How To Make E Standard Tuning Sound MASSIVELY HEAVY

As fans of the more extreme side of heavy music, it's easy to get sucked into the idea that lower tunings equal heavier sounds. Like all guitar students, I've always wanted to learn songs that I enjoy; the same songs that inspired me to pick up a guitar for the first time. I quickly noticed a recurring problem: I was learning the fundamentals in E standard tuning, but most of the songs I wanted to learn were in lower tunings. I badly wanted to learn guitar in a more traditional sense, but I just as badly wanted my guitar to sound heavy at the same time. Fortunately, I realized that lower tunings were not the only path to heaviness. In this lesson, I'm going to share with you how E standard tuning can be your best friend in making crushing guitar sounds.

Composition & Arrangement Matter

If you’re playing by yourself with nothing or no one else to accompany you, I get it. It can feel limiting to rely on that E string being your lowest sound. That said, higher note ranges can still pack a lot of fierce punch. If you start a song with higher notes, it doesn't matter how low your tuning is. The lower notes you then introduce later on can add enough contrast to hit your listeners' ears hard. If you want a good starting place to see some of this in action, check out the video I made on the best keys for metal guitar.

Heaviness isn’t just about the guitar. All instruments work together in a well-arranged song. The bass plays a huge role in making your guitars sound big and fat. We’ll discuss more about how music theory plays a role in that later when we talk about harnessing the power of intervals.

Drums are the backbone of music–especially heavy music. Having a drummer who knows what they’re doing, when to dial it back, and when to make the music hit harder can perhaps be the most important contribution to the weight of your sound.

The Heaviest Intervals For CHUGGING

Perfect 5th

Nearly everyone has seen this interval before. It's a classic way to get the job done.

Tritone

We can drop that 5th degree down a half step and make a tritone. This will produce a jarring, uncomfortable sound–perfect for metal!

Perfect 4th/Inverted 5th

Now we can drop that flatted 5th note another half step down to create a perfect 4th, or inverted 5th, depending on the root. Whether it's a perfect 4th or an inverted 5th depends on which note is considered to be the root. Oftentimes it’s the bass player who determines what type of dyad this would be. Based on this example, the interval would be considered a perfect 4th if the bassist was holding down the F# note. However, if the bassist was playing a B note, that would indicate the interval is an inverted 5th.

Palm Muting For HEAVINESS

One cannot chug without mastering the art of proper palm muting.  To execute this ancient technique, take the heel of your picking hand and rest it lightly against the guitar strings by the bridge of your guitar.  Ironically, palm muting lightly produces a heavy sound since it provides more sonic weight and thud. Pressing harder with the heel of the palm is something I hear in a lot of modern metalcore/djent bands. Personally, I can't stand palm muting with heavy pressure because I think it sounds THIN and WEAK! That's why I palm mute with lighter pressure. It brings more sonic weight. More sonic weight=heavy.

Limitations Breed Creativity

Even as someone who’s really into modern heavy music, I’ve found myself playing pretty much entirely in E standard for years. This was largely the result of getting a guitar with a Floyd Rose bridge. Despite it being the best bridge in the world, it makes tuning adjustments more difficult. If you have had experience with a Floyd Rose, I know you can relate. This limitation has inspired me to get the heaviest sounds I can out of E standard tuning alone.

Restricting yourself to E standard tuning can give you a more unique sound in the modern metal world. Hardly any of the bands I see today play in E standard. Set yourself apart from the rest by playing in a tuning where most listeners can actually distinguish one tone from the other. If bands from the earlier days like Metallica and modern metal acts like Sylosis can pull this off, you can too.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to make E standard tuning sound massively heavy. Composition and arrangement considerations, chugging intervals, and palm muting are weapons you can add to your arsenal to emerge victorious in sonic warfare by using E standard tuning alone. It's also important to consider that limitations breed creativity. If you want to stand out in the modern world of heavy music, E standard might be the way for you to go.

Watch the full lesson here: How To Make E Standard Tuning Sound MASSIVELY HEAVY