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Motivation

Alternate and open guitar tunings have always been intriguing to me. The trial and error that comes from trying a new tuning, discovery of new chord shapes, and hearing fresh sounds are all big motivating factors. In an attempt to "make a thing", I started this project to put some objective/scientific basis to all the noodling and blind experimentation with guitar tunings. I began to see tunings used by American Football, Algernon Cadwallader, and Sonic Youth in a new light.

Features

• Visualize notes for any given tuning and key
• Display intervals when hovering over any note on the fretboard
• Show chords

In-progress

• Intervals are currently displayed with respect to the chosen tuning key. Add chord degree display to show a note relative to its key and chord
• Display errors for invalid tunings

Design Diary

Initial development began with creating prototypes and writing tests for Tuning, Freboard, and Chords. Tuning is responsible for a lot of different things. There are tons of prototype methods that didn't end up getting used. A memorable challenge here was how to reconcile flat and sharp accidentals. I assumed accidentals would be consistent in a tuning, e.g., a tuning would not contain both flats and sharps.