Baritone DGBE Tuning

A different instrument wearing the same name

Baritone tuning is D3, G3, B3, E4 — the top four strings of a guitar, in the same order, at the same pitches. It is linear, not re-entrant, and the instrument that carries it is usually 19 to 21 inches long instead of 13 to 15.

That size difference matters more than the tuning. A baritone's longer scale means wider fret spacing, so the stretches that are easy on a soprano become real work; and higher string tension means you can hit it harder before it buzzes.

Transposing without learning anything new

If you play a GCEA chord shape on a baritone, you hear a chord a fourth lower. C (0003) becomes G, G (0232) becomes D, F (2010) becomes C. Three ways to handle it:

• Transpose the song. Play Amazing Grace in D shapes and it sounds in G.
• Learn baritone shapes. Baritone chord books exist and the shapes are the guitar's top four strings.
• Use a capo on fret 5. This returns the instrument to GCEA pitch, minus the re-entrant high G. Useful in an emergency, clumsy for regular playing.

When baritone is the right choice

• Singing in a low register. A baritone sits where a male voice naturally is, and the songs in this book transposed down a fourth stop straining.
• Playing with a guitar. The top four strings of a guitar and a baritone ukulele are the same pitches, so the two instruments agree without transposition.
• Playing alone in a small room where a soprano sounds thin.

When it is the wrong choice

Group playing, because the baritone cannot reach the high G sparkle that carries a strum-along; and any arrangement written specifically for the re-entrant sound, which will lose its top line.