I don't think it's an abomination. I like it. It's really just a quick way to use a non-standard tuning, which guitarists have been doing for decades.

I feel like this should be a point/counterpoint, so I'll argue that this is an abomination.

If you want to use alternate tunings, tune your guitar alternatively. There is much more to alternate tunings than being able to play a pleasant chord without your left hand. If you're learning an alt-tuned song, you're probably going to run into issues playing it if you insist on leaving your guitar EADGBE, like, for example, I don't know, BEING ABLE TO PLAY OTHER CHORDS. Are you kidding me? Congratulations on having an open C chord, now play a G. Oh, you can't because you don't have access to the bottom four frets. This is an absurd invention.

And beyond learning other songs, for creating, it encourages stagnation, both musically in the song you're writing and in your development as a player and musician. One, as I mentioned, you're gonna have a hell of a time switching chords, which will be fine for, oh, about as long as this guy played in one stretch. Then your harmony needs to move somewhere, but you're up shit's creek. Secondly, alternate tunings are fun precisely because they challenge your mind. Where do you fret a C on the 3rd string when you're in open Dm? Figure it out! As you play more, you get a firmer grasp not just of the guitar, but of musical theory. You can learn a pentatonic scale and play for days, but by moving those notes from their normal position on the fretboard, you get your mind out of muscle memory playing and into a more active state.

In conclusion, this is not useful for learning other alt-tuned songs, and it encourages stagnation as a player. That, my friend, is an abomination.>> ^KnivesOut:

I don't think it's an abomination. I like it. It's really just a quick way to use a non-standard tuning, which guitarists have been doing for decades.

Moving this video to schmawy's personal queue. It failed to receive enough votes to get sifted up to the front page within 2 days.

I say not an abomination. What he's doing with the hand he's freed up isn't easy. And it allows multiple non-standard tunings on the fly without having to change guitars or spend time retuning just for the sake of one song. Great for buskers or for people who don't have the time to retune their guitar in the studio!

Besides - the pretty music, it sound nice.