chords overlap and some do not.
- This is because the two instruments tune in essentially different ways.
- Keeping reading for an example.
Major Chords
The SET guitar and keyboard both have the same C, D, F, and G major triads.
Compare the cent values between the C major chords for both the SET keyboard and guitar. They match: C 0, E 386, G700. The following barre chords also match the keyboard diagram above.
SET standard tuning does not have the same A, Eb, Ab, or Bb major chords as the SET keyboard.
- To get these chords on the guitar, would require retuning it.
- Likewise, the E, F#, G#, A, A#, B, C#, and D# barre chords on the guitar do not match the keyboard.
- The keyboard would have to changes keys to match these chords, which can be done.
- We will discuss retuning the keyboard and changing keys, especially with the PC3K keyboards, in a later post.
The big advantage of the SET guitar is its ease of changing keys. The big advantage of the SET keyboard is its flexible voicing and the ability to mix major and minor chords.
Minor Chords
The SET keyboard and guitar both have minor thirds on E (E 386 & G 700), A (A 886 & C 0), and B (B 1086 & 200).
The SET standard tuned guitar does not have the full E, A, B, C, F, and G minor. It has the minor thirds in common, but it lacks the fifth of each minor chord.
As an example, a B minor chord has B 1086, D 200, and F# 586.
- The SET keyboard has F# 586. The guitar does not, at least not on a separate string from B 1086.
- The guitar must be retuned to get the minor chords.
- However, it can only be tuned to the relative minor or the parallel minor, but not both.
The relative minor triads are the E, A, and B minor triads from the keyboard above.
- While the parallel minor triads consist of the C, F, and G minor triads from the keyboard.
- We will discuss other SET guitar tunings in later posts.
- A quick tip: Move very quickly through notes that are out of tune between the SET guitar and keyboard. Hang out on the well-tuned notes and chords.
The SET Ensemble and How to Get the Killer Sound for Your Band
How to Get the Killer Sound for Your Band?
- The answer is the SET Ensemble.
- It is important to take care when writing for the SET guitar and keyboard together.
- Not all of the chords work together, but the triads that overlaps sound fantastic when played at the same time.
Instruments such as violins, brass, woodwinds, and voices do not need any special tuning to play with the SET tuned keyboard and guitar.
- These instruments have the ability to change the pitch of their notes.
- They simply find the best tuning by ear as they always do.
- So, just let them play as they’ve been trained to play.
Fixed pitch instruments such as piano, organ, and xylophone are tuned to equal tempered.
- Equal temperament is a compromise tuning. It limits the notes on an instrument to a workable number while keeping the tuning acceptable.
- ET instruments can always play at least some notes with the SET tuned instruments.
- Though, care must be taken to avoid mismatched tunings between the SET and ET tuned instruments.
Fretted and Fretless instruments
Any fretted stringed instrument (e.g., the ukulele, mandolin, banjo, and cuatro) can be retuned to SET.
- The fretted bass guitar tuned to ET works well with the SET ensemble as long as the bassist watches the note selection.
- However, the fretless bass gives more flexibility as the bassist locks in each note by ear.
- Also, slide guitar works very well with the SET tuned instruments. The slide allows the guitarist to adjust the pitch of the notes to find the best tuning.
Conclusion to How to Get the Killer Sound for Your Band
There is great potential in the SET ensemble. Nevertheless, take care to listen to the notes and chords to make sure they are spot on with the various instrument tunings. Give SET a try and it’ll give your band a killer sound!
Related Content
- Jam Like a Rock Star with Open E Tuning
- How to Micro Tune the Keyboard to Make the Chords Sound Awesome
- Sound Like a Rock Star with Open G Tuning
- How Chords in Supplemented Equal Temperament Work
- Play Like a Rock Star with Open G Tuning
- How to Change Keys in Supplemented Equal Temperament
© 2020 Geoffrey Keith
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