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Alter Bridge/Creed/Mark Tremonti Tuning Master List

Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 7:36 pm
by The DIsposable Hero
Hi guys. As we are all well aware, Mark Tremonti uses a lot of tunings. And as such, I'm sure there is a lot of confusion as to which tunings some songs are in. So, after a bunch of cross-analysis of live performances on YouTube, tab books, set lists, interviews, and various DVDs, I have decided to compile all of these songs together in a master tuning list!

For any other individual song examples that I am unsure about, I will provide explanations for why I'm unsure about them next to the song in the list below.

You may notice that some songs are posted twice (eg. Blackbird is posted twice because Mark is in Eb Standard and Myles in in Drop Db/C#). That is because for that particular song, either Mark is in a different tuning than Myles is in and vice versa.

The old songs played by Creed in their reunion post-2009 were all played a half-step down from their original tuning. Therefore, I will not list that they were all tuned down a half-step down next to the song name as that would be redundant. There are also some songs that are played in a different tuning live than they are in the studio (Waters Rising being the most prominent example). Those will be listed for those particular songs.

The songs are sorted in chronological order of release date.

Updated as of June 28, 2019. The new Alter Bridge song “Wouldn’t You Rather” has been added to the list. All of the songs off of the new album “Walk the Sky” will be added as songs are released!

E Standard
Pity for a Dime
What's This Life For
One
One Last Breath
Don't Stop Dancing
One Day Remains (played in Eb Standard/Half-Step Down since 2013)
Burn It Down (sometimes played in Eb Standard/Half-Step Down live)
Blistered (Demo)
Bringer of War
Take You with Me

Drop D
Torn
Ode
My Own Prison
In America
Illusion
Unforgiven
Sister
Bound and Tied
What If
Beautiful
Say I
Wrong Way
Never Die
With Arms Wide Open
Higher
Wash Away Those Years
Inside Us All
To Whom It May Concern
Young Grow Old
Is This the End?
Bullets
Freedom Fighter
Who's Got My Back?
Signs
Lullaby
Rise Today (Played in Drop Db/C# since late 2012 performances with Slash)
Sympathy
Why (Demo)
Solace
From the Sky
The First, the Last

Open D5 (D A D A D D)
Are You Ready?
Faceless Man
My Sacrifice
Weathered
Open Your Eyes
Life Must Go On

Open D (D A D F# A D)
Stand Here with Me

Open D Minor Add 9 (D A E A D F)
As the Silence Becomes Me

Open G (D G D G B D)
Hide (Capo 3) (I looked at a live video and there was no capo, but the way the song is played, Tremonti had to tune up from standard tuning, so the best way to play Hide without damaging your guitar would be to tune it to Open G and capo it at the third fret.)
Watch Over You
Wonderful Life

Eb Standard/Half-Step Down
Down to My Last
Ahavo Rabo Taco Salad
Brand New Start
Blackbird (Mark, Myles in in Drop Db/C#)
Wayward One (The tab book and the few live performances of the song signify half-step down, Tremonti's lesson of the solo from his TS&TS DVD is taught in D Standard. I'm going with a half-step down because I don't know how in the heck you would play in in D Standard with the open strings ringing out like how they do in the song.)
Make It Right
Cry of Achilles
Peace Is Broken
Calm the Fire
My Last Mistake
Breathe
Traipse

Drop Db/C#
Find the Real
Metalingus
Watch Your Words
Buried Alive
Blackbird (Myles, Mark is in Eb standard)
One by One
Break Me Down
White Knuckles
New Way to Live
We Don't Care At All
Silent Teacher
Slip to the Void
Show Me a Sign
Fallout
Coeur D'Alene
Zero
Never Born to Follow
Wish You Well
You Waste Your Time
All I Was
Addicted to Pain
Lover
The Uninvited
Waters Rising (Played in Drop C live)
Cry a River (Mark, Myles is in DADGAD down 1/2 step)
All Ends Well (Myles, Mark is in Double Drop C#)
Fortress (Myles, Mark is in Open D5 down 1/2 step)
Never Say Die (Outright)
Cauterize
Another Heart
Catching Fire
Never Wrong
Unable to See
Show Me a Leader (Myles, Mark is playing a 7-string tuned down 1 & 1/2 step)
Poison in Your Veins
Cradle to the Grave (Myles, Mark is in Open Gm half-step down)
Losing Patience

Low B Tuning Variation (B G# C# F# A# D#)
My Champion (Mark, tuned down another half step when played live to A# G C F A D

Open D5 Half-Step Down (Db Ab Db Ab Db Db)
On My Way Now (unrecorded B-side from the One Day Remains sessions)
Ghosts of Days Gone By
Fortress (Mark, Myles is in Drop Db/C#)

DADGAD Half-Step Down (Db Ab Db Gb Ab Db)
Cry a River (Myles, Mark is in Drop Db/C#)
Twilight

Double Drop Db/C# (Db Ab Db Gb Bb Db)
All Ends Well (Mark, Myles is in Drop Db/C#)
Fall Again

Drop Bb/A# (Bb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb)
Broken Wings
Come to Life
Before Tomorrow Comes
The Damage Done
All Hope Is Gone
Still Remains
I Know It Hurts
Breathe Again
Bleed It Dry
Farther than the Sun
The Writing on the Wall
The Other Side
Symphony of Agony

Open G Half-Step Down (Db Gb Db Gb Bb Db)
In Loving Memory (Played in normal Open G on "Live from Amsterdam")
My Champion (Myles, Mark is in B Ab Db Gb Bb Eb. Tuned down another half-step to open F live.)
Cruel Sun

Open Gm Half-Step Down (Db Gb Db Gb A Db)
Words Darker Than Their Wings (I've seen a lot of discussion over what the actual tuning is. The tab book says its in a Gsus2 tuning (Db Gb Db Gb Ab Db) and I've seen a comment on ultimate-guitar.com that says it's in DADGAD half-step down. However, this interview has Tremonti saying its in Open Gm, which means it probably is.)
Cradle to the Grave (Mark, Myles is in Drop C#)

D Standard/Whole-Step Down
Ties that Bind
The Things I've Seen
Once Dead
Betray Me
A Lot Like Sin
The Day When Legions Burned
Now or Never

Drop C
Shed My Skin
The End Is Here
Save Me
Isolation
Crows on a Wire
Island of Fools
The Last Hero
Wouldn’t You Rather

Db/C# Standard/One and a Half Steps Down
Suddenly
On My Sleeve
Good Fight
The Song You Sing
So You're Afraid
Doesn't Matter
Radical Change
Flying Monkeys
Dust

D# F# B E G# C#
Trust

Drop B (B F# B E G# C#)
Coming Home
Overcome
A Thousand Faces
Fear
Full Circle
Home
Leave It Alone
Giving Up
Proof
Decay
Gone
Dark Trip
Tie the Noose
More Than This (Demo)
The Cage
Rising Storm
You Will Be Remembered

Open B5 (Open D5 down one and a half steps) (B F# B F# B B)
Rain
Brains
New Way Out
All That I Got
Providence

Open B minor add 9 tuning (B F# C# F# B D)
This Side of Fate

Open E (Open G tuned down one and a half steps) (B E B E G# B)
Away in Silence

Open Em (Open Gm tuned down one and a half steps) (B E B E G B)
Time (according to this interview).

Drop Ab/G# (G# F# B E G# C#)
Bread of Shame
Desolation

G# Standard/One and a Half Steps Down for 7-String Guitar (G# C# F# B E G# C#)
Show Me A Leader (Mark, Myles is in Drop C#)

C Standard (C F A# D# G C)
Arm Yourself
Throw Them to the Lions
Make it Hurt

Drop Bb/A#/Drop D tuned down two whole steps (A# F A# D# G C)
Tore My Heart Out

B Standard (B E A D F# B)
A Dying Machine

That's all of them up to now! Once again, if you guys have any corrections, please reply to this thread. Thank you AB Nation for being so awesome!

Dakota C. (The Disposable Hero)

Re: Alter Bridge/Creed/Mark Tremonti Tuning Master List

Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 7:59 pm
by Dolo
Lover is in Drop C#/Db.

Re: Alter Bridge/Creed/Mark Tremonti Tuning Master List

Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 8:11 pm
by The DIsposable Hero
Thanks for the edit!

Re: Alter Bridge/Creed/Mark Tremonti Tuning Master List

Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 8:19 pm
by Andy92
This is awesome dude.

Re: Alter Bridge/Creed/Mark Tremonti Tuning Master List

Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 9:38 pm
by austinjhnsn
Nice job, and thanks for this!

Re: Alter Bridge/Creed/Mark Tremonti Tuning Master List

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 7:24 am
by Mr. Slash
Which band do the songs "Silent Teacher" and "Gone" belong to? I've never heard of them.

Great list, but are you sure that "Rain" is played in Open B5? I've seen a tab where the whole song is tabbed in Standard or Half Step Down...

Re: Alter Bridge/Creed/Mark Tremonti Tuning Master List

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 10:56 am
by austinjhnsn
Silent Teacher is a Creed B-side from Full Circle, I believe...

Gone is an unreleased Tremonti track.

And Rain is definitely played in Open B5, though you can play it which ever way works for you.

Re: Alter Bridge/Creed/Mark Tremonti Tuning Master List

Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2014 9:13 pm
by gobaloon
thanks for this--tbh I am struggling with some of the tunings...think I need another guitar.

Re: Alter Bridge/Creed/Mark Tremonti Tuning Master List

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2014 12:42 pm
by SchwiizVT12
Open G minor for "Words..." would be this: Db Gb Db Gb A Db

It's similar to open G but you tune down the second string from a major third above a Gb (Bb) to a minor third (A). I haven't played the song in a long, long time, but I'm pretty sure that's how Tremonti played it on ABIII.

Re: Alter Bridge/Creed/Mark Tremonti Tuning Master List

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2014 3:43 pm
by The DIsposable Hero
SchwiizVT12 wrote:Open G minor for "Words..." would be this: Db Gb Db Gb A Db

It's similar to open G but you tune down the second string from a major third above a Gb (Bb) to a minor third (A). I haven't played the song in a long, long time, but I'm pretty sure that's how Tremonti played it on ABIII.
That was my hunch when I saw it was open G minor, but then I was wondering how you would play the parts of the song (especially the main riff) without that minor third in there ringing out. Would you play it like this? How do you play it, out of curiosity?

Code: Select all

Db |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
A  |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Gb |--------3--2--3-----------3--2--3---------------3--2--3-----------3--2--0-------|
Db |-----0-----------0-----0-----------0---------0-----------0-----0-----------0----|
Gb |--3-----------------3---------------------2-----------------2-----------0-------|
Db |--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
--------------0-----------------0---------------------0-----------------0-------|
--------0--------0--------0--------0------------0--------0--------0--------0----|
-----12----14----------12----14--------------10----14----------10----14---------|
--10----------------10--------------------8-----------------8-------------------|





|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------3--2--3-----------3--2--3---------------3--2--3-----------3--2--0-------|
|-----0-----------0-----0-----------0---------0-----------0-----0-----------0----|
|--3-----------------3---------------------2-----------------2-----------0-------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
--------------0-----------------0---------------------0-----------------0-------|
--------0--------0--------0--------0------------0--------0--------0--------0----|
-----12----14----------12----14--------------12----14----------12----14---------|
--10----------------10--------------------9-----------------9-------------------|


Re: Alter Bridge/Creed/Mark Tremonti Tuning Master List

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2014 6:59 pm
by SchwiizVT12
I'll give it a look over in the morning, my acoustic is currently tuned to DADGAD for a song I'm working on.

Re: Alter Bridge/Creed/Mark Tremonti Tuning Master List

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 8:18 am
by rireland
Ahavo Rabo Taco Salad is in Eb
And maybe add Blackbird to the Eb list, like you did with Drop Db, as most of the song is played in Eb anyway

Re: Alter Bridge/Creed/Mark Tremonti Tuning Master List

Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2014 10:36 pm
by The DIsposable Hero
Edited the list and refined it a little bit. Thanks for all the edits guys!

Re: Alter Bridge/Creed/Mark Tremonti Tuning Master List

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2014 11:47 pm
by Ryan
amazing stuff!! i'm sure this took forever and a year to accomplish. nice work!

Re: Alter Bridge/Creed/Mark Tremonti Tuning Master List

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 12:21 am
by The DIsposable Hero
Thanks a lot, Ryan! :) To be honest, this probably only took probably a week total to do, all things considered. And that's honestly a stretch. It just took a lot of Google-ing, really. It's all really just using common sense, deductive reasoning, your ear, and too much free time to put all of this together XD.

I have lists like this for other bands too, like Periphery, Pantera, Dream Theater, Metallica, Nickelback and more.

Re: Alter Bridge/Creed/Mark Tremonti Tuning Master List

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 10:10 am
by rireland
I tend to put the tuning of a song in the comments section on iTunes, so I can have a smart playlist with only songs with comments in them :)

Re: Alter Bridge/Creed/Mark Tremonti Tuning Master List

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2014 3:38 pm
by The DIsposable Hero
EDIT: I fixed up the tuning for Before Tomorrow Comes from Eb Standard to Drop Bb tuning. I just trusted the tab book originally, but then I looked at all of the tabs and they all said Drop Bb. And then I looked at AB: Live at Wembley and I saw that Myles was using his black guitar with the red circle by the bridge and Mark was using his Hell's Angels guitar (which are usually the guitars used for the Drop Bb tuning songs). So there you go, BTC is in Bb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb.

Re: Alter Bridge/Creed/Mark Tremonti Tuning Master List

Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 10:57 am
by Kreuger33
The tab book has that song in just Eb?

Re: Alter Bridge/Creed/Mark Tremonti Tuning Master List

Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 12:03 pm
by The DIsposable Hero
Kreuger33 wrote:The tab book has that song in just Eb?
Yup.

Re: Alter Bridge/Creed/Mark Tremonti Tuning Master List

Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 3:49 pm
by Jim
What a phenomenal list.